Quote ="WelshRL&RUwatcher"As my fellow Celt Mark Evans said to Dave Woods on the BBC a few months ago, if you're the third most watched sport in a city it really is a massive struggle, i felt he was suggesting that they should stop playing, look at the Melbourne Rebels, the Western Force, Mark is a former CEO of the Melbourne Storm. Is there really any point of Yorkshire Carnegie? I'm not including international cities like London and New York here, cities under 2 or 3 million people.'"
1. Evans was more than just the CEO of The Storm. He was the man at Quins that welcomed RL into the fold, he was the brains behind the big game that now fills twickenham each xmas, his company were employed by the RFL to promote the 2013 RLWC Double Header and he was one of a key team of business leaders tasked with cutting the Fox/NRL cord from the storm....as well as increasing gates.....all of which he did splendidly.
2. In terms of footfall at games, the Storm (18,200) are third behind the Victory (18,600) and the fumblers. The "kick it in the net" lot have a second side in the city and the derby drew 33k this year and we all know that the fumblers turn out in huge numbers, but the Storm have done well, persevered and have started to build a solid following.
3. I said (in 2002 first IIRC) that if RL wanted a team in London and SKY were not just treating us like a cheap filler, then the ownership of the Broncos should have been 50/50 the RFL and the broadcaster. The reality was Sky just wanted something else to show, ideally in summer and we get where we are now, 100% beholding to them and at their mercy.
