Karl Fitzpatrick on the radio earlier said that most RL clubs are already close to going under within the next week or two. In what are really strange times, could this be the end of professional RL? Im at the point where nothing would surprise me.

He also said that Wire have a better squad than Wigan

Any clubs that go bust now after only losing one home games income were evidently close to going anyway. Obviously this Chinese virus is going to have an impact all round eventually when more games are missed, I read Barcelona players are taking a 70% pay cut, thats massive and proves that only a few sporting clubs an swallow up the financial problems it will create. i have no doubt some super league clubs may go. And if they do we will have to make sure we survive as a game and they come back at some point?

I wonder how many CEOs think that pulling the plug on their debts and rebooting after bankruptcy would be an option. It is also an opportunity to reform the league. I do not see p and r as being the most obvious system for the next few years given the amount of risk. I have said elsewhere that next year there will be so much sport available that anything we do will be of little importance. I cannot see people putting their hands in their pockets to the same extent.

Some of the clubs have big backers. However, their businesses will also be struggling, so will they be willing to pump money into RL clubs rather as well as prop up their own businesses?

Premiership RU clubs asking for Government help. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Nb. I know we also need it but it’s hilarious to see RU’s collapse too. In all likelihood neither sport will get any help - and you couldn’t grumble at it either.

The Gov't will bale out both rugby codes. Perhaps not as much as the sports need but it will be substantial.
Rugby League will be ok!

What we should all hold onto in relation to concerns about the sports future is that too many people care passionately about the game and its impact on northern communities to allow it to disappear. There will always be a game though it could well look very different in the coming years. A Phoenix may have to rise from the ashes in certain RL towns but hopefully the game will come together and rebuild together. I can see a lot of fundraising efforts over the next few months and we will need some significant support from the government.

I think the most likely outcome is some clubs will fold but professional rugby league will survive in some form. The worst case scenario is the game goes semi-professional but fingers crossed it wont come to that.

The NRL are in a far worse position as their TV contract is worth far more and they've racked up far higher expenditures based on that level of income. In theory, the relative expenditures of the SL clubs will be far less.

The biggest concern I have is that I feel governments in any country affected will be very reluctant to consider bringing back mass gatherings until a vaccine is produced in 12-18 months. We will likely see some gradual and controlled relaxation of certain measures when we have suppressed the initial virus wave but I think mass gatherings will probably be near the bottom of the list.

Rugby league survived two world wars, and will survive Covid19. It may have to change and adapt to do so, but a lot of things will change in the aftermath of this pandemic.
As long as we and our families are all safe and well, what happens to RL is not as important right now. I'm sure it will still be there in some shape or form, in the future.
KST

Absolutely spot on that, if anything we could come out of this stronger as people have missed it so much.

Exactly, and those who think otherwise need to stop being so pessimistic and just get on with it like our parents and grandparents did in those two world wars.

When will people stop the comparison to the wars? It’s irrelevant and unhelpful at best. If you cannot see the dire financial straits RL finds itself in then you need to take your blinkers off and turn off your Vera Lynn record.

Times and situations are majorly different as you say.

In modern day times there is a lot of money in sport. Sadly, not much of it is in our game. Premier League football clubs will survive. 50% of the Championship clubs will survive. The rest will really struggle. Around 60 clubs I think will be in some trouble.

Rugby League is the equivalent financially of the top end of League One so each and every club will be struggling. We're classed as the biggest in the game and lose money more often than not so how will Wakey, Salford, Widnes, Leigh cope? Every club relies on sponsorship from local businesses and help from their owners. Who is to say they are not now struggling?

Gary Hetheringtons latest comments. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... me-2525642

Gary Hetheringtons latest comments. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... me-2525642

I agree with that. It’s only a matter of time before clubs start to go under. The likes of Barcelona, Tottenham, Newcastle and Norwich have started furloughing staff or taking huge pay cuts. If top level Premier League/European clubs who have monetary sponsorship levels we can only dream of are starting to struggle, how are we supposed to manage? I think us, Leeds, Warrington, Saints, Toronto, Catalans and Hull will survive but as for the rest? The cliff edge lingers. If this thing continues for a long term period, which it looks like, the game as a whole could be fundamentally different when we eventually resume.

Absolutely. We're sponsored by Prestone for example which yes you can still buy, but with people no longer going out in their cars as often will their sales start to drop to the point that the money they spend to sponsor us is now needed elsewhere? Shearings are a major sponsor but they will be struggling as coach holidays (and coaches full stop) have now been put on the shelf. Who is going to plug that gap? IFL would usually but if his businesses elsewhere start to struggle he may no longer have the funds to do so.

Using us as an example although I do feel we will survive (just) but things will as you say be different. For a smaller club that doesn't get the same levels of sponsorship as us then the longer this goes on the more and more at risk they are. I wouldn't be surprised if we lose at least the equivalent of one division.

Its not me that need to take the blinkers off, but those who it would appear like yourself, who cannot face the reality of the current situation in which the longer it goes on will result in far bigger financial straits for our way of life which are far more important than the game of Rugby League.
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the game wasnt full time then

thats not what he was saying

As I said in my earlier post, it will survive this crisis, but only if it adapts to the circumstances that we are all going to face post Corvid19.
The planet may well be facing the biggest recession ever known, and there are going to be shortages of some kinds of food and provisions, in the short term.

SL going back to part time does not seem a far fetched proposition as things stand.

if it does the standard will die as you cant have the athletes on part time money

IMO, the standard of RL has been plummeting for the past 20 years. The game is a pale shadow of itself, with so very little creativity left in it.
Athletes they may be, but the skill factor and excitement our product had has long gone. Which (pre Covid19) had led us to a state where the next Sky deal was very likely to less than the current one.
Who knows what our next TV deals going to look like now. Like I said before, a semi pro SL isn't that far fetched as things stand today.

Sam Tomkins, Lomax, Hastings, Wiliams, Gildart, Lockers, Long, Farrell, Scully, Dallas, Lyon, Senior, Peacock, Morley, Craig Smith, Cunningham, Matt Gidley, Ben Barba.....non creative or exciting? Give over

Correct, but trying telling it to those who have only started watching the game in more recent times.

You only have to watch some of the games on Wigan TV Match Archive to see how there was more creativity and skill by not just the odd two or three in a team, but most of a team which in many cases included top players at their peak from both the NRL like Brett Kenny, Mel Meninga, Gene Miles, Wally Lewis etc from the NRL and Billy Boston, Lewis Jones, Tom Van Vollenhoven, Jonathan Davies etc from Rugby Union.

Most of those players were playing at a time when the game was Semi Professional and in front of far bigger crowds and better atmospheres than what there is now.

As the song goes, things ain't what they used to be!

I think one of the biggest difficulties football of all codes has endured has been the shift in working practises & varying match days. With modern day flexible working & perm any 1 from 7 match days it is very difficult to get regular support anyway. Going back pre super league ,matches were either Saturday or Sunday & most people still worked Monday to Friday with optional weekend overtime. Maybe more regular weekend matchdays would help a post covid fightback.