better for the rfl to try and get some SL on terrastral TV as well as pay tv

2 games of SL on tv each week isnt enough

the RFL should try and sell something like 4 games a week on TV, being Friday night, Saturday 2 games back to back live and a sunday game at 3 or 4 live

not only does more games mean a much higher TV contract, more TV means more sponsorship opportunities for SL clubs

when the nrl went from 2 games a week on TV to all games on TV it lead to a massive improvement across the quality of the league

He must have gone for the biscuits

It does, as should the four nations.

I cant see ESPN getting all the super league rights. If they did outbid sky and poured a load of money into the game, this can only be a good thing.

If we were to have more French clubs in the super league, this would make us more likely to be able to sell TV rights in France, further increasing TV revenue. Another reason why Toulouse should be added to SL for 2012.

Can it be featured on all three??

I also didn't discuss the Challenge Cup.

I agree that Championship clubs should receive a cut, what is the current deal? I know that they don't receive a penny directly, but I assume that the increased deal has increased handouts to lower league members?

exactly, im already paying for Sky Sports and Premier Sports. ESPN can do one.

thats weak. so nothing to do with actually having the players or even anything like the support to sustain a second superleague standard team in the south of france? just do it to sell rights to french TV that will be watched by the few toulouse fans who dont go to games with the other (at most) 1000 fans? ive been to 3 away games in toulouse, and your lot were outnumberd at least two to one by the away supporters. and they were all in summer when its much more expensive anyway and many already had other holidays to pay for.
i dont see why a french TV company would believe that to be a market begging to be tapped.

Catalans already have their home games televised, a second french team would mean a game in france and therefore on tv every week.

A deal for more money than what we get now is a must! Alot more. Our figures show we should get more than most other sports and this extra money we deserve could help take the sport up a level.

I would love ESPN to take a game on board but I don't want to lose SKY because we get coverage on SSN.

Still want us on the BBC or ITV or Channel 4 but I would rather it was the play-offs/big derby games! This would show our sport at its best.

Would love an extra live game per week... maybe even two. Maybe premier sports can pick up an extra game as well.

A Gillete super league saturday has a ring to it also.... 2 games on a saturday like ford super sunday with an analysis show on afterwards!

Here's a good idea. To get more people to watch the game, we take it from Sky, with more than 8Million subscribers, to ESPN, with far, far less (I can't find a number online). How many people that have Sky but not ESPN would even consider changing packages or adding ESPN to their subscription. I would suggest a tiny proportion of that. I think the Super League rights have to stay with Sky, they promote the game better than any other broadcaster would, and the Cup rights go to the terrestrial channel that bids the most/ offers the most attractive package for the RFL.

There are an 'alf some moanin' minnies on here!

I don't understand why people wouldn't want split rights with ESPN if the end result was MORE games on TV and more money. You don't HAVE to buy both ESPN and Sky Sports, do you? Nobody is forcing you to. You can have one or the other, and if the result is 2 games on each, then what have you lost? Nothing at all.

If it goes to ESPN completely, then cancel Sky Sports and get ESPN, it's cheaper! If you'd prefer to keep Sky Sports for the other sports, then that's a shame but ultimately your choice. But ESPN do have a lot of other sports these days in their portfolio to make it worth getting. Worst case scenario, you have to go down to the pub or a mate's house to watch the rugby. Not end of the world.

As for the Cup. I sincerely hope it gets off the BBC. The coverage is awful. I can't stand the BBC, a company that forces you by law to pay for them in order to watch other channels. They have no incentive to make our sport appear better, and just bung highlights on at ridiculous times (4am FFS!) and regionalise us completely. Yes, it's good to have terrestrial coverage, but not in just two regions!

As for Toulouse, they aren't in a position to do anything for TV rights yet. They're not big enough, and certainly not ready to force their way into SL. If a French TV company came up and said "we'll pay x-amount if you include Toulouse" then yeah, include them. And speaking of French RL, it would be great if we could somehow manage to get the French Championship on TV, either on Eurosport or Sky. It runs from September to May, so would bridge the off-season and stop me from being so devoid of RL on TV over winter!

No mention of internationals in there though.

Next year, there could very well possibly be more RL on more channels and at more times than ever!
Super League on both Sky Sports and ESPN perhaps.
Championships and NRC on Sky Sports.
Challenge Cup on BBC/Channel 4.
NRL and Origin on Premier Sports and Sky Sports.
Internationals on Sky Sports and maybe BBC/Channel 4.
Student RL on Premier Sports.

Just get the French Championship on Eurosport and we'll be doing very very well! All is looking good for the future.

Personally speaking, I'd like to see us ideally have a split deal with Sky and ESPN so that we get 2 games on each.
Friday night and Saturday evening games on Sky.
Saturday afternoon/night and Sunday afternoon games on EPSN, followed straight away by a highlights show of all the other games from that weekend.
Monday night on Sky, Boots 'N All - The Tries.
Wednesday night on Sky, Boots 'N All - Magazine Show.

Not sure if they'd be interested in the Championships as well, but if it was a 2SL/1CC game package for both Sky and ESPN, bang in an early Sunday afternoon game on ESPN to go with the Thursday night game on Sky and we're laughing.

Of course, none of this is going to happen and I'm just setting myself up here for disappointment!

I can see your point, but why would ESPN want the rights? They would get minimal new subscribers, and their advertising revenue wouldn't increase by enough for them to justify buying the rights. Also, with Channel 4, it would be good for RL to get a presence on there, but do they even show any sport on there any more? Off the top of my head I can't think of any sport they show. If we were to move away from the Beeb for the Cup I think ITV 4 would be the most likely bidders to go with their Union coverage.

Personally, I think this is just a well timed article, To get the Beeb and Sky to increase thier investment.

Tell them they may lose them, They up the offer a little. We sign the deal

Sky Sports and BBC should keep the coverage IMO

Do you know for a fact they'd get minimal new subscribers and that the advertising revenue wouldn't increase enough? I'm pretty sure the people in charge there aren't daft, and wouldn't put in a bid if it wasn't worth it for them. Yes Setanta and ITV Digital were daft, but ESPN are experienced in this field.

Channel 4 only really show niche sports, not major sports. But they do show sports, and have shown some pretty big sports in the past.

Yeah right, the Sky negotiators are really thick........

More total bollox from the desks of Little and Large.

And when they finally find the number.....

Lewis: Hello, ESPN? How would you like to buy the rights to SL?
ESPN: SL? Yeah that'd be great.
Lewis: OK, I'll get back to you.
Hangs up and calls Sky...
Lewis: Hello Sky. I'm just ringing to let you know we're off to ESPN.
Sky: OK.
Hangs up. Calls ESPN back.
Lewis: Hi just wondering what the deal is for letting you show SL?
ESPN: We'll go to £10 million.
Lewis: Can I get back to you.
Hangs up and quickly rings Sky.
Lewis: Hello mate, only joking about ESPN, we'll never leave you.
Sky: £30 million OK? Oh and we'll fit you in around the Australian aerobics.
Lewis: Certainly is sir.

I'm not saying your post makes much sense but it makes more sense than all the posts that have gone before.

way back in 1994 ESPN were interested in the australian pay tv rights before murdoch launched the SL war.

little surprised that americans just love a sport like RL.

this is a great reflection on how the RFL has managed the game

since the advent of SL the club game has gone from a joke to a very robust competition, with much growth still to come

good post wellsey, ill always knew you had it in you

club RL isnt the second most watched football code in england on tv, killing union

why wouldnt networks want that

yeah its not as if the RFL last time found tv money to fund 2 new SL teams and raise the grant to the existing team by 250,000 per club

excellent analysis

any increase in tv revenue should go to developing the championships and below, begin the step towards two pro divisions

Sky do not like to share so I can't see them allowing the RFL to give them two games a weekend and a subscriber channel two games per weekend and ESPN would hardly want to cover the weekly rounds and lose out on the playoffs, but Sky wouldn't release that coverage without a massive cheque from ESPN.

Do any of you really think this kind of a deal is in the RFL's hands? They know Sky have the biggest purse, they know the audience figures will only get bigger if they stay on Sky, they also know that Sky are not likely to up their coverage of the sport or pump money in to the production of it's shows because the viewing figures do not warrant it, but this still changes nothing, the RFL cannot move from Sky it would be suicide.

Sky's production of it's shows is poor compared to say The Footy Show. I know the money going into the production of football coverage is much much higher (look at Andy Grays wage!!!) but just the way the presenters conduct themselves on camera, the technology they use, not just the touch screen stuff but compared to the RL's graphics we are a million miles away and this I think needs addressing in this new bid. We should also push for Video Refs at all games, if we insist on having them in the game at all then it needs to be a level playing field. You do not need a big screen at all games like in Aus but they should have enough cameras at the ground to make vital decisions, if no angle can be found then a ref's call should be made.

Fingers crossed the bid is increased but Lewis will not fool anyone with his idol threats, all he will do is get the backs up of those at the BBC who already couldn't give two stuffs about the sport.