IMO away fans should be be considered in such decisions. Look at American sports where they use franchishes, no away fans there. If it can be financed then I'd rather Toulouse.

How many games do you go to ?
Personally, I miss 2-3 games per season and although I've been to the Caltalan away fixture, depending on the timing, it's not always possible.
IMO, we should be encouraging as many fans as possible to travel away as it significantly adds to the atmosphere at matches and as fans, we want to attend as many games as possible and support our team.

Away games? Not many at all, a 8 hour round trip to see an inevitable loss isn't too tempting



I agree that a good number of away fans makes a better atmosphere but wth 11 out of 14 clubs still coming from the north there would a vast minority of games with not many away fans.

I think clubs can afford to miss out on one more team not bringing a couple of hundered fans! Cost them 5grand in income? Hardly going to break the bank.

Why are we obsessed with money coming in. Why not lower the salary cap so that ALL teams in SL can afford it, would make all games closer and increase the fans though the gates for the smaller clubs, who would then not be smaller as the fans think they have a chance of doing something. So what if we lose a few to RU? There are plenty of amateur players who would play for 30k a year, 20 player squad is 600k a year, which is much less than the SL cap. Forget about the aussies for a while, the game is on its arris. If we did this and sky would go for a 2 tier league with 10 full time pro clubs in each, then we can rebuild again, have P&R between the 2 leagues, and P&R between the semi pro league below as long as the stadium, or plans for a stadium that is suitable were in place.

Let's say you remove Bradford and put in Toulouse....what impact is that going to have on the remaining 13 SL teams?

Bradford bring about 500 to London and the same to Catalans........let's say they average 1,000 for all the other teams, with 2,500 for Leeds.

Let's call it 15 notes a ticket......and 15 notes in beer/food.

That's 30k in lost revenue for most teams, 75k for Leeds and 15k for London and Catalans

London Broncos will turn over about 3.5 million this year.....that's 1/2 of a %......leeds will turn over nearer 6 million......so 1.2% of their Turn over...say most of the other clubs turn over 4.5 million...it's 2/3 of a %.....

Away fans and their financial impact are a myth...........

If you replace Bradford with Halifax you make no real financial difference to the rest of the league, but you further marginalise the sport as a northern hobby!

There has to be a punishment for the level of mis-management Bradford have overseen.

May not mean a team coming up, but you can't allow a club to do that and carry on as though nothing happened.

It can't, by definition, marginalise the sport any further, as Fax and Bradford are about 8 1/2 miles apart but, by swapping the Bulls for Fax, it wouldn't exactly be expanding the game !

Leeds turnover is about £11m IIRC

Swapping Bradford for Tolouse wouldn't be expanding the game. All it would be doing is draining money from it to prop up an unsustainable club once again. Catalans worked because it is in RL heartlands and they have no direct competition. However Toulouse is a RU town and always will be. They couldn't sustain a championship team so a SL is never going to work.

Perpignan is a RU town more than RL - USAP get bigger crowds than the Cats

when the Cats started the crowds at UTC & St Esteve were like the crowds at nearby Pia et al - the RL crowds were cultivated as will happen at Toulouse when they are admitted either now or in a couple of years time which would be preferable

Toulouse is a much richer city than Perpignan with huge investment possibilities, more so than Perpignan and the Toulouse catchment area is immense also taking in Villeneuve, Albi, St Gaudens and others

a semi successful TO13 side would attract about 8K-10K when established like the Cats

Someone on here talking sense SPOILER ALERT !

"When" not "if". You seem pretty certain about that. Do I smell more dodgy deals done behind closed doors?

Mind you, it's common knowledge that the reason they left the Championship was because they were never going to qualify for SL via that route so once they were no longer a member they could be "invited" to join.

Unless Im mistaken the fact there is a franchise system in place would mean the RFL would have to break the law to admit Toulouse in to SL simply because it is impossible for them to meet the criteria they set. Then again when has breaking the law ever concerned the RFL.

Clubs outside the UK can be ' invited ' to enter SL

it is a case of 'when' and not 'if' as long as the ground renovations are completed - if these measures are in place TO13 will make a formal application to join the SL

Various SL chairmen plus regular visits from RFL officials are not coincidental

it's not a done deal but the RFL recognise the huge potential in Toulouse, a rich city with big potential backers, bigger than anything in the UK at the moment

the reason they left the Championship was because of the reality of trying to make a bunch of semi pros like Fax or whoever compete on an equal footing which was impossible due to travel & work committments - it's hard enough for the Catalans but they have proved it can be done if the club is full time pro

Well done for making up a rule, but then when have facts ever bothered RL fans.

Playing Devils Advocate here, can you see why that rule regarding application for clubs outside the UK might wind people up?

I would have thought RL franchises would be governed by the same laws as normal franchises? They are in America arnt they? Serious question BTW.

Quote ="Greg Florimos Boots"I would have thought RL franchises would be governed by the same laws as normal franchises? They are in America arnt they? Serious question BTW.'" we are not in America fortunately... anyway, what constitutes a 'normal' franchise ? the RFL is a law unto itself and can threfore move the goalposts accordingly

Quote ="Greg Florimos Boots"I would have thought RL franchises would be governed by the same laws as normal franchises? They are in America arnt they? Serious question BTW.'" we are not in America fortunately... anyway, what constitutes a 'normal' franchise ? the RFL is a law unto itself and can threfore move the goalposts accordingly

Are they investing their money in Toulouse at the moment?

No, because we don't have franchising, we have a licensing system.


So because someone doesn't like something they can just make stuff up?
Actually yeah, I can see that, RL fans have been doing it for decades.

Anyone but Leigh for me. Like many on this thread I'm getting well and truly fed up with SL

I'll tell you what. Why not let Toulouse try again in Championship 1 which is more their level and at least work their way up to SL honestly, if they can.

I, for one, am sick of hearing you preaching the "potential" of Toulouse. London is a massive city with loads of rich "potential" backers, far more so than Toulouse, but they still aren't putting their hands in their pockets, are they?

As a matter of interest, are you French or an ex-pat Aerospace employee who desperately wants a local SL team?

I couldn't agree more. After the latest episode in the Bulls debacle SLE should be declared morally bankrupt.