with the recent success of the catalan dragons, do you think france are ready for there own league. They have done it in rugby union and i think it could hit off over there.

The rumoured teams are:
Catalan Dragons
Toulouse Olympique
Avignon Bisons
Leopards of Aquitaine (playing in Bordeaux, training in Villenueve plus taking one or two games there
Nantes X111
Paris
Montpellier Reds

and we could have teams from all over france to develop the game. Now I think catalans have been a major success of super league like the nz warriors in the nrl and would not really want to see them go, because they are entertaining. However if they were to have a french league, then the french team would develop, more tournament like european cups and world championships.

thoughts?

They need to move to summer one way or another. The plan is to seel the TV rights and use the cash to fund these new clubs in expansion areas. I don't know how that will go. The other tricky part is how the small but successful clubs fit into the pro league plans with the likes of Limoux and Lezignan among the best nurseries and the best support bases in the game there. Catalans would also need to decide whether they're better off playing in this comp or in SL. In any case it's all a bit of a dream at the moment, though one closer to reality than ever before.

They already have a French league. And they are years behind Catalans.

Where exactly is this information for a new comp comming from?

Catalans reserves in the French league is probably a better idea IMO.

Will they be able to sustain a FT prof league? I very much doubt it given we can't and we have a very healthy TV deal.

It'd be covering a smaller area than the Queensland Cup, it's doable.

I'm all for expansion in the French league, but i don't want to see any new teams packed with Aussie's, Kiwi's and PIs which is no benefit to French Rugby League.

This is unrealistic. If they went for say an 8-10 team league with mostly heartland ish sides and allowed lots of imports then a Queensland Cup/Championship standard league could be doable. But this idea is excessive.

If they started at:
Catalans
Carcassonne
Narbonne
Montpellier
Toulouse
Albi
Avignon
Lyon

With Paris and Mille pencilled in for future expansion (perhaps Bordeaux as well) then it maybe just maybe would work.

That post makes no sense.

QLD has 4 million people but three times the land area of France. If we can run the QLD Cup then surely France can run a pro comp. Not really that hard to understand?

TBF though if it wasn't for NRL link ups and pokies Q'land cup would be even less professional than it is now, and now it isn't a fulltime prof league.

Japan has 120million people in smaller area. So what.

There's nothing like arguments based on total ignorance of any facts.

True

I suppose any expansion in France all relies on a good salesman being able to convince a TV Broadcaster to pay big money for TV rights, without that there's no chance of a professional league. Without good money there is no incentive for young French people to choose League over Union.

With French Union clubs paying stupid money for players, its a tougher battle than it is over here.

They have the wrong priority.

The most important goal should be a second and maybe a third French club in Super League, with these French clubs playing at a SL standard.

You could then have a semi-professional national competition, with 8 clubs at most, including reserve teams from Catalans and Toulouse (if Toulouse is in SL) and the other teams being

Aude
Paris
Avignon
Lyon
Montpellier
Nantes

Later, if the competition was successful you could consider adding teams from Mille, Bordeaux and Lille.

Still even with 8 clubs the problem will be the number of quality French players available.

But the second French SL team should be the priority, and then the Bein Sport could be sure of one professional quality French home game for television each week.

I actually agree with this (sorry for cutting out most of your post in the quote but it took a lot of space.)

We have the TV deal already in place with Sky, that kind of money could develop another club in France within a couple of years. Maybe embracing this "European" Superleague as it gets referred to, could do us good in the long run.

I actually think the interest is there from the public, if they could negotiate a TV deal and sponsorships which could pay full-time wages.

Okay, the crowds hover around Championship level at present, but for the big games the French really turn out. Given that some of their big games are against Scotland and Ireland, that's a big feat.

The RFL should have had a second French club in SL by now. By failing to do so and without any clear plan to do so in the near future the only course of action is for the French to work on their own plans to grow the game there. Good on them. If that bears fruit and they manage to put together a summer pro league it will be better for the game in the long run anyway. I have doubts but the fact they are even in a position to consider this idea shows how far they have come and how aspirational they are.

Threads like these, built on "what if's" and "wouldn't it be great's" remind me of a group of 6 year old boys playing pretend war in a back garden...loads of enthusiasm, but it will all end in tears eventually.

no they couldn't - they are having enough trouble sustaining te present LER with Lezignan,Villeneuve,Limoux and Montpellier really struggling to find enough sponsorship to keep going - any talk of a Pro League is poppycock unless a major tv company comes in and funds it personally which ai't gonna happen - not in my lifetime anyway

Don't let Lox4Pres or the East Coast Tiger here you say that....they're Aussies, they know it all and they'll brand you a Union Troll

Not true. We only call union trolls union trolls.

But saying the pro league won't happen unless they get a big TV deal is the "no sh:t" statement of the decade. The whole point is that they are trying to get such a deal. Whether they will or won't nobody knows yet and anyone who makes outlandish statements either way is a fool. Not necessarily a union troll though.

Whilst the preoccupation with the size of TV deals is on the table, where will the players come from if the NRL gets cashed up next month.....will the French be able to compete with SL for players? Will the TV deal be for a local comp with local players? There already 4 clubs struggling to make ends meet in France.....how much will this mega-bux TV deal be for?