Super League clubs have been reported to have agreed to give 20% of the TV contract to the Rugby Football League. It is stated to be around £5,000,000 of the total expected £25,000,000 contract money. So even if the RFL keep nothing for their own costs which is unlikely divided equally between the 24 clubs would be around just over £200,000 each. The championship clubs likely to get more than the National League but whatever the amount is it will not be much as we all thought. I can definitely see some clubs folding especially in League 1.
It doesn't get divided equally anyway.
This season, it ranged from £400k at the top to £100k at the bottom in Championship.
Under the previous sky deal, SL got £30m with each club receiving £1.825m a year. This was adjusted by Sky last year due to the reduced number of games, with SL reported to have faced an annual reduction of £280,000. The remaining £10m went to the Championship and L 1 teams, with Championship clubs receiving between £800,000 and £150,000 depending on where they finished in the league. Each L1 club received £75,000.
So it looks like SL clubs looking after themselves again, getting about the same as this year, with the Championship/L1 clubs facing a 50% reduction. Perhaps if SL clubs accepted that they are not in a position to compete with NRL salaries and a tight restriction on the salary cap, there would be a fairer distribution of central funding to give all clubs a chance of survival. As it is RFL/SL are happy to oversee their "expansion" plan for the game by reducing the number of clubs from 36 to 20.
I presume that Rimmer will be accepting a 50% reduction in his salary.
SO, given our rather lowly placing at the moment we could see our funding much smaller next year? 50% or less.
Hope the financial planning has taken this eventuality into account.
Things are likely to be challenging going forward. How will some clubs survive?
The game needs a massive reality check.
Why does it continue to pay over inflated full time salaries for overseas players and coaches in the top flight when the sport clearly cannot afford such luxuries.
Strip out the few sugar daddies there are, and what is the game left with? A bankrupt sport which has little or no interest elsewhere across the country.
It is the economics of madness, and the sooner the Authorities grasp the nettle and sort it out, the better.
But that would be turkeys voting for Christmas - not going to happen!
The game needs a massive reality check. Why does it continue to pay over inflated full time salaries for overseas players and coaches in the top flight when the sport clearly cannot afford such luxuries. Strip out the few sugar daddies there are, and what is the game left with? A bankrupt sport which has little or no interest elsewhere across the country. It is the economics of madness, and the sooner the Authorities grasp the nettle and sort it out, the better.
A depressing but I believe accurate assessment of the game. Don't believe there is the appetite for the game beyond the heartlands - indeed the heartlands interest seems to be declining. I'm not saying things are in terminal decline but the game is certainly stagnant.
Maybe we need the dead wood to drop away - this may well include Widnes! As they say - 'history is bunk'.
Maybe the future is only a fixed SL with no relegation and everything outside of it is amateur.
Certainly, if I had a magic wand I'd make all the teams regional as with RU but it would be too big a shift for most (my self included) to change to that model now.
The sad part is that rugby league at club level was way behind rugby league until around the last 20 years. With good marketing and a development plan over the past 20 years, union has left rugby league in its wake. It is the people who have been running the game who have let the sport down, with their self interest and complacency becoming totally reliant on Sky.
I believe that the RFL should try to re-build the image of the game in the heartlands, including Cumbria; market the game strongly in new areas in the likes of London, Coventry and Newcastle - whilst attempts have been made to develop the game in London game for over 40 years, I think the current set up is probably its best chance with a home ground and a plan to develop local talent.
If that means all clubs living within their means and developing home grown talent in preference to importing highly paid average Australians and players wages being reduced to affordable levels, then that should be the way forward.
We need people running the game to have some vision to market and develop the game as an attractive alternative to rugby union, highlighting the skill levels and the differences in the game. Sadly, it has been the influence of rugby league coaches that has improved rugby union from the one dimensional kick and run game that it used to be, to a more flowing game.
Unfortunately, I don't believe that those currently running the game have the knowledge or vision to save the game, never mind develop it.
As mentioned, some traditional clubs who fail to promote local interest and support to make them sustainable, may fall by the wayside, but there is still chance to breath some life into the sport if the right people were in charge.
There are though still 'sugar daddies' prepared to pay whatever it takes to promote their local team, sadly none in Widnes!
But that funding makes clubs able to just coast along with a SL handout.
That will change imo, and Sky will switch allegiance to whatever they decide will sell contracts. (Maybe SL 12 a side?). Then club finances will have to change and the bubble may burst.
It tells you something when Saints claim that they can't compete financially and are being outbid for players. Now Wigan are financially stretched. What chance poor Widnes?
Sky running the game , RL signed up with them and they changed everything - calling when games were played and at what times. The regular Sunday afternoon fixtures disappeared- all down to one Wigan idiot without vision
the way forward is to bite the bullet, Get SL and RFL together and move forward, unfortunately I think we may lose a few clubs on the way, not that the RFL care about the likes of Blackpool borough - much prefer to have Toronto
Rochdale CEO has announced that their central funding for next season is expected to be 78% down on this season.
He is calling a meeting for fans and stakeholders to to discuss how to make club sustainable for next season.
This is the state of rugby league in the lower divisions at the moment.
The RFL and Superleague should hang their heads in shame.
What is the future for league 1 clubs ?
read suggestions for the 20 team 2 division SL and a north and south division below supplemented by SL reserve teams - not sure how that would work as you would assume the SL reserve teams would be in a reserve league. Also west Wales against saints reserves ? Not an even game one would suggest.
that is for season 2023 so there remains the season in between, suggested 14 in SL, bottom 4 joining top 6 from championship so no promotion for any championship team. What happens to championship - assume 14 teams again so possibly no relegation this season and 2 teams from league 1 joining ( happy days spells!)
this then leaves 8 teams in league 1 - currently that would include 4 development teams, there would need to be at least 2 more teams to make a competitive league, and what for them ? No promotion same as the championship teams ? Hopefully the likes of Hemel and maybe Bramley could return to the comp and am hearing some interest in Carcassonne which I think would be good
whatever is decided it needs to be quick, which I realise when you take in all the self interest from SL clubs will probably not be
I read the other day that Salford are looking for a new home, as they can't afford the rent at the AJ Bell, with Salford City FC taking their place.
Salford & Swinton ground share at Salford City's current ground, Moor Lane, maybe? 🤔
Ultimately super league has under performed as a spectacle in the last four of five years with poor leadership under Elstone and total narcissism by club owners like Ken Davy, Adam pearson, eamon mcmanus and Ian leneghan etc..
With zero focus on the international game our sport is club driven and that is not the way to offer the outcomes we need.
The sky partnership has also been weak and many clubs have simply failed to deliver alternative revenue streams and instead have danced to sky sports tune.
Championship clubs on the other hand have grown and developed and this deal should not be just about 12 super league clubs, it is about the whole of our sport
Ultimately super league has under performed as a spectacle in the last four of five years with poor leadership under Elstone and total narcissism by club owners like Ken Davy, Adam pearson, eamon mcmanus and Ian leneghan etc.. With zero focus on the international game our sport is club driven and that is not the way to offer the outcomes we need. The sky partnership has also been weak and many clubs have simply failed to deliver alternative revenue streams and instead have danced to sky sports tune. Championship clubs on the other hand have grown and developed and this deal should not be just about 12 super league clubs, it is about the whole of our sport
If it doesn't it will be either separate or die for the Championship, and there will be people like Beaumont who will go for the former!!!