Watching the Warriors

[nathan_rugby]

I don't think they'll have much else live sport to show Mike, the current football season will have finished, they don't do club ru, and cricket will be ending (or rained off !).

They are showing every NRL game live, so all together it could be a great PR exercise for RL in this country to have a sort of monopoly of live sport, several days a week.

This pre supposes all the clubs in SL can get their pay squabbles over the line ? And sort out the Catalans situation, and the P & R question.

Rugby League games on sky have been Thurs and Friday PM and formally Friday and Saturday.

Neither of these really clashed with football or many other sports. Why wasn’t it ever a good PR exercise for the sport then?

Whilst it may make sense in your head, the reality is nobody really cares about RL in this country. That was proven even more so when sky cut the post match analysis on Friday night for WWE wrestling.

How much would the profile raise if it was free on BBC? I doubt even by much. If a random / new sport popped up on BBC, I wouldn’t just start watching it.
[/quote

That summary isn't quite true, as SL on Sky is the most watched club sport on their channels after football, with only Int RU and Test Match Cricket getting higher audience numbers. We can put our sport down as much as RL fans seem determined to do, but having regular matches on tv, especially at a time like this when there's limited sports action to oppose it, makes for good publicity and that's never a bad negative, no matter how you look at it. Just look at the number of highlights games from the past they are continuously showing, coupled with new magazine programmes "The Golden Point" and an hour long "Try Time". And the fact they are showing every NRL match live, shows they feel people do care, and no way would they say it's "a random sport", especially with the contract monies they back the game with. Lets build the game up if we have a chance, not kick into the backyard, at a time when the game needs an urgent restart, with less bickering going on.

The Sky TV deal tells you all you need to know about RL viewing figures and pulling power.

I agree that more games on TV is a positive, especially at times like this. However, Rugby League is coming back at a time where pubs, restaurants are opening so the impact won't be as much as say the NRL games on Sky may have had... But as I have pointed out, Rugby League games on Sky tend to have not really clashed with other major sports, so how much of an impact will it have?

I am not bickering, I am just not living in a dream world re raising the profile of rugby league. That needs to be done in many ways.

[nathan_rugby]

I know for a fact I was first made aware of RL through the Super League Show being played on a Sunday afternoon after I came home from rugby (union) training. I was immediately hooked. A game every Sunday on BBC would help raise the profile and increase fans and players in the sport. I am sure of that.

How much have Challenge Cup games on BBC raised the profile?

It only raises the profile if:
1 - People are aware of it
2 - People tune in and watch it
3 - It results in them purchasing Sky and viewing Rugby League, already having Sky but viewing rugby league, attending live games

Whilst I do agree that having Rugby League on free to view TV will in some way increase the profile and viewing figures etc. It needs to be combined with a lot of other measures as on its own it will barely make a dent.

[Richymac]

I know for a fact I was first made aware of RL through the Super League Show being played on a Sunday afternoon after I came home from rugby (union) training. I was immediately hooked. A game every Sunday on BBC would help raise the profile and increase fans and players in the sport. I am sure of that.

How much have Challenge Cup games on BBC raised the profile?

It only raises the profile if:
1 - People are aware of it
2 - People tune in and watch it
3 - It results in them purchasing Sky and viewing Rugby League, already having Sky but viewing rugby league, attending live games

Whilst I do agree that having Rugby League on free to view TV will in some way increase the profile and viewing figures etc. It needs to be combined with a lot of other measures as on its own it will barely make a dent.

I’ve no doubt it will have to be advertised and bumped up the homepage of the BBC Sport page.

However if the sport on its own was enough to convince an 10yr old rugby union player (Me) that League was their preferable sport then I’m sure there’s a place for it.

But yeah advertise it. Have it on at 3pm where they would normally have some equestrian or second division bowls and you would immediately get more interest. And then it could grow from there.

There is pretty much no risk in the RFL giving a game to the BBC every week.

[nathan_rugby]

I know for a fact I was first made aware of RL through the Super League Show being played on a Sunday afternoon after I came home from rugby (union) training. I was immediately hooked. A game every Sunday on BBC would help raise the profile and increase fans and players in the sport. I am sure of that.

How much have Challenge Cup games on BBC raised the profile?

It only raises the profile if:
1 - People are aware of it
2 - People tune in and watch it
3 - It results in them purchasing Sky and viewing Rugby League, already having Sky but viewing rugby league, attending live games

Whilst I do agree that having Rugby League on free to view TV will in some way increase the profile and viewing figures etc. It needs to be combined with a lot of other measures as on its own it will barely make a dent.

I’ve no doubt it will have to be advertised and bumped up the homepage of the BBC Sport page.

However if the sport on its own was enough to convince an 10yr old rugby union player (Me) that League was their preferable sport then I’m sure there’s a place for it.

But yeah advertise it. Have it on at 3pm where they would normally have some equestrian or second division bowls and you would immediately get more interest. And then it could grow from there.

There is pretty much no risk in the RFL giving a game to the BBC every week.

How much was the challenge cup advertised and how many viewers did that get?

What would Sky say about not being the exclusive tv partner for Super league?

I think your views are too simplistic and unrealistic.

The problem isn't rugby league on TV, its the fact that Rugby League isn't represented in the whole of the country, it isn't taught in schools very much and it isn't even that popular in the rugby league towns in all honesty.

[Richymac]

How much have Challenge Cup games on BBC raised the profile?

It only raises the profile if:
1 - People are aware of it
2 - People tune in and watch it
3 - It results in them purchasing Sky and viewing Rugby League, already having Sky but viewing rugby league, attending live games

Whilst I do agree that having Rugby League on free to view TV will in some way increase the profile and viewing figures etc. It needs to be combined with a lot of other measures as on its own it will barely make a dent.

I’ve no doubt it will have to be advertised and bumped up the homepage of the BBC Sport page.

However if the sport on its own was enough to convince an 10yr old rugby union player (Me) that League was their preferable sport then I’m sure there’s a place for it.

But yeah advertise it. Have it on at 3pm where they would normally have some equestrian or second division bowls and you would immediately get more interest. And then it could grow from there.

There is pretty much no risk in the RFL giving a game to the BBC every week.

How much was the challenge cup advertised and how many viewers did that get?

What would Sky say about not being the exclusive tv partner for Super league?

I think your views are too simplistic and unrealistic.

The problem isn't rugby league on TV, its the fact that Rugby League isn't represented in the whole of the country, it isn't taught in schools very much and it isn't even that popular in the rugby league towns in all honesty.

Wow! So pessimistic.

There’s literally nothing for us to lose then if it’s so bad?

I went to a school where it was all Union. I went to my coach after turning to league and we spent a lot of sessions adapting what League does into Union. We did very well in the national cup that year.

Again if there’s concerted effort to advertise and encourage the games growth it will happen. We literally haven’t even tried to do this and you’re shutting it down.

Try and be more positive. I have plenty of friends who simply don’t know about the sport because it’s not on their screens or even talked about. So with my double pronged advertising and free to air weekly RL games I can’t see why we couldn’t boost the awareness of the sport.

Again, if like you say the sport is so devoid of fans and support. What is there to lose by having a game on Sunday televised.

I’m sure Sky wouldn’t mind if it brought In more people to buy a subscription because they actually have seen the sport.

As for your comment on CC figures. This article seems encouraging. Not in the current figures but the potential for growth.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... gland-team

[Mike]

It won't fix the whole problem. So let's not do it?

[nathan_rugby]

I’m just being realistic.

Why hasn’t the challenge cup and rugby league World Cup not raised the profile of the game? They’ve been on BBC.

[Nezza Faz]

I’m just being realistic.

Why hasn’t the challenge cup and rugby league World Cup not raised the profile of the game? They’ve been on BBC.

Just reading, apologies for a bit "off topic", but the cancellation of this years Ashes has led to the RFL making a loss of £3M (instead of a projected profit) because no games and most importantly, no monies from tv partners, the BBC who were broadcasting the series.
So not just a blow to the potential publicity for having no Ashes, with the loss of a game at Tottenham's new stadium, but a damaging financial hit from the games broadcaster.

[Richymac]

I’m just being realistic.

Why hasn’t the challenge cup and rugby league World Cup not raised the profile of the game? They’ve been on BBC.

But that’s not what we are talking about.

If you had regular matches on BBC,ITV or C4 then you would have more chance of attracting fans. Then they would be more inclined to be invested in the World Cup and the Challenge Cup.

As it is once a month there’s a couple of CC match on bbc. Brilliantly presented and appreciated by many people. That’s not enough to capture fans.

Any better suggestions are welcome. But this is a brilliant idea. And as I suggested earlier it does work. Worked on me.

[the pieman]

I’m just being realistic.

Why hasn’t the challenge cup and rugby league World Cup not raised the profile of the game? They’ve been on BBC.

But that’s not what we are talking about.

If you had regular matches on BBC,ITV or C4 then you would have more chance of attracting fans. Then they would be more inclined to be invested in the World Cup and the Challenge Cup.

As it is once a month there’s a couple of CC match on bbc. Brilliantly presented and appreciated by many people. That’s not enough to capture fans.

Any better suggestions are welcome. But this is a brilliant idea. And as I suggested earlier it does work. Worked on me.

Why hasnt the challenge cup raised the profile of the game on the BBC?
IMO poorly marketed as only RL fans will know (some probably dont even know) that there is a game on the BBC. it gets moved from pillar to post, and often cut off to show something else, so it feels like a poor relation at times. the cup draw could be anytime, any place, any where to the point we dont know its happening, and i also dont like the current structure of the challenge cup as it is too drawn out and then semi and final in space of no time at all (but that is for the RL to sort out, not a broadcaster)

when the 6 nations is coming up, there are BBC adverts weeks / months in advance building it up, but RL gets nothing other than the advert they use as its coming on, and then, they may as part of the show mention either another challenge cup game or poss upcoming world cup / test series etc. nothing like any other sport would get to promote what is being shown. A test series or world cup should be getting BBC airtime from July onwards if it is being played in Oct / Nov. just a couple of early adverts, and then build up to the event by increasing exposure through Sept / Oct to the point that prime time before or after Eastenders etc there is meaningful exposure and people know the game exists.

i agree re exposure to other channels and have said exactly the same myself previously. BBC, ITV, C4 all show Rugby Union games at different levels, whether that be league games, the european or internationals. Massive amount of exposure. ITV4 especially do lots of good coverage of other sports, which may not be mainstream, and some of that coverage is excellent. whilst they may not have the Sky budget, it is still well presented and worth watching if you enjoy that particular sport.

we have IMO jumped into bed with Sky too easily, especially the last TV deal, where there was little or no negotiation, and i dont believe any other broadcasters were considered (but happy to be corrected on this).

RL has grown massively over the last few years (despite what we may all see or think). There are more school children playing RL in London than ever before, and pretty sure someone told me that there are more playing league than union (came from a school teacher and coach at local amateur team). But, if that is the case, we must be doing something else wrong? Why arent we tapping into things like this and then raising the profile of the game through the countries media?