Some good points. Obviously we're all critical about the lack of main sponsor for the league and I, for one, have been calling for the RFL to demand emergency renegotaitions with SKY in the face of the NRL situation, but if our clubs were able to do [url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9421916/Saracens-sign-8-million-sponsorship-deal-with-German-company.htmlthis sort of thing[/url then we's all be sitting much more comfortably.

Very true.

But then that is a shirt and ground sponsor.

I've no idea what our deals with Typhoo and Langtree are worth.
If Langtree knocked a few million off the build price it could be just as big.

You would suspect not as it's that kind of announcement that would generate other commercial interest.
In the end though whilst sponsorship is part of the answer, the other part is having clubs that manage costs. Everyone can do simple maths, when you look at the cost of a SL squad, it can never top £1.6million.

At £200 a throw thats 8000 season tickets.
But you had clubs doing £99 season tickets. So then you are talking 16000 season tickets and no-one has ever got close to that.
Clubs have to be selfsufficient and have to charge the going rate, or have very very deep pockets, for a sustained period.

interesting reply from League Freak.

Don't read if offended by foul language.

It's not the language that offends. It's the lack of any real critical points in the article. He uses swearing to make a point rather than actually making a point.

I could write a foul mouthed tirade, it does not mean I have anything useful or insightful to say.

But in the new journalism, just getting noticed is the key, maybe this is the real intention rather than a critical analysis of the letter.

He even goes on about the ....... from tennis.

It's not hard to remember Richard Lewis' name, if he could not manage that he could at least show some journalist credibility and Google it. Maybe it is just me, but most people are of a good opinion of Richard Lewis. He pulled the RFL back from the brink of financial collapse and did what the RFL could to put in place rules around finance to improve the clubs.

But none of that matters as the key is self publicity.

Hmmm. It's early days yet but Barwick doesn't really say anything apart from he likes the sport and is looking at ways his expertise helps.
They should put him on the negotiating team next time the TV deal comes up.

With regards to the maths we need to add in the £1.28M p.a. that the clubs get from sky ( a bad deal very undervalued in my opinion).
As the top SL club exceed £5M in income and as the SC is £1.6M it doesn't look hard to actually make at least a small profit.