Quote: CyberPieMan "Has anything been said how the second tier is being funded/sponsored yet?
Unless it gets a significant wedge & air-time the whole thing will fall apart in no time.'"
Because of the Sky deal and the fact the salary cap isn't going up for the SL clubs it means some non-SL clubs will get a bigger salary cap (about £900k or so I think the one figure mentioned) which means some other non-SL clubs will still be trying to compete while paying a pittance to semi-pro players.
So that is funding model for better or worse.
As to sponsorship that is one of the issues that killed off this structure in Switzerland for soccer. Sponsors did not want to be associated with the two lower tiers which were seen as providing meaningless games in a second string competition. The big crowds and media interest were with the top 8 only.
The "£1m" game is clearly an attempt to inject some life into a league which could be considered in the same way given the teams in it are no longer competing with the elite teams for the rest of that season. Now for a fan of a team involved in a relegation fight I am sure we can all relate to how interesting that is given what went on in 2006 but I really don't think if the issue was between the likes of London and Batley anyone in the media or outside the geek level of fan we have on here would give a monkey's. Apart from the "£1m" game which is just one game after all the second tier just represents a drawn out qualification competition for another season.
Quote: CyberPieMan "Given the incumbents' track record in sponsorship & general management I'm not surprised IL's a bit miffed. We need sportsmen with business nous in charge not a bunch of bean-counters who couldn't run a bath (let's not forget, that regardless of how much praise Red Hall heap on themselves for the WC, none of them actually did anything - the person who did has been poached by UK Athletics).'"
The WC success should have been what secured us competition for TV rights. An opportunity squandered by those in charge.
As to sponsorship for the new structure it's going to take a marketing genius to convince potential sponsors (and the casual sports fan who bump up TV ratings for that matter) to have an interest in the lower two 8's after the split. The RFL will probably say it's really all one competition and will seek a sponsor for the whole thing but sponsors want value for money and I am not sure they will think they ought to or will want to pay anything towards funding the two lower 8 competitions. There just isn't going to be any kudos in the majority of those games that will attract lots of publicity a sponsor expects in return for their cash.
