Quote ="Saddened!"People praising the RFL need to think again. The sport is growing in participation, viewing figures and attendances seems to be the conclusion from the do gooders on here.
So why then could the RFL not negotiate a improved TV deal or a competition sponsorship deal worth any money at all?'"
I agree about the point of competition sponsorship - I have yet to be convinced that having players on the side of trucks is £2.5 million worth of sponsorship. Saying that, the majority of clubs agreed to it in favour of other (I presume) cash sponsorship deals - we'll have to wait and see, but I am sceptical.
The TV deal I thought was a good one. In these times of financial difficulties, to get a similar (was it a small increase) in the deal was pretty good, especially when there was little competition from other stations, and other sports have had their contracts decreased (The football leagues for example). Also, I think I'm right in saying that this deal excluded International Rights, which previous were covered in the same contract - meaning there will be additional money for International match rights on top of the SL contract.
In reality, there is only SKY who can offer rugbly league what it gets now. ESPN and Premier sports are the rival sports channels - ESPN I don't think would capacity for 2 games a week (I may be wrong), and premier Sports tend to buy other channels produced programmes (NRL, Nascar, NHL, Football) - which is why the NL coverage will be interesting this year, as I think they are producing the coverage themselves.
BBC don't tend to show domestic league coverage of any sport (maybe Celtic league union on BBC wales, and scottish football on BBC Scotland, I'm not sure) - it's mainly sporting events, or cup competitions. League competition coverage is generally in the form of highlights (MOTD, Football League show etc.), for which we have the Super League show.
ITV could probably accomodate 2 games a week across their channels (ITV4 in particular), but already have a good sports portfolio (CL football, FA Cup, Arrive RU Highlights, Touring Cars), and seem to want to broadcast as many "reality TV shows" as possible, as they generate the most money.