Quote ="the day will come"dream on just look at the results that widnes posted today, rl has never needed a london team it was a whim it didnt work and never will www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=2519 we didnt get bailed out by the rl/sky on we have now risen =#FF0000we will be a force again once the london experiment has run it course'" The only time Widnes were "a force" it was within a semi-professional regional sport.

Quote ="the day will come"dream on just look at the results that widnes posted today, rl has never needed a london team it was a whim it didnt work and never will www.widnesvikings.co.uk/article.php?id=2519 we didnt get bailed out by the rl/sky on we have now risen =#FF0000we will be a force again once the london experiment has run it course'" The only time Widnes were "a force" it was within a semi-professional regional sport.

True , but that doesn't mean they cannot become a force in SL , they have all they need to do it , it won't happen overnight , but with the backing they have it could well happen

The thoughts of the 'majority' have never been convincing to me, if it was announced that IK Pegasi had gone supernova the majority of people would get a good nights sleep, meanwhile I would be furiously attempting to insulate my cellar walls with lead and stocking up on anti-radiation tablets.

Are you worried by IK Pegasi A or B?

I wouldn't disagee with that, but it does prompt the question of how many fans would lose sleep if any club went bust - other than its own supporters. Your own club are a prime example, with another Super League club and an ambitious Championship outfit down the road. I'm not trying to score points here, and I sincerely hope that Trinity don't find themselves in that position, but maybe we're not so different in some respects.

As for Quins, just to be even-handed, I do have some problems getting my head round the Sky TV argument for us being retained. Why are we so important that Sky would bail out of RL if we droped out of the competition? Yes, Sky get a lot of viewers for RL in the South, but is that figure inflated when Quins are on - I very much doubt it.

If Sky did regard us as important then they can help. If not financially, then maybe by publicising a match to Sky Sports subscribers in the London area with discount tickets to a specific game and a draw to win an HD box and subscription.

Homer will smack your ar5e for mentioning marketing

Jeff, many people can't understand the way Sky act! look at politics, but what they do like is being on Total Control and when they pay the money they do and more so when they are aware that a sport like Super League virtually depends on the Sky money of course they can call the shots!

Who would have ever thought ITV would have pulled out of Wrestling on a Saturday afternoons? it is well documented in media the personality of Ken Walton, full halls and some of the biggest audiences other than the FA Cup Final.

People have their heads in the sand if the think our sport of RL is strong as far as the media is concerned, have you seen some of the BBC viewing figures for the Challenge Cup games? the attendances at these cup matches, how many real national sponsors do we generate these days? and the coverage given by the printed national press! It is not just Sky and it is not just the demise of London rugby it is a game that lacks real direction and for some reason does not appeal any longer to much more than the real "die hards"

I think the key is that Jeff didn't actually use "the M word". His message was more subliminal and subtle than that!

FFS!

I had never heard of engage before they started sponsoring the league. Every club should have a major multinational or at least well-known national company on their shirt. We had them 10-15 years ago as a sport, but often with little money attached as they came through RL people connected to the company. Union has that now with RU people at influential levels at companies forcing through good sponsorship deals for their union clubs. They do it with money attached, we have done it with little money attached because we are seen as a minority sport played by Northeners, luckily for us they think the whole of the north plays the game, watches the games and loves the game, else we might even be in a poorer position sponsorshipwise. BTW RL seems to get missed out on the Cantona advert, and quite a few others when they advertise SKY sports.

Same here, and the name still means nothing to me, not one I would consider?

Union do not seem to have the problem with major international and national sponsors, but is it part of the old boy network still or are they taken more serious?

The union lot can point to a vibrant international game, a well-attended domestic competition and European competition. That helps force through deals and getting companies to part with cash that they don't want to part with.

We have had numerous people at clubs with influential positions who can force deals through due to their position, however when the likes of Fosters and McEwans have been on shirts they have had little money attached to them. Companies are happy to be associated with league, we just don't have the 3 pronged argument that relates to the on-field situation to make a deal worth serious money.

We use the same old boy system, but when it comes down to the arm-twisting we just don't have anything more than a respectable international game and the WCC does not stand up to the Heineken Cup. They can put pictures of Twickers full, we can put images of Wembley full, but only once a year, not several.

When it comes to the crunch they can bluff their way through to get their company to think they are getting a good deal, we come across as though we are trying to force a deal on a company and bleed them for more than the comp is worth.

This must be at least the fourth season Engage have sponsored Superleague, as I recall the PA at the first Magic weekend repeatedly referring to the "Engage Superleague Dancers", yet I honestly couldn't tell you what services/products Engage offer or produce.

The only thing Branson "flogs" is himself.....................



[url=http://www.engagemutual.com/welcome/Financial Services..........................[/url

At one time some years back all the St Helens Board of Director's were from a Union background and did their socialising at the Union Club?

Do you think it reflects on the background of many in charge in Union and League that we can't attract major sponsors, it did seem a few years back at the start of Super League we were about to bury the flat cap image but in some ways it is returning even more, once again this weeks rugby press letters are moan, moan, moan, thankfully not about us which is good news for once, but Sky and the BBC! When are these people not going to except when you sell you soul and Sky pay so much you have the right to call the tune.

We've sold our soul, and got a decent price for it too. Just gotta accept that, or give the game a wider appeal and wider market so that it look to the likes of ESPN, BBC and ITV to come up with serious offers or joint offers. One way to do that is expansion, which is a sure fire way to increase visibility, but it is a slow burner. The quick way to do it is to expand the international game, get the Aussies as a nation interested in international rugby league. Get Sam Tomkins on all the news shows saying "We have come down here to win the trophy, we respect the Aussies, Kiwis and PNG, but we believe we will be lifting the trophy." The Aussies have decided that they can't even fill the SFS, let alone ANZ stadium so I'm not sure how they feel about international rugby league

Marketing people in this country will see the consistently second best viewing figures behind soccer, sadly they tend to see everyone watching union as middle class with money to burn, and everyone watching league as -poor. Blatantly untrue as a great many league fans travel to away games and very few union fans travel for away games. Not that an example was needed as the perception is totally wrong, but one that is generally held.

Londo06, you are completely correct, it is a sad reflection on our game that the majority of northern club supporters do not have a clue, all they are interested in are their own clubs survival. More money is currently spent on Internet advertising for the first time that Print/TV/Radio/Sponsorship, it is a hard world out there and a small time parochial game will interest no one in major companies.

If Maurice Lindsay had not obtained the Sky sponsorship deal in the first place, I wonder what state the game would be in now, he is not a guy I rate highly, he interviewed me for a position at Wigan back in those days and the meeting was a joke, but he worked dammed hard for the game of Super League as well as Wigan!

So many fans of Northern clubs think that money has come into the game off trees, in the RL letters pages today they are moaning about the change of game times and dates by Sky (St Helens this time) but do they not realise Saints lost £650,000 last year 2009, what would it have been without Sky?

It is time some people think first and wake up to Truth and Realty about the games future unless they want to go part time or amateur once more!

I think some do, they want to go back to a time when all was good, when the best talent flowed from union, etc. Players were part-time then, did it for pride.

They seem to think that it was better back then, so we'll go back to that, forgetting that union now is wholly professional and we live in the age of internet news and every sport under the sun available pretty much 24/7.

Part-time players did okay 20 years ago, why shouldn't they today.

Rose-tinted glasses seem to be doing very well for certain age-groups in certain Northen towns.

They're awl jast a banch of fick norvern maankeys!

So honest of you to admit that Pepe

Reading this thread it feels like it, especially after reading viking.gb’s posts

I think he has issues !!!!!!

If every non Quins RL fan that visited our forum also came to the game next friday, and every game next season, instead of slagging us off then our crowd figures would be through the roof and our so called money problems sorted !!!!

I think you'll find that is bollox.

I've never seen Stevo looking so angry!

Set up a poll then and lets get an idea based on those who post on here. Whilst your at it ask whether you would be bothered about them going bust if it meant your club survived having not had the expansion card to play.

Its easy for fans of the top clubs not to be bothered whether Quins get a helping hand from the RFL, as it is never going to be at your expense.