No I'm not saying it[i can't[/i be marketed. It's simply down to revenue. The advertisers (rightly or wrongly) perceive RL as aimed at the "lower" classes (ie C2, D & E) whereas Union is dominated by ABC1s.
A truism which is promoted at almost every level or media type (a cynic would say aided & abetted by the suits in Twickenham) is that RL is dominated by flat cap & clog wearing manual workers in "the North".
Thus Sky/Premier don't or won't charge as much per slot as Union or soccer which then knocks-on to what they're prepared to pay the RFL for broadcasting which, in turn, means that the salary cap is where it is unless the club owners put their hands in their pockets.
Thus the disparity between Union's SC & ours is going to stay until Red Hall get off their a*ses & properly promote the sport (which I think is what the OP was rattling on about in the first place).

Information is power. For eg, regardless of whether you have any of the "loyalty" cards, every spend you make in a supermarket is tracked (the loyalty card only serves to give them more information). Even the type of card is used to work out direct advertising unless you ticked the "no junk mail" box (Curry's & PC World don't routinely ask for your post-code for nothing).
If you've got a card that gives cash-back for eg, that means you earn more than the average, whereas if you routinely use a debit card it might mean that you're on average wage or less & thus not likely to respond to offers of discounted wine boxes.

Yes - good post. I'd agree with you - especially the last bit. Getting over the stereotype is the bit that needs addressing. As I've said previously the stereotype is lazy. Actually it has more to do with the backgrounds of journalists employed by the national media and I include the newspapers and the tv stations as well as the BBC. Journalism as a career is dominated by those from "top" universities and from privileged backgrounds.

If you add that to the fact that no newspapers are based in Manchester any more (like the Manchester Guardian for eg) and you have a situation that means most newspapers don't even report on the sport any more. The Saturday Guardian now regularly has 3 or 4 whole pages devoted to Union whilst the Friday night Super League game is relegated to a report on the website. I wonder if the Media City venture will help to redress the imbalance?

You have proof that is how the advertisers perceive the game?

I didn't think advertises were that stupid. They surely have a better idea than that. Plenty of posh cars in car park 3 at the DW on match days. I see little difference in the demographic of your average Latic's fan and Warriors fan.

And at Chester RU I have seen plenty of ordinary people involved. In fact the vast majority of the parents involved when my son played there from ages 7-18 were not particularly well off. If they are being sent marketing information for products your ABC1's would be after purchasing the advertisers are failing to realise being associated with an RU club doesn't mean you are rich!

Nigel Wood. Chief executive of the RFL. His previous job was to lead Halifax to the brink of going bust

Do a search for advertising tenders & you'll soon find that sponsorship/advertising requests are targeted at different demographics (especially when they're national).
Union is typically ABC1, whereas League routinely goes all the way down to E (and curiously includes children which Union doesn't).
It's not that there are [ino [/iwealthy supporters (the west stand's centre section wouldn't be filled otherwise), it's simply that the lower socio-economic classes have additional weight.

Is that due to the aforementioned chips?

I can't really understand why a the superior spectator sport (RL) lags behind RU.
A couple of us were having this conversation a few nights back, we put it down to the visibility of the six nations as the club games are pretty dire.
It's a big event held every year and available free to all via BBC.

Rugby Union is played in all public schools. About 90% of the England team went to public school -except the Wigan lads! The decision makers at the BBC went to public school. The decision makers at the funding bodies went to public school (or are members of the Conservative Party or both). The newspaper editors and most of the journalists went to Public School.

Rugby Union in England (though not in Wales or NZ) is the game of the ruling classes.

That doesn't mean we should just give in, but it does mean that it's a difficult job to promote Rugby League. A job that the current administration has singularly failed to do. 40 years ago we were on a par with Union. Now it's a different world, but everything that has happened since has weakened the game. Union going pro/Super League/Summer Rugby/Licensing. And yet - the product is so superior both to what it used to be and to Rugby Union as to be almost beyond belief.

Except it doesn't help that for the rest of the season the only pictures for those who don't have Sky are scheduled for silly o'clock on a Sunday night on 2 or 3 northern regions (and the middle of a Monday for everyone else - as if Mrs Trellis from north Wales is going pay any attention anyway).

I remember when some football fans where not pleased whwn teams started to get sponsored by bookies. Now it seems every other team is sponsored by a bookie. In the short term I'd say follow the money so as a sport, we can use the money to invest, advertise and market the game by external companies who are experts in their field. Hopefully we can then gwt more £££ year on year.

I would also like to add I've seen some great posts about the running of the RL in the UK on the Wigan board. I has made interesting reading. Now where is that soap and water....

I'd also like to add that the heads of the media in this country do tend to come from privileged backgrounds where they more than likely went to private schools in the south whos businesses are down south. Unfortunately the 'its grim up north' attitude still exists in higher society.

Quote ="the flying biscuit"thats a very simple outlook on things, I doubt the target audience has any baring on it at all. Why are poor peoples shops like Aldi and Lidl the two fastest growing supermarkets? because there's money to be had off poor people. The RFL just don't realise it. I've just seen and advert for Unions Heineken cup....... a run of the mill lager.....? it wasn't the Pims trophy. Anyway here's my take on Why union get more: The RFU is an industrial and provident society owned by over 2,000 member clubs, representing over 2.5 million registered players and forms the largest rugby union society in the world, and one of the largest sports organisations in England. It is based at Twickenham Stadium, London. Patron Queen Elizabeth II Chairman Bill Beaumont President Paul Murphy Union has 166,400 registered players, a drop of 16% in 12 months. and is not very healthy it seems. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -fall.html

Quote ="the flying biscuit"thats a very simple outlook on things, I doubt the target audience has any baring on it at all. Why are poor peoples shops like Aldi and Lidl the two fastest growing supermarkets? because there's money to be had off poor people. The RFL just don't realise it. I've just seen and advert for Unions Heineken cup....... a run of the mill lager.....? it wasn't the Pims trophy. Anyway here's my take on Why union get more: The RFU is an industrial and provident society owned by over 2,000 member clubs, representing over 2.5 million registered players and forms the largest rugby union society in the world, and one of the largest sports organisations in England. It is based at Twickenham Stadium, London. Patron Queen Elizabeth II Chairman Bill Beaumont President Paul Murphy Union has 166,400 registered players, a drop of 16% in 12 months. and is not very healthy it seems. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -fall.html

Union has 166,400 registered players, a drop of 16% in 12 months. and is not very healthy it seems. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -fall.html That article is from 2011.

Union has 166,400 registered players, a drop of 16% in 12 months. and is not very healthy it seems. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -fall.html That article is from 2011.

Quote ="Finfin"Union has 166,400 registered players, a drop of 16% in 12 months. and is not very healthy it seems. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -fall.html That article is from 2011.'" have things changed much. looks at how much Union is loosing, they are living in a "bubble". www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/j ... p-tv-rugby

Quote ="Finfin"Union has 166,400 registered players, a drop of 16% in 12 months. and is not very healthy it seems. www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... -fall.html That article is from 2011.'" have things changed much. looks at how much Union is loosing, they are living in a "bubble". www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/j ... p-tv-rugby