Maybe the next TV deal is going to be a hell of a lot less and they are looking at ways of softening the blow.
IIRC part of the current TV monies is to fund Academies and maybe, someone thinks that "merging" some of them will "help".

The on certainty is that if clubs cant keep youngsters coming through into the top level, the game in in real trouble and the other certainty is that it wont be the likes of Leeds, Saints and Wigan that do without.

Is RL really worth so little to Sky (and other broadcasters) ??

It's mickey poor that with a "home" world cup coming later in the year, that RL is still unable to "sell" itself for a decent wedge.

If the rfl are trying to stop clubs or rather some clubs from having an academy its nothing short of disgusting.what right do they have let say leeds and wigan to keep academy but not us its just another way of keeping the big and rich happy.if this happens think that will be me done with the sport

Having a set of central Academies is a great idea. Well, it is in a Utopian world where nobody lies, nobody is corrupt and money and trophies is the last thing on peoples minds.

If I believed for one second that a third rate organisation such as the RFL could police it properly and fairly, I'd back it. I'd back it because, in theory, it's a great idea, a concentration of the best young players in a centralised environment with top-class coaching and facilities for all. Thus allowing all SL clubs an equal chance to draft quality players. Young players who know they will almost certainly have a club to go to if they try hard, which it has to be said is great motivation.

Sadly it's such a foreign idea to not just RL but British sporting culture. It would simply be a set of containment camps from which the big clubs would find ways to manipulate it to their advantage. Shame but it's a non started in my opinion.

Although it’s just speculation at this point I completely agree with the above. All the best players would be migrated into the big 4 with the other clubs fighting over the rest and likely paying a premium.

I have received notification from Sky that the price my Sky Sports pack will be increasing next month.As a Sky VIP user of over 18years I have a 3digit phone number to contact their admin' dept' so I used it to "complain" to them and ask them to justify the increase in view of the lack of content they supply. One channel is devoted to American Football, one to Basketball another one shows continuous repeats of all last years GP races,they do not have the tv rights to the current cricket tests or the RU internationals. They ought to be increasing their offer for the tv rights for what is the best spectator sport played. I obtained a slight price reduction in some parts of my overall package to offset the increase in the sports section, but I got a lot of satisfaction in explaining to them in "plain Yorkshire" that just because they are now American owned doesn't mean they can expect to be able to convert us to watching their boring home grown sports !