Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Fri May 01, 2020 4:37 am  

Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout Many rugby league sides will have breathed a massive sigh of relief as the news broke overnight that the government had set aside a sum of £16 million to safeguard the sport through the Coronavirus pandemic.   RFL chairman Ralph Rimmer had been petitioning the government for support since the shutdown in mid-March, and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the government had made the move to ‘protect the entire sport'. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout Many rugby league sides will have breathed a massive sigh of relief as the news broke overnight that the government had set aside a sum of £16 million to safeguard the sport through the Coronavirus pandemic.   RFL chairman Ralph Rimmer had been petitioning the government for support since the shutdown in mid-March, and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the government had made the move to ‘protect the entire sport'. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Fri May 01, 2020 12:58 pm  

Be interesting with this announcement on how this money is distributed, with SL and RFL having been on different paths. The emphasis from news report on this being about community and wellbeing, will they prioritise the smaller clubs?
Good to see the Govt recognising the importance of our sport though.

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Fri May 01, 2020 10:58 pm  

Is it worth pointing out that 16m is a tiny amount of money for government and it is a loan, not funding?

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Sat May 02, 2020 1:01 pm  

It's still 16m and its still better than nothing.

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Sat May 02, 2020 3:57 pm  

It still will have to be paid back though.
As you say. Super League and RFL being different entities who has taken on the loan and who benefits from it and how will it be distributed.

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Sat May 02, 2020 11:28 pm  

And the problem with that us what? Are you suggesting they should just give em the money.
The RFL SL set up is quite interesting when it comes to who will be able to apply for a cut of the money, elstone seemed quite pleased with it

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Sat May 02, 2020 11:29 pm  

Lots of sectors in society in trouble and needing help, RL could have got nothing

Re: Rugby League Gets Big Government Handout : Wed May 06, 2020 12:35 pm  

Let us hope they don't fritter this away. The Sports Minister was saying RL plays an important part in the community. I suspect he was referring to the amateur game rather than pro game. That employs relatively few people & has relatively few fans. It would be good to see the overwhelming bulk of that money going to support Amateur game across the UK.