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How Big Is Enough ?


How Big Is Enough?  

53 members have voted

  1. 1. How Big Do You Want RL To Be

    • As big as Soccer whatever the consequences
      10
    • Globally big but not enough to be greed driven ( Ice Hockey level perhaps)
      26
    • So long as it's bigger than RU that's enough
      10
    • Happy with status quo
      7


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How big do you want TGG to be ? The obvious answer may be as big as possible  , as big as Soccer. However it's naive to think any global sport could really operate without some sort of greed,  MASSIVE tv deals means powerful agents milking the game for whatever they can get, players not showing refs great respect with so much at stake , vested interests evident in the game's governance,  possible corruption in bidding for World Cups etc. In short if RL went global it would change massively.  So how big do you want it to be ?

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My choice would be option 2. Too big and the game would lose that something that makes the game special,  the ties to the fans and community. 

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2 hours ago, Eddie said:

Not as big as football, for the reasons you’ve articulated. About as big as Union is now would do me, though I don’t care if it’s bigger than Union or not. 

I find myself agreeing strongly with this.

I guess in a strange way, I would like to see news programmes showing clips of beer flying everywhere in a pubs across the country, celebrating a national RL victory. Whether folk knew what was going on or not, I love RL enough to want them to agree that it is a wonderful sport. That would do me.

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1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

Or cars with the flag of St George poking out of the windows during next year's World Cup. We can but hope.

Though I suppose the owners of such cars might be reflecting the significance of the Catalan contribution to the French team!

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Interesting results so far, only two people want RL to be as big as Soccer, and four want to keep the game as it is,  no expansion.  What gives?

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1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

Interesting results so far, only two people want RL to be as big as Soccer, and four want to keep the game as it is,  no expansion.  What gives?

        If we had 25% of kids playing Soccer participating in Rugby League at all levels under 16     i   would to quote a Soccer Phrase Be Over the Moon..

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I think rl could be as big as union. Football is king in Europe (and most of the world) but I always thought League can be as big as Union with the right leadership and finances. Just depends on whether the game wants to work together as one or just have NRL, SL and IRL

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I think the options are out of order, rugby union is bigger than hockey.

Hockey: 1 extremely rich league(nhl), 1 other top end league(khl), several smaller national league. A world championship without the best players that not many care about. Played in mostly richer northern countries. Popular Olympic tournament. 

Rugby: 1 extremely rich league (top14) one poorer but recognized as extremely talented league (super), two more very strong leagues (prem/pro14), and more pro leagues below these. Fairly large world cup taken very seriously by all nations. Regular and popular international game. Olympic inclusion with 7s. Popular to some extent in all regions of the world.

 

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League will never get the PR that Union gets from the media. A good example was on BBC breakfast, where they interview Bill Beaumont and Matt (can remember his surname) about the Question of Sport anniversary. It turned into a general interview about rugby union, which I suppose was always going to be the case. 

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On 30/05/2020 at 14:30, HawkMan said:

How big do you want TGG to be ? The obvious answer may be as big as possible  , as big as Soccer. However it's naive to think any global sport could really operate without some sort of greed,  MASSIVE tv deals means powerful agents milking the game for whatever they can get, players not showing refs great respect with so much at stake , vested interests evident in the game's governance,  possible corruption in bidding for World Cups etc. In short if RL went global it would change massively.  So how big do you want it to be ?

From a slightly obsessive position, there`s a philosophical question whether it`s more satisfying to follow a game which is small enough to make it possible to be conversant with most of it globally. My choice would be the logical contradiction of status quo, but with everything everywhere moving in the right direction.

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30 minutes ago, TheReaper said:

I think the options are out of order, rugby union is bigger than hockey.

Hockey: 1 extremely rich league(nhl), 1 other top end league(khl), several smaller national league. A world championship without the best players that not many care about. Played in mostly richer northern countries. Popular Olympic tournament. 

Rugby: 1 extremely rich league (top14) one poorer but recognized as extremely talented league (super), two more very strong leagues (prem/pro14), and more pro leagues below these. Fairly large world cup taken very seriously by all nations. Regular and popular international game. Olympic inclusion with 7s. Popular to some extent in all regions of the world.

 

Ice Hockey is bigger than RU. Played in virtually all of Eastern Europe,  Scandinavia,  Western Europe to lesser extent and North America all with professional leagues. It doesn't have a WC like Union,  more important is the Olympics. But Union is not as big as they would like to think.

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Big enough to have a presence in BC! Seriously though big enough to be recognized world wide, but not to a level where the players become unapproachable prima donnas.

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17 hours ago, Mark S said:

League will never get the PR that Union gets from the media. A good example was on BBC breakfast, where they interview Bill Beaumont and Matt (can remember his surname) about the Question of Sport anniversary. It turned into a general interview about rugby union, which I suppose was always going to be the case. 

This is why I think the "home nations" are a lost cause for now. There's a stigma to RL there.

We need to grow the game everywhere else and then circle back.

new rise.jpg

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6 hours ago, Pulga said:

This is why I think the "home nations" are a lost cause for now. There's a stigma to RL there.

We need to grow the game everywhere else and then circle back.

Precisely, and how better to do that circling back than to have a whole new transatlantic league which blows that stigma completely away?

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The way I voted was to consider what I know about ice hockey. 

I’ve attended one game in my life. I can name a variety of teams and competitions and maybe 2 players.

I know that professionals are widely produced from across the globe - Canada, USA, UK, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland I’m even sure there’s an Aussie in the NHL.

I want rugby league to be just a bit bigger than that and I’d argue in parts it probably already is. The fact that I can name only 2 ice hockey players suggests they aren’t ‘household’ names - how many RL players could a British ice hockey fan name? That’s the test in that sense. We have superstar athletes, we need their names to stick through regular BBC coverage and internationals being given a boost in both hemispheres.
 

On par with football, I fear it’d lose its family-feel and the community aspects that the sport relies on so heavily. 
 

I really don’t care enough to compare ourselves with RU.

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On 31/05/2020 at 15:51, HawkMan said:

Ice Hockey is bigger than RU. Played in virtually all of Eastern Europe,  Scandinavia,  Western Europe to lesser extent and North America all with professional leagues. It doesn't have a WC like Union,  more important is the Olympics. But Union is not as big as they would like to think.

Defnitely - Seattle paid 650 million dollars to get a franchise in the NHL! You could buy most of the RU prem for that.

PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF http://www.rugbyleaguecares.org/ and http://www.walesrugbyleague.co.uk/article/8790/join-team-wales-for-2013

Predictions for the future -

Crusaders RL to get a franchise for 2012 onwards -WRONG

Widnes Vikings also to get a franchise - RIGHT

Crusaders RL to do the double over Widnes and finish five places ahead of them -WRONG

Widnes Vikings NOT to dominate rugby league in years to come! STILL TO COME

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/cardiffdemonsrlfc/

http://www.walesrugbyleague.co.uk/

I promise to pay �10 to the charity of Bomb Jacks choice if Widnes Millionaires finish above the battling underdogs Crusaders RL. I OWE A TENNER!

http://www.jaxaxe.co...89/Default.aspx

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20 hours ago, jannerboyuk said:

Defnitely - Seattle paid 650 million dollars to get a franchise in the NHL! You could buy most of the RU prem for that.

Probably... but it's not quite the same comparison.

 

NHL teams are the best hockey teams in the world. The best rugby teams in the world are nation teams - Could you "buy" a tier 1 national team for that? Maybe... not the best comparison but closer.

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