Sky Sports - New TV Deal (Merged Threads)

[gingerjon]

Oh, of course. It is no bad thing, but I'm saying that the (few) who think it's suddenly because we've changed to this new structure that Uncle Rupert ran to RFL HQ with his chequebook are barking up the wrong tree.

 

Personally in the wider media landscape I think it's interesting, but from an RL perspective maybe not so much.

 

The 3x8ers should be allowed some triumphalism though - not least because the system now has the backing behind it to be properly tested.  If it fails it won't be because the money wasn't there.

 

But I agree.  Rather like falling crowds and declining participation, there's a bigger influence from outside RL than within.

[keighley]

Perhaps it did, I can see the SKY Sports board settling down in their leather armchairs to Swinton .v. Whitehaven!!.............

 

Maybe not but I can see them getting quite excited about Fev V Cas in the middle eight with a promotion/relegation depending on  the result or Halifax v Wakefield or Leigh v Widnes.  Or even Batley v Dewsbury with a middle eight place on the line.

[Ackroman]

Maybe not but I can see them getting quite excited about Fev V Cas in the middle eight with a promotion/relegation depending on  the result or Halifax v Wakefield or Leigh v Widnes.  Or even Batley v Dewsbury with a middle eight place on the line.

 

Parky has hit the buffers because he picked his side of the fence to sit on and has nothing other than his Rothmans for company.

[Amber Avenger]

The 3x8ers should be allowed some triumphalism though - not least because the system now has the backing behind it to be properly tested.  If it fails it won't be because the money wasn't there.

 

I'll go along with that, certainly

[Dave T]

Oh, of course. It is no bad thing, but I'm saying that the (few) who think it's suddenly because we've changed to this new structure that Uncle Rupert ran to RFL HQ with his chequebook are barking up the wrong tree.

 

Personally in the wider media landscape I think it's interesting, but from an RL perspective maybe not so much.

Whilst I agree it clearly wasn't the driving factor in this, the reality is that Sky could have just upped the money for the Super League and playoffs, however the new deal includes the return of the Championships after a few years out.

 

I don't think our bargaining position was strong enough to demand that they cover the Championship, so there must have been some kind of desire from Sky.

[RLDave]

Great news on the deal. New Sponsor (with hopefully more yet to be announced), new Tv deal with a huge amount of money tagged on to it. Things are looking very good for UK Rugby League. I hope a bit of this money goes towards a strong marketing and promotion department so we can get other people as excited about RL as we are. Things are on the up!!!!!

[Dave T]

The 3x8ers should be allowed some triumphalism though - not least because the system now has the backing behind it to be properly tested.  If it fails it won't be because the money wasn't there.

 

But I agree.  Rather like falling crowds and declining participation, there's a bigger influence from outside RL than within.

Can we abandon use of terms like 3x8ers and stuff. Not least because it isn;t very snappy!

 

We are all RL fans, and after the last however many years I think we have created too many fractions in the game. 

 

I'm not interested in being an expansionist, a traditionalist, a flat-capper, a 3x8er or whatever.

 

Let's all go back to being RL fans - no segregation! 

[gingerjon]

Can we abandon use of terms like 3x8ers and stuff. Not least because it isn;t very snappy!

 

We are all RL fans, and after the last however many years I think we have created too many fractions in the game. 

 

I'm not interested in being an expansionist, a traditionalist, a flat-capper, a 3x8er or whatever.

 

Let's all go back to being RL fans - no segregation!

I'm having no truck with Unifiers like you

[longboard]

Can we abandon use of terms like 3x8ers and stuff. Not least because it isn;t very snappy!

 

We are all RL fans, and after the last however many years I think we have created too many fractions in the game. 

 

I'm not interested in being an expansionist, a traditionalist, a flat-capper, a 3x8er or whatever.

 

Let's all go back to being RL fans - no segregation! 

 

It is those fractions that are dividing the game. 

[Martyn Sadler]

The BT Sport effect coming into play?

 

It's the first time in a long while that Sky have had serious competition in the UK market for sports rights.

 

I'm glad the RFL noticed the fundamental market shift and seem to have capitalised on it.

The new agreement owes virtually everything to the competition from BT Sport.

 

In fact if I were BT Sport I would think about charging commission on the deal.

 

Structures mean very little to Sky, as long as their games are attracting a decent audience. It's foolish to pretend otherwise.

 

But, as others have suggested, the deal is opportune as it give the RFL the opportunity to adequately fund its new structure to demonstrate it can work as well as it has suggested it will.

 

We all have to hope that the RFL is right.

 

What is interesting is that Sky have bought the Championship, and even Championship 1, which suggests that it believes it has lost some subscribers among Championship supporters in the last few years.

[gingerjon]

I didn't realise they'd bought C1 as well.

Damn facts.

[Rascal Bongo Stork]

great news I think, really hope the money is spread wisely allowing for real competition in that middle 8. And with some extra trickle down into the depths of what's now Championship 1. With Bein Sports obviously bunging Sky all the Catalan home games I wonder if there's some reciprocation that will bring an increase in Super League on Bein this season? 

Hope there'll be some structures in place to financially reward clubs bringing through their own talent. Be a shame if the middle ranking teams blow it all on an Aussie journeyman supermarket sweep.

[jpmc]

Personally speaking .i'm not expecting that much more money being released to the championship clubs by the rfl/sle.

The below is part of a statement released by st helens

"At a stroke this ensures solvency for all Super League clubs for the foreseeable future and provides confidence to fans and sponsors in equal measure. They have a lot to look forward to as long as clubs take a disciplined and realistic approach to their cost bases.

[Dave T]

I'm having no truck with Unifiers like you

Unfortunately I've reached my quota of positive posts for the day to like this.

 

Clearly this board was not created with positive news in mind!!!!

[Bullish Giant Rhino]

The distrubution in this deal is key. The last deal was £127M over 5 years, this is roughly £200M over 5 years, as of 2017. That means at least £14M more is being pumped into SL every year.  However, this time there are 12 more clubs to feed. And the RFL still need to feed themselves. For that reason I can't see the SL clubs getting any more than £500,000 more from Sky per year. So not that great.

[Rascal Bongo Stork]

The distrubution in this deal is key. The last deal was £127M over 5 years, this is roughly £200M over 5 years, as of 2017. That means at least £14M more is being pumped into SL every year.  However, this time there are 12 more clubs to feed. And the RFL still need to feed themselves. For that reason I can't see the SL clubs getting any more than £500,000 more from Sky per year. So not that great.

 

if it did work out at £14M a year and it was evenly split between all 24 SL1&2 clubs (which obviously it wont) it would still be £583K extra a year for the big boys. Not the worst of deals surely? And you've got to look beyond what extra the elite are going to get - this could be massive for the sport as a whole, 'only' 500k a year extra would be an absolute boost to so many clubs

Anyway, as Martyn Sadler has said it's already been divvied up - let us await the information. Personally waiting until League Express comes out is a wait too long, I want to know now!

[John Rhino]

Don't have the link handy but St. Helens chairman is praising the deal to the high heavens. He says it will ensure financial stability for ALL SL clubs and the new league set up is brilliant.

Oh and the RFL are the best thing since sliced bread! Love it!

[intheshed]

The Policy Review couldn't be clearer - half Tier 1's money to Tier 2. It makes sense to me - what we have are more potentially strong clubs than SL can accommodate - a large number of whom have won major trophies more recently than nearly half the existing SL clubs. For the biggest clubs, a few 100k simply isn't going to make a massive difference, so they could be persuaded, for the struggling clubs, their biggest fear is what if we slip down a division, and so having a guaranteed parachute makes sense. The benefits for Tier 2 clubs are obvious.

For those who mentioned the Dark Side, I couldn't care less, but perhaps they simply don't have the equivalent factors to consider.

We struggle to beat the Aussies with the pool of talent we have, if Fev, Leigh, Fax, the Cumbrians etc have money to spend on bringing on more juniors our chances have to be much higher.

The problem I saw and still see with this type of distribution is that it appears to focus only on making the 7 rounds in the three 8's workable. It seems to offer the potential for four clubs outside of SL(1) to have sufficient funds to possibly take on the bottom 4 of SL but doesn't appear to take account of a need to ensure the 23 rounds played in the the 12's are competitive and attractive to spectators. 

 

If the 2nd 12 ends up having 4 teams, maybe 6 for the first year with parachute payments, with sufficient central funding to run at or close to full time grouped with 8 receiving significantly less then it seems to risk numerous one sided games. Making the 8's work is vital but it can't be at the cost of the majority of the season which will be played in the leagues of 12, surely? 

[GeordieSaint]

I didn't realise they'd bought C1 as well.

Damn facts.

 

Me neither; interesting!

 

What will be more interesting will be the details of the funding split... the vast majority of it will go to the SL clubs; I'd be surprised if much disappears to the low levels of the game.

[Auntie Linzi Morris]

Can we abandon use of terms like 3x8ers and stuff. Not least because it isn;t very snappy!

 

We are all RL fans, and after the last however many years I think we have created too many fractions in the game. 

 

I'm not interested in being an expansionist, a traditionalist, a flat-capper, a 3x8er or whatever.

 

Let's all go back to being RL fans - no segregation! 

 

We could call them the eighters?

But then again, that's too close to haters.

And that would be really confusing.

In fact, I'm not even sure what I am.

I hate the eights but I'm not an eighter hater.

 

Best to forget all the above.

[bobbruce]

The new agreement owes virtually everything to the competition from BT Sport.

In fact if I were BT Sport I would think about charging commission on the deal.

Structures mean very little to Sky, as long as their games are attracting a decent audience. It's foolish to pretend otherwise.

But, as others have suggested, the deal is opportune as it give the RFL the opportunity to adequately fund its new structure to demonstrate it can work as well as it has suggested it will.

We all have to hope that the RFL is right.

What is interesting is that Sky have bought the Championship, and even Championship 1, which suggests that it believes it has lost some subscribers among Championship supporters in the last few years.

On the sky website it just says Sky will show games from a 12 club SL and a 12 club championship. It doesn't mention championship 1

[Blind side johnny]

Why is it hilarious?

 

The only figures for the new 5 year TV deal knocking around is £200m from a couple of journos. The discussion on this forum is then how you would split this.

 

If you think that's hilarious, I suspect you need to get out more!

 

 

I get out plenty thank you.

 

The hilarity is caused by people such as you thinking that their opinions and careful calculations will count for anything when the SL chairmen sit around the pot wielding their spoons. There is, as yet, no clarification that the £200M is for the extra five years or if it cunningly rolls up the existing deal too.No matter getting the facts lets "decide" how best to divvy it up.  Its called hypothecation but don't sprain your brain trying to understand it.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

I get out plenty thank you.

The hilarity is caused by people such as you thinking that their opinions and careful calculations will count for anything when the SL chairmen sit around the pot wielding their spoons. There is, as yet, no clarification that the £200M is for the extra five years or if it cunningly rolls up the existing deal too.No matter getting the facts lets "decide" how best to divvy it up. Its called hypothecation but don't sprain your brain trying to understand it.

If you can name one poster that thinks SL chairman will pay attention to what they're saying on a message board, then you may have a point.

Otherwise, you've just made up a reason to justify having a bit of a dig.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

It is those fractions that are dividing the game.

It could be a factor

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Can't believe I've missed out on this news story until a few hours ago and no time to reply!

I'm worried about getting ahead of myself and then being let down, but if it is £200m for five years that's HUGE for the game. A combination of factors could have brought this increase, that being BT Sport, the new system (like it or not, I'd say the new system has definitely brought more interest in the lower leagues from Sky as they dumped Championship rugby shortly after licensing) and also possibly the growth of the NRL. Sky need to pay more so the talent can stay in this country otherwise people will switch off. An increase in competition usually brings about a better deal both inside and outside the game.