The bulls have gone into liquidation after racking up debts of £1million. Featherstone, Sheffield and Halifax have also had financial problems. Personally I believe this will continue with more clubs facing administration, liquidation and possibly extinction due to the way championship clubs are funded, with large variations depending on their finishing position in the league. This tempts clubs into over spending trying to get a top 4 finish, and running into serious debt if they miss out. This funding model does not happen in super league and needs to be scrapped in the championship, so clubs can budget, perhaps with the exception of an additional payment to the MPG loser as a type of parachute payment.

Hard to disagree with any of that.

The reality is that during "franchising", the gap between SL and the Championship grew wider than ever (despite the fact that the salary cap was stagnant) and the experiment to offer huge incentives to clubs finishing in the top 4 of the Championship, this competition is all over the place.
The disparity in funding firstly between SL and the Championship is huge but, the gulf in funding in The Championship is unsustainable.
Any club "chasing the dream" is under real threat of going pop.
Firstly, they will have to sign players on top dollar (relatively speaking) and for these to entice these players to sign, they have to be on longer term contracts, which are just not sustainable if their promotion push fails.
Plus, the gap between the top 4/5 and the rest (assuming that they too dont go bust) will grow further, making the league
too far out of balance.
Unless there is a significant rise in TV monies and a more even spread of revenue though the top 2 divisions, we may as well go back to some kind of franchising model.
How culpable are the games governing body for the current state of the game or, is it purely down to the individual clubs ?

We can only hope that the arrival of Toronto in the championship next season generates more interest in the competition. Maybe sky might actually televise a few games outside of the summer bash giving the clubs more money and more exposure.

The answer to the OP's question is obviously yes as proven in 2016 by Leigh Centurions.

problems for the championship

1. lack of tv coverage and the cash that generates
2. small crowds
3. players on full time contracts - not sure how many are part time

as well as lots of smaller ones

the championship would function better if all players were part time but the gap between them and superleague would just increase.


perhaps it would be better if it was a league of teams who were not striving to get promotion, with suitable reward and prestige for winning their championship, a stand along league if you will

' A worthwhile competition in its own right ' you mean ? , where have we heard that before ?

But fair enough , so , who are you putting in it ?

sustainable clubs

So the non sustainable clubs can play in SL?

Batley for one. A great club who know their limitations and one with no desire to play in SL.

So that's 1 , how about the other 11 ?

Like who ?

Only in rl would fans strive to reduce the number of full-time clubs

ok then you try running a full time club on sub 3000 crowds with a lack of tv money and without a sugar daddy owner. but relax everyone it will never happen, there will always be well run clubs and badly run clubs. show me any league in any country that is fully sustainable

As I said , which clubs ?

There's nothing wrong with a mix of full-time and part-time clubs in the championship (its done batley no harm) but the long term aim has to be a fully full-time comp.
Let clubs find there own level. If Toronto & tolouse are serious then we'll see two more FT teams in the league soon enough. Then it'll be up to the likes of Newcastle to kick on and replace established clubs

Not all businesses can be an Apple, BP, Shell etc

We need responsible management which if I'm not mistaken was the purpose of the franchising system. Sadly the selfish money men chairmen in SL got there way and the sport is now back on the edge.

Bradford went into admin in a franchised SL

Bradford went into admin in a poorly run franchised SL. Done properly franchising would work. The cap should always be a % of income rather than a set amount. This rewards clubs who market and run their business well.

Sky is to blame for some of this. Why out bid premier sports to buy the rights when there was no interest in showing the games at all. Meaning no tv funding apart from if you reach the top 4.

when premier sports had the rights we had a game each week.

Not sure how Toronto have got away with having there own tv deal with them as surely there should be stuck with sky as well ?

Properly done franchising would see only 1 SL club in Hull

When Premier sports had the rights we did see 1 game per week , on a thursday which usually badly affected the travelling support , and no money was paid to the clubs

I doubt Toronto will be receiving much if anything from Premier Sports for their broadcasts in the UK

Not necessarily true. It would all depend on where the RFL want to base those franchises. While it would probably negitavley effect my club, I can see the benefits for the top flight game in the UK.

Bradford would still have failed , their issue isn't income , it is expenses primarily tied to playing at Odsal

If they were only allowed to spend a % of income, they wouldn't have been in as much of a mess as they are now.

Yes they would , the income at Bradford was still quite high , their outgoings , ie rent,rates,maintenance,stewarding is the issue

What you mean is profit prior to salaries