IMG - Vote on Wednesday

[The Rocket]

44 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

20 A Grade clubs is not going to happen in my life time. 10 at most

Mate very sorry to hear that, when did you get the bad news ?

[David Shepherd]

16 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

And early 80's and don't forget how they were saved from relegation by the Gateshead merger.

They didn't even make the 1st iteration of Super League

[Harry Stottle]

41 minutes ago, Jughead said:

John Davidson saying “several Super League clubs are behind the proposal” and Featherstone have publicly backed it. I imagine both London’s are probably behind it and so will the two French sides. 

 

If all the English SL clubs 10 + Fev + 2 London clubs + 2 French totalling 15 from 37 will that be enough to pass it?

Just curios?

Edit, just seen York mentioned so 16/37 For.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Harry Stottle

[sentoffagain2]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

No one knows because the criteria and weighting haven't been finalised yet. So, no, they're not accurate.

And nobody is calling Hull KR one of the big four or five, are they?

  I state K.R over Hull F.C. because they have been relegated from SL but have managed to get promoted and establish themselves as a worthy S.L team.Despite putting money into the stadium improving it year by year and doing good work in the community.R.L will have a main club in Hull and at present K.R. are well in front of Hull F.C.

[Tommygilf]

6 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

If all the English SL clubs 10 + Fev + 2 London clubs + 2 French totalling 15 from 37 will that be enough to pass it?

Just curios?

Edit, just seen York mentioned so 16/37 For.

League 1 likely to be mostly in favour too.

[Harry Stottle]

3 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

League 1 likely to be mostly in favour too.

Let's wait to see the announcement on funding first, maybe some of the Championship clubs may change their minds if it is taken away.

Which brings up another question, considering any vote should be taken before the '23 season commences and there is going to be a time lag before the TV contracts are negotiated, then surely some committal has to be made how much funding will be paid, if then there is a further drop for the SL clubs tough, it should not be on a proviso.

[EastLondonMike]

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread about other sports heading towards a watershed moment with some big decisions to be made. 

Big decisions have needed to be made in RL for as long as i've been following the game, which is over 30 years. Change does need to happen, and controlled correctly. 

Sadly the future for RL might mean some people get left further behind. Hopefully not. Hopefully we can all enjoy the benefits of a successful sport.

I think we can draw some comparisons from how Formula 1 have adapted and flourished in an ever changing sporting landscape. F1 is currently more popular than ever, and shows no sign of slowing down in its pursuit of popularity. This is entirely down to Liberty Media and their approach to opening new markets and appealing to a broader new fan base and not solely focusing on the existing niche customer. The value of F1 has apparently grown by 250% since 2016 when liberty media took ownership.

This approach is something i feel we need to try and emulate in RL, and possibly will through IMG.

[Big Picture]

3 hours ago, Pulga said:

It all sounds extremely reasonable and not very controversial at all despite the response from the usuals. 

P&R is a quaint framework that, to me, isn't much different to the old Rah Rah view of amateurism. 

"If you're good enough on the field you deserve to be in the top flight" is such a strange view from a bygone era. The results are really the tip of the iceberg. The business is the main part of the club. It's 2022. It is an entertainment business, the same as WWE wrestling, soccer, darts and Netflix. We're in direct competition with anything else that people spend time and money on. 

EuroLeague Basketball has just re-signed with IMG after their initial partnership of 10 years. What does that tell you? Look at the stats they're quoting.

https://sbcnews.co.uk/sportsbook/2022/03/30/img-arena-and-euroleague-basketball-extend-long-standing-collaboration/

EuroLeague Basketball does seem to be a success, but then it is unique in being a multinational league.  What worked for it isn't really applicable to British RL at it is now.

3 hours ago, Toby Chopra said:

Indeed. And now the excitement of the announcement has subsided, I'm left feeling that IMG's aim, with full agreement from the RFL, is to make the best of what we've got rather than reinvent the wheel. 

Obviously the non-structure stuff is all about that, but for me all the categorisation stuff fits in with that too.

If you stop looking at the the clubs through a sporting rivalry lens, and instead see them as different parts of a business, it kinda makes sense.

Make your most successful outlets market leading, and outline a structure for the next group of existing outlets to step up. 

They're explicit about not going into new countries, and even France is capped at what we have. This is the end of pins-in-map expansion in my view. It's about looking at where the game is strongest - defined in ways we're not quite sure yet - and making the most of that. 

Five years from now I wouldn't be surprised if the top tier was M62 plus France, and IMG being fine with that. 

The problem with that is that we've already seen that M62 plus two places in France isn't strong, it's weak.  This IMG report is just the sort of thing I expected from an Aussie from Sydney who doesn't really understand the root cause of the game's weakness in the UK.

[Tommygilf]

6 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Let's wait to see the announcement on funding first, maybe some of the Championship clubs may change their minds if it is taken away.

Which brings up another question, considering any vote should be taken before the '23 season commences and there is going to be a time lag before the TV contracts are negotiated, then surely some committal has to be made how much funding will be paid, if then there is a further drop for the SL clubs tough, it should not be on a proviso.

League 1 clubs get barely any funding now, I'm not sure that is their biggest concern.

It seems the lopsided nature of money in the Championship over the past 8 years or so may have tipped many clubs into seeing this as the best viable solution.

[Jughead]

25 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

If all the English SL clubs 10 + Fev + 2 London clubs + 2 French totalling 15 from 37 will that be enough to pass it?

Just curios?

Edit, just seen York mentioned so 16/37 For.

Imagine some of the top Championship sides will likely be on board if Featherstone and York are, so likely enough to tip the scales. 

[fighting irish]

14 hours ago, Henson Park Old Firm said:

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/could-imgs-recommendations-lead-to-super-league-changing-name-59744/

 

"his could see an end to the name Super League which has been going strong for 27 years since 1996 and the arrival of summer rugby league."

The south wales ''Sunshine League'' was the first Northern hemisphere rugby league competition to be played in the Summer months. It was inaugurated in the season before Maurice Lindsay's SuperLeague.

[Gomersall]

53 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

And early 80's and don't forget how they were saved from relegation by the Gateshead merger.

Go the Sharks.

[Gomersall]

57 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

And early 80's and don't forget how they were saved from relegation by the Gateshead merger.

Hull didn’t actually reach the promised land until 1998.

[Roughyed Rats]

12 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

League 1 clubs get barely any funding now, I'm not sure that is their biggest concern.

It seems the lopsided nature of money in the Championship over the past 8 years or so may have tipped many clubs into seeing this as the best viable solution.

I'm sure it's their first and only concern!!!!!! However, if the real intent is to facilitate clubs growing and developing up the categories, you would obviously assume a more equitable distribution of central funds.   

[Harry Stottle]

14 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Imagine some of the top Championship sides will likely be on board if Featherstone and York are, so likely enough to tip the scales. 

As I fully expect Leigh to be.

[Tommygilf]

4 minutes ago, Roughyed Rats said:

I'm sure it's their first and only concern!!!!!! However, if the real intent is to facilitate clubs growing and developing up the categories, you would obviously assume a more equitable distribution of central funds.   

Presumably the aim of this project is to grow the amount of money in the game, so it should benefit plenty across the board. The only way is up for League 1 considering the two-thirds drop they have seen in recent years.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

If all the English SL clubs 10 + Fev + 2 London clubs + 2 French totalling 15 from 37 will that be enough to pass it?

Just curios?

 H  from an article in SEP 18  for  last SL structure vote

votes to be cast by Rugby Football League members. Each entity will be asked whether they want to approve the aforementioned proposals. Super League clubs each get a vote and their say counts as two votes each . to equate to the same number of votes the total  Championship and League 1 clubs get.The final seven votes come from the community game which is made up of BARLA, Adult leagues, Armed Forces RL, Schools Rugby League, Conference Leagues, University and College RL and the Youth and Junior Leagues. Also  Catans and TO are not  full members so dont get a vote

 

 

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

15 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Sadly Midlands will be round an athletics track which is a crowd killer when it comes to attracting people. Would be fantastic if there had been even a small stadium in Brum though.

They don't play on a a ground with a track 

[wiganermike]

48 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

If all the English SL clubs 10 + Fev + 2 London clubs + 2 French totalling 15 from 37 will that be enough to pass it?

Just curios?

Edit, just seen York mentioned so 16/37 For.

It has been reported on LoveRugbyLeague.com that Bradford have publicly backed the proposals so that makes 17.

[Damien]

56 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

If all the English SL clubs 10 + Fev + 2 London clubs + 2 French totalling 15 from 37 will that be enough to pass it?

Just curios?

Edit, just seen York mentioned so 16/37 For.

I'm fairly certain the French clubs won't have a say and this is firmly a like it or lump it scenario. 

[Jughead]

17 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

As I fully expect Leigh to be.

Yeah, I imagine Leigh probably are too, certainly if York and Featherstone are. Halifax, Bradford, Widnes and Barrow likely to be on board as well, I reckon. 

[Harry Stottle]

4 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'm fairly certain the French clubs won't have a say and this is firmly a like it or lump it scenario. 

Surely it will be a Like it or stay as you are scenario.

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Yeah, I imagine Leigh probably are too, certainly if York and Featherstone are. Halifax, Bradford, Widnes and Barrow likely to be on board as well, I reckon. 

Has any club even so much has hinted anything other than happiness?

[Damien]

Just now, Harry Stottle said:

Surely it will be a Like it or stay as you are scenario.

Things are changing, there is no stay as you are.

[gingerjon]

Just now, Damien said:

Things are changing, there is no stay as you are.

But what if I hate things changing?