Re: Watching the Warriors
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:01 pm
Nezza Faz wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:19 amThe Sky TV deal tells you all you need to know about RL viewing figures and pulling power.nathan_rugby wrote: ↑Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:13 pmRugby League games on sky have been Thurs and Friday PM and formally Friday and Saturday.Nezza Faz wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 11:23 pm
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.
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.
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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.
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.