Re: The RFL cannot attract money; drop P & R, install franch : Thu May 19, 2016 12:57 pm
Franchising should have been the way to go. Unfortunately like a lot of things in RL we did it half heartedly (stadiums letting clubs go bankrupt etc)and quickly gave up on it.Despite this we saw some decent progress and foundations put in place for a lot of clubs.
It's an interesting debate, I don't want to lose some of the history of our great sport, but I can't see what adding another club in the same fan and player catchment area will do for our game.
In terms of a model to follow, the Super 14's (or whatever it's called). Is the one I'd look at. They have a big Base in Aus, a second in SA and teams reaching out to emerging markets in Japan and Argentina. It works, people don't worry about the time it takes, or away travel cost.
SL could look to follow that with teams in England (Aus) France (SA) plus Canada (Japan).
I don't think P and R will help teams grow and build in the long term, and as a result any excitement it provides will always be short term. And that's before I start thinking about the benefits in terms of player development.