France TV deal

[Coggo]

All Catalans and Toulouse games to be streamed on a subscription channel 

http://www.catalansdragons.com/en/articles-9/308-13169-le-groupe-depeche-to-broadcast-catalans-dragons-in-2026/

Edited February 6 by Coggo

[Hopie]

Are they paying to get the coverage?

[Tommygilf]

Rugby League Commercial (RL Commercial) today announced it has secured an agreement with the independent French media group, le Groupe La Dépêche, and its subsidiary Midol Sports, to broadcast all Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique matches in the 2026 Betfred Super League season, live in France. The deal was secured by RL Commercial’s strategic partner, IMG.

The agreement will see Le Groupe Dépêche broadcast a minimum of 51 matches from the regular season live on its premium digital platform Rugbyrama, bringing the league to a growing and passionate rugby audience in France. The coverage will feature French commentary, as well as a dedicated weekly wrap-up programme including highlights of all the very best live action from the league, with additional coverage published across the Group’s media outlets including Midi Olympique, L’Indépendant, and the Rugbyrama Twitch channel. Collectively, the Group’s digital audiences exceed 200 million visits per month, with Rugbyrama and Midi Olympique reaching more than 800,000 fans together.

[Tommygilf]

Interesting that the role of IMG in securing this is being emphasised across all the coverage.

[gingerjon]

19 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Interesting that the role of IMG in securing this is being emphasised across all the coverage.

Clear conflict of interest 

[Briacbzh]

They have a similar deal with the Rugby Union third division and they don't pay. It's still better than nothing, because Midi Olympique is by far the number one rugby newspaper in France, but it's not really a TV deal.

[whatmichaelsays]

56 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Interesting that the role of IMG in securing this is being emphasised across all the coverage.

Yeah, but what have they done for us lately? 

[sam4731]

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Yeah, but what have they done for us lately? 

All the things that benefit the game and none of the things that negatively impact the game.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Yeah, but what have they done for us lately? 

Got Bradford into SL with the full cash while the two teams that finished ahead of them only get half? 

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Got Bradford into SL with the full cash while the two teams that finished ahead of them only get half? 

The latter bit is the clubs doing tbf, ignoring the advice of our commercial partner.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

So it's not really a tv deal.

[Whippet13]

2 hours ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Yeah, but what have they done for us lately? 

Significant contributons to sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, fresh water systems, and public health.

[Exiled Wiganer]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

All the things that benefit the game and none of the things that negatively impact the game.

The world is truly a better place for their being in it. 
 

IMG are very good at getting tv and other media deals. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

I’m happy for them - looks like the start of something positive.

[lucky 7]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

Got Bradford into SL with the full cash while the two teams that finished ahead of them only get half? 

Facts are facts and that's a fact that stinks, and still some people can't see it

[frank]

What other sport  would penalize a team gaining promotion,

were bye that team had to pay all the visiting teams airfares and hotel accomodation etc?

[Bull Mania]

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

Got Bradford into SL with the full cash while the two teams that finished ahead of them only get half? 

I don't know why Bradford keep  getting mentioned in the funding argument (well I do) . We finished tenth in the grading.

In the TV deal before yet another thread gets detailed to Bradford, whilst I imagine it's not a traditional TV deal in terms of paying money to be on a TV channel, I presume the main part of the deal is the broadcaster paying the cost to film/broadcast the match. I just couldn't see sky paying for all the equipment and staff to go to Toulouse and film the match. So it's excellent news in that sense.

 

[lucky 7]

2 minutes ago, Bull Mania said:

I don't know why Bradford keep  getting mentioned in the funding argument (well I do) . We finished tenth in the grading.

In the TV deal before yet another thread gets detailed to Bradford, whilst I imagine it's not a traditional TV deal in terms of paying money to be on a TV channel, I presume the main part of the deal is the broadcaster paying the cost to film/broadcast the match. I just couldn't see sky paying for all the equipment and staff to go to Toulouse and film the match. So it's excellent news in that sense.

 

Because they finished 3rd in championship and receive full funding why the 2 clubs who finished above them in the championship and contested the Championship grand final don't receive full funding, and with your former chairman now head honcho at the RFL, surely you can see why it keeps getting brought up.

[Exiled Wiganer]

9 hours ago, lucky 7 said:

Facts are facts and that's a fact that stinks, and still some people can't see it

I am not sure if you are aware of the TRL Rules of the Road, but anything bad is always the clubs’/RFL’s fault and anything good is because of IMG. Stick to that and you won’t go far wrong…

[JM2010]

I can’t remember seeing Bradford in the thread title. I thought this was about a French TV deal

[gingerjon]

11 hours ago, Eddie said:

Got Bradford into SL with the full cash while the two teams that finished ahead of them only get half? 

I hate to be the one to do exactly what Exiled Wigner predicted but, it is always worth saying that every aspect of collating, assessing and acting on the grading is delivered, managed and assessed by Nigel Wood’s RFL.

[Tommygilf]

The weekly roundup show in French is good too. We need more authentic French produced content.

[The Future is League]

5 hours ago, frank said:

What other sport  would penalize a team gaining promotion,

were bye that team had to pay all the visiting teams airfares and hotel accomodation etc?

If Super league teams can't afford 2 trips to France every year they really shouldn't be in Super League, and bring in teams that can.

 

[Big Picture]

1 minute ago, The Future is League said:

If Super league teams can't afford 2 trips to France every year they really shouldn't be in Super League, and bring in teams that can.

Just imagine how few would be in the league then. 

[The Future is League]

Just now, Big Picture said:

Just imagine how few would be in the league then. 

If it would end up going back to a 12 team Super League or even a 10 team Super League so be it, and in the mean time some clubs are happy to waste money on has beens and never was players from the NRL.