Would Rugby League "struggle" without Betfred as Shaun Wane argues?

[Dave T]

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

Well beggars cant be choosers. Would you have said no to £10 million of funding simply so we could have scattered a few more games about the country?

Whilst I'd have liked another couple of games down South, we should stop being so down on the North of England. The RLWC will be played in some brilliant towns and cities, in great facilities, with plenty of national TV coverage on the BBC. 

2013 had a wider spread, sharing games with Wales, France and Ireland, France has the tournament next time, its all good, not every tournament needs to do everything, staging this in predominantly heartlands is perfectly valid. 

[gingerjon]

13 minutes ago, Damien said:

Well beggars cant be choosers. Would you have said no to £10 million of funding simply so we could have scattered a few more games about the country?

I think, within the terms of the grant, there was scope for another 5 games or so to be outside the Powerhouse area.

It's also worth saying that Wales is in the Northern Powerhouse area.

We could have expanded the boundaries a bit. We've chosen not too.

[Pulga]

16 minutes ago, Damien said:

Well beggars cant be choosers. Would you have said no to £10 million of funding simply so we could have scattered a few more games about the country?

You're right. The game certainly is a beggar.

[Damien]

5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Whilst I'd have liked another couple of games down South, we should stop being so down on the North of England. The RLWC will be played in some brilliant towns and cities, in great facilities, with plenty of national TV coverage on the BBC. 

2013 had a wider spread, sharing games with Wales, France and Ireland, France has the tournament next time, its all good, not every tournament needs to do everything, staging this in predominantly heartlands is perfectly valid. 

I think what is commonly overlooked is that regardless of where the games are played this is the most accessible World Cup ever in the UK. It will have a huge, wide FTA reach that will hugely appeal to sponsors, as we have seen from the variety of partners that are on board already. Big crowds (hopefully) at most games only add to that appeal and positive perception. Where games are played is only one part of the equation.

Whilst I agree we could have had more games elsewhere, and particularly in London, I'm not sure the balance is quite as bad as some try to make out. Additionally crowds like 3k in Neath doesn't do a great deal for the game in terms of perception either.

[Dave T]

8 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I think, within the terms of the grant, there was scope for another 5 games or so to be outside the Powerhouse area.

It's also worth saying that Wales is in the Northern Powerhouse area.

We could have expanded the boundaries a bit. We've chosen not too.

I think there was scope for another game or two in modest sized grounds in London, but I'm not sure id have rushed to North Wales. 

Whilst the tournament being in the North offends some, I think the original list which sees major games in Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, London and Manchester showed a decent level of ambition. 

I would like to have seen a game at somewhere like Brentford or similar. 

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I think, within the terms of the grant, there was scope for another 5 games or so to be outside the Powerhouse area.

It's also worth saying that Wales is in the Northern Powerhouse area.

We could have expanded the boundaries a bit. We've chosen not too.

I agree and this is something Tommy has pointed out on numerous occasions. We could have indeed done this and chose not to. As I have already said I would have added a few more locations but we don't know what they offered in terms of bids. 

If we have gone all in to maximise revenue and that decision comes off I'm comfortable with that, particularly as this tournament will be more accessible to people in the UK than any other.

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think there was scope for another game or two in modest sized grounds in London, but I'm not sure id have rushed to North Wales. 

Whilst the tournament being in the North offends some, I think the original list which sees major games in Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield, London and Manchester showed a decent level of ambition. 

I would like to have seen a game at somewhere like Brentford or similar. 

We're more or less on the same page. I think there was scope for a bit more ambition and some of our issues have been caused by things out of our control - like Workington electing some idiots whose sole policy appears to have been to nix their new stadium.

Getting the Northern Powerhouse money - and then a manifesto commitment out of the Tories - was a masterstroke, though.

[Dave T]

 

[Big Picture]

Anthony Broxton of @Tides Of Historydiscussed this subject on the Progressive Rugby League podcast recently.

One shocking thing he mentions is that at the time of the infamous Stobart deal Betfred was rumoured to have offered a paltry* 1 million £ for the SL naming rights sponsorship.  This shows how little the game's top British league's naming rights are worth.

* Compared to the RU Premiership's 40 million £ over four years from Gallagher, 1 million £ is paltry indeed.

[Dave T]

4 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Anthony Broxton of @Tides Of Historydiscussed this subject on the Progressive Rugby League podcast recently.

One shocking thing he mentions is that at the time of the infamous Stobart deal Betfred was rumoured to have offered a paltry* 1 million £ for the SL naming rights sponsorship.  This shows how little the game's top British league's naming rights are worth.

* Compared to the RU Premiership's 40 million £ over four years from Gallagher, 1 million £ is paltry indeed.

That value of £10m out does the value of Telstra's sponsorship for the NRL,  which is around £52m for 6 years. 

That is of course if it is true,  it appears to be loosely confirmed on rugbypass

[RigbyLuger]

On 12/08/2022 at 11:57, Dave T said:

 

I would like to have seen a game at somewhere like Brentford or similar. 

Did they bid though?

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, RigbyLuger said:

Did they bid though?

My understanding,  and this could be wrong,  is that we used a hybrid of bids and hiring grounds. 

But,  either way,  we could stage wherever we wanted. 

[RigbyLuger]

40 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Anthony Broxton of @Tides Of Historydiscussed this subject on the Progressive Rugby League podcast recently.

One shocking thing he mentions is that at the time of the infamous Stobart deal Betfred was rumoured to have offered a paltry* 1 million £ for the SL naming rights sponsorship.  This shows how little the game's top British league's naming rights are worth.

* Compared to the RU Premiership's 40 million £ over four years from Gallagher, 1 million £ is paltry indeed.

Wonder how much they pay for getting the women's and wheelchair games tagged on, which could have been used as tasters for potential future partners.

[The Future is League]

In these austere times i think we should take the money from the highest bidder. Who ever they are and what ever they do. Soccer has no morals when it comes to accepting money, so why should we