Has the £90 million contract with Sky, trumpeted by Andy Wilson in the Guardian last month, been signed yet ? I've not seen anything officially announced yet.

I do hope so because if rumours about Murdoch pulling the plug on his empire are correct the game could go tits-up in a very big way without that cash.

Some other sports would suffer much more should Sky fold or come under new management, of course, but could rugby league survive ? Have we enough friends in high places ? Or might it take the game in a whole new egalitarian direction perhaps ?

Personally, I'm more than a tad worried for the game's future as things currently stand.

murdoch won't pull out of BskyB completely....it made nearly £1billion profit last year

Murdoch owns 39% of Sky, there are plenty of punters willing to buy his stake if he's selling.

Murdoch couldn't pull the plug if he wanted to.

As the posters above have stated, the reason why Murdoch wanted majority ownership of BSkyB is that it is the most successful subscription TV service on the planet

If he doesn’t increase his shareholding in BSkyB it doesn’t mean in any way that the network is in trouble as they are very profitable and will not be lacking in possible investors (which they don’t actually need of course)

When it comes to the future of Rugby League and its relationship with Sky, I would suggest that the news that Murdoch has withdrawn his interest is a good thing as this will provide continuity and the TV deal will not be in jeopardy

So, in summary, no need to worry

RL is actually cheap content for the amount of viewers it pulls. WHoever buys Sky will want to keep it.

Dont think it is signed yet ( i was told it certainly hadnt early last week) but it almost certainly will be.

Murdoch cannot and will not 'pull the plug' on Sky. The current issues at NI will affect RL in no way, shape or form, im confident of that.

According to Daily Star, the 5 year £90million deal will be announced later on this morning! www.dailystar.co.uk/rugby/view/2 ... -is-super/

According to Daily Star, the 5 year £90million deal will be announced later on this morning! www.dailystar.co.uk/rugby/view/2 ... -is-super/

www.skysports.com/story/0,,12196_7078127,00.html

www.skysports.com/story/0,,12196_7078127,00.html

Announced 7:30am this morning. Anyone know how (and if) this will affect the SC? One would hope it will increase it slightly in line with our antipodean friends.

Not a hope in hell.

On the one hand, this deal is pretty good in a time when other sports have suffered reductions in income. It also does offer stability being 5 years long. However, anyone getting excited about expansion of SL or increasing the salary cap to compete with RU and the NRL should forget it.

If you do some basic sums, you can see that £90m spread over 5 years, shared by 14 clubs is just under £1.3m. My understanding was that clubs were already receiving £1.2m - so only a £100k increase. Pretty decent as one off, but if clubs don't manage to increase their income from other sources, then 5 years from now, allowing for inflation, the salary cap will be no bigger in real terms. And any expansion of SL would still mean clubs having to reduce the amount they get from SKY.

So, overall, I'm a bit neutral on this news. There is still the Challenge Cup and Internationals to sell - let's hope the RFL can manage to get good deals on them that might help boost the salary cap a bit. Then there is the Championships - those clubs also need more support.

In the current environment - and given that there will have been absolutely zero competition for Sky as the live broadcaster of SL games - it represents a pretty good deal.

Sky have RL over a barrel until such point as they have genuine competitors interested in pumping that kind of money into the sport. Getting them to pay a bit more each deal is pretty much all the RFL can hope for.

Well, relief the deal is done is all I can say. I was getting worried.

But whether we'll get as much again, never mind an increase, without a Welsh presence is debatable.

No mention of the Championships?

Quote ="Peckerwood"No mention of the Championships?'" There is here: www.sportspromedia.com/news/sky_ ... per_league Quote Sky will not, however, extend its coverage of the semi-professional Co-operative Championship despite covering the league for the past four seasons.'" Let's hope another broadcaster picks it up.

Quote ="Peckerwood"No mention of the Championships?'" There is here: www.sportspromedia.com/news/sky_ ... per_league Quote Sky will not, however, extend its coverage of the semi-professional Co-operative Championship despite covering the league for the past four seasons.'" Let's hope another broadcaster picks it up.

According to the Daily Mail (yes, shaking ground I know), currently clubs get less than a million each.

Quote ="Bal"According to the Daily Mail (yes, shaking ground I know), currently clubs get less than a million each.'" Seriously, the Daily Mail?!? I have heard and read the £1.2m figure in the past and is also mentioned today by the independent: www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 30693.html Quote No figures have been released by either party, but the new contract is understood to represent a 12 per cent increase on the £1.2m per season each club currently gets from Sky'" 12% would mean the total is £100m rather than £90m. Ah, and mention of the Championships: Quote The downside for subscribers is that Sky is dropping its coverage of the semi-professional Co-operative Championship, after screening live Thursday night games for the last four seasons. That option is set to be taken up by the smaller subscription channel, Premier Sport, which already has the rights to Australia's leading competition, the National Rugby League'"

Quote ="Bal"According to the Daily Mail (yes, shaking ground I know), currently clubs get less than a million each.'" Seriously, the Daily Mail?!? I have heard and read the £1.2m figure in the past and is also mentioned today by the independent: www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 30693.html Quote No figures have been released by either party, but the new contract is understood to represent a 12 per cent increase on the £1.2m per season each club currently gets from Sky'" 12% would mean the total is £100m rather than £90m. Ah, and mention of the Championships: Quote The downside for subscribers is that Sky is dropping its coverage of the semi-professional Co-operative Championship, after screening live Thursday night games for the last four seasons. That option is set to be taken up by the smaller subscription channel, Premier Sport, which already has the rights to Australia's leading competition, the National Rugby League'"

Difference with this deal is that international matches aren't included. Whereas before the deals were for SL & international. So hopefullt the RFL can get a good deal there and makes a little more money.

It's a good deal compared to other sports.

I hope not , but will SKY retain the NRC final and the Championships play offs and GFs we wonder

Effectively making the league programme worthless ?

Actually was announced at 6:00 this morning because there was a media embargo placed by the RFL so nobody could report about it until then

The Daily Star reported it at midnight.

It was negotiated a short while ago according to Press reports. Maybe ????????? The Crusaders announcement came after one party signed it???????

No more Thursday nights.

Every cloud eh

I wouldn't celebrate yet, who knows what times or days PS will want us to play