NRL aint that bad.

No, it doesnt go without saying, just because you like the show doesnt mean its a success, it is on a pay per view channel that nobody watches , I dont have access to it because it isnt on Virgin media, and I wouldnt pay for it anyway for 1 game per week, when Leigh are probably on it every 3/4 weeks

Playing midweek costs Championship clubs money, they dont get anything from the deal, it isnt worth a carrot

I watch it. I also watch the 5 NRL games they have every weekend. I'll watch the RL9's Finals night too. I also advertise on their channel, along with a fair few other RL companies that do so thanks to their coverage.

For £70 a year subscription and a great advertising deal, I'm not complaining.

Same here, I would much rather see a pay-per-view RL.

Seeing as you have invested in some sort of advertising deal with the channel, you must have a pretty good idea of viewing figures. Care to share?

I'm surprised sky doesn't show more SL games. It rates well and they have paid for the content anyway.

Ps the future is the Internet tv anyway. Before too long satellite tv will be dead and I can see a time that subscription to specialist channels via Internet based media will be the norm. A dedicated RL channel showing SL, cc, frenchrl, nrl, soo, tests etc is the future and could well end up being an international channel run by the Arlc & SL. Cost it right and it could get 1/2 million subscribers world wide.

I'd love to see a service, like the Livesport NRL one I use, for RL in Europe - though the NRL one does piggyback on all the media slots that already exist in television down there. I'm not sure it would be cost effective up here yet, though SLTV does do a good job at the moment.

EDIT: And hopefully the US and other expanding areas in time too.

A friend of mine works for Sky and he says the revenue Sky receive for advertising during SL games is pretty low compared to that of other sports which is probably reflected in the TV deal we get. Although viewing figures are good, companies arent that fussed about having their product advertised as its not the correct "demographics". He says companies are actually trying to outbid each other to have their product shown during rugby union ad breaks.

Maybe national and international companies still see us fans as not having 2 bob to rub together!

Which is where the Stobart sponsorship thinking comes in, it is an attempt to subconciously create millions of new watchers of SL on SKY in more affluent parts of the country, therefore increasing the value of the advertising revenue and ultimatly the money SKY will pay for SL

And yes I am being serious, wether it will work? , I dont know but its probably still better than 55 grand for each club to blow on another aussie/kiwi

Those SL viewers down south must all be living in east london housing estates! You'd think both sky and rfl would conduct market research to quash this myth about disposable income as it would financially benefit both.

That contradicts what the actual cost is to advertise on SL as opposed to the RU Premiership.

If our footy wonderboys manage to dispose of the ' eyeties ' on sunday Fax verses Fev ( essentially Fax,s biggest potential attendance of the year ) will be up against England verses Germany in the Euro Championship semi ( providing the Krauts beat the Greeks of course ) , that should help Faxs finances

this is what I don't get, whilst there are a lot of young lads who play the game down here, a large proportion of the demographic watching/paying for SP in the south are us older lot with disposible incomes/steady jobs (not that that is a dig at anyone btw)
I totally understand sponsors wanting to get onto the RU bandwagon, sometimes perception of product placing is greater than the actuality, certainly the disparity in income between the sports is massive yet the following of supporters from a purely numerical POV isn't that different.. It does all boil down to the pee poor marketing of the sport in the last 30-40 years, it's a gap that we will never ever be able to make up sadly

If we had all 2,500 trucks then I think it would help.

100 trucks is just not enough.

I drive between Wigan and Coventry alot, I often see 10+ trucks on my way, I still havn't seen a super league one. However, if they were all covered in 'super league' and 'skysports'.... I probably would have seen those trucks around 100 times since the deal was done, and so would most other drivers who do motorway driving. The whole country would know about it. The concept is spot on, the negotiation and execution is the worst I have seen from the RFL in terms of marketing.

Seriously how on earth did we end up with just 100? The negotiator must have been on the booze the night before.

The thing with is Sky is that they are loaded. With all their channels arcoss the world. Ok so the PL money is massive but dont forget they cut back on cash for other sports like the football league and scottish football. Although SL money was increased. I wouldnt worry about it too much its now a sellers market in the pay tv world if you have good rating product which League is.

There aren't many particuarly entertaining SL games on which don't involve the big teams playing each other such as Wigan, Warrington, Saints, Leeds etc.

I enjoyed the Bradford v Cas a couple of Mondays ago