Quote ="j.c"We've known for a while that sl clubs have the power in rl so unless sky cut there funding for sl or other broadcasters come in and pay good money directly to the rfl then nothing is going to change soon'"
This is 100% accurate, and our trouble is that the RFL doesn't have any money.
The broadcast money comes from selling rights to SL and the CC. The SL clubs insist on (almost) all that coming back directly to them. Its the price for not running a breakaway organisation that would give even less of a toss about anything outside the SL than happens now.
Things we don't have that union, football and cricket do have:
1) a big international game to sell to broadcasters and sponsors
2) a stadium that we own and can fill a dozen days a year for major finals and internationals
3) a group of big bluechip establishment companies and executives who are happy to associate with our sport as a national, aspirational brand
Those three things give money to the governing body, which in turn brings a power to the central authority that can be used to make strong, strategic decisions without the top clubs dictating terms. Even so, football and union have managed to fragment into a number of competing lead organisations. Thank goodness - if they ever got their act together, wed be in SERIOUS trouble as a sport.
Contrary to popular belief (indeed, my own belief before I worked closely with them), the RFL as people and as an organisation, care tremendously about our sport, and desperately want it to flourish. But they have little money, and therefore little power, to challenge the self-interest of the SL clubs.
