Quote: northernbloke "The thought that "locals" are the answer has always been an interesting one. The catchment area for LB is massive, that's why it's not the easiest thing to promote.
Not sure where RL is dying comes from though, it might be in a lull but overall bums on seats for SL games have been worse. Championship probably not significantly changed in years.
As for numbers of folk playing the game reckon it's pretty stable not sure how it shows a dying sport'"
It's dying because there are almost two dozen clubs on a life support machine called central funding which in itself is reliant on SKY paying the same money or more in the new deal. Unlikely.
It's dying because participation in the heartlands is down year on year to the point where leagues like the hull junior league now has only a handful of teams and the senior league has 4 clubs. It once had two divisions of 12 with other senior sides playing in Yorkshire leagues.
It's dying because clubs embarrass themselves on a weekly basis with two bit social media output.
Crowds are down at many of those heartland clubs. And what are we doing? Ottawa, New York, Valencia. For goodness sake Valencia play a friendly in a few weeks and have not got a coach or any players. We agreed a kit deal with them which i had to terminate within a couple of weeks because it was a mess and won't get past the first hurdle. My mistake on that one. 80% of clubs are not paying their bills on time or at all. We are owed thousands across the league's, so are other kit suppliers and so are many other businesses. People are reluctant to touch the sport. Do you think ISC have walked away for a laugh? Do you think Toronto changing supplier every single season is a coincidence?
You tell me how Rugby League recovers from the above, especially when several of the money men are trying to get out without hurting their clubs.