Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:32 am  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Presumably people who propose such things either think the sport doesn't need these fans (because we have plenty to spare) or bizarrely thinks they'll start watching another club.

It's an attempt to apply market based solutions to a sporting environment and it simply doesn't work because people don't interact with their sports teams in the way they choose which supermarket to go to.

Wonder how Leeds compare per head per population compared to other clubs?

We average around 12k per home game and Leeds has a population of around 780k according to google. Thats 1 in every 65 people. How does that compare with others? Terribly i suspect.

Maybe rest should kick us out for such failings.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Sun Oct 31, 2021 5:30 pm  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Yeah let's kill off a bunch of clubs because, unlike us, they don't benefit from being in the right place. That's what sport's all about

Or…we realise there’s only so much money to go around and that the game is now in a fully professional era.

If we realise that, is it reasonable to expect there to be 30+ fully professional clubs in RL? If not then aren’t we expecting a massive leap for clubs to go from semi-pro to fully pro in the space of 3/4 months?

Also why then cut off at just the 3 leagues we have now?

For me the sport cannot continue with the massive instability P&R causes. It significantly harms the growth of most clubs in the league in my opinion as they have to focus on incredibly short term decisions at the cost of almost any long term strategic growth.

Do we continue with trying to filter down the small amount of money we have? Or try and concentrate that to improve the top end of the sport?

It seems as if most sports are looking toward a model with increased certainty. Union have ended P&R, football are clearly looking for increased certainty with the ESL model and many other sports already have such systems.

I’d love to be in a position like English football whereby there’s so many healthy clubs that it doesn’t matter if a few are destabilised by P&R as I’d agree from a purely sporting point of view it’s the better system. But I don’t think we’re anywhere near that. We can barely sustain 12 teams in SL. For me we have to move to a licensed system if we’re to survive as a professional sport in the era we’re moving into.

I also understand that if I were a fan of a club in the other divisions I might have a different point of view. But I can only go with what it looks like to me as I am, and I just cannot see a future as anything other than a feeder club for many of the current clubs in a vibrant, nationally recognised, professional sport in the 21st century.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:43 pm  

Isn`t this what SL is trying to achieve next year when 2 or is it 4 teams from the Championship will be promoted and no team relegated from the SL or have I dreamt that up?
What then happens to those left in the Championship would probably mean they play the likes of West Bowling and the likes.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Sun Oct 31, 2021 10:31 pm  

chapylad wrote:

Isn`t this what SL is trying to achieve next year when 2 or is it 4 teams from the Championship will be promoted and no team relegated from the SL or have I dreamt that up?
What then happens to those left in the Championship would probably mean they play the likes of West Bowling and the likes.

No the idiotic idea is to reduce Super League to ten by relegating three. Lots more loop games that nobody wants.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Mon Nov 01, 2021 6:30 am  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Can you name any other sport in which a segment of the fanbase is absolutely determined to kill off a bunch of clubs for "not pulling their weight"?

It's gone beyond some sort of strategic thinking (which generally shuffles mythical clubs and mythical fan bases around) to genuinely believing that the problem with British RL is that we have too many clubs. It's insanity of the highest order. The big clubs have failed to grow their audiences and revenues and have taken that out on the smallest ones, which in turn offer the most pound for pound value in their communities.

I would argue that the large clubs have had no incentive to grow their fan bases. When you're salary cap is limited, there's only so much worth you can get by being richer, and getting and training new fans can be costly

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:55 am  

The Eagle wrote:

I would argue that the large clubs have had no incentive to grow their fan bases. When you're salary cap is limited, there's only so much worth you can get by being richer, and getting and training new fans can be costly

You think clubs have that much money theyve no incentive to attain more wealth? Trust me the last thing clubs are is loaded with money.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:32 pm  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

Can you name any other sport in which a segment of the fanbase is absolutely determined to kill off a bunch of clubs for "not pulling their weight"?

It's gone beyond some sort of strategic thinking (which generally shuffles mythical clubs and mythical fan bases around) to genuinely believing that the problem with British RL is that we have too many clubs. It's insanity of the highest order. The big clubs have failed to grow their audiences and revenues and have taken that out on the smallest ones, which in turn offer the most pound for pound value in their communities.

The problem is the bigger clubs have sacrificed income to support clubs that simply cannot survive without it - many of these clubs have been in existing for decades yet struggle to achieve crowds of 1,000 - how long do you go on putting good money after bad? Everyone suggest Cumbria is hot spot of RL yet none of the three clubs can attract a reasonable crowd.

The clubs can no longer compete for the talent with the NRL so we now attract second level players rather than the likes of Buderus, Lyon, Gidley, Barrett etc. It is no surprise that Sky want a reduction as the quality on the field is no what it was - so a smaller pot needs spreading even more thinly and we are on a downward spiral to no SKY and part time rugby. The championship has seen there is no broadcaster who is willing to pay to televise their games - Sky is the only game in town.

Maintaining as much money as possible in the Elite level is surely the best way of protecting full time RL - it is the only serious revenue stream the sport has. Its a simple choice protect the likes of Leeds/Wigan/St Helens etc. or spend the money on the likes of Hunslet, Keighley etc. Spend the money on developing young players of provide a resting home for players who can't make it at the top level or who can no longer cut it at the top level.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:46 pm  

Premier sports are broadcasting the championship next season

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:30 pm  

The Ghost of '99 wrote:

No the idiotic idea is to reduce Super League to ten by relegating three. Lots more loop games that nobody wants.

Now that would be a disaster for the game.

Re: Brian Mac + Fev : Tue Nov 02, 2021 2:33 pm  

Jack Burton wrote:

Premier sports are broadcasting the championship next season

They are but like the BBC for the CC they are not paying anything for it