Televised games next season - has it been sorted yet?

[Northern Eel]

2 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

It’s not very clear from that article but I think what its saying is for the first 15 rounds all 6 games will be on actual Sky channels but this will change when Skys Streaming service is up and running.

Super League + will be streaming all 6 games from the start of the season?

I think.

Anyway taking a cut in fee from Sky but getting them to pay for the broadcast cost whilst the RFL can sell those games elsewhere might actually have been a stroke of genius 

Agree with all of that, but I think the SuperLeague+ service goes to 4 games from 6 when the Sky streaming service begins?

[sam4731]

It doesn't say what role NOW TV plays in this as well.

[Rugbyleaguesupporter]

All games on Sky (main channels until summer when Sky will launch a streaming service). After that 2 on sky main channels and 4 on sky app. 

All season 4 of the 6 are live on super league plus (excludes 2 sky games a week) 

[N2022]

4 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

Personally i prefer Friday nights.

I don’t know about other clubs but I believe Leeds Corporate is far higher on a Friday night and this brings in a lot of money, they won’t want to change that.

I've said it before, that's fine and may bring in money to fund outreach / kids' camps, but Friday night games aren't great for young families to attend in person. Would have taken my sons much more often if Sun afternoon had been the norm. 

[ghost crayfish]

38 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Anyway taking a cut in fee from Sky but getting them to pay for the broadcast cost whilst the RFL can sell those games elsewhere might actually have been a stroke of genius 

Certainly looks that way, particularly when combined with other recent announcements re. BBC and social media consolidation content development - both of which should help to sell Superleague+ subscriptions to non-Sky subscribers.

[glossop saint]

8 hours ago, sam4731 said:

It doesn't say what role NOW TV plays in this as well.

This for me personally is key. Along with obviously the comparative costs and whether the Super League + will offer an on-demand playback which seemed to be implied but not explicitly stated unless I missed it. Either way it will be interesting to see developments in the next few weeks and hopefully we have answers on all of these before the season starts. Something similar to the old GCN+ for cycling would be ideal, though I would anticipate a significantly higher price which is fair and understandable.

I'm feeling very positive about it which is a nice change from the majority of the news in the last few months.

[Chrispmartha]

Some of the comments on SM are hilarious, is there a more miserable bunch of people that follow a sport?

i’ve read from multiple’fans’

Games gone

RFL are killing the sport

Sky are a disgrace 

Final nail in the coffin 

 

 

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Some of the comments on SM are hilarious, is there a more miserable bunch of people that follow a sport?

i’ve read from multiple’fans’

Games gone

RFL are killing the sport

Sky are a disgrace 

Final nail in the coffin 

 

 

How is this any of that??!!

[Chrispmartha]

22 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

How is this any of that??!!

Beats me, i saw one person say that Thursday night games attendances will now drop dramatically…

Don’t think he thought that one through.

[Harry Stottle]

20 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

The role of the sport being on TV isn't necessarily about getting people through the turnstiles, so your argument is a bit of a non sequitur 

Really, I wouldn't think that club owners would agree with you and your 3 likes, which funnily enough along with you are fans of the better supported clubs.

 

[Leyther_Matt]

12 hours ago, Dave T said:

I think nothing will please everyone, it's all personal preference. 

I like afternoon games because I can take my 7 year old with me, but 8pm kick offs on any night exclude young kids, and people who can't or won't get babysitters. 

But, that's my challenge, it's a numbers game, they won't make everyone happy and if that means I become a tv fan, so be it. 

You’ll know I’m saying this from the right place Dave, but why wouldn’t you take your 7 year old on a Friday night with no school the next day?

12 hours ago, Northern Eel said:

Just trying to get my head around this.

Sky Sports subscribers can watch all games each week?

Super League + subscribers can watch all but the 2 main Sky pick games each week?

Or do I misunderstand the offer for current sky subscribers?

It looks like the Super League + subscription will sit between £10.99 and £17.99 per month.

 

12 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

It’s not very clear from that article but I think what its saying is for the first 15 rounds all 6 games will be on actual Sky channels but this will change when Skys Streaming service is up and running.

Super League + will be streaming all 6 games from the start of the season?

I think.

Anyway taking a cut in fee from Sky but getting them to pay for the broadcast cost whilst the RFL can sell those games elsewhere might actually have been a stroke of genius 

Let's, for example, say a Thursday night and one game on a Friday night. If there are other games on the same night, that game will be available on Super League+. If you are a Sky Sports subscriber, you are also able to watch that game via a Sky Sports platform.

Taken from the Examiner article. So it looks to me as though only non-Sky subscribers need to actually sign up to Super League+

12 hours ago, sam4731 said:

It doesn't say what role NOW TV plays in this as well.

They just piggyback on Sky so you would just get the two Sky games once the streaming kicks in unless you subscribed to Super League+

For the first however many rounds when they are split between the various ‘proper’ Sky channels, they will be available on Now TV. 

[Harry Stottle]

17 hours ago, Dave T said:

As things stand, SL has:

Thurs - 10 matches

Fri - 78 matches

Sat - 51 matches

Sun - 23 matches

Fridays are the new Sundays - top flight RL is no longer a Sunday afternoon sport, and in reality, it hasn't been for a while. There will be 74 matches across Sat/Sun though which is a positive for me. Although I do expect to see more Thursdays announced as the season goes on.

I would trave away by supporter coach to most games if they were on Sunday or even Saturday afternoon for 3:00 pm pick offs and I would suggest a lot more would also travel, but I have no desire to do cross Penine games when games are finishing around 10:00 PM and getting home usually past midnight.

Question, why will the 74 Sat/Sun games be positive for you?

[Chrispmartha]

20 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Really, I wouldn't think that club owners would agree with you and your 3 likes, which funnily enough along with you are fans of the better supported clubs.

 

You seriously think the main point of a broadcast deal is to increase attendances?

[Chrispmartha]

8 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

I would trave away by supporter coach to most games if they were on Sunday or even Saturday afternoon for 3:00 pm pick offs and I would suggest a lot more would also travel, but I have no desire to do cross Penine games when games are finishing around 10:00 PM and getting home usually past midnight.

Question, why will the 74 Sat/Sun games be positive for you?

Having all the games on Sat Sunday wouldn’t work for the broadcasters ) wouldn’t work for me either)

[Harry Stottle]

4 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Having all the games on Sat Sunday wouldn’t work for the broadcasters ) wouldn’t work for me either)

Honest answer please, if games were Sat/Sun afternoon regularly do you think more or less would travel to them?

[Fly-By-TheWire]

20 hours ago, Damien said:

You still need to get their basic package which is about £26. Then £20 for Sky Sports on top of that so £46 with an 18 month contract. You may get it cheaper with a better deal.

Thanks.

Looks like the SL streaming service might be a better option, as long as it allows re-playing of games on demand.

[DI Keith Fowler]

12 hours ago, Rugbyleaguesupporter said:

All games on Sky (main channels until summer when Sky will launch a streaming service). After that 2 on sky main channels and 4 on sky app. 

All season 4 of the 6 are live on super league plus (excludes 2 sky games a week) 

That's my interpretation too based on the quotes from Rhodri Jones, I think Matt Shaw has got it wrong in the article SL+ gives you the four games that aren't on Sky each week. If you want every game you have to go with Sky still which makes sense from Sky's perspective otherwise they'd be completely undermining themselves. 

It's essentially the same as Premiership Rugby TV which started last season IIRC, except they don't show their ITV games but here it sounds like you will get our BBC games.

It all feels really positive anyway, I'll certainly buy a season pass as I don't have Sky and either watch the Sky games in the pub or on a jarg streaming service. 

[Chrispmartha]

6 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Honest answer please, if games were Sat/Sun afternoon regularly do you think more or less would travel to them?

Why do you always say honest answer? Do you think im lying?

maybe more away fans would travel, do you think thats worth alienating broadcasters for?

[Leyther_Matt]

17 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Honest answer please, if games were Sat/Sun afternoon regularly do you think more or less would travel to them?

Leaving aside the more than plausible argument that TV exposure does increase attendances, do you think those extra fans be anything remotely close to making up for the lost TV revenue? Honest answer, please. 

[Dave T]

59 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

You’ll know I’m saying this from the right place Dave, but why wouldn’t you take your 7 year old on a Friday night with no school the next day?

Quite simply mate, her routine sees her in bed between 8 and 9, and whilst we are fine to relax that when no school, she is generally knackered by then. A Friday evening match basically means it just stops becoming enjoyable from about 8.30! Although some Wire matches have been depressing by that time in the last 2 years anyway!

[Dave T]

54 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Question, why will the 74 Sat/Sun games be positive for you?

That's just a personal preference, I like watching games across the weekend. I'm not a major fan of the SL weekend being over by 10pm on a Friday night which can sometimes be the case.

Having the option of watching live SL across many different slots works for me. I like Friday night games, but I do enjoy a weekend afternoon match.

And as per my previous posts, taking my young daughter works better on a weekend day.

Edited January 16 by Dave T

[Dave T]

40 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Honest answer please, if games were Sat/Sun afternoon regularly do you think more or less would travel to them?

There doesn't appear to be any real evidence of Sat/Sun delivering higher crowds. During a period when have delivered a good level of growth, we have seen more and more Friday games. Thursday has clearly delivered a drop, we have enough evidence to see that clear drop, but I don;t think we do for weekend games.

It also isn't just a black and white discussion - things like notice period of changes etc. are crucial - I hope that is something that this new TV deal really helps with.

[Leyther_Matt]

27 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Quite simply mate, her routine sees her in bed between 8 and 9, and whilst we are fine to relax that when no school, she is generally knackered by then. A Friday evening match basically means it just stops becoming enjoyable from about 8.30! Although some Wire matches have been depressing by that time in the last 2 years anyway!

A year of watching on Sky to pique her interest and then fully bought in for 2025  

[Dave T]

2 minutes ago, Leyther_Matt said:

A year of watching on Sky to pique her interest and then fully bought in for 2025  

Shes been along to a few matches here and there and broadly enjoyed it, but once you add in tiredness it becomes challenging and not worth it. It then gets to the point that my wife can't then come along and with work commitments of friends it means I either go alone or watch on TV with a beer.

But, my view on stuff like this is that we can't judge too much on individual preferences. It is a numbers game and Families with kids <7 may be a niche that we can live without, plenty other sports an forms of entertainment do so.

It'll be interesting to see whether all games on TV has an impact, but early signs (season ticket sale thread and World Club Challenge thread) suggests that attending games will still be attractive. Whether walk-ups will be affected we'll see. 

[Leyther_Matt]

20 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Shes been along to a few matches here and there and broadly enjoyed it, but once you add in tiredness it becomes challenging and not worth it. It then gets to the point that my wife can't then come along and with work commitments of friends it means I either go alone or watch on TV with a beer.

But, my view on stuff like this is that we can't judge too much on individual preferences. It is a numbers game and Families with kids <7 may be a niche that we can live without, plenty other sports an forms of entertainment do so.

It'll be interesting to see whether all games on TV has an impact, but early signs (season ticket sale thread and World Club Challenge thread) suggests that attending games will still be attractive. Whether walk-ups will be affected we'll see. 

Tbf I think that shows there’s absolutely a market for an afternoon game, but make it the exception that people with younger families make long term plans to attend rather than it necessarily being the norm purely because of archaic licensing laws.

I know this will be controversial and isn’t necessarily something I buy in to in RL even though it’s been successful in The Hundred, but there may be a place for early evening weekday kick offs during the school holidays (possibly one for the Challenge Cup to avoid inconveniencing season ticket holders).