Agreed. I'd love the governing body to have some balls and significantly raise the cap so we can maybe attract richer investors and retain/attract better players. Even if it hurt our ability to win trophies I'd still like to see that happen.

Crowds have declined and the quality isn’t as good.

It’s clear to me Super League isn’t as good as it used to be?

I hope that Channel 4's coverage will help to attract new follower/fans/supporters from outside the m62 corridor. If they like the product of SL, then some financial benefit could be gained by clubs, with the take up of live streaming, or going to a live games. I'm looking forward to see how C4 cover and present SL in 2022.

Just seen an advert on E4 for the upcoming season, I hope these adverts can be shown a bit more at prime time viewing

One was one at 5pm last night channel 4

Thats a much better time (I think) have to admit that I don't watch much C4 anymore so not sure what prime time shows there are on there these days

And again 4-30 this afternoon

There have been plenty adverts for Superleague on their digital of shoot channels as well

Regards EW

Has their presenting/commentating line up been confirmed?

Have C4 confirmed when they will air their first live game?

Host is Adam Hills, with Leon Pryce and Kev Sinfield alongside him and the first game is Leeds vs Wire a week today. I think it kicks off at 12.30pm.

Rumours Clive Tyldesley and Helen Skelton are involved. Launch event planned for Monday.

Thanks.

Their CEO has said that because they don't have a lot of money to spend, that when they do they get behind it 100% as it's still a lot of money to them. The production has was put out to tender to gather ideas on how it's presented to get new fans but keep existing ones entertained too.

10 games is ok the gap between them us the worry they're front loaded then with a play off game. However their intention is a more long term this 2 year deal will be to test the water and see how it is received. I'm excited to see what they come up with their sports coverage is normally good.

Has there been any advertising for the game yet?

Just wondering how they’re planning on getting existing rugby fans to know about the coverage and tune in, as well as attracting new fans.

The 1230 slot on Saturday is football and covered by BT Sport. Unsure whose bright idea it was to compete with that?

They’d have been better doing a 1430 Saturday fixture or 1230 on a Sunday so no competition with premier league games

C4 coverage of other sports is fantastic (though they’re not sports I’d watch). I’m really looking forward to seeing how this is both presented and recieved. It could, and I hope, be massive for our game.

The premier sports coverage of the championship was superb IMO. BBC CC coverage is always spot on too. We’ve got 4 different avenues (5 if you include BeIN) to now watch RL. The signs for growth are good.

I think years ago there was a consensus that 'only the BBC do sport properly', But those days are long gone. Channel 4, ITV, and Channel Five have all produced good sport viewing recently. I'm a big fan of the snooker,and IMO Eurosport has easily eclipsed the BBC in its coverage.

just looked at the schedule for Saturday 12.00 - 14.45. So good 30 mins pre match and 40 mins or so post game. Really looking forward to see how well they present it.

what will be interesting (and dont know if they can measure it) is the size of the non traditional RL audience that tunes in to C4.

Are there any clashes with 6 nations this weekend, which could have an impact on the neutral audience that may tune in?

Wales v Scotland 2.15 so no clash unless you're desperate to watch the 6 nations build up

Not sure if anyone is watching the Fev Vs Leigh game on Premier Sports, but I'm pleasantly impressed with the coverage. For a smaller station & 2nd tier RL, it isn't that bad.

Also very happy that Lam is now Leigh's problem. They look like us last season - poor d, no bodies in motion in attack and zero options on the last.

Another big game for Lam, another defeat. A lack of discipline can be added to your list. The conditions are woeful, so it’s difficult for anybody to play rugby but still. The issue Leigh will have with Lam and judging him is that they’ll win a lot of games by 40-50 points because the quality of their players is far better than most other teams but can they win big games under Lam? There’s no evidence he is able to get his teams to do that.

James McDonnell being flogged at prop has been amusingly familiar. He must felt naked Lammy last week not having a young Wigan forward to put in the middle. He’s done well though McDonnell bar his brain fade.

No but it clashes with BT Sport 1230 kick off. I’d love to know if channel 4 had any other slot options. Seems very short sighted to come up against premier league football.

Is it? We can’t avoid every sporting fixture, and that’s assuming every available football fan both has BT and wants to watch the match. Personally I think you’re looking too much into it. This season isn’t about out numbering football viewing figures, but about increasing RL viewing figures across the board and increasing interest. C4 will be a slow burner rather than an immediate hit and we as a sport should have the vision and trust to let it burn. We’ve been far too hasty to extinguish the slow flame in the past much to our detriment.

Agreed, but I also don't think attracting new eyes to the product should be seen as the be all and end all, or at least not at this stage.

For many years, we saw RL perform well above its station in regards to viewing figures for Sky. Whilst it's a very small and highly personal sample to corroborate this, I know plenty of people who watched RL on sky on a Friday night, but would never go to a game. They enjoyed it on TV and that's where their association with RL starts and ends. What C4 need to do is get those eyes tuning into their station & see that jump in viewing figures. That then increases the appeal of having RL on your network as it brings in eyes. Once more stations realise that, then RL is no longer under the boot of Sky and their demands.

Yep, completely agree with that.