Premier Sports TV Deal

[tms]

Don't forget, the budget will also be used to enhance the matchday experience. Flame cannons and fireworks are among the features that should be expected at games in an attempt to improve the product to audiences.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

13 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Will you renew your season ticket? I won't.

Why? Because a couple of home games will be on a Monday night? What a snowflake attitude. Super League clubs have Thursday night TV games, i don’t see how Monday is any different to a Thursday game. Is it the most ideal day and time? No, but we can’t have our cake and eat it, if we want tv coverage and the money that comes along with it, which we need, we have to compromise, even premier league football has mid week games on tv. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

29 minutes ago, POR said:

Don't forget, the budget will also be used to enhance the matchday experience. Flame cannons and fireworks are among the features that should be expected at games in an attempt to improve the product to audiences.

What’s funny about that? Does Championship Rugby League regularly sell out stadiums without putting any effort in to creating an event around the game? 

[Harry Stottle]

7 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Why? Because a couple of home games will be on a Monday night? What a snowflake attitude. Super League clubs have Thursday night TV games, i don’t see how Monday is any different to a Thursday game. Is it the most ideal day and time? No, but we can’t have our cake and eat it, if we want tv coverage and the money that comes along with it, which we need, we have to compromise, even premier league football has mid week games on tv. 

But there is the thing Kev, I don't want the TV coverage for that amount of money, £6K per club per season it is just not worth it, you say "which we need" who is the "we"?  If it was just 1/100 of what a premier league football club recieves there would be no discussion, why would you even include that stupid suggestion?

Question, are you going to subscribe to Premier for the Championship coverage, are you fish, but don't let that get in the way of you having a moan for something that will not effect you one bit.

[Dave T]

21 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

But there is the thing Kev, I don't want the TV coverage for that amount of money, £6K per club per season it is just not worth it, you say "which we need" who is the "we"?  If it was just 1/100 of what a premier league football club recieves there would be no discussion, why would you even include that stupid suggestion?

Question, are you going to subscribe to Premier for the Championship coverage, are you fish, but don't let that get in the way of you having a moan for something that will not effect you one bit.

I think this is very valid. SL was shunted to Thursday, but for tens of millions that is a worthy trade off. 

Incidentally, I wouldn't have continued with Thursday following this cut with Sky. I know ultimately they hold the cards, but when we moved to Thursdays it was against a backdrop of increasing investment, we are now playing on Thursday's for less money. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

48 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

What’s funny about that? Does Championship Rugby League regularly sell out stadiums without putting any effort in to creating an event around the game? 

I've always thought you delusional but if you honestly think that a flame cannon and fireworks (great time at 7pm on a summer's evening that no one will be able to see but the noise will upset virtually every pet and their owners within a mile radius of the ground) is going to get them flocking in....

[The Rocket]

45 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Why? Because a couple of home games will be on a Monday night? What a snowflake attitude. Super League clubs have Thursday night TV games, i don’t see how Monday is any different to a Thursday game. Is it the most ideal day and time? No, but we can’t have our cake and eat it, if we want tv coverage and the money that comes along with it, which we need, we have to compromise, even premier league football has mid week games on tv. 

Thing that I don`t get is that mondays are traditionally a very strong viewing night. 

 A lot of people who work go out on weekend nights and generally don`t go out on monday night because it is early in the working week, thus it is a prime night for catching people at home watching TV.

As far as getting people to the ground, given that your championship is played through summer doesn`t it get dark quite late. I know that still might be tricky attracting away fans to the game but I thought a twilight game of League, making it welcoming for families, live music, maybe craft beer sections, advertised in the immediate local media, etc. etc. etc. if done right might be attractive for the locals during spring ,summer.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

11 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

Indeed , will it financially benefit the clubs ? , Not really 

Will it enhance and improve the visibility of the competition ? , Not really 

Will it result in a huge detrimental affect on attendances overall ? , Not really 

Will it inconvenience loyal fans who currently attend most home and away games ? , Not really  , unless your club ends up playing 5 times away on a Monday night at clubs too far away to realistically attend

So essentially " we've got a deal " , said in a squeaky ' love island ' type voice

Lots of us will be able to watch full games in (hopefully) decent broadcast standard each week. On the telly 

That's pretty big for me and worthwhile 

 

[whatmichaelsays]

43 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think this is very valid. SL was shunted to Thursday, but for tens of millions that is a worthy trade off. 

Incidentally, I wouldn't have continued with Thursday following this cut with Sky. I know ultimately they hold the cards, but when we moved to Thursdays it was against a backdrop of increasing investment, we are now playing on Thursday's for less money. 

The counter to that is that clubs have been playing on Thursdays for long enough now to have been able to work out how to reach those audiences that are looking for something to do on a weeknight, in the same way that the cinema industry turned Wednesday nights form being it's worst-performing day of the week to it's second most-successful. 

There are people out there who are looking for some sort of amusement on weeknights - people without kids to get up for school in the morning, the people who don't see a 10:00pm finish as a 'late night' on a school night, people who'd otherwise be finding something else to do who could be tempted into an RL fix. 

In understand that Thursday nights aren't great for fans that travel, but weeknights are common in sports with much longer travel distances than RL. The sport has had them for long enough now for it to become a much weaker excuse than it once was.  

[gingerjon]

53 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Thing that I don`t get is that mondays are traditionally a very strong viewing night. 

Not really in the UK - whether you're talking entertainment on the TV or sport to attend.

[sweaty craiq]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Lots of us will be able to watch full games in (hopefully) decent broadcast standard each week. On the telly 

That's pretty big for me and worthwhile 

 

If you are going to sell your soul the question is how much for? This deal makes the answer nothing or little - against a back drop of reduced income. A few folk are saying they intend to pay the subs - why not hold the deal on ice and ask people to sign up who want to pay for it. A month before confirm demand and what it means in financial terms to clubs

[sweaty craiq]

17 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Who on earth is playing a third of their games on Mondays?

I assumed you knew ST holders get entry to home games, sorry for that assumption. Now the small print in the deal seems to say max 5 home games per season (5/13 - 38%) and Premier get the pick - I assume that Batley v Haven wont be first pick, therefore the Fev v Leigh, v Newcastle, v Fax, v York, v Bradford are more likely to be selected, dont you agree?

[gingerjon]

Just now, sweaty craiq said:

I assumed you knew ST holders get entry to home games, sorry for that assumption. Now the small print in the deal seems to say max 5 home games per season (5/13 - 38%) and Premier get the pick - I assume that Batley v Haven wont be first pick, therefore the Fev v Leigh, v Newcastle, v Fax, v York, v Bradford are more likely to be selected, dont you agree?

If I were looking to sell subscriptions, I'd not be having too many Fev or Leigh home games but I'd be filling my boots with their away games.

[HawkMan]

25 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Not really in the UK - whether you're talking entertainment on the TV or sport to attend.

Sky have had MNF for years so presumably it gets viewers or they'd ditch it, which highlights the competition championship RL will face. I think pubs in RL heartlands could gain from getting Premier to draw championship RL fans in, outside heartlands it will have no impact. Genuine question; how many pubs have Premier channel,  tbh I've never seen it on in any pub I've been in though tbf that's  not that many.

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

Sky have had MNF for years so presumably it gets viewers or they'd ditch it

They do but, as we've said, football operates in an entirely different world to the rest of us.

[sweaty craiq]

15 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

If I were looking to sell subscriptions, I'd not be having too many Fev or Leigh home games but I'd be filling my boots with their away games.

I hope you are correct, I also tried to see the 5 restriction but couldnt find it. The answers given to the questions asked by this site are right from the book of politics, eg How much? It depends on various things, How many of the various things gives how much? The RFL will be working with clubs to ###### off ST holders by offering cheap tickets FFS, you build your brand on full price tickets and the RFL bargain basement mentality ruins all that in a second

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, sweaty craiq said:

I assumed you knew ST holders get entry to home games, sorry for that assumption. Now the small print in the deal seems to say max 5 home games per season (5/13 - 38%) and Premier get the pick - I assume that Batley v Haven wont be first pick, therefore the Fev v Leigh, v Newcastle, v Fax, v York, v Bradford are more likely to be selected, dont you agree?

I've seen various numbers thrown about for minimums/maximums.

But as I can see has already been pointed out, bigger clubs playing away would be the logical choice no?

[sweaty craiq]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

I've seen various numbers thrown about for minimums/maximums.

But as I can see has already been pointed out, bigger clubs playing away would be the logical choice no?

Logical for the bigger club as they can promote the game by getting fans to watch locally and save money by not going. So as a fan of the biggest club in the pond that would be brilliant for my club, then you get a smaller club dependent on a chunk of away fans who could lose £100k pa min - I suppose I could take the luvv em I am all right approach as written in the SL manual 

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

The counter to that is that clubs have been playing on Thursdays for long enough now to have been able to work out how to reach those audiences that are looking for something to do on a weeknight, in the same way that the cinema industry turned Wednesday nights form being it's worst-performing day of the week to it's second most-successful. 

There are people out there who are looking for some sort of amusement on weeknights - people without kids to get up for school in the morning, the people who don't see a 10:00pm finish as a 'late night' on a school night, people who'd otherwise be finding something else to do who could be tempted into an RL fix. 

In understand that Thursday nights aren't great for fans that travel, but weeknights are common in sports with much longer travel distances than RL. The sport has had them for long enough now for it to become a much weaker excuse than it once was.  

Whilst I'm in general agreement with you, there is more than enough evidence that whilst good crowds can be attracted, they are affected by weeknight fixtures. I've been to Champions League games (big ones) where there are empty seats that are a challenge to fill in midweek. 

I think it is sometimes the case that there just isn't a replacement audience - particularly when a decent proportion of your sales are on kids which Thursday decimates.

The likes of football can do this because quite simply they have mass numbers, often supply exceeds demand, but not too many sports exceed the likes of a Leeds, Wigan, Saints, Wire crowd on a Thursday night. 

[sweaty craiq]

i would play on any day at any time if the income was right - this deal simply does not provide the funds to take a gamble with reducing income even further for clubs

[gingerjon]

7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Whilst I'm in general agreement with you, there is more than enough evidence that whilst good crowds can be attracted, they are affected by weeknight fixtures. I've been to Champions League games (big ones) where there are empty seats that are a challenge to fill in midweek. 

I think it is sometimes the case that there just isn't a replacement audience - particularly when a decent proportion of your sales are on kids which Thursday decimates.

The likes of football can do this because quite simply they have mass numbers, often supply exceeds demand, but not too many sports exceed the likes of a Leeds, Wigan, Saints, Wire crowd on a Thursday night. 

Indeed, I've got a friend who has been to see Spurs several times in the past few years. Each time, it's a midweek Champions League game. Outwardly, the biggest fixtures they have but not necessarily the easiest to shift. The matches are usually sold out or close to sold out by kick off time but clearly not a straightforward sell. Meanwhile, he's never been able, as he's only really casually interested and doesn't put himself in the front of the queue, to get to a Premier League game on the weekend.

[whatmichaelsays]

9 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Whilst I'm in general agreement with you, there is more than enough evidence that whilst good crowds can be attracted, they are affected by weeknight fixtures. I've been to Champions League games (big ones) where there are empty seats that are a challenge to fill in midweek. 

I think it is sometimes the case that there just isn't a replacement audience - particularly when a decent proportion of your sales are on kids which Thursday decimates.

The likes of football can do this because quite simply they have mass numbers, often supply exceeds demand, but not too many sports exceed the likes of a Leeds, Wigan, Saints, Wire crowd on a Thursday night. 

I agree that you can't necessarily "football can do it, so can we" and I equally agree that weeknights pose a challenge, but how many times - and in how many contexts - do we say that "RL needs to broaden beyond the same people"? This is another one of those times and contexts.

If we're going to take the broadcaster cash that comes with strings that we play on weeknights, then the sport has options - either accept that the crowds will be lower and quit complaining about it, or find ways to make it work. I don't think there is any town in RL land where there aren't people looking for some sort of entertainment on a Thursday night - the question is whether RL clubs are finding ways to offer what those people want. 

[sweaty craiq]

3 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

I agree that you can't necessarily "football can do it, so can we" and I equally agree that weeknights pose a challenge, but how many times - and in how many contexts - do we say that "RL needs to broaden beyond the same people"? This is another one of those times and contexts.

If we're going to take the broadcaster cash that comes with strings that we play on weeknights, then the sport has options - either accept that the crowds will be lower and quit complaining about it, or find ways to make it work. I don't think there is any town in RL land where there aren't people looking for some sort of entertainment on a Thursday night - the question is whether RL clubs are finding ways to offer what those people want. 

We should not be taking this deal as it stands is the view of the people paying to watch championship clubs on this and other forums - lets see this vote of the 14 clubs in the Championship 2022

[Blind side johnny]

On 06/10/2021 at 14:51, sweaty craiq said:

If I ran a champ club my first call to fans would be to not buy the subscription

Thankfully you don't.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

Not really in the UK - whether you're talking entertainment on the TV or sport to attend.

So you`re telling me a match featuring a local team, early in the evening, with family friendly sections, perhaps food stalls, or a hot-dog or a bucket of chips with your ticket so Mum doesn`t have to cook with a bit of pre-match and half time entertainment i.e a bit of a carnival atmosphere and especially if everyone knows that it is going to be televised and not some half-arsed tv production, but done properly -  you wouldn`t be able to market one or two of these games a season per club. Surely it`s worth a try.

Maybe not to a bunch of old farts on an internet forum, but aimed at young people, especially families and perhaps the curious.