HawkMan

Very interesting promotions to the football league this season, Harrogate and Barrow. Two Northern towns, good news for the region. Great to see Barrow back, and the Harrogate fairytale is amazing.

Love this , I'm a recent recruit to the sport. Some wild racing.

I've no interest in American Football, but here's the answer to the burning question of this thread......apparently. In Canada, the game has a significant following. According to a 2013 poll, 21% of respondents said they followed the NFL "very closely" or "fairly closely", making it the third-most followed league behind the National Hockey League (NHL) and Canadian Football League (CFL).[165] American football also has a long history in Mexico, which was introduced to the sport in 1896. It was the second-most popular sport in Mexico in the 1950s, with the game being particularly popular in colleges.[166] The Los Angeles Times notes the NFL claims over 16 million fans in Mexico, which places the country third behind the US and Canada.[167] American football is played in Mexico both professionally and as part of the college sports system.[168] A professional league, the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA), was founded in 2016.[169] Opening ceremony of the 2010 NFL International Series at London's Wembley Stadium Japan was introduced to the sport in 1934 by Paul Rusch, a teacher and Christian missionary who helped to establish football teams at three universities in Tokyo. Play was halted during World War II, but the sport began growing in popularity again after the war. As of 2010, there are more than 400 high school football teams in Japan, with over 15,000 participants, and over 100 teams play in the Kantoh Collegiate Football Association (KCFA).[170] The college champion plays the champion of the X-League (a semi-professional league where teams are financed by corporations) in the Rice Bowl to determine Japan's national champion.[171] Europe is a major target for the expansion of the game by football organizers. In the United Kingdom in the 1980s, the sport was popular, with the 1986 Super Bowl being watched by over four million people (about 1 out of every 14 Britons). Its popularity faded during the 1990s, coinciding with the establishment of the Premier League—top level of the English football league system. According to BBC America, there is a "social stigma" surrounding American football in the UK, with many Brits feeling the sport has no right to call itself "football" due to the lack of emphasis on kicking.[172] Nonetheless, the sport has retained a following in the United Kingdom; the NFL operates a media network in the country, and since 2007 has hosted the NFL International Series in London. Super Bowl viewership has also rebounded, with over 4.4 million Britons watching Super Bowl XLVI.[173] The sport is played in European countries like Switzerland, which has American football clubs in every major city,[174] and Germany, where the sport has around 45,000 registered amateur players.[168] In Brazil, football is a growing sport. It was generally unknown there until the 1980s when a small group of players began playing on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. The sport grew gradually with 700 amateur players registering within 20 years. Games were played on the beach with modified rules and without the traditional football equipment due to its lack of availability in Brazil. Eventually, a tournament, the Carioca championship, was founded, with the championship Carioca Bowl played to determine a league champion. The country saw its first full-pad game of football in October 2008.[175] According to The Rio Times, the sport is one of the fastest-growing sports in Brazil and is almost as commonly played as soccer on the beaches of Copacabana and Botafogo.[176] Football in Brazil is governed by the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol Americano (CBFA), which had over 5,000 registered players as of November 2013. The sport's increase in popularity has been attributed to games aired on ESPN, which began airing in Brazil in 1992 with Portuguese commentary.[177] The popularity and "easy accessibility" of non-contact versions of the sport in Brazil has led to a rise in participation by female players.[176] According to ESPN, the American football audience in Brazil increased 800% between 2013 and 2016. The network, along with Esporte Interativo, airs games there on cable television. Football is often associated in Brazil as being the sport of supermodel Gisele Bündchen's husband Tom Brady. The NFL has expressed interest in having games in the country, and the Super Bowl has become a widely watched event in Brazil at bars and movie theaters.[178] hope that helps, I'm in a packed pub at the moment watching Brentford vs Swansea. Everyone seems glued to the tv.....important game ....promotion...people seem to like it!

If they do something it probably won't have an impact, but if they don't it may. As a fellow southerner you realise that RL gets naff all mention in the papers down here, or outside the heartlands, but a bad news story tends to stick. Already before every F1 race the talk is who'll take the knee and who'll not. People have long memories if they feel aggrieved. Slime sticks as the old saying goes, and the game doesn't need any slung in its direction.

What we don't want in the run up to the WC next year is the general public to say, " ah Rugby League, that's the game that didn't bother with the BLM campaign. " Football, Cricket, Formula One has done something so we should do something ANYTHING, a banner saying " we support equality " or " drive out racism " would show solidarity. Unless the RL community really DOESN'T care.

I think it would be a really bad look if they waltz on to the pitch and do nothing. Maybe a banner might be a good thing.

You do surprise me as your interest in the premier league has been revealed in a previous thread. Bleep1673 1,514 Posted June 16 I would rather cut my toes off with a butter knife.

Russia are big wine producers too, have they been banned!! Expect anti trl forum reprisal from Putin.

I thought it already was the primary sport in 85% of countries, or more. It isn't the primary in ; NZ, OZ, USA and Canada, India, Pakistan Sri Lanka, Bangladesh erm now I'm struggling. British Caribbean possibly....Mongolia

Premier League soon be over, don't despair.....quite a bit of footy to come. From no football for 100 days to matches almost every day for over a year. The coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc with the sporting calendar and meant there was no domestic action for three months. But one consequence of the game's suspension is that the gap between seasons, which can leave fans starved of any competitive action for two or three months, will be dramatically shorter and packed with other matches to follow. There are likely to be seven weeks between the end of this Premier League season and the start of the next one - but there will be only eight days in that time without games in eight selected tournaments. How, you ask? Let us explain... The Premier League ends on 26 July, with the four Championship play-off semi-final matches being played later that week. The FA Cup final is on 1 August, the same day the 2020-21 Scottish Premiership season begins. The Serie A season ends the following day, with the Championship play-off final on 4 August. On 5 August the Europa League last-16 ties resume - with Manchester United and Wolves playing in successive days. Then Manchester City and Chelsea play their Champions League last-16 second legs on the following two days. There will only be three days - none in a row - without a European game until the Champions League final on 23 August. Then comes the big wait, with the Nations League not starting for another 11 days. However, in those 11 days the Scottish Premiership continues, the Community Shield could be played (30 August is a reported date for that), the Women's Champions League semi-finals and final take place and France's Ligue 1 starts (22 August). Only eight of the 48 days in question do not have either Championship play-offs, Champions League or Europa League games (including qualifiers featuring British teams), the Scottish Premiership, Italian or French football, the Nations League or the Women's Champions League. And six of those eight are either side of the international break - as there would be during any normal season. Even those eight days do have football in some of Europe's smaller leagues like Belgium, the Republic of Ireland and the Nordic countries. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland play two games each in the Nations League between 3 and 8 September. Four days later - on 12 September - the Premier League is reportedly due to start and then there will be near continuous football for more than a year. The 2021 Champions League final in Istanbul is on 29 May, with Euro 2020 starting 13 days later. Selected games on every day between the two Premier League seasons The 2019-20 Premier League season ends on 26 July, the 2020-21 campaign is expected to start on 12 September 27 July - Championship play-off semi-final first leg 28 July - Italian Serie A games 29 July - Championship play-off semi-final second leg, Serie A games 30 July - Championship play-off semi-final second leg 31 July - French League Cup final 1 August - FA Cup final, Scottish Premiership opening day 2 August - Scottish Premiership games, Serie A final day 3 August - Scottish Premiership game 4 August - Championship play-off final 5 August - Europa League last-16 ties 6 August - Europa League last-16 ties 7 August - Champions League last-16 ties 8 August - Champions League last-16 ties, Scottish Premiership games, Champions League preliminary round (including Northern Irish team) 9 August - Scottish Premiership games 10 August - Europa League quarter-finals 11 August - Europa League quarter-finals, Scottish Premiership game, Champions League preliminary round (including Northern Irish team) 12 August - Champions League quarter-final, Scottish Premiership games 13 August - Champions League quarter-final 14 August - Champions League quarter-final 15 August - Champions League quarter-final, Scottish Premiership games 16 August - Europa League semi-final, Scottish Premiership game 17 August - Europa League semi-final 18 August - Champions League semi-final, Champions League first qualifying round (including Scottish and Welsh team) 19 August - Champions League semi-final, Champions League first qualifying round (including Scottish and Welsh team) 20 August - Europa League preliminary round (including Welsh and Northern Irish teams) 21 August - Europa League final, Women's Champions League quarter-finals 22 August - Scottish Premiership games, Women's Champions League quarter-finals, French Ligue 1 opening day 23 August - Champions League final, Scottish Premiership game, Ligue 1 games 24 August - 25 August - Women's Champions League semi-final 26 August - Women's Champions League semi-final 27 August - Europa League first qualifying round (including Scottish and Welsh teams) 28 August - 29 August - Scottish Premiership games, Women's Champions League final, Ligue 1 games 30 August - Community Shield (possibly, date not confirmed), Ligue 1 games 31 August, 1, 2 September - 3 September - Nations League games 4 September - Nations League games 5 September - Nations League games 6 September - Nations League games 7 September - Nations League games 8 September - Nations League games 9, 10, 11 September - There are actually football matches on each of the eight days without games highlighted in other smaller leagues Then it's 20/21 season followed by Euro 2020.....gulp!!

For me the cream of motorsport is the IndyCar championship. Faster than F1, furious racing on all types of circuits, road, street and oval. Some spectacular action from 2019.

Probably all TWP's fault. Bloody fifth columnists.

Good news for the rhinos.? Bad news, or is it irrelevant? Thinking of attendances, and huge publicity that may dominate all sports news in the city.

Lionel Messi unrest at Barcelona rumours, Bielsa is Argentine, is it possible? Or even thinkable, Messi to Leeds!!!!

Might be cost problem for RL, I don't know of the EFL has to pay to have their matches there, after all FA own Wembley.