LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont came out with some strong stuff last week, suggesting that Super League is not getting a good deal under the terms of its current contract with Sky Sports and that we should look elsewhere for the next contract that commences in 2027.
As an obviously interested observer, I get a strangely nervous feeling whenever anyone suggests that Super League should reject Sky and find outlets elsewhere.
Derek suggests that if the game weren’t on Sky, the RFL could sell thousands of subscriptions to its streaming service and that the income from that source would be retained in its totality by the game.
He would, however, allow the BBC to broadcast some games to encourage new streaming subscribers.
I have strong doubts about that strategy.
Currently Super League matches are shown live both on Sky and on the BBC.
Some other sports would kill for that exposure.
Our problem is not that Sky is paying too little, but that we seem incapable of growing our audience.
I can’t identify any strategy the RFL or RL Commercial has for getting more eyeballs on Super League matches, so that when the negotiations begin for the next contract, our administrators (or IMG, given that they will be the ones doing the deal) can point to more viewers and therefore more potential Sky subscribers who are paying Sky primarily to watch Rugby League.
If Sky didn’t broadcast Rugby League, then I wouldn’t subscribe to Sky Sports.
The value of Rugby League to Sky depends on how many other people would be prepared to say the same thing.
The RFL clearly needs to undertake some market research, not just into the Sky audience for Rugby League, but also into the growing number of potential alternative broadcasters or streamers, such as DAZN, which has recently acquired Foxtel in Australia, Netflix or Amazon Prime, all of which have invested in sports broadcasting in recent years.
The ideal situation would be a battle for the broadcasting rights, with Sky having to compete against others to secure the rights.
As things stand, that looks to me like the only way that the value of the broadcasting deal can rise in 2027.
And it comes back to the point about Rugby League being able to leverage the coverage that it does get on Sky.
As I’ve written many times and repeated on the League Express Podcast, even the best Rugby League players are relatively anonymous as far as the general public is concerned.
That isn’t going to change overnight.
But the people who run our sport need to learn how to raise the profile of individual players via social media, whether using TikTok or using influencers to spread the message.
We already have one influential public figure on our side in Adam Hills, who is the current President of the RFL.
But do we use him as well as we might?
I would be very interested to find out what he thinks.
But I come back to the original point.
Sky Sports, whether you like their presentation of our sport or not, are highly professional, with a group of pundits and commentators who are as good as you’ll find in most other sports.
Let’s not blame them for our own shortcomings.
And let’s not imagine that there is a money tree waiting to deliver huge benefits to us if only we can find it.
If we were ever going to leave Sky, it should surely be to a broadcaster with at the very least an equal or greater potential audience.
Otherwise we are living in a fantasy land.
Vegas on the horizon
IT’S now less than a month away from Super League being played for the first time in the United States, when Wigan and Warrington will play the first game in Allegiant Stadium on the first day of March at 1.30pm local time, with the game being beamed live into the United Kingdom at 9.30pm on Sky Sports.
The first NRL game, between Canberra Raiders and New Zealand Warriors will then begin at midnight in the UK (4.00pm local time), the Australian Jillaroos will take on the England Women at 2.00am our time and the final game will be that between Penrith and Cronulla, which will begin at 4.30am our time.
With a month to go, 35,000 tickets have already been sold and that means that the total attendance is almost certain to exceed last year’s figure of 40,746.
Of course that will be helped by a big contingent of British fans, principally but not exclusively from Wigan and Warrington, the two competing clubs.
The NRL is claiming that more than 25 per cent of those 35,000 tickets have been bought by US-based fans. Tickets have apparently been sold in all 50 US states.
That sounds good but I hope there will come a time when tickets for the Las Vegas event will be selling out.
Ghanaian Rugby League
COMING back to the idea of spreading the word about Rugby League, I would advise anyone to take a look at ‘BLESSED’ an inspiring YouTube documentary about Rugby League in Ghana.
It lasts just over thirteen minutes and it delves into the life of John Mensah Bless, whose full-time occupation is that of a nurse but whose enthusiasm for Rugby League is probably as great as anyone’s I know.
The film explores their challenges, triumphs, and unwavering passion of Rugby League enthusiasts in Ghana.
“Join us on this remarkable journey of resilience, ambition, and the pursuit of greatness,” they tell us.
And what’s very clear, when you see the Ghanaian athletes who are playing the game, is that they have all the physical attributes as well as the enthusiasm to eventually excel at our sport.
And it’s interesting to note that the form of the game most of them seem to play is Nines.
I would love to see someone invite a Ghanaian representative team to play some games in this country, or even to tour Ghana itself, if that hasn’t already been done.
If you would like to watch the documentary, you can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on2qXVrsWiM.
The officials of Ghana Rugby League deserve our congratulations for their dedication to our sport and the video programme they have produced.
It’s hard not to be optimistic about Rugby League’s future in Africa.
