Derek Beaumont calls for IMG system to be scrapped and proposes radical alternative as Leigh Leopards owner hits out at

[buttmonkey2]

“Look at our postcodes too, we don’t score because of that and neither do Wigan because of how many people there are in the area.

“We’ve all got fans in PNG or America who fly over, so if you want to measure that then I would flip it on its head.

“Our population is 44,000 and we average 8,000 of which 6,500 are members. That’s 15 per cent who live in this town that pay and sign up for a year to watch this club.

“I don’t want to be rude or be a prick towards Leeds, but Leeds have got half a million people in the city and get 15,000. So who is the more successful? I’m saying there is a different way of measuring it.”

Knockout comment from Derek.

[Nezza Faz]

There has been rapid fan engagement across most of the league, with increased social media content across quite a number of platforms.
Also, clubs like Leigh, HKR, Us (enhanced Robin Park fan village, laser displays), Warrington putting similar plans in place at HJ; all displaying intent to engage their communities. Hull FC with new owners showing definite positive signs on improvements on and off the field, as are Catalans with large scale ground improvements already begun.
Then after what seems like a 100 years, Wakefield have transformed their stadium with a new ownership, and even Castleford have reconfigured their age-old Wheldon Rd ground.
I honestly couldn’t see any of this happening, after all these years, without IMG’s influence and threats of relegation.
Internationally, we’ve now got a calendar with Australia visiting this year for an Ashes series, we go over there next year for a World Cup Cup then a planned Australia visit again with hoped for Club games in the itinerary. NZ then on the agenda the following year.
I think it’s fair to point these out and go some way to look at hopes for the future, with an improved tv package a priority.

[Mike]

“Look at our postcodes too, we don’t score because of that and neither do Wigan because of how many people there are in the area.

“We’ve all got fans in PNG or America who fly over, so if you want to measure that then I would flip it on its head.

“Our population is 44,000 and we average 8,000 of which 6,500 are members. That’s 15 per cent who live in this town that pay and sign up for a year to watch this club.

“I don’t want to be rude or be a prick towards Leeds, but Leeds have got half a million people in the city and get 15,000. So who is the more successful? I’m saying there is a different way of measuring it.”

Knockout comment from Derek.

You'd get a 100 points if you located in an area with a population of 1 and got a crowd of 1 then Derrick? The problem with handing the reigns over to the owners is illustrated nicely above, they'd be in favour of rules that benefitted their own clubs, not the game in general.

[the pieman]

“Look at our postcodes too, we don’t score because of that and neither do Wigan because of how many people there are in the area.

“We’ve all got fans in PNG or America who fly over, so if you want to measure that then I would flip it on its head.

“Our population is 44,000 and we average 8,000 of which 6,500 are members. That’s 15 per cent who live in this town that pay and sign up for a year to watch this club.

“I don’t want to be rude or be a prick towards Leeds, but Leeds have got half a million people in the city and get 15,000. So who is the more successful? I’m saying there is a different way of measuring it.”

Knockout comment from Derek.

You'd get a 100 points if you located in an area with a population of 1 and got a crowd of 1 then Derrick? The problem with handing the reigns over to the owners is illustrated nicely above, they'd be in favour of rules that benefitted their own clubs, not the game in general.

there is some merit in his comment. Take London for example, they have the largest catchment area, with no competition but were given a very low score if i recall correctly. the rules were applied to suit whoever it wanted. I'm not saying one way or another is correct, but we have 1 club in the South of England / London, so surely common sense says they have the largest catchment area. Whether the club can tap into that or not is a different matter

I do agree re your comment on owners, they are all in it for the self interest of their own club, but some of them do have good ideas, and / or know how to run a business, so surely giving them a bigger input should be considered

[WarriorWinger]

Every game televised or streamed which is new from last year, so was this IMG's influence/idea and not the RFL, all clubs going all out to engage digitally and create a better atmosphere, again all IMG as far as I am aware.

I think the RFL are still stuck in their old ways and IMG are looking at the way people engage more these days, whilst still trying to uphold the tradition of physical attendees, hence the digital presence and catchment areas and crowds, at some point something had to give, the TV money was reducing and there were no major backers in the wings to show every game on live TV, so why not let IMG have a go at bringing the game back to where it was before, it used to be the second most viewed sport on Sky at one point, not sure where it falls on the listings now.

Owners are often smart business men and they do have good ideas, they are also consulted on the changes which is where the self interest takes over, if IMG make a proposal that some of the 'lesser' clubs don't like, even though it would be overall the best for the game, they will vote against it as they would have to spend money or make changes and some are resistant to that.

[nathan_rugby]

There has been rapid fan engagement across most of the league, with increased social media content across quite a number of platforms.
Also, clubs like Leigh, HKR, Us (enhanced Robin Park fan village, laser displays), Warrington putting similar plans in place at HJ; all displaying intent to engage their communities. Hull FC with new owners showing definite positive signs on improvements on and off the field, as are Catalans with large scale ground improvements already begun.
Then after what seems like a 100 years, Wakefield have transformed their stadium with a new ownership, and even Castleford have reconfigured their age-old Wheldon Rd ground.
I honestly couldn’t see any of this happening, after all these years, without IMG’s influence and threats of relegation.
Internationally, we’ve now got a calendar with Australia visiting this year for an Ashes series, we go over there next year for a World Cup Cup then a planned Australia visit again with hoped for Club games in the itinerary. NZ then on the agenda the following year.
I think it’s fair to point these out and go some way to look at hopes for the future, with an improved tv package a priority.

Definitely some positives but what also needs to happen, which maybe won't come under the scope of IMG is:

Better TV deal
Mandatory Academies
More children / teenagers playing amateur rugby league
Salary cap changes - Removal, more allowances or letting players earn outside of the sport

[josie andrews]

Leigh Leopards Derek Beaumont calls for Rugby League to walk away from Sky & proposes new broadcasting system

LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont has called for rugby league to walk away from Sky when the current deal ends in 2027.

Sky has been rugby league’s backbone ever since the summer game was created back in 1996, with the latest deal seeing every Super League fixture being broadcast live on the broadcasting giant.

However, there has also been increasing criticism aimed at the broadcaster, with the current Sky deal sitting at merely £21 million – a massive reduction from the £40 million that was negotiated back in 2021.

With the likes of darts now being paid more than rugby league to be broadcast on Sky, Beaumont believes the sport needs to split ties.

“If you switch rugby league off of Sky – and it takes some balls – I would do it tomorrow,” Beaumont told League Express.

“I’m not happy with people coming here filming all my games for £21 million a year. All the other things they use my brand for as well, it’s worth miles more than that and the whole sport it.

“You get 300,000 watching Sky for a game – and we’re all having to pay for it – and then you get three million on the BBC.

“If only the 300,000 decide to buy the Our League app because they can’t watch it any other way, for £10 a month you would get £36 million – we get £21 million off Sky so what are we doing?

“We need them to know that’s no more in two years when it runs out. We need to set it up ourselves, drive everything towards it and market it.”

Beaumont went further, taking aim at the idea of ‘player welfare’ with his side having ten days rest after round one and then a mere five-day turnaround after round two, purely because of broadcasting reasons.

“I would do it in house and I get exposure by giving a game to the BBC every week or fortnight and advertise where you get the rest from within that.

“We are getting paid far less than darts! Every game is on Sky at a different time but we have to play games on Thursday and then Sunday.

“Look at our opening game, we play Wigan on a Thursday night and I dig that because there is a story there with the Battle of the Borough and so on.

“But then from that Thursday on, we don’t play until Sunday and then we play on the Friday. They go on about welfare but we get ten days rest and then five days rest.

“That’s because the BBC want us on as their first game against Huddersfield on a Sunday. Everyone is all over and nobody is really happy with it.

“When someone is paying £40 million for that right, that’s not a problem but when they are only paying £20 million and only saying we are worth £17 million then they have drove the sport for too long.”

So what is Beaumont’s solution?

“I would be saying now, ‘this is the direction of travel the owners are going on’. We’ve got a billionaire in Mike Danson at Wigan, we’ve got someone with money like Martin Jepson at Castleford, I’ve got friends in America who are looking to invest and there are wealthy people at Saints and Warrington.

“They are all saying ‘what’s going on here?’ The game has enough people that can show their teeth and say ‘we are prepared to take it on our own chin instead Sky’.

“The conversation now with Sky is ‘this is where it’s going to travel too in two years’ time and that will be the end unless you get to where we were at £40 million to take this forward’.

“We go black in between games. Sky have adverts in between games and we have a sign saying ‘be back later’ with a black screen. Put ads on it for free before having it blank.

“Get the disciplinary hearings on there, there is so much content you could drive to that which people would go mad for.

“Once you’ve got 300,000 people paying £10 a month, then up it to £15 and suddenly you’ve gone from £36 million a year to £48 million and no one is arsed because it’s £5.

“That’s how you drive this sport and get it to a better place but at the moment we don’t have the people or resources driving it in the right direction.”

https://www.totalrl.com/leigh-leopards- ... ng-system/

[Ipinwigan]

Leigh Leopards Derek Beaumont calls for Rugby League to walk away from Sky & proposes new broadcasting system

LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont has called for rugby league to walk away from Sky when the current deal ends in 2027.

Sky has been rugby league’s backbone ever since the summer game was created back in 1996, with the latest deal seeing every Super League fixture being broadcast live on the broadcasting giant.

However, there has also been increasing criticism aimed at the broadcaster, with the current Sky deal sitting at merely £21 million – a massive reduction from the £40 million that was negotiated back in 2021.

With the likes of darts now being paid more than rugby league to be broadcast on Sky, Beaumont believes the sport needs to split ties.

“If you switch rugby league off of Sky – and it takes some balls – I would do it tomorrow,” Beaumont told League Express.

“I’m not happy with people coming here filming all my games for £21 million a year. All the other things they use my brand for as well, it’s worth miles more than that and the whole sport it.

“You get 300,000 watching Sky for a game – and we’re all having to pay for it – and then you get three million on the BBC.

“If only the 300,000 decide to buy the Our League app because they can’t watch it any other way, for £10 a month you would get £36 million – we get £21 million off Sky so what are we doing?

“We need them to know that’s no more in two years when it runs out. We need to set it up ourselves, drive everything towards it and market it.”

Beaumont went further, taking aim at the idea of ‘player welfare’ with his side having ten days rest after round one and then a mere five-day turnaround after round two, purely because of broadcasting reasons.

“I would do it in house and I get exposure by giving a game to the BBC every week or fortnight and advertise where you get the rest from within that.

“We are getting paid far less than darts! Every game is on Sky at a different time but we have to play games on Thursday and then Sunday.

“Look at our opening game, we play Wigan on a Thursday night and I dig that because there is a story there with the Battle of the Borough and so on.

“But then from that Thursday on, we don’t play until Sunday and then we play on the Friday. They go on about welfare but we get ten days rest and then five days rest.

“That’s because the BBC want us on as their first game against Huddersfield on a Sunday. Everyone is all over and nobody is really happy with it.

“When someone is paying £40 million for that right, that’s not a problem but when they are only paying £20 million and only saying we are worth £17 million then they have drove the sport for too long.”

So what is Beaumont’s solution?

“I would be saying now, ‘this is the direction of travel the owners are going on’. We’ve got a billionaire in Mike Danson at Wigan, we’ve got someone with money like Martin Jepson at Castleford, I’ve got friends in America who are looking to invest and there are wealthy people at Saints and Warrington.

“They are all saying ‘what’s going on here?’ The game has enough people that can show their teeth and say ‘we are prepared to take it on our own chin instead Sky’.

“The conversation now with Sky is ‘this is where it’s going to travel too in two years’ time and that will be the end unless you get to where we were at £40 million to take this forward’.

“We go black in between games. Sky have adverts in between games and we have a sign saying ‘be back later’ with a black screen. Put ads on it for free before having it blank.

“Get the disciplinary hearings on there, there is so much content you could drive to that which people would go mad for.

“Once you’ve got 300,000 people paying £10 a month, then up it to £15 and suddenly you’ve gone from £36 million a year to £48 million and no one is arsed because it’s £5.

“That’s how you drive this sport and get it to a better place but at the moment we don’t have the people or resources driving it in the right direction.”

https://www.totalrl.com/leigh-leopards- ... ng-system/

Totally agree with him, it's about time the game stood up for itself, instead of accepting reduce payments.

[PoppaG]

I see where he's coming from, and agree that we need to be putting pressure on Sky to increase the deal. There's various ways to do that and things that, as a sport, we need to improve to drive it, but thats another conversation.

The issue with wholesale moving to a standalone app like Our League is that you won't get ANY casual viewers. No-one who doesn't already follow RL would pay just to watch it - why would they? So you only get already active viewers, a number which will dwindle over time. That would kill the game as surely as anything else.

If he'd have said take it the BBC, or streaming outlets like Prime, etc, then I could get behind that as they'd need to drive consumer interest to get eyes on their channels anyway. Unlike Sky who in reality wouldn't really miss us if we weren't there.

[WarriorWinger]

Whilst I understand where he is coming from, I dont think the Our League App is the answer.

Yes we may get 300K watching a game on Sky but how many of those are 'sport' watchers, would all those then pay another £10-15 a month to watch RL, I think not, there are probably many who watch football, cricket etc. and watch RL as they like sport, I can't see the casual watchers subscribing to another service, Sky is expensive as it is.

RL needs to open to the wider market and not just to die hard fans of RL, BBC. C4, ITV2 etc. channels that are on freeview, if we can build the 'brand' of RL again then hopefully the broadcasters will want to pay good money for the rights to broadcast it.

Darts is built on a party atmosphere and is fast paced (for darts at least) and that is what the hype is around it, I know people who have attended darts nights and not because they are real darts fans but so they can dress up in fancy dress and have a good time, RL will never be like that due to the nature of the sport but we need to try and tap into some of that type of hype and that is where the clubs like Leigh and HKR are trying to do things right.

Whilst DB talks some sense I think he maybe doesn't fully realise there are die hards and casuals when it comes to RL, confining yourself to one medium would be a step back in my opinion.