RFL.

[jpmc]

Mate, you have no idea of the sponsors the RFL's commercial people chase year on year, and you have no idea what their reply is to offers to sponsor Rugby league.

 

That the RFL ended up with a no money Stobart deal doesn't mean for one nano second they didn't ask Britains biggest 1,000 companies to sponsor them.

 

It's as simple as this.

 

Either the big sponsors you crave do not want to know, or the commercial team and their director at the RFL spend all their time in the local pub.

 

I bet you new the answer you would get to that before you pushed the submit button.

 

He's nothing if not predictable.

[indomitable]

Until we start having a regular international programme we will always struggle for sponsors, In Wales we have an absolute minimum of coverage, and in fact this applies to the majority of southern England. I now find that my grandson who works in the City is now an avid rugby league fan, which is due to the internationals played in London. He was disappointed with the recent game in London purely as a spectacle, but he remains as keen on supporting the game.

Clearly our international game is extremely limited, and until the sport builds up its international perspective- we will always have a limited number of sponsors.

[The Parksider]

Until we start having a regular international programme we will always struggle for sponsors, Clearly our international game is extremely limited, and until the sport builds up its international perspective- we will always have a limited number of sponsors.

 

This sounds far more credible by miles and miles than the idea that the RFL are just useless at finding £multi-million sponsorships from big companies, who are just itching to invest in a club game based in a small region.

 

But no doubt the myth will re-surface in a couple of months....

[Dave T]

This sounds far more credible by miles and miles than the idea that the RFL are just useless at finding £multi-million sponsorships from big companies, who are just itching to invest in a club game based in a small region.

But no doubt the myth will re-surface in a couple of months....

whilst i agree with most of this, it doesnt mean the rf is not in the wrong at all.

In reality though most of us have no idea whether the rfl are doing well and batting above average or below.

The fact we have never had sponsors in advance for internationals in particular and always take deals at the at second does make me cynical, even the wc had very low sponsorship income with many deals announced on the opening day. We got a grand total of one new deal for the Kiwi series in the autumn, and that was first utility.

That said, we have used external companies plenty of times for marketing, pr, media, sponsorship and they have fared little better.

[jpmc]

I think the interest from bigger businesses that people crave will happen the bigger the sport becomes "internationally" in the southern hemisphere the sport will continue to grow on the back of the NRL.

 

The problem is here in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

If the RFL can create "in time" a situation were we have at least 20 full time clubs, that than should open the door to lots more Welsh,Scottish & Irish players playing the game without damaging the number of English players coming through.

 

Then we have the biggest conundrum of all,how do we help French RL find the money to create at least 5 or 6 full time clubs.

[Futtocks]

whilst i agree with most of this, it doesnt mean the rf is not in the wrong at all.

In reality though most of us have no idea whether the rfl are doing well and batting above average or below.

The fact we have never had sponsors in advance for internationals in particular and always take deals at the at second does make me cynical, even the wc had very low sponsorship income with many deals announced on the opening day. We got a grand total of one new deal for the Kiwi series in the autumn, and that was first utility.

That said, we have used external companies plenty of times for marketing, pr, media, sponsorship and they have fared little better.

The decision-makers at those big companies that could sponsor RL read, listen to and watch the same sports reports as the rest of us. When RL's vanishingly few mentions are mainly negative (often penned by RU hacks with vested interests), they can be forgiven for thinking that the sport has no significant following and is on the verge of extinction. 

 

That's the way that the sport has been portrayed, as a rule, for as long as any of us can remember. Questioning that status quo can be easily dismissed with accusations of 'chippiness'.

 

It makes RL sponsorship a tough sell for the RFL or for any outside agency they may employ.

[Dave T]

The decision-makers at those big companies that could sponsor RL read, listen to and watch the same sports reports as the rest of us. When RL's vanishingly few mentions are mainly negative (often penned by RU hacks with vested interests), they can be forgiven for thinking that the sport has no significant following and is on the verge of extinction.

That's the way that the sport has been portrayed, as a rule, for as long as any of us can remember. Questioning that status quo can be easily dismissed with accusations of 'chippiness'.

It makes RL sponsorship a tough sell for the RFL or for any outside agency they may employ.

i agree, but why would writers in Cardiff, London or Edinburgh write about rl? Why would business people in major companies be interested.

We are genuinely irrelevant for large parts of the country and population.

One thing everybody can get behind is an international team, yet we are as half hearted with that as we are as most other things.

Why would anybody sponsor england rl? Some years they dont even play in the uk.

[The Parksider]

The decision-makers at those big companies that could sponsor RL read, listen to and watch the same sports reports as the rest of us. When RL's vanishingly few mentions are mainly negative (often penned by RU hacks with vested interests), they can be forgiven for thinking that the sport has no significant following and is on the verge of extinction. 

 

It makes RL sponsorship a tough sell for the RFL or for any outside agency they may employ.

 

Not for me.

 

It's a tenuous link between a Stephen Jones hatchet job buried away in the depths of a sunday broadsheet and a major company deciding the game is not for them.

 

The ultimate face of RL is the terrestrial BBC coverage of the Challenge Cup and major Internationals.

 

Theres a sackful of respect given to the game in the coverage, there's great fare on the pitch and the game proves it can get a relatively big audience against a relatively small game to watch in person and on TV, when it is at it's best.

 

I'm sure that companies make their own decision as regards putting their name to these events for money. I'm sure these companies have the utmost respect for the game.

 

I'm also sure they fairly evaluate the potential of spending their sponsorship budgets on RL against the small exposure we would relatively bring them, and the small interest in the game amongst a 60,000,000+ population.

 

Maybe if Superleague and four nations was on the BBC it would be different. Maybe then we would NOT get the £200,000,000 from SKY  

[Dave T]

Not for me.

It's a tenuous link between a Stephen Jones hatchet job buried away in the depths of a sunday broadsheet and a major company deciding the game is not for them.

The ultimate face of RL is the terrestrial BBC coverage of the Challenge Cup and major Internationals.

Theres a sackful of respect given to the game in the coverage, there's great fare on the pitch and the game proves it can get a relatively big audience against a relatively small game to watch in person and on TV, when it is at it's best.

I'm sure that companies make their own decision as regards putting their name to these events for money. I'm sure these companies have the utmost respect for the game.

I'm also sure they fairly evaluate the potential of spending their sponsorship budgets on RL against the small exposure we would relatively bring them, and the small interest in the game amongst a 60,000,000+ population.

Maybe if Superleague and four nations was on the BBC it would be different. Maybe then we would NOT get the £200,000,000 from SKY

In any presentation of benefits to potential sponsors you would find the media coverage they could reach, this would absolutely include coverage in newspapers and their sites which have reaches and clicks that far outweigh tv coverage.

Rugby League does not even have a section on most websites.

Companies will make their own decisions, and there will be softer ctors like prestige, but reach will be a massive factor in any business case.

[Wire quin]

 

 

Maybe if Superleague and four nations was on the BBC it would be different. Maybe then we would NOT get the £200,000,000 from SKY  

The beeb can't even afford to keep the semi pro BDO darts on as BT have whipped it from under there feet

 

David Haye is on the Dave channel tonight. Forget the beeb until they introduce adverts.

 

The game will not be attractive to sponsors until it expands out of Cheshire, Calder and East Yorks. What product would you promote, that is solely 'used' in that area. Bingo and chippys it is for the foreseeable future.

 

London is the start of the solution whether we want to accept it or not. 

[MaverickX111]

The beeb can't even afford to keep the semi pro BDO darts on as BT have whipped it from under there feet

David Haye is on the Dave channel tonight. Forget the beeb until they introduce adverts.

The game will not be attractive to sponsors until it expands out of Cheshire, Calder and East Yorks. What product would you promote, that is solely 'used' in that area. Bingo and chippys it is for the foreseeable future.

London is the start of the solution whether we want to accept it or not.

I fully accept the importance of London

Indeed London has produced a good standard of super league player something we certainly did not anticipate even twenty years ago

I'm hoping for a very competitive London team this year

[The Parksider]

In any presentation of benefits to potential sponsors you would find the media coverage they could reach, this would absolutely include coverage in newspapers

Companies will make their own decisions, 

 

Indeed and this was my point, companies will decide on the facts and not be swayed because the media supposedly have a downer on the game.

 

Forget the beeb until they introduce adverts.

 

The game will not be attractive to sponsors until it expands out of Cheshire, Calder and East Yorks. What product would you promote, that is solely 'used' in that area. Bingo and chippys it is for the foreseeable future.

 

London is the start of the solution whether we want to accept it or not. 

 

I'm not suggesting the Beeb buy it.

 

The point is that SKY have taken the regular game and stuck it on their pay channel.

 

That it's not on terrestrial TV reduces the exposure, but we do get £200M contracts as compensation.

 

The way people talk is as though we get nothing for the game, sack the RFL.

 

I've always accepted London as the solution but the solution for a professional vibrant London is to invest £Millions over many years to get them competing.

 

"Wales" could the solution too, but you can't put the horse before the cart.

 

£££Investment is the solution.

 

Catch 22 is the problem - it would probably cost more to make the game big enough to get more companies sponsoring it.

 

Soccer and RU are also the problem....

 

Bottom line for me is accept who we are what we can do, do our best and enjoy and celebrate that.

[Wire quin]

 

 

Bottom line for me is accept who we are what we can do, do our best and enjoy and celebrate that.

There probably isn't one big business in the world that would ever adopt that philosophy. Does Nokia ring a bell.

[MancRL]

Expand out of Cheshire?  Cheshire is full of multi millionaires, many who run multi national companies in London. This bozo who thinks Cheshire is all about bingo is a proper knob.

[Dave T]

Expand out of Cheshire? Cheshire is full of multi millionaires, many who run multi national companies in London. This bozo who thinks Cheshire is all about bingo is a proper knob.

tbf, we need to expand into cheshire.

[Guest]

tbf, we need to expand into cheshire.

This. Didn't Warrington say something about targeting Chester recently?

[Barnaby Reddin]

Expand out of Cheshire?  Cheshire is full of multi millionaires, many who run multi national companies in London. This bozo who thinks Cheshire is all about bingo is a proper knob.

Cheshire is full of millionaire and company bosses, but they are generally aspirants and will cling to soccer or the other code, rather than attach themselves to what is a proud working class sport.

 

I posted a list earlier of a load of top firms in the region and these are the ones we should be chasing for involvement. IIRC it was an idea from Wigan that got Heinz in as a sponsor for a while...didn't they flog an entire stand to them for their staff? That's the sort of thing the RFL need to get behind.....subsidised deals for companies like Matalan. Matalan's HQ is 5k from St Helens......sell them the south Stand at a heavily discounted rate for the visit of Catalans...let them and their staff see the spectacle. No loss to St Helens who would get only 12k to the game anyway, a great way for a large company to reward it's staff for very little outlay (40k???) and an opportunity to discuss potential sponsorship or partnership........but most importantly, a great reason to pick the phone up and speak to the CEO of the company in the first place!

[EastLondonMike]

Puma UK has its main wharehouse and the majority of people the brand employs in the UK in Batley. Coca Cola used to have a similar facility in Wakey (they may still).

Plenty of major companies have headquarters or facilities in the north of England, as it's cheaper.

Many of the people they employ will be RL fans.