I think if you strip away all of the ideas that would be great in an ideal world you are left with only a few realistic options for halting the decline of the sport.Mike wrote:I'd like some details on exectly what could be done better.
ALso, I'm very dubious of their "generally better overall" finanacial picture statement. Didn't we lose a huge amount of funding recently because our participation levels are falling? I imagine they mean the the SKY deal is a bit more than it was.
I think most on here myself also have alluded to the fact the standard has dropped in the Superleague, this in part is due to the influx of people leaving for NRL and Union.
The obvious solution is for the UK teams to pay more - but we all know that isnt probably feasable without outside investment, furthermore with the product itself losing its appeal to die hard fans outside investment is likely to be harder.
So i think in truth there is only one realistic option to halt the decline and that is to shrink the league. That way you condense the talent pool creating more competitive teams. More competitive teams of better talent will once again increase the spectacle of the matches.
The money from sky will go further across a smaller pool also allowing for wages to be heightened on top players. [/b]