This was before super league matey, they sorted their own TV deal with a canadian company to show their games etc. They then reportedly owed around 300k to them and other business's, not too sure what the other companys were, and the reason they gave was oh we forgot to pay them.
And the players were complaining aswell about not getting paid and being paid weeks late etc, just really poor from them
I love the idea of Toronto and one of the people defending them but they're just letting the players down from my point of view. The players are doing what they can on the field, regardless of losing, but the club that is their structures just seems to constantly F things up.
And with the Visa situation they clearly had an idea they were going to be stuck here for a long time so should have done something earlier, unless they forgot again.
To be fair they may have done something about this months ago and the visa system, as we know isn't fast most of the time, could be the ones to blame. But all we see from an outside perspective is the club messed up yet again, it just looks really poor.

The debate would go something like this:

"Will the Prime Minister commit to the government looking in to the visa problems that have put Toronto's season in jeopardy, through no fault of the players themselves?"

"My honourable friend is quite wrong, there are many overseas players at clubs throughout Super League who have visas that are valid through to the end of the season, it's about time that he starts to get behind the concept of the Toronto Wolfpack and believe in the great future of rugby league in Canada"

As I said matey I'm not clued up on their debtors and wasn't responding directly on that point and I'm sorry but didn't get the TV deal reference in your post pre SL or not, but are you suggesting they paid a TV company for coverage of their games rather than vice versa?

My main point was that criticism on the Visa might be misplaced, we don't know the facts and according to an article in the Mirror TWP seem to have been told that the Home Office can't or wont deal with them directly and have asked the RFL to step in. Either way it shouldn't be that difficult to resolve IF we as a sport want them in our competition.

Just shows what a stupid idea it is to have non British teams in super league.

That’s your opinion. I disagree.

Its an interesting debate.

Not sure having 2 leagues (An Australian one & a rest of the world one) is the way to go, unless players from the countries where clubs are based are coming through in great numbers, unlike now, where the Toronto side is basically a British/Aussie franchise based in a random global city.

I'll be more enthused about these newcomers when they start producing their own local players and aren't just stealing franchises that could be taken by local towns and cities within the UK.

I'm not being funny mate i'm just explaining what i have read and heard

I suspect most people would struggle to pick out the the advantages of allowing a Canadian club into SL. They don't get a slice of the Sky money (tick), but they don't bring any away supporters to games (cross). So it's really something about spreading RL to another continent and developing a new customer/ viewing base. If that can be achieved, and Canadians do seem to enjoy a range of different sports, then the local TV rights can be sold and advertising revenue will follow the crowds whether its on the TV or at a ground. That would be enough for Toronto to be self sufficient and build a club eg bringing through their own players via an academy, widening the fan base etc. At that point you could see a real benefit for SL because there would be a growing market for access to SL on the telly. And more viewers equals more money for the TV rights, particularly from international companies who can access North American and British consumers at the same time.

Nobody knows whether the Toronto experiment will work, certainly footy seems to have taken an age to get going in the US so Toronto may have to be patient and build gradually over several years to even have a chance of success. But for me at least, that's no excuse for not trying to expand the sport and getting it on a stable financial footing.

As far as British SL is concerned, we can only claim to have English clubs as there are none from Wales and Scotland. In fact if you wanted to be really pedantic you could probably call it the Lancashire and Yorkshire SL (is Warrington still in Cheshire, I can't remember ?) . But that only serves to underline the problem we have, and hence why at least half our clubs are on the bread line. We need some way of bringing more money and younger fans into the sport. The Toronto experiment may well fail, but surely that doesn't mean we should give up trying new ideas ?

Toronto consistently provided Championship clubs with their biggest gate of the season, not 'away fans' as such, but they brought more people through the gate. Whether we will see that same pattern in SL is yet to be proven, but having SBW in the team surely brings extra interest for casual supporters and press.

I think as a club they have made some mistakes, but from being non existent a few years back to now being in SL with the highest paid rugby player on the planet is some achievement. They are making mistakes, but not all of them, such as this visa issue is of their own doing.

I don't expect we will see Toronto regularly fielding home grown talent for the next 20 years, it isn't a stick they should be beaten with. They are currently financially self sufficient, and are not costing SL clubs anything. Yes we have extra travel costs for traveling to Toronto, but that must be more than offset by the extra £165k or so each club is getting of the Sky money. It's also up to SL clubs to leverage teh benefits of having a Toronto club in their league to sponsors.

Toronto need to be able to show what they are giving the clubs financially and in terms of exposure for them to be deemed a success as far as SL is concerned.

They need time, and as they are not costing SL clubs anything and have earned their way in to the league by merit, they should be given that time imo.

Totally out of curiosity, where would regular match going spectators like this to go?

Would a 12 team league, with 5 or 6 non UK clubs, appeal to people, taking into account the cost of travelling to away matches and also, with the lack of atmosphere when playing those clubs at home, create a situation which might put people off attending?

Ultimately, does a situation which increases the cost for the core supporter not go against the working class ethos of the game?

Well ,Dita ,i am firmly in the camp that says, unless these overseas inclusions are going to greatly benefit our sport , any such money would probably be better spent promoting fledgling leagues in these countries so all clubs start from their roots & grow together & form their own local rivalries & fan bases.
I think the best input for superleague would be to ensure Canada is supplied with regular & frequent televised sl games to promote what their game could be like.
Let's be honest are we really impressed at the inclusion of overseas teams bringing empty stands with them when we have near neighbours who don't get a look in. If it was left to me ,i would bring all UK teams together in one league & give the lower placed teams the chance of hosting top teams instead of having the loop fixtures. The league could be split into clusters of clubs playing each other twice then having exposure to clubs from other clusters to make up fixture numbers.How many times in a season do i want to watch Wire/Wigan ?

Short term, I'd like to see SL move to a 14 team competition immediately with Toronto, Catalan and Toulouse involved. I'm not sure the competition could support more than 3 or 4 non UK clubs at present out of 14. I'm a fan of the Franchise model but I know it's not too popular around the league, but a franchise model would allow Toronto & France to look for longer term TV deals with certainty that their clubs would be in the competition long term.

Ultimately the aim has to be paying TV deals from France & North America, France can provide increased playing talent and North America can provide increased commercial opportunities. I wouldn't be too concerned about 'affordability' for supporters. We need increased TV exposure so more games on television, that way supporters aren't missing out, yet have the opportunity to visit new places to follow the Wire.

If we do have Ottawa & New York plus others in the pipeline we would need to move to a 2 tier SL comp. The only way we could facilitate that financially is a paying TV contract for North America & France. Opportunities for the UK broadcaster to sell / swap live feeds with other broadcasters would make Super League an attractive proposition.

Without a paying TV contract all North America is, is a player drain from UK clubs in SL, that TV deal has to follow for them to come on board in any greater number.

Anyone that says anything about we should promoting cumbria, (cos its a hotbed blah blah blah) or bringing bradford back is getting banned

*thats a tongue in cheek joke before anyone starts crying
** its actually not,
*** BANNED!!! BANNED AH TELL THI !!!

That's enough of that nonsense, Fraser. Wilson, have the men on parade in the church hall.

Just announced have withdrawn from 2020 season.