All Super League Matches Live - Confirmed

[StandOffHalf]

There are positives in this for the TV viewer, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the SL authorities have prostituted the game to sate their self-destructive tendencies in the short-term.

I have never, ever heard of a comparable 200% rise in televisings and a drop in what is paid for them.

[Rovers13]

3 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

There are positives in this for the TV viewer, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the SL authorities have prostituted the game to sate their self-destructive tendencies in the short-term.

I have never, ever heard of a comparable 200% rise in televisings and a drop in what is paid for them.

State of era were in im afraid mate, prob will drop more next time too cos what exactly is going to change? That’s a serious question and what do sky want to pay more for? I’d guess viewers but could be more too it than that. 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Rovers13

[Rovers13]

And if they put RL on same time as footy their viewing figures won’t increase, so they will go back in 3 years time and say 5m less,  img say  why? Sky say same viewers or less, vicious circle. 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Rovers13

[Dave T]

Genuine question. Are there any other examples of UK sports that have seen an almost 50% drop in tv deals over a short period of time? 

[Rovers13]

8 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Genuine question. Are there any other examples of UK sports that have seen an almost 50% drop in tv deals over a short period of time? 

No idea Dave I’ve tried looking but all I’m finding is more money paid out not less only for RL on sky Google search. 

[Rovers13]

Boxing football tennis snooker darts all got more, not looked at the niche sports. 

[whatmichaelsays]

13 minutes ago, Rovers13 said:

Boxing football tennis snooker darts all got more, not looked at the niche sports. 

The question you have to ask in conjunction with that question is what RL has done to uphold/grow the value of its rights. Simply expecting an increase because you want/think you deserve one isn't enough. 

Football is a massive driver of subscriptions for Sky and it's business case relies on that content. F1 is also a big driver of subscriptions and you can probably bucket certain cricket and golf events in that category as well. Darts has reinvented itself for TV and drives good audiences for probably relatively little production cost. Sky has recently lost of lot of boxing content to DAZN, but profits from PPV. Tennis (Wimbledon aside) has bounced around different broadcasters.

[Big Picture]

1 minute ago, whatmichaelsays said:

The question you have to ask in conjunction with that question is what RL has done to uphold/grow the value of its rights. Simply expecting an increase because you want/think you deserve one isn't enough.

The simple answer is nothing but when the top clubs are all based in smallish unfashionable towns which don't rate with the public at large there isn't much it can do is there?

[Rovers13]

3 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

The question you have to ask in conjunction with that question is what RL has done to uphold/grow the value of its rights. Simply expecting an increase because you want/think you deserve one isn't enough. 

Football is a massive driver of subscriptions for Sky and its business case relies on that content. F1 is also a big driver of subscriptions and you can probably bucket certain cricket and golf events in that category as well. Darts has reinvented itself for TV and drives good audiences for probably relatively little production cost. Sky has recently lost of lot of boxing content to DAZN, but profits from PPV. Tennis (Wimbledon aside) has bounced around different broadcasters.

i think the questions we should be asking is to sky saying what do you want for more money, Instead of going in blind every tv deal and expecting more money. 

[whatmichaelsays]

1 minute ago, Rovers13 said:

i think the questions we should be asking is to sky saying what do you want for more money, Instead of going in blind every tv deal and expecting more money. 

It's on SL to work out what will pull people in. Yes, we need to work with Sky, but they aren't there to do the job for us and they certainly aren't going to underwrite the risk of what should be SL's investment. This is what SL/the clubs employ marketing, research and commercial teams for. 

[Rovers13]

Just now, whatmichaelsays said:

It's on SL to work out what will pull people in. Yes, we need to work with Sky, but they aren't there to do the job for us and they certainly aren't going to underwrite the risk of what should be SL's investment. This is what SL/the clubs employ marketing, research and commercial teams for. 

I agree but what can we do that we haven’t already from closed shop to expansion to major GF’s etc. 

[whatmichaelsays]

48 minutes ago, Rovers13 said:

I agree but what can we do that we haven’t already from closed shop to expansion to major GF’s etc. 

Structures aren't the issue. The issue is ensuring that the product and the way it is presented and delivered can pull in new audiences. I have my own ideas, and some of those involve doing things that won't be universally popular with traditional fans, but they're ideas that I think open up opportunities to offer something new. 

The fact is the sport has to get much better at selling itself to people other than the people who already buy it. That failure is why we only pull on the same crowds, the same sponsors and the same level of broadcast interest.

[Rovers13]

3 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Structures aren't the issue. The issue is ensuring that the product and the way it is presented and delivered can pull in new audiences. I have my own ideas, and some of those involve doing things that won't be universally popular with traditional fans, but they're ideas that I think open up opportunities to offer something new. 

The fact is the sport has to get much better at selling itself to people other than the people who already buy it. That failure is why we only pull on the same crowds, the same sponsors and the same level of broadcast interest.

I get that but we’re now on terrestrial tv too don’t see what else we can do to get it to new viewers tbh, no new fans want RL from what I’ve seen anyway. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

30 minutes ago, Rovers13 said:

I get that but we’re now on terrestrial tv too don’t see what else we can do to get it to new viewers tbh, no new fans want RL from what I’ve seen anyway. 

New fans will enjoy rugby league - it's a great sport. There's nothing in the water that makes it only popular in certain northern towns. The problem is getting new fans to become firstly engaged and then invested in the sport. Internationals are the obvious way, as evidenced with pretty much any other major sport in the UK. Unfortunately, I fear that the RFL have completely taken their collective eyes off the ball in this regard, and the international game is no longer substantial enough to engage new fans to the sport.

41 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

I have my own ideas, and some of those involve doing things that won't be universally popular with traditional fans, but they're ideas that I think open up opportunities to offer something new. 

I'd be very interested to hear these ideas. Without a strong international game I think we're really up against it, but I see how the likes of the NFL can engage new fans despite not having any UK based team or international element. What I struggle to see is how we can make RL the 'cool' sport to watch. I have several friends who have emigrated down under, who weren't interested in RL at all when they lived in the UK. Now they're all over it, because it's the 'cool' thing to go and watch over there. How do we achieve that in the UK?

[17 stone giant]

33 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

I have several friends who have emigrated down under, who weren't interested in RL at all when they lived in the UK. Now they're all over it, because it's the 'cool' thing to go and watch over there. How do we achieve that in the UK?

Whereabouts did they live in the UK? Was it in the heartlands or elsewhere?

Have you asked them what makes it the cool thing to go and watch where they now live?

My feeling is that it will probably be things such as it having a presence in the major cities. Big City cool, if you like. A bit like with the NFL. When you've got fixtures such as New York Giants vs Los Angeles Rams, or Melbourne Storm vs Brisbane Broncos, it carries a certain gravitas. You will never get that with Wigan vs St Helens.

Our RL clubs are fantastic clubs, full of history, representing good solid British towns and communities, but through no fault of their own, they lack the glamour of the big cities.

I don't know if or how you can ever change that. Maybe with a lot of money, which is something the sport doesn't have.

[Rovers13]

2 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:

Whereabouts did they live in the UK? Was it in the heartlands or elsewhere?

Have you asked them what makes it the cool thing to go and watch where they now live?

My feeling is that it will probably be things such as it having a presence in the major cities. Big City cool, if you like. A bit like with the NFL. When you've got fixtures such as New York Giants vs Los Angeles Rams, or Melbourne Storm vs Brisbane Broncos, it carries a certain gravitas. You will never get that with Wigan vs St Helens.

Our RL clubs are fantastic clubs, full of history, representing good solid British towns and communities, but through no fault of their own, they lack the glamour of the big cities.

I don't know if or how you can ever change that. Maybe with a lot of money, which is something the sport doesn't have.

Football is the cool thing here. That will never change. 

[17 stone giant]

1 minute ago, Rovers13 said:

Football is the cool thing here. That will never change. 

Cricket too, I think. Particularly T20's and The Hundred. Obviously nowhere near football levels, but then nothing is.

[Rovers13]

The problem we have isn’t competing with other sports , because if you go down that route likely to lose, it’s about people can’t go watch 2 sports a week, footy fans would never give it up union, darts, boxing tennis snooker etc all expensive too, we’re trying to tap into markets that are probably already entrenched into other sports it’s tough. 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Rovers13

[Rugbyleaguesupporter]

3 hours ago, Dave T said:

Genuine question. Are there any other examples of UK sports that have seen an almost 50% drop in tv deals over a short period of time? 

Not lots of UK sports with decent TV deals. 

European rugby union saw significant fall in value since Sky pulled out. 

England Rugby (autumn rights) fell by more than half over similar period. Aus RU partially in trouble due to Sky in UK reducing their fee by 80pc plus 

Sky played hardball over IPL and UK cricket tours. Golf tournemount values fallen. 

La liga and Uefa qualifiers lost 66% to 80% of value 

ATP tennis lost over half its value 

UK Athletics seen big drop. From £3m plus production to virtually nothing 

Netball, basketball, ice hockey, squash, badminton have small deals. 

Going back- the FA, spfl and football league have all seen massive falls 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Rugbyleaguesupporter

[Hopie]

ITV digital fallout was a big fallout for lower league football, but that was a case of overbidding. 

In a sport where money is tight, that's main customer base is feeling the squeeze more than most, the loss of any income stream is a problem, and the big fall in TV income is a problem.

There are opportunities to fill the gap, some clubs might even make more from other sources during this deal, but I think every game on TV puts other income streams at risk. New income streams need investment money and ideas (which aren't free either), where is that coming from? Historical performance doesn't make me optimistic for future events.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

7 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

Whereabouts did they live in the UK? Was it in the heartlands or elsewhere?

They're from outside the heartlands. I would drag them to games which they were happy to go to and enjoyed it, but they never seemed very interested or engaged. Now they're in Oz and NZ they're hooked and take their kids to see games.

7 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

Have you asked them what makes it the cool thing to go and watch where they now live?

Don't need to - it's partly the big city cool thing you talk about. But also, it's what their friends and work colleagues talk about, and they're surrounded by it and have got hooked in to it. 

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

7 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

Cricket too, I think. Particularly T20's and The Hundred. Obviously nowhere near football levels, but then nothing is.

I'd add the 6 Nations in to that as well (and obviously World Cups/Championships in different sports). Football rules the roost, but other sports can take the limelight over short periods. The Hundred has paid a lot of money to force their way in to people's consciousness, so time will tell whether or not that is sustainable and successful.

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

7 hours ago, Rovers13 said:

The problem we have isn’t competing with other sports , because if you go down that route likely to lose, it’s about people can’t go watch 2 sports a week, footy fans would never give it up union, darts, boxing tennis snooker etc all expensive too, we’re trying to tap into markets that are probably already entrenched into other sports it’s tough. 

I think the Premier League is the only long format sports comp that holds the public's attention for an extended period. The others are all shorter, intensive format comps - 6 Nations, Hundred, Olympics etc. I'd suggest that RL needs some shorter format comp that could grab some headlines over a short period and gain some attention. The sports market is just too saturated to expect a massive audience to suddenly engage and commit to following an 8-month competition. What that shorter format competition could be, I haven't got a clue.

[FearTheVee]

This idea that we can now broadcast these games far and wide tlike the NRL I suspect is not true.

Won't this be like Sky have done with the Championship where you get a silent feed with no commentary, stats, decent replays etc that only a die-hard fan of one of the teams involved would watch?

I'll wait to see what content is churned out before commenting on this deal but I suspect it's a bit of a kipper as far as additional exposure is concerned for all but the devoted.

Edited October 16, 2023 by FearTheVee

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, FearTheVee said:

This idea that we can now broadcast these games far and wide tlike the NRL I suspect is not true.

Won't this be like Sky have done with the Championship where you get a silent feed with no commentary, stats, decent replays etc that only a die-hard fan of one of the teams involved would watch?

The devil will be in the detail. 

There are two ways this can go. 

Scenario 1 - fully produced coverage, many games on TV all with different slots over a weekend in a coordinated manner. 

Scenario 2 - It all looks like it does now, live games on Sky on Thursday and Friday, but also red button or youtube coverage as you describe being played at the same time as other games.