London and RL

[morley pie eater]

Aaron Bower in The Guardian:

London has been dubbed a ‘sleeping giant’ of rugby league by IMG, who say success in the capital is high on their agenda when it comes to transforming the sport’s long-term prospects. The global media company agreed a 12-year deal with rugby league’s powerbrokers in May in an attempt to revolutionise the game on and off the field, with a licensing system set to replace conventional promotion and relegation for Super League by 2025.

IMG’s vice president for sports management, Matt Dwyer, says that capturing the attention of people in London and developing the sport in the city is firmly among their priorities after their research showed it ranks better than traditional rugby league cities in areas such as participation and interest.

The belief that London can become a success was heightened by England’s World Cup semi-final against Samoa at the Emirates Stadium in November, when the majority of those in attendance came from the capital. Dwyer stressed that while the plans will take time, London has the potential to become a rugby league powerhouse in the years ahead.

“The thing that surprised us is when we looked at all the data, you took the names off the cities and looked at participation, interest and a few other metrics, London was at the top and I don’t think anyone would have guessed that,” he said. “We’re all sitting there thinking there’s a sleeping giant here: we’re not saying London for the sake of it because it’s London. We’re saying it because there’s a future here and the metrics we’ve seen suggest it.”

Rugby league has tried to have a strong professional presence in London before. While London Broncos were a fixture in Super League for a prolonged period, they are now a part-time club playing in the sport’s second tier, the Championship. London Skolars play in the level below, League 1. Dwyer appeared to rule out creating a new London club but warned rugby league must learn from its past failings when it comes to the capital.

“The demographic from both participation and interest is very positive but we are going to need a club that’s competitive,” he said. “I’m keen to work with both clubs. But the step we’re at now is revisiting the past and working out what we can learn from that.

“It’s still very early days. It’s a long-term project, we’re not going to be able to click our fingers and 20,000 people will turn up to watch the Broncos. But it’s got the right foundations.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... gby-league

[fozzieskem]

I love the trips down to London but how many times have we been here with this?

IMG are trying the same thing that's been tried before and to say the least its a bit disappointing

[CheshireWarrior]

I agree, we have been here before.

For me (if London is the future ), maybe try having professional clubs specifically based in North, East, South and West London....instead of London Broncos who seem to move home every two or three years.
I completely forgot London Skolars still existed tbh!

"The thing that surprised us is when we looked at all the data"....interesting, to be blunt, how many cockneys have responded posting interest do we think?

[the pieman]

i've just tried to look to see how many participants in London but getting nothing back. One of the season ticket holders near to where i sit was saying a few years ago that schools / amateur RL in London was booming with some big numbers playing the game, but we dont see that and its not translated to a successful London team yet.

one article i did find from 2019 suggest 224,000 participants in RU and 63,000 for RL, but i think this was a very RU driven article as they were focussing a little on RU v football. RU main clubs clearly as we know all in the affluent south as the article pointed out, with only Sale and Newcastle up north. Ave attendance 13k+ RU and 8k RL


However, in another search i get 250,000 registered RL players, and only 140,000 RU registered players, so as you can see from a fans perspective its going to be difficult to measure or judge if London would be a success or not, as the data varies so much depending upon the sources available / how reliable the sources are

[morley pie eater]

Maybe I'm the eternal optimist, but I think this approach is different than what went before.

The starting point for Fulham was "We must have a team in London to get national coverage and recognition". That may well be true, but it wasn't done in a professional or sustainable way. Fulham pulled out and we've had 40 years of valiantly surviving but going nowhere.

I don't know much about IMG, but am guessing that they have experience and know what they're doing. They don't say "We need a team in London, so let's have one." They're saying that interest in London is there (albeit for big events), and the participation is there. We can build on these - but it needs a lot of thought and a lot of work over time.

"The demographic from both participation and interest is very positive but we are going to need a club that’s competitive,” he said. “I’m keen to work with both clubs. But the step we’re at now is revisiting the past and working out what we can learn from that.

“It’s still very early days. It’s a long-term project, we’re not going to be able to click our fingers and 20,000 people will turn up to watch the Broncos. But it’s got the right foundations.”

One more thought. I read that since the pandemic, the UK has 20% more billionaires. This London plan needs one of them (preferably not connected with government PPE contracts) to commit to long-term investment in a London team. With people like IMG involved, it's a better proposition than it was in 1980.

[keptinthedarkfans]

To be fair they do seem to have it right at youth level. Just falls apart after that.

[Wiganer Ted]

Always been a good idea that up to now hasn't worked.
One reason is that a lot of their SL players in the past came from the north. They moved to London and had to pay London prices which they found difficult.

Any London club will have to pay increased salaries to reflect the costs of living in and around London. In turn the club will have to pay levels above the normal salary cap to keep the club competitive in recruiting quality players from home and overseas.

This problem has been there for decades yet all attempts to award London an increase on the salary cap have been resisted. This will be a test of IMG's role in all of this. If they can get the clubs to agree to a London club having a larger salary cap, then they will have done something the RFL & SL have failed to do in decades.

[fozzieskem]

To be fair they do seem to have it right at youth level. Just falls apart after that.

Agreed and that's the big issue once they've aged out by now though if the game was thriving surely it translate to success on the pitch down south?

We go through this everytime while we've let Cumbria wither on the vine which is shameful to me it really might be time to accept its a northern sport and build from.there?

[CheshireWarrior]

In addition, my perception (not influenced by IMG), is professional, adult rugby league is such a lost cause which has been tried and tested!

I have a membership for Fulham Football Club, on the rare occasions I've been to Craven Cottage, I've actually seen fans wearing Queensland caps etc (which I admit shocked me massively).

I look at it like this, it costs me anything from £65 - £100 for a matchday ticket in London, season ticket prices cost alot of money and many football matchdays take place on a Friday - Sunday. Even football clubs in London playing in The Championship and League One generate healthy crowds and again ticket and season ticket prices are either on par with SL matchday tickets or slightly more expensive. So I ask myself, how do you pry away lifelong football fans or somehow convince them to spend additional money on a second season ticket (especially if both football and rugby league matches play on the same day)?

Not to mention RU !

To me it boils down to the fact of getting bums on seats, sure its the capital, street are paved with gold and investment is there left , right and centre. We've seen this for years London is this and London is that for RL....yet no one actually devises a plan or theory that makes it work? It more frightening that the youth element is there, yet it cant be cracked.

[widdenoldboy]

To be fair they do seem to have it right at youth level. Just falls apart after that.

Agreed and that's the big issue once they've aged out by now though if the game was thriving surely it translate to success on the pitch down south?

We go through this everytime while we've let Cumbria wither on the vine which is shameful to me it really might be time to accept its a northern sport and build from.there?

Its a puzzler but London could provide a short circuit to a better game IF its done right.
First off, there are many expat Aussies/Kiwis who love the game and there are some good community clubs down there, like the London Chargers, that have a good mix of Aussies/expat Northerners and some locals.