The problem is that it's a part time sport masquerading as a full time sport but no one wants to admit it. The so called big clubs are at a loss each year and only interested in themselves and not growing the game.
Take the sky money out of it and how many clubs would be able to sustain life in super league? Would Catalan or Toulouse want to be in it if there was no sky funding?
The grading is great for the 7 but if everyone broke away would anyone be interested in a 7 team super league?
We have to accept we're not a big club anymore, and it is very unlikely we ever will be. I am glad I was around at the right time to watch us at our Zenith. I am sad that my Son will never see Widnes at those heights again.
Money is the driver in everything, and unless we can get the funding to develop the club more from some multi billionaire sugar daddy, then I can't see us getting back to where we would like to be.
I do believe this IMG will just make the "them and us" situation even worse as how do you grow a club? How can you try for grow when the odds are going to be heavily stacked against you?
If we're ticked off, Halifax must be even more so.
And it's not just Rugby League. Rugby Union is not in a good state either. Yes, they talk a good talk and it gets promoted well, but below all that it is in a mess.
With Worcester Warriors, Wasps, London Irish and Jersey Reds all going bust, and other like Exeter Chiefs teetering on the brink, they can't continue in their current state. I can imagine they will have to make some major changes, providing those at the top take their blinkers off.
Professional men’s rugby has major financial issues which need to be tackled
I guess that not many will object to the IMG aim to encourage teams to improve both on and off-field performance and long-term sustainability of the game as a whole and individual clubs, at both professional and amateur level.
In truth, the whole exercise is probably about ensuring the Sky money is shared amongst as few a Clubs as possible. Surely, the long-term future of the game - and maybe the IMG rebranding will be to Rugby League, embracing the sport as a whole, rather than Super League, which represents a few elitist clubs - should ensure the future of as many clubs as possible.
How can any club claim to have long-term financial stability, when it is based on short-term investment from an individual and the whims of that individual; or based solely on them retaining their top level status, to ensure the annual input of Sky money at (currently) £1.3m? How can Clubs hope to aspire to the top level and commit investment, with a view to meeting the top level IMG criteria, with limited central funding as low as £20,000, and no guarantee of ever getting a place in the top tier.
No one will disagree that Clubs need to promote the game locally to ensure decent attendances, with improved facilities and fan communication; developing Academies to develop young talent to be the future lifeblood of the game; promoting a more diverse sport with the promotion of the Women's game; and also attracting local sponsorship. It is likely that some Clubs will never be able to attract bigger crowds, or be financially sustainable in a professional sport and some will no doubt fall by the wayside or face possible mergers to continue.
In any event, there needs to be a fairer distribution of central funding between what is likely to be two professional leagues, to ensure Clubs are competing on a level playing field for a place in the top tier.
agree totally, but there will never be fair distribution of sky money because the SL clubs need it to survive
looking at the new model, what happens when there are 12 A graded clubs in SL - the drawbridge goes up as aspiring clubs below will have an impossible task to get a better grade
this is franchising again
The RFL need to look again at this - but they won’t
P and R is essential in rugby league
The entire thing bores me to the point where I cannot be bothered reading about grades, criteria and all that. Been the same discussions for years about expand here there and everywhere, none have worked except catalans and you could argue they already had a set up of sorts.
The same clubs who are bickering now about rugby politics are the same ones who argued years ago, meanwhile it seems nothing has been achieved with regards to those big ideas. Superleague has become boring, even the grand final is loosing its magic. Our famous old club is becoming forgotten in its own town. The agenda however remains the same.
No interest in the Superleague dream for me. Just gimme a game of rugby to watch and to hell with the politics behind it.
I too am bored with the whole concept of IMG and rugby league in general with its abysmal record of administration since the inception of Super League.
And, sad for me to say, but I cannot wait to see the fall out and the unintended consequences of this current folly. All common sense surrounding the game as I previously once knew it has long since left the building.
For me, I can only see a breakaway of those Clubs outside of the select few as a way of maintaining its survival, and that means going back to basics, playing part-time and living within its means. Take back what rightly belongs to the game in general, and let Super League ride off into the sunset.
It could start by getting rid of all the bells and whistles, the gimmicks and get some honesty back into the sport.
Its the only way.
I believe the game needed a drastic overhaul and to put it simply needs to be marketed and promoted much better, will the IMG idea work, who knows as it hasn’t yet come to fruition. The clubs going up and down from championship level PT to FT and vice versa isn’t sustainable as look at us now. I hope it works and we will get a chance to play in super league as this has to be the aim of our club
Old ground, but Sky bought RL as an entertainment package called 'Super League' with no thought of the game as a whole, from the junior game up. That saved many clubs from bankruptcy. However Sly couldn't give a toss about the game as a whole - they had their entertainment package to sell to viewers.
That package has now been use to corrupt more and more sports into a version of SL and it will destroy them too if they don't manage it properly.
However SL will carry on regardless until our SL is only a minor part of the Sky Super League package. Look at Women's soccer, RU, wheelchair RL and RU etc etc. Rugby League SL was their trial sport and it has had its day.
The price of SL RL to the TV companies is diminishing with every new contract!
Even the big 7 are struggling to stay financially solvent!
RL will, hopefully, survive, but it will be outside Sky's clutches as a part time, people owned sport, if we are lucky.
Maybe someone like Degsy, who is as sharp as Sky, will lead the way out and declare a Sky-free club?
That might make others think!!!!!
At the moment RL is being kept alive at the top level by a few wealthy individuals who are supplementing what the Sky package can afford.
Most aren't wealthy in Soccer terms but want to be seen as if they are. It's like pretending that you own a top of the range Rolls when you actually have a top of the range Ford!
As a previous poster said, if the top 7 are left alone how long would they survive in Sky's sport empire?
The game at the top needs to take a long look at itself before it continues down this narrowing tunnel.
The SL clubs are not the custodians of our game, the RFL is. The sky money only comes about because of the SL clubs, as far as they are concerned, why shouldn't they get that money? Why should they give the money they generate to clubs, that as far as they are the concerned contribute nothing to the game?
With the academy system they no longer require small clubs to produce young players.
My ire on this matter is wholly directed at the RFL, it is they who are supposed th regulate and manage the game, not a few greedy SL chairman. If we were still in SL I'd expect our owners would be of the same mindset.
And you would be correct. But you can see the SL brand was what Sky were after and it worked for them. Our senior clubs rule the RFL and have been trapped by their own greed.
I can see no real effort to manage without Sky. Why would there be if your club is benefitting?
There is an interesting article on Facebook about a young lad released by Saints to the Championship because he found, under Henderson, the enjoyment in the game that he really played for. A salutory lesson about sport as an enjoyment rather than as a career.
The SL clubs are not the custodians of our game, the RFL is. The sky money only comes about because of the SL clubs, as far as they are concerned, why shouldn't they get that money? Why should they give the money they generate to clubs, that as far as they are the concerned contribute nothing to the game?
With the academy system they no longer require small clubs to produce young players.
My ire on this matter is wholly directed at the RFL, it is they who are supposed th regulate and manage the game, not a few greedy SL chairman. If we were still in SL I'd expect our owners would be of the same mindset.
But in fairness to the top SL clubs, they've been handing out the TV money paid to televise Super League to the likes of (with all due respect) Oldham, Hunslet etc to piss up the wall with little progress for 25 years. It's now got to the point where the TV money is diminishing and they think "well, why bother?".
Bottom line is - if it's decided on the pitch, Widnes are a mid-table Championship club. If decided off the pitch, Widnes are still a mid-table Championship club. That is the unfortunate reality.
Let's look at the positive, we've finished 4th in the Champo under IMG which is the highest we've finished since we got relegated 🤣🤣