Quote Hedgehog King="Hedgehog King"I'm not sure how you can say that the RLWC was not a huge success. Less than 1% attendance increase. Compared to what? Certainly not compared to the last world cup held here which flopped.'"
0.0027 increase in average attendance over 2008, Australia conceding 4 tries in one game and then no other 4 pointers in 5 more games, including 3 dottings and a QF, SF and final that delivered 160-2 a score-line, 89% of the players born in 5 countries with not 1 Irishman in the Ireland squad.....Don't get me wrong, 460k is fantastic and other than Limerick, the venues all pretty much delivered and the foundations for 2021 are set, but in real terms, the RLWC exceeded most peoples expectations but was hardly a "National" event that captured the GB Publics attention.
Quote Hedgehog King="Hedgehog King"The NRL side in Canberra pays its own way. I've yet to hear about any special measures required to keep them afloat. If Broncos were able to pay their own way and put out a competitive side, who would complain about that?'"
Very hard to tell the difference between the Raiders and the Brumbies supporter groups as they are pretty much Identical. Nothing else to do in a city that was essentially built to run the country.....packed with Civil Servants, it's hardly a coup that both teams (14,287 Brumbies/10,226 Raiders) attract average crowds to games.....both franchises are paid to play their games by the local authority. Canberra is not like London.........Melbourne is, where there is a dominant code and the NRL team is an expansion one......Canberra is not an expansion area......and there is also the small matter of the MASSIVE difference in the cost of living in London compared to the pit towns....not really a valid comparison.
Quote Hedgehog King="Hedgehog King"I don't really think it fair to castigate "small minded pit town clubs". The owners and management of those clubs just want to see those clubs prosper. Is it odd that they tend to be in favour of measures that give their club just a chance of a return to the good old days? I certainly don't think it normal to put the interests of another club ahead of your own.'"
10,000 is the often used "holy grail of averages" used by the games administrators when it comes to average gates that would deliver self sufficiency......a quick glance at the record books shows that Halifax could hope to get 7k, Fev haven't cracked 5k since the 1970's and the rest of the Championship clubs would all struggle to get past 5k....the only difference to the other SL clubs would be about 20k a year in away fans ticket sales....less than 1/2% of most clubs turn overs. Replacing London with one of these teams, or defining London as a failed experiment shows the narrow mindedness of some club owners....who would soon change their tune if they were having to plough 7 figures a year into their clubs once the fans don't show up....Bradford are a bigger club than any of the Championship clubs and look what nearly happened to them AGAIN on a bigger average attendance?
Quote Hedgehog King="Hedgehog King"Nor have I seen much that would suggest that Ian Lenighan's proposed breakaway is in favour of more cash for Broncos. It would be an odd sort of "club power" that reduced the rebel clubs' TV cash.'"
I suspect that IL and the other clubs have a strategic business plan that involves quantifiable and measurable KPI's and was not written on the back of a fag packet. Nigel et al have probably managed to secure a sponsor for SL next year, but I doubt they'll announce the financials....Engage were the last one they were happy to crow about.
Happy to be proven wrong, but a SL that involves M62 Teams and a French outpost will struggle to nail down "national" sponsors and increased TV deals......The BBC will have been pleased with their audiences for their 6 games, but they will have been just as pleased with the other sports they showed that either delivered equal or bigger audiences.......SKY didn't miss anything and Premier TV is still a niche channel that will see thousands of cancelled subscriptions across the M62 now the RLWC is over....and if you think they'll get them back for wall to wall NRL coverage next year you need your bumps felt.
