2025

[MatthewWoody]

11 minutes ago, Tosh said:

Domestic competition rather than a international one but I guess there’s some sort of planning involved for rugby Union as Spain actually play the game and are progressing year on year like Portugal.

Top 14 is a very strong brand. 

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Tosh said:

Domestic competition rather than a international one but I guess there’s some sort of planning involved for rugby Union as Spain actually play the game and are progressing year on year like Portugal.

They also had their European Cup finals in Bilbao.

It was more a comment that if a suitable venue for the final couldn't be found in the South of France, then there are options over the border.

[MatthewWoody]

Domestic and club ru have a bigger appeal than rl. That's indisputable.

[Tosh]

3 hours ago, MatthewWoody said:

Top 14 is a very strong brand. 

It sure is and it’s only getting stronger.

Very rich and wealthy owners, big wage payers, modern stadia, big media presence and sponsorship etc.

[Tosh]

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

They also had their European Cup finals in Bilbao.

It was more a comment that if a suitable venue for the final couldn't be found in the South of France, then there are options over the border.

And I’m all for spreading the game into Spain but I just feel that World Cup games should be played in the host nation. Especially the final.

Id personally love to see a Barcelona/Catalonia side enter the French domestic league at either elite1 or elite2 level. Same goes for Italian sides.

[MatthewWoody]

4 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

In France yes. In England they are broke and no more popular really than league,just in a different geographical part of the country. 

Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure. But maybe. 

Still, they have European competitions etc. so it's easier to attract followers. 

[MatthewWoody]

2 hours ago, Tosh said:

It sure is and it’s only getting stronger.

Very rich and wealthy owners, big wage payers, modern stadia, big media presence and sponsorship etc.

This. 
I would really love rl in England to have the same following the Top 14 has in France. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

4 hours ago, Tosh said:

It sure is and it’s only getting stronger.

Very rich and wealthy owners, big wage payers, modern stadia, big media presence and sponsorship etc.

Don't the council pay for stadiums too or something?

[Damien]

1 hour ago, MatthewWoody said:

This. 
I would really love rl in England to have the same following the Top 14 has in France. 

That following too an awful lot of very rich owners ploughing in huge amounts of money to recruit players from all over the world.

[Tosh]

4 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Don't the council pay for stadiums too or something?

You could be right.

if so it’s a bit like the NRL in that aspect.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

12 minutes ago, Tosh said:

You could be right.

if so it’s a bit like the NRL in that aspect.

Really think we need more of that. Wakefield got a contribution i think but not the full cost

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Really think we need more of that. Wakefield got a contribution i think but not the full cost

Trouble is when they’re moving to bin collections every three weeks and schools can’t afford exercise books they can’t really justify lumping a load of cash into the local RL stadium, as much as I’d like them to. 

[Number 16]

8 hours ago, Tosh said:

And I’m all for spreading the game into Spain but I just feel that World Cup games should be played in the host nation. Especially the final.

Id personally love to see a Barcelona/Catalonia side enter the French domestic league at either elite1 or elite2 level. Same goes for Italian sides.

But the best way to gauge interest in a club in each nation in Elite 1/2 is probably to have WC games in Barca/Girona/Tarragona and Milan/Turin. 

[Madrileño]

8 hours ago, Tosh said:

 

Id personally love to see a Barcelona/Catalonia side enter the French domestic league at either elite1 or elite2 level. Same goes for Italian sides.

Elite 2 is basically amateur.

Getting a club to that level of competitiveness would be easy. 

However what would the incentive be to travel from Spain (Or Italy - do they even play League?)for what is effectively an amateur level competition?

[MatthewWoody]

52 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

Elite 2 is basically amateur.

Getting a club to that level of competitiveness would be easy. 

However what would the incentive be to travel from Spain (Or Italy - do they even play League?)for what is effectively an amateur level competition?

There have been an Italian amateur team that used to play in the French system some years ago. At a lever that was lower than Elite 2. 
I think you'll find the team. 
The problem is that without any business man and idea you wouldn't build any following at that level. We must be sincere: RL is not very "charming" when played at amateur level (with all due respect). 

P.S.: there is rugby league in Italy (hurt by the pandemic, but it's started again, see topic). 

[Mr Frisky]

14 hours ago, MatthewWoody said:

Top 14 is a very strong brand. 

Top 14 what?

[Tommygilf]

28 minutes ago, Mr Frisky said:

Top 14 what?

Premier League what?

Google it marra!

[Iceberg Slim]

Based on the information I’ve gathered for France 2025. It sounds as if we will have 16 team format across 4 comps men’s women’s youth and wheelchair. That would come out to 124 games played. That’s an insane amount of rugby league to be played in 6 weeks. I would assume the tv rights value would go up also if they’re supplying double the amount of games of 2021
 

I believe they should try and complete the tv rights deals as soon as possible and aim to double or even triple the value they got this year. The figures for women’s and men’s I’m sure was undervalued but with some solid figures they definitely bring value. Add in the aus rights 600k for a early morning World Cup I’m sure a 7/9 would be vying for the bid next time. 
 

secondly I think moving forward there’s no way you could run all of those world cups in one year. But what should happen after 2025 is each year should host a World Cup and one of the world cups will unfortunately have to wait 5 years. I would go 

2026 - World Cup 9’s

2027 - womens World Cup start a biannual with the men’s 

2028 - Wheelchair 

2029 - men’s World Cup 

2030 - youth World Cup 

[Tommygilf]

11 minutes ago, Iceberg Slim said:

Based on the information I’ve gathered for France 2025. It sounds as if we will have 16 team format across 4 comps men’s women’s youth and wheelchair. That would come out to 124 games played. That’s an insane amount of rugby league to be played in 6 weeks. I would assume the tv rights value would go up also if they’re supplying double the amount of games of 2021
 

I believe they should try and complete the tv rights deals as soon as possible and aim to double or even triple the value they got this year. The figures for women’s and men’s I’m sure was undervalued but with some solid figures they definitely bring value. Add in the aus rights 600k for a early morning World Cup I’m sure a 7/9 would be vying for the bid next time. 
 

secondly I think moving forward there’s no way you could run all of those world cups in one year. But what should happen after 2025 is each year should host a World Cup and one of the world cups will unfortunately have to wait 5 years. I would go 

2026 - World Cup 9’s

2027 - womens World Cup start a biannual with the men’s 

2028 - Wheelchair 

2029 - men’s World Cup 

2030 - youth World Cup 

I appreciate the view on splitting up the world cups moving forwards.

However, I do like them coming together as a festival. It really has worked across all the tournaments and made it feel almost Olympic or Football world cup like. It added to lulls in the mens finals scheduling, it added geographical, competitive and cultural variety, and it helped give the event a bit more gusto. It felt like the world of Rugby League was coming together as happens in those other major sporting events - and that is worth protecting and developing further I think.

It could definitely be done better, and going forward I think it will be. I think it will especially be the case at France 2025 particularly because it is in the Wheelchair tournament that the hosts will see their best chances of success. 

I don't think everything needs to be locked in together all the time, but for the world cup, and for Rugby League, it really works.

[Iceberg Slim]

25 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I appreciate the view on splitting up the world cups moving forwards.

However, I do like them coming together as a festival. It really has worked across all the tournaments and made it feel almost Olympic or Football world cup like. It added to lulls in the mens finals scheduling, it added geographical, competitive and cultural variety, and it helped give the event a bit more gusto. It felt like the world of Rugby League was coming together as happens in those other major sporting events - and that is worth protecting and developing further I think.

It could definitely be done better, and going forward I think it will be. I think it will especially be the case at France 2025 particularly because it is in the Wheelchair tournament that the hosts will see their best chances of success. 

I don't think everything needs to be locked in together all the time, but for the world cup, and for Rugby League, it really works.

I totally agree with you. I love it as well. I was just thinking can a nation host 124 games over 6 weeks and generate x amount of revenue and x amount of profits. 
 

I suppose once the irl annual report comes out we can then see the figures but we are asking France to double the cost while hopefully doubling the revenue and profits. 
 

I hope it can be done

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, Iceberg Slim said:

I totally agree with you. I love it as well. I was just thinking can a nation host 124 games over 6 weeks and generate x amount of revenue and x amount of profits. 
 

I suppose once the irl annual report comes out we can then see the figures but we are asking France to double the cost while hopefully doubling the revenue and profits. 
 

I hope it can be done

Yeah I see what you mean.

I suspect they aren't expecting much profit from the Youth World Cup matches, but perhaps they will be added onto mens games as warmups? Or done in a close location as a sort of big holiday camp thing

[Iceberg Slim]

1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

Yeah I see what you mean.

I suspect they aren't expecting much profit from the Youth World Cup matches, but perhaps they will be added onto mens games as warmups? Or done in a close location as a sort of big holiday camp thing

I would try and use the youth comp based at one location in a relatively decent sized city. It would be a great to as exhibition and promoting the game. Similarly maybe the wheelchair could be played in Paris somewhere non rugby league connected. Maybe also split the women’s comp into a north base and a south base until quarterfinals. 
 

sorry I don’t know French geography and I’m just making stuff up but you know what I mean. Those 3 tournaments aren’t expected to pull massive numbers and can be used more strategically. 
 

the men’s will be played majority in the south I would imagine as it’s the bread and butter. 

[Jim from Oz]

I read somewhere that the 2025 Youth RLWC may be played as 9s ….

[Tosh]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

I appreciate the view on splitting up the world cups moving forwards.

However, I do like them coming together as a festival. It really has worked across all the tournaments and made it feel almost Olympic or Football world cup like. It added to lulls in the mens finals scheduling, it added geographical, competitive and cultural variety, and it helped give the event a bit more gusto. It felt like the world of Rugby League was coming together as happens in those other major sporting events - and that is worth protecting and developing further I think.

It could definitely be done better, and going forward I think it will be. I think it will especially be the case at France 2025 particularly because it is in the Wheelchair tournament that the hosts will see their best chances of success. 

I don't think everything needs to be locked in together all the time, but for the world cup, and for Rugby League, it really works.

100% agree with this.

The benefits and spillover from all 3 tournaments was clearly evident in both attendance and media coverage.

Further more another hugely encouraging positive was that the mens tournament seemed to benefit the most from increased media coverage from both the womens and wheelchair tournaments and not the other way around.

[Damien]

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

I appreciate the view on splitting up the world cups moving forwards.

However, I do like them coming together as a festival. It really has worked across all the tournaments and made it feel almost Olympic or Football world cup like. It added to lulls in the mens finals scheduling, it added geographical, competitive and cultural variety, and it helped give the event a bit more gusto. It felt like the world of Rugby League was coming together as happens in those other major sporting events - and that is worth protecting and developing further I think.

It could definitely be done better, and going forward I think it will be. I think it will especially be the case at France 2025 particularly because it is in the Wheelchair tournament that the hosts will see their best chances of success. 

I don't think everything needs to be locked in together all the time, but for the world cup, and for Rugby League, it really works.

I can see both viewpoints on this.

I think the benefits we have seen in this tournament have largely come off the back of the BBC coverage. Without that these World Cups would all have had a vastly different feel. There is no reason we shouldn't expect the same or even more coverage from a standalone wheelchair or women's World Cup. I do understand the festival feel argument but this also seems limited to a small portion of RL fans anyway.

I do think that lumping them all in together had a detrimental effect on crowds and has a cannibalising effect. That discussion has been done to death with the men's tournament and precisely the same principle applies when you are trying to then get the same people to go to women's, PDRL or wheelchair games. This is especially so when you throw in fixture clashes and women's double headers etc.

Separation does also have some real benefits in monetising the event, whether that is TV rights or sponsors, and allowing each World Cup to be the focus. It also means we are not fishing from the same pool when it comes to fans and that World Cups could be held every year in different places. The wheelchair game in particular has great potential for all of this and I can easily see it being held back by being tagged on with the men.

In short I was comfortable with this approach for this World Cup and will be again in France 2025, with improvements like scrapping double headers etc. However in the longer term if we are doing the same it will show a failure to grow the women's, PDRL and wheelchair games in their own right.