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How to Rejuvenate the Challenge Cup


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How To Rejuvenate The Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is the most historic and prestigious Rugby League competition in the world. The competition and it’s 127 year history is one the of our sports greatest achievements however it has seen a decline in recent years. If the competitions continues on its current trajectory we are at risk of losing one of the sport’s greatest assets and a legacy that can never be replaced.

The Problems:

Over the last 20 years or so the Challenge Cup faced difficulties including:

  1. The Super League Grand Final becoming the pinnacle of the Rugby League season
  2. Changes to the time of year the competition final is held
  3. Changes to the structure of the league season to include loop fixtures
  4. Changes to the structure of the cup competition itself
  5. Teams in the RFL domestic competitions opting out of the cup competition
  6. Economic downturn in working class areas due to government policy of Austerity and a Hard Brexit.

For any meaningful changes rugby league needs to make for the good of the sport whether that is to include international fixtures, improve the cup competition, improve general attendance at regular season games we must remove loop fixtures from the Super League season. Nothing creates supporter apathy and disinterest from the average sports fan than over familiar repetitive fixtures. With Super League's one up, one down P&R creating a bottle neck for new faces to enter Super League. A six team (half the league) play-off system and loop fixtures there’s a chance a sports fan is asked to take seriously a rugby league fixture that can be replicated up to 3-5 times a season. This creates fan fatigue and diminishes all competitions including the Challenge Cup with is supposed to create rare, one-off, not to be missed fixtures.

What the Challenge Cup needs to do?

The Challenge Cup needs to improve in key areas:

  1. New Fan Engagement
  2. Current Fan Appreciation
  3. Competition significance
  4. Outreach

The challenge cup needs to engage with new fans, keep the interest of established RL fans, improve its own prestige in the general UK sporting consciousness and needs to help Rugby League grow and gain attraction outside of the RL heartlands.

The Solution

  1. The Challenge cup needs a rebrand as the "European" or "International" Challenge Cup. Rugby League barely boasted or promoted the inclusion of Edinburgh Eagles and the Galway Tribesmen to the Challenge Cup last year. The challenge cup already has English, Welsh and French teams that regularly play in the competition. Historically there have been Canadian and Russian and Serbian Rugby League teams to compete in the Challenge Cup. Continuing to ignore the international aspect of the Challenge Cup is criminal. It is one of the greatest rugby cup competition in the northern hemisphere yet its referred to as an English or British competition.  There could be as many as seven different nations represented in the Challenge Cup and yet we and the rest of the country think of it as a northern sport. Sponsorship will be easier to attain by embracing the international element of the cup competition.
  2. All teams need to enter at round one. Last year 53 teams competed in the Challenge Cup (except Toulouse). 64 teams would be needed to create a six-phase competition; three rounds of fixtures followed by a quarter final stage, semi-final stage and final. One of the aspects of the current structure of the challenge cup is a team only need to win four games to win the competition outright. For fans there is no real sense of a journey for a Super League team to get to a prestigious cup final when they might have played one or two weaker teams to get there. This doesn’t create the sense of the pride in winning the competition which can be too easily won and dismissed as undeserved by other supporters. "But wouldn’t putting every team into round one would create very one-sided, unattractive games?" - Yes, but this is where we introduce a 1st team player handicap rule. Teams with semi or full-time professional status will only be able to pick a percentage of their matchday team from their full-time squad depending on the professional status of their opposition. A Super League team could only choose up to 44 percent or 8 players from their full-time squad to play a fixture against amateur opposition. The rest of their team must be made up of reserve or academy players. A semi-professional team against amateur opposition could only pick 66% or 12 players from their first team squad. A Super League team against a semi-professional team will be able to choose from 66% or 12 players from their full-time squad. Any team drawn to play against a team of the same professional status or higher can choose from their full-strength squad. This handicap will only be imposed at the 1st to 3rd round stage of the competition, from the quarter-final stage it remains as it is now.

E.G

Round One: St Helens v Rochdale Mayfield – St Helens can only pick 8 first team players.

Round Two: St Helens v Batley Bulldogs – St Helens can only pick 12 first team players.

Round Three: St Helens v Castleford Tigers – No handicap necessary

Or

Round One: London Broncos v Pilkington Recs – London Broncos can only pick 12 first team players.

Round Two: London Broncos v Halifax – No handicap necessary.

Round Three: London Broncos v Wigan – Wigan can only pick 12 first team players.

Or

Quarter Final: Bradford Bulls v Warrington Wolves – No handicap necessary

This would make the competition vastly more entertaining, engaging and create a real sense of achievement by advancing through the competition. Amateur clubs will be able to enjoy the prospect of playing against or hosting Super League opposition which will skyrocket player participation and fan engagement. Semi-professional teams will have a grater chance of beating Super League opposition. Brand new clubs will not have to wait to gain successive promotions to have the premier teams and athletes in the country entertain new audiences to the sport. Current supporters will take a greater sense of pride in their team’s achievement of advancing to a cup final and winning it outright. This structure can also be applied to increase the appreciation and participation of the 1895 trophy by having teams enter that competition as a result of being knocked out of the challenge cup early stages.

But not all Semi professional teams have a reserves or academy to pick from? True this would unduly hinder semi-pro teams with an academy system such as Bradford Bulls, London Broncos, Newcastle but this handicap would only apply against teams in fixtures that otherwise would be no-contests. Teams like Halifax would have no choice to play their full strength team against an amateur team which is no different to the current state of affairs we have now. Batley Bulldogs played the Royal Navy and Sheffield Eagles played Hunslet Parkside in the 4th round of the challenge cup in 2022. The competition loses nothing in this regard.

3. The Challenge Cup Final needs to remain on the August Bank Holiday. Changing the date of the final makes it harder for it to be established in the nation’s consciousness. Everyone knows when the Six nations, FA cup and Wimbledon competitions are held even if they don’t know the exact date. Many die-hard Rugby League supporters need to check online to even know when the final will be held as over the last 20 years its been in March, April, May, July & August. Where as the Grand Final in always early-mid October. Rugby League is unique in that it has a birthday 29th August 1895. The fact there is a bank holiday in the last weekend in August is perfect for Rugby League to exploit. Rugby League will always struggle to find a more perfect weekend to establish itself as the dominant sporting event of the weekend. The fact we are running away from the fight for attention as other things happen that weekend is a sign on the regressive/pessimistic thinking currently suffocating rugby League.

4. Make participation of The Challenge Cup a requirement of all teams competing in RFL league domestic competitions. Super League status require an academy/reserves team. The fact a team in the domestic leagues can opt out of the challenge cup is an insult to the cup competition. Many fans and players were drawn to Rugby League through the success of the Challenge Cup. Many of the sports greatest players are household names due to their exploits in the Challenge Cup. The fact that Rugby League has any regards as a sport is in part due to the prestige of and popularity of the Challenge Cup. It has provided the some of the greatest drama and iconic moments that transcend all sport. Martin Offiah's length of the field try in 1995. John Pendlebury's tackle in the 1987 Cup Final. Don Fox's infamous miss in the 1968 "Watersplash" final. 102,000 people watching 1954 cup replay at Odsal stadium. No football team would pass up the opportunity to play in the FA cup. The disrespect shown to the competition can only serve to diminish it. That's why all teams in the RFL elite domestic leagues should have to play in the Challenge Cup to keep their league status. Also to improve the game as a whole any club with Super League ambitions should be able to field at least one other team as a reserve or academy. This will prevent boom and bust clubs who prioritise short term success over longevity.

 

Congratulations to anyone for reading this far, I appreciate it.

 

I would love to hear you thoughts.

 

JAG

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well its that time of year again... 

to be honest pretty much all of that has been debated before. 

round robin with all levels of teams in... going to be a problem to sell it, if you are going to handicap teams then it will take away from the prestige of the tournament.. to be fair teams like St Helens will handicap themselves against weaker opposition so you don't need the rule it will happen anyway and they will still stuff the weaker sides. There is nothing wrong with Super League clubs joining later, happens in pretty much every knock out comp, they just enter at least 1 round too late at the moment. 

Yes it needs a permanent date that has been said many times, whether it is August Bank Holiday (the last chance for people to get away in the school holidays) or not will, again, always be debated.. but get it a permanent fixture. 

Yes there should be no opt out.. though it is an invitational cup..  

Calling it an International cup may help, possibly wouldnt too, would it make a big difference? probably not at the moment. There is an international element to it for sure but branding wise its just The Challenge Cup not the English Challenge Cup or British Challenge Cup so not sure adding International to the name would add much, but I might be wrong. 

Pretty much all that (bar the name change) has been discussed before, pretty much every year, so i expect to see the same circuitous arguments over a group stage and when the Super League teams should join .

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Looking at the BBC viewing figures there still seems to be a lot of interest in it. 600 000 plus viewers for each game. 
Don’t really think the format needs to change. If the clubs and the RFL can promote the cup and build up the games then it can be made to feel a big deal. That’s what sky have done to the GF and now it’s taken over the CC final. 

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15 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Looking at the BBC viewing figures there still seems to be a lot of interest in it. 600 000 plus viewers for each game. 
Don’t really think the format needs to change. If the clubs and the RFL can promote the cup and build up the games then it can be made to feel a big deal. That’s what sky have done to the GF and now it’s taken over the CC final. 

The Challenge Cup will always be our most watched domestic games in any year - simply by virtue of being on the BBC not Sky.

You could resurrect the Regal Trophy and if it were played on a Saturday afternoon in the Grandstand slot the game shown would be guaranteed a 500,000 minimum audience.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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13 minutes ago, RP London said:

well its that time of year again... 

to be honest pretty much all of that has been debated before. 

round robin with all levels of teams in... going to be a problem to sell it, if you are going to handicap teams then it will take away from the prestige of the tournament.. to be fair teams like St Helens will handicap themselves against weaker opposition so you don't need the rule it will happen anyway and they will still stuff the weaker sides. There is nothing wrong with Super League clubs joining later, happens in pretty much every knock out comp, they just enter at least 1 round too late at the moment. 

Yes it needs a permanent date that has been said many times, whether it is August Bank Holiday (the last chance for people to get away in the school holidays) or not will, again, always be debated.. but get it a permanent fixture. 

Yes there should be no opt out.. though it is an invitational cup..  

Calling it an International cup may help, possibly wouldnt too, would it make a big difference? probably not at the moment. There is an international element to it for sure but branding wise its just The Challenge Cup not the English Challenge Cup or British Challenge Cup so not sure adding International to the name would add much, but I might be wrong. 

Pretty much all that (bar the name change) has been discussed before, pretty much every year, so i expect to see the same circuitous arguments over a group stage and when the Super League teams should join .

 

Hi, RP London. 

Thanks for reading. I have a few counter-counter points.

The problem we currently have is we have too many of the same fixtures in a season. A Round Robin defeats the purpose. Less is more. And with player welfare becoming more of an issue the less games a team play and the more a club delve into reserves and academies the better. 

I think a rule baked into the competition regarding a player handicap is a way forward. The exact number can be tinkered with, my idea of 8 and 12 were just an example. Yes, in most cases SL teams will rest players against lesser opposition but St Helens played Halifax with a near full strength team last week. Imagine the headlines if Saints had lost that game? Far-fetched I grant you, but within in the realm of possibility with the help of a handicap rule. 

I'd argue there needs to be more jeopardy for SL teams earlier in the competition in order to give the competition prestige. Hull KR this year will have to beat Salford and one other SL team to reach the final at Wembley. That's not a cup run, that's not a journey or a story to tell, it's nothing.

I'm glad you agree largely with the other points and thank you for your reply.

JAG

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26 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Looking at the BBC viewing figures there still seems to be a lot of interest in it. 600 000 plus viewers for each game. 
Don’t really think the format needs to change. If the clubs and the RFL can promote the cup and build up the games then it can be made to feel a big deal. That’s what sky have done to the GF and now it’s taken over the CC final. 

That's encouraging and I appreciate what you're saying but it's hard to sell the prestige of a cup final when a team only needs win three games to get there and one of those could've have been a no contest against weak opposition. This year Hull KR only need to beat Salford and one other SL teams to get there, it's really not that big of a deal.

It's not that drastic of a change it's still a knock-out competition its just more evenly balanced for certain fixtures.

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1 hour ago, JAG said:

we must remove loop fixtures from the Super League season. Nothing creates supporter apathy and disinterest from the average sports fan than over familiar repetitive fixtures.

Someone should tell the Americans. NBA teams play each team in their own conference 4 times. They then have best of 7 series in the play-offs with 3 rounds of play-offs before the final. Baseball teams play 13 times against their conference opponents and 6 or 7 times against each of the other teams in their league. England's men cricket team have 10 games against NZ in 2023.

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20 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Crackpot ideas. Is the same person who used to post crackpot Super League threads about restructuring?

The same.

And this is even less intrusive than that minor league restructure. It's literally the same as what we have now only fairer and more exciting.

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17 minutes ago, JAG said:

 

Hi, RP London. 

Thanks for reading. I have a few counter-counter points.

The problem we currently have is we have too many of the same fixtures in a season. A Round Robin defeats the purpose. Less is more. And with player welfare becoming more of an issue the less games a team play and the more a club delve into reserves and academies the better. 

I think a rule baked into the competition regarding a player handicap is a way forward. The exact number can be tinkered with, my idea of 8 and 12 were just an example. Yes, in most cases SL teams will rest players against lesser opposition but St Helens played Halifax with a near full strength team last week. Imagine the headlines if Saints had lost that game? Far-fetched I grant you, but within in the realm of possibility with the help of a handicap rule. 

I'd argue there needs to be more jeopardy for SL teams earlier in the competition in order to give the competition prestige. Hull KR this year will have to beat Salford and one other SL team to reach the final at Wembley. That's not a cup run, that's not a journey or a story to tell, it's nothing.

I'm glad you agree largely with the other points and thank you for your reply.

JAG

IMG are wanting to lose Loop Fixtures I cannot imagine adding Round Robin cup fixtures being the way forward TBH. equally going further down the pyramid do the amateur teams in it really want a round robins set of additional games, the jeopardy that they could knock out the "pro" teams is what makes the games interesting. That level already has this as many top amateur teams are better than the lower pro teams and players who want to keep their job are better than some that go pro etc.. I also, personally, like the knock out versions of it. 

Personal opinion but if you start handicapping teams as a rule then that would be my interest gone. No rule but make it a club choice of playing players or not as it is now for me.. if they make a mistake its a club mistake rather than the rule. You could be then weighting it totally against a super league club that has no depth in the squad where as in today's format they want to win the cup as they see it as their best chance for glory.. you are putting them into "relegation battle and no cup run" territory and I dont think that is wise. 

SL clubs coming into the competition earlier means more chance of them being knocked out by each other earlier. 

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Just now, JonM said:

Someone should tell the Americans. NBA teams play each team in their own conference 4 times. They then have best of 7 series in the play-offs with 3 rounds of play-offs before the final. Baseball teams play 13 times against their conference opponents and 6 or 7 times against each of the other teams in their league. England's men cricket team have 10 games against NZ in 2023.

All of those examples are of non-contact sports played by densely populated city based clubs in a country the size of a continent. Even Americans find baseball boring. Cricket by and large is boring. Most fans outside America only watch the NBA playoffs not the regular season. And the entire sporting culture in the USA is different to ours that's why we don't have half-time shows in the FA cup final that are bigger than the game itself, and how our sports aren't split into periods and quarters to sell advertising.

More importantly none of these sports you mentioned are at the risk of class action law suits for permanent brain injuries caused by merely playing the sport.  Rugby League has to do less with more. Fewer games with greater importance. A cup competition that requires professional teams to take a handicap against weaker opposition is the sport demonstrating it's commitment to player welfare while making the competition better to watch.

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5 minutes ago, RP London said:

IMG are wanting to lose Loop Fixtures I cannot imagine adding Round Robin cup fixtures being the way forward TBH. equally going further down the pyramid do the amateur teams in it really want a round robins set of additional games, the jeopardy that they could knock out the "pro" teams is what makes the games interesting. That level already has this as many top amateur teams are better than the lower pro teams and players who want to keep their job are better than some that go pro etc.. I also, personally, like the knock out versions of it. 

Personal opinion but if you start handicapping teams as a rule then that would be my interest gone. No rule but make it a club choice of playing players or not as it is now for me.. if they make a mistake its a club mistake rather than the rule. You could be then weighting it totally against a super league club that has no depth in the squad where as in today's format they want to win the cup as they see it as their best chance for glory.. you are putting them into "relegation battle and no cup run" territory and I dont think that is wise. 

SL clubs coming into the competition earlier means more chance of them being knocked out by each other earlier. 

This is where we disagree (Which is fine)

I think a super league team being at greater odds of being knocked out of the cup is far more exciting, interesting and headline grabbing than seeing predictable scorelines. Also the handicap would only be in place for the first three rounds after that its all down who is the better team.

The gulf between Super League and the Championship/League One is huge. Anything to close that gap is welcome. It'll make SL teams earn and respect their place in the later stages and give Championship/League One teams a hope and a dream of an upset.

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12 minutes ago, JAG said:

All of those examples are of non-contact sports played by densely populated city based clubs in a country the size of a continent. Even Americans find baseball boring. Cricket by and large is boring. Most fans outside America only watch the NBA playoffs not the regular season. And the entire sporting culture in the USA is different to ours that's why we don't have half-time shows in the FA cup final that are bigger than the game itself, and how our sports aren't split into periods and quarters to sell advertising.

More importantly none of these sports you mentioned are at the risk of class action law suits for permanent brain injuries caused by merely playing the sport.  Rugby League has to do less with more. Fewer games with greater importance. A cup competition that requires professional teams to take a handicap against weaker opposition is the sport demonstrating it's commitment to player welfare while making the competition better to watch.

*more with less (I'm an Idiot )

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10 minutes ago, JAG said:

Even Americans find baseball boring.

We would kill to have this level of disinterest: https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance

(Oakland is an outlier owing to the owners deliberately running the franchise into the ground this year so they can move it to LA)

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

We would kill to have this level of disinterest: https://www.espn.com/mlb/attendance

(Oakland is an outlier owing to the owners deliberately running the franchise into the ground this year so they can move it to LA)

Chicago population = 2.75 million.

Average attendance = 18,000.

Anyway this is a complete sidetrack. MLB is not fair comparison to Super League in any way shape or form. They are incredibly different sports in almost every way.

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7 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Except none of that is true. 

The Challenge would go from simple knock-out competition to even simpler knock-out competition.

I know. "Crackpot idea" 😱

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13 minutes ago, JAG said:

The Challenge would go from simple knock-out competition to even simpler knock-out competition.

I know. "Crackpot idea" 😱

Yes, an utter crackpot idea. Nobody in their right mind wants to see Wigan v Thornhill Trojans and nobody has the time or interest to say who can play and what is deemed a “first team player”. 

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2 hours ago, JM2010 said:

Looking at the BBC viewing figures there still seems to be a lot of interest in it. 600 000 plus viewers for each game. 
Don’t really think the format needs to change. If the clubs and the RFL can promote the cup and build up the games then it can be made to feel a big deal. That’s what sky have done to the GF and now it’s taken over the CC final. 

The BBC figures though are misleading as many are just asleep in their armchair after 2/3 hours in the pub:)

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23 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Yes, an utter crackpot idea. Nobody in their right mind wants to see Wigan v Thornhill Trojans and nobody has the time or interest to say who can play and what is deemed a “first team player”. 

Ask Thornhill Trojans if they'd like to play Wigan? Aske them how big a deal that would be for their club? Ask them how many people from Thornhill would go to see that?

Who wants to see Hull KR beat Batley by 50 points because that's what just happened last week. All Hull KR have to do is beat Salford and one other team and they're in the Final. Play two games and you're in a final. Leigh Leopards after beating Wakefield have to beat Championship team York and one other team and they make the final. Too easy. 

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If a Championship or League 1 clubs are drawn against a Super League club that game must be played at the Championship or League 1 home ground.

If a League one side are drawn against a Championship side that game must be played at the League 1 teams home ground.

It would slightly increase the chance of an upset, which would create interest

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2 minutes ago, Gooleboy said:

I still think the SL clubs should enter in the last 32. An open draw and you take your chance. 

Make all the Super League clubs play away if they are drawn against a Championship or League 1 team

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