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France officially to bid to host 2025 Rugby League World Cup


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On 08/07/2021 at 17:11, Total Rugby League said:

The French Rugby League Federation has officially declared its intention to bid for the 2025 Rugby League World Cup, taking it back to the country...

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Good luck to them they have experience in hosting major events and taking it away from Australia and the Uk gives extra added interest 

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11 hours ago, jim_57 said:

Paris - 80k or 48k. 
Marseille - 69k. 
Lyon - 59k. 
Bordeaux - 42k. 
Toulouse - 33k. 
Montpellier - 32k. 
 

Those seem to be the main options for ‘Event’ games.

I’d go:

Opener - Toulouse

France/England DH - Montpellier or Lyon

Semis - Paris (48k)

Final - Marseille

But that would all depend on availability. It’s probably also be too ambitious now that I think about it. France hasn’t got a 20k+ crowd for some time so selling out Toulouse 33k and getting a few other 20k+ games would be a reasonably good result really. It will be interesting to see how large they try to go with it.

Its not football but having a final in Marseille is a bad idea if you want a final in that region Nice is a far better option.

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4 hours ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

I would use the following places for group games (Qtr Semis marked) 

Traditional 

Perpignan Qtr

Carcassonne Qtr

Toulouse Semi

Albi

Avignon Qtr

Other places (Rugby connections)

Montpelier Qtr

Grenoble 

Roanne

Clermont 

Agen

Bordeaux

Toulon Semi

Non Rugby (Union/League)

Nantes

Lens 

Calais (Very nice stadium built a few years ago when the football team gained promotion) 

Lille

Places to avoid

Strasburg

Lyon (Yes I know that this has some RL history however Football and Rugby Union are just to engrained now and the main stadium is far too big)

Paris (This could be the worst or the best decision however history tells us Paris is a white elephant)

Final MARSAILLE 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d love to see Roanne get a game and would definitely make the trip 38 yrs after I stayed & played there.

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I visit a French RL forum and they are often talking about any media coverage the code gets in France. It seems that it has been largely ignored by mainstream media for decades but the success of the Catalan side in SL may be helping a bit. That's why Toulouse should be a priority entering SL, with say three year relegation exemption. Two French based teams in SL would be a boost to media coverage and more awareness of the game. 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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5 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

Why’s Strasbourg a bad idea? 

Some of his "suggestions" are utter fantasy stuff. Best ignored. 

Roanne is a wee town in the Loire with about 30k inhabitants. It has zero Rugby League presence, and doesn't even have a stadium. He says it has a "Rugby" connection. I am completely unaware of this. There is no TGV link.

He wants to use 16 stadia.... For a 12(?) team competition. The recent Euros used 11 venues FFS. 

Completely detached from reality. Truly mental stuff. 

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4 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

Some of his "suggestions" are utter fantasy stuff. Best ignored. 

Roanne is a wee town in the Loire with about 30k inhabitants. It has zero Rugby League presence, and doesn't even have a stadium. He says it has a "Rugby" connection. I am completely unaware of this. There is no TGV link.

He wants to use 16 stadia.... For a 12(?) team competition. The recent Euros used 11 venues FFS. 

Completely detached from reality. Truly mental stuff. 

Roanne no longer has a rugby league presence? Really?

I thought it was one of the original rugby league towns in France? I know rugby league is doing it tough in France but surely it is still played there?

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4 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

Some of his "suggestions" are utter fantasy stuff. Best ignored. 

Roanne is a wee town in the Loire with about 30k inhabitants. It has zero Rugby League presence, and doesn't even have a stadium. He says it has a "Rugby" connection. I am completely unaware of this. There is no TGV link.

He wants to use 16 stadia.... For a 12(?) team competition. The recent Euros used 11 venues FFS. 

Completely detached from reality. Truly mental stuff. 

Sorry TFS you are completely wrong ROANNE has had a rugby league team for donkeys years and it used to be a very good one.

There is a history of rugby league around the area, it would be an excellent choice for a smaller nations match with the help of temporary seating which I am sure the maire would help with.

Having lived in France for 10 years between 1998 to 2008 and followed and been involved with French rugby league I do know my onions.

I am certain that once the decision hopefully is made to award the RLWC 2025 to France they will have towns falling over backwards to get a match thats how it works there.

The places I have listed are balanced and sensible places with a long rugby league history along with a few new areas to spread the game.

 

Paul

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44 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

And that is strike 3.  I don't know whether you are this tediously pedantic in real life to not understand the concept of an expression and seem to have an awful tone for a discussion platform. 

I'll answer than ignore you from now.  Because stadiums of full or near full capacity generate a better atmosphere in the ground thus making hospitality and game sponsors an easier sell. 

2nd,  it creates the image on tv of being highly in demand or important to a casual viewer than a stadium at 50% capacity.  Thus being more likely to retain eyeballs and again attract further sponsors to French RL going forward.  

All those are valid points but to play Devil’s advocate what would be better for RL in France if you had a 18k capacity stadium 100% full or a 60k capacity stadium 50% full?

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1 hour ago, Jim from Oz said:

Roanne no longer has a rugby league presence? Really?

I thought it was one of the original rugby league towns in France? I know rugby league is doing it tough in France but surely it is still played there?

OK.... They have a team in 4th division. Given that their Elite1 is about the level of the RFL League 1 (tier 3) it is fair to say they have a team at the rough equivalent of RFL tier 7..... Or as you might say in Oz.... "Bush Footy".

They certainly don't have a stadium capable of hosting a World Cup match. (Admittedly Atlantis man later suggests temporary seating to be installed). 

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6 hours ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

Some of his "suggestions" are utter fantasy stuff. Best ignored. 

Roanne is a wee town in the Loire with about 30k inhabitants. It has zero Rugby League presence, and doesn't even have a stadium. He says it has a "Rugby" connection. I am completely unaware of this. There is no TGV link.

He wants to use 16 stadia.... For a 12(?) team competition. The recent Euros used 11 venues FFS. 

Completely detached from reality. Truly mental stuff. 

The euros was ridiculously spread out amongst 11 countries.

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1 hour ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Having lived in France for 10 years between 1998 to 2008 and followed and been involved with French rugby league I do know my onions.

I am certain that once the decision hopefully is made to award the RLWC 2025 to France they will have towns falling over backwards to get a match thats how it works there.

The places I have listed are balanced and sensible places with a long rugby league history along with a few new areas to spread the game.

 

Paul

The last World Cup to be held (partly) in France had a game in Avignon. Probably the most successful French based match on the competition, I know because I was there. It doesn't even make your fantasy list of 16(!) locations.

I am fully aware of how it works there thanks - I work in France myself, and am employed in sport. 

Most minor sports (and Rugby League is very minor here - it gets zero nationwide media coverage) have a region that steps up and offers to host a championship, (European, under age, whatever) backs it, supports it, makes stadia/facilities available etc. Even with the new "super regions" we could safely say that the RLWC would be big enough to need more than 1 region, so it would probably be spread across 2 or 3 regions, who would collectively step in and become partners/sponsors. 

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1 hour ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Sorry TFS you are completely wrong ROANNE has had a rugby league team for donkeys years and it used to be a very good one.

There is a history of rugby league around the area, it would be an excellent choice for a smaller nations match with the help of temporary seating which I am sure the maire would help with.

Having lived in France for 10 years between 1998 to 2008 and followed and been involved with French rugby league I do know my onions.

I am certain that once the decision hopefully is made to award the RLWC 2025 to France they will have towns falling over backwards to get a match thats how it works there.

The places I have listed are balanced and sensible places with a long rugby league history along with a few new areas to spread the game.

 

Paul

Couldn’t a 2025 RLWC game in Roanne or any other French city or town for that matter be used to reignite or kickstart interest of RL in these towns&cities?

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1 minute ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Couldn’t a 2025 RLWC game in Roanne or any other French city or town for that matter be used to reignite or kickstart interest of RL in these towns&cities?

There was a phenomenal event in Avignon in the last World Cup held over here. 

Great crowd, with people travelling from all over France, as well as abroad. City was buzzing.

A few years later, Avignon RL still exists, they are still plodding along, on a VERY part time basis. But it has been neither reignited or kick-started. We have to stay in the real world here. The legacy effect is relatively negligible unless backed up with serious cash. 

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7 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

The last World Cup to be held (partly) in France had a game in Avignon. Probably the most successful French based match on the competition, I know because I was there. It doesn't even make your fantasy list of 16(!) locations.

I am fully aware of how it works there thanks - I work in France myself, and am employed in sport. 

Most minor sports (and Rugby League is very minor here - it gets zero nationwide media coverage) have a region that steps up and offers to host a championship, (European, under age, whatever) backs it, supports it, makes stadia/facilities available etc. Even with the new "super regions" we could safely say that the RLWC would be big enough to need more than 1 region, so it would probably be spread across 2 or 3 regions, who would collectively step in and become partners/sponsors. 

Majority of games held in occitanie and Provence-alpes-cote d’Azur with a few games held elsewhere under the proviso that it leaves a legacy.

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11 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

There was a phenomenal event in Avignon in the last World Cup held over here. 

Great crowd, with people travelling from all over France, as well as abroad. City was buzzing.

A few years later, Avignon RL still exists, they are still plodding along, on a VERY part time basis. But it has been neither reignited or kick-started. We have to stay in the real world here. The legacy effect is relatively negligible unless backed up with serious cash. 

True. As always everything unfortunately comes down to money and more importantly if you have any.

That being said France hosting an event like the World Cup is one way of sounding out such investment.

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55 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Couldn’t a 2025 RLWC game in Roanne or any other French city or town for that matter be used to reignite or kickstart interest of RL in these towns&cities?

Precisely my thought

I'd LOVE to go to a town like Roanne for the 2025  RLWC, and it would be great  if it can promote its RL history beforehand and get locals people interested again

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48 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

I would say 18k. Your real audience is tv and people need to see a product that looks in demand and sold out.  Plus think we are still going to comp alot of tickets  (or we should) to under 18's anyway. 

If that’s the case why not give 10-15k away to the under 18’s and hope for a similar amount of paying customers in a 30-40k stadium?

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I hope there is a laissez-faire attitude to this from one-eyed professional club competitions and they let the IRL assess and ratify this bid (on its merits) asap. The French will need every day of a 3-4 year lead in to make this a success. 

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3 hours ago, Jim from Oz said:

Roanne no longer has a rugby league presence? Really?

I thought it was one of the original rugby league towns in France? I know rugby league is doing it tough in France but surely it is still played there?

Ignore the Union troll,Roanne are former Champions of France and despite being in decline since the 90s the town was always a RL hotbed with some great RL people.

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