I completely agree, however I can't for one moment see Sky letting football fold. A few clubs (eg Portsmouth) may go to the wall but as a whole the sport will continue to grow. From some of the figures being banded around it seems like rugby union has far more at stake than rugby league in terms of revenue from Sky. Union has always been heavily dependent on sponsorship and corporate rather than league's traditional earner, people through the gate. Will be very interesting to see how this unfolds.

That may have been the case 5 or 10 years ago, but take a look at some of the attendances being pulled in by Premiership clubs this year. The lowest attendance in Round 18 was 8,500 (Saracens v Newcastle). Every other game in that round pulled at least 10k through the turnstiles with London Irish topping 21k for the visit of Sale.

Every round bar one this season has had at least 3 attendances of over 10k.

Only four games in the whole competition this season have drawn attendances of less than 5k (two at Newcastle, two at Leeds).

The discrepancy in gate figures simply isn't supported by facts any more.

I still stand by my point that league is more dependent on crowds than union. Union's crowds have been impressive and good luck to them. Wall to wall media coverage certainly helps and also pulls in the sponsors.

The Sky viewing figures haven't been so good for rugby union especially in comparison with rugby league. This is something that hopefully the RFL will be able to take to the table the next time they negotiate a television deal.

rlOne year onrl

[sizeManchester 14 vs 41 Sedgley Park
Manchester 0 vs 148 Esher
Nuneaton 95 vs 0 Manchester
Manchester 12 vs 145 Blaydon
Wharfedale 124 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 3 vs 93 Otley
Manchester 3 vs 93 Cinderford
Redruth 91 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 0 vs 93 London Scottish
Stourbridge 95 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 0 vs 59 Newbury
Tynedale 93 vs 0 Manchester
Blackheath 82 vs 0 Manchester
Sedgley Park 80 vs 3 Manchester
Manchester 3 vs 50 Cambridge
Launceston 66 vs 0 Manchester
Manchester 23 vs 45 Wharfedale
Otley 87 vs 3 Manchester
Cinderford 73 vs 0 Manchester
Manchester 14 vs 52 Redruth
London Scottish 87 vs 7 Manchester
Manchester 0 vs 84 Stourbridge
Newbury 90 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 6 vs 70 Tynedale
Manchester 0 vs 50 Nuneaton
Manchester 7 vs 56 Blackheath
Manchester 0 vs 83 Sedgley Park[/size
Cambridge 112 vs 7 Manchester

------------- Plyd Won Dw Lost - PF -- PA -- BP - Pnts
Manchester 27 -- 0 -- 0 -- 27 -- 111 - 2296 - 0 - minus2

I realise this is rather dull and repetitive, but we've stuck with them so far, I actually look forward to their results each week!

Fantastic Henkein cup QFS this weekend.

Best games i have seen all season.

Great games and atmosphere at them all looked electric.!

Surprisingly I thought the weakest game of the four in terms of quality was actually Toulouse-Stade.

Is he urging the RFU to help the clubs in crisis because they are 20,000 under the break-even figure playing vanity matches at Wembley?

47,106 on yesterday. How good is Schalk Brits?

Manchester 14 vs 41 Sedgley Park
Manchester 0 vs 148 Esher
Nuneaton 95 vs 0 Manchester
Manchester 12 vs 145 Blaydon
Wharfedale 124 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 3 vs 93 Otley
Manchester 3 vs 93 Cinderford
Redruth 91 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 0 vs 93 London Scottish
Stourbridge 95 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 0 vs 59 Newbury
Tynedale 93 vs 0 Manchester
Blackheath 82 vs 0 Manchester
Sedgley Park 80 vs 3 Manchester
Manchester 3 vs 50 Cambridge
Launceston 66 vs 0 Manchester
Manchester 23 vs 45 Wharfedale
Otley 87 vs 3 Manchester
Cinderford 73 vs 0 Manchester
Manchester 14 vs 52 Redruth
London Scottish 87 vs 7 Manchester
Manchester 0 vs 84 Stourbridge
Newbury 90 vs 5 Manchester
Manchester 6 vs 70 Tynedale
Manchester 0 vs 50 Nuneaton
Manchester 7 vs 56 Blackheath
Manchester 0 vs 83 Sedgley Park
Cambridge 112 vs 7 Manchester
Manchester 8 Launceston 71

------------- Plyd Won Dw Lost - PF -- PA -- BP - Pnts
Manchester 28 -- 0 -- 0 -- 28 -- 119 - 2367 - 0 - minus2

I'm thinking Manchester RU vs Mancunians RL in a cross-code charity match.

Catalancs,

Given your claim of union's massive global reach, why is the new SANZAR deal worth $145 million per country for 5 years (ie. Australia, South Africa and NZ) and the NRL's is likely to be about $1 billion for all of one country for 5 years?

Something smells...