These companies seem to be trying to sponsor a fair few Football teams at the moment. Several teams have accepted this sponsorship, Newcastle United for instance, and several have rejected/walked away from the offer, Bolton Wanderers and Millwall.

If a company approached the Super League/RFL, what would your reaction be?

Bradford Bulls shirt sponsor is a payday loan company.

Nay, nay and thrice nay, and yea again, Nay.

Could happen.

I don't know what Wonga's advertising budget is but if the rumour in the industry is true that their ad agency handed back some budget because they physically couldn't spend it all, then it's bloody frightening.

It doesn't compliment the SuperLeague brand's (apparent) family image, so I don't think the RFL would go for it.

Thats probably right, i dont want to be applying for a loan when i could be playing bingo online whilst eating my soup.

If they turned down Betfair, surely they cant accept a pay day loan company.

Bolton supporters reaction to there sponsor forced the club to change pretty quickly.

My personal choice would be not to accept them, but we dont know how desperate SL are for a main sponsor and if needs must.....and the moneys right..... it could happen.

Bingo's probably as risqué as the RFL will go in terms of sponsorship.

For me, i would enter into a short term deal, until the end of the season. If there is a backlash then the deal is only for 4 months, and puts a little money into the game, if the response is positive then there is a potential future sponsorship deal to be had. It would also add a bit of value to Super League after the Stobbart agreement.

I would be appalled if we entered into any kind of sponsorship with any of those companies. They prey on the vulnerable and disadvantaged and just generally cause misery.

Just a short term deal, and significantly increased payments if it doesn't work out




Seriously, they're just a financial services company like any other, with their own particular services and target markets for those services, just like any other FS company.

How did you feel in previous years about sponsorship from tobacco and alcohol companies?

Tobacco and Alcohol companies set a pretty low bar.

Payday loan companies have managed to somehow limbo their way under it. There isn’t a word to describe how abhorrent an industry it is.

They are not ideal but neither of those industries are as institutionally devious as the payday loan companies. No problem with the John Smiths stadium or Tetleys Challenge cup for example.

Parasites, that industry should be banned. Modern day Shylocks who prey on the desparate.

I'm pretty sure if we could get some results over what caused more illness, despair and death, tobacco and alcohol would be way above short term loans as a cause. If that's the case, why are you OK with tobacco and alcohol companies?

You would rather people didn't have the choice? You don't feel people are capable of making the choice whether to borrow money or not and who from, so you want to make it for them?

There are ethical pay day loan companies who actually limit the amount of interest that can be accrued to stop spiraling debts. I have no problem with them and agree it's down to a persons discretion.

Companies that are in it for the profit alone and don't care about the welfare of who they lend to are the worry. They'd rather keep topping up that debt and sending threatening letters than actually look at what they could do to run a viable short term loans business without causing people more worry than had they not used them in the first place.

IMO of course.

People who are using pay-day loan companies are using them because they dont have another choice. There is responsible lending, then there are loan sharks. Pay-day loan companies are loan sharks with a banking licence.

It's whether we will be in a position to put principle ahead of money - something we could really do with right now...

It's fine, there's always Koukash TV as a sponsor if all other avenues fail.

I work in finance and see first hand the mess that these companies get people into, particularly young people who don't understand the consequences of entering into such an agreement. If I was a Bradford fan I would have been rather disappointed that after all the talk of making Odsal a family attraction etc again they then went and gave Provident the naming rights.

Because they are not predatory like the payday loans companies, who actually sign up their customers hoping that they will default so they can rip them off.

The idea of a payday loans company isn't a bad one, but the way they operate at the moment is criminal.

Tobacco companies don't sell cigs hoping people will get addicted to nicotine then? What are they hoping? That people will only smoke once a month or so? Alcohol companies hope for nothing more than people to have one or two drinks, once a week?

Your psychic knowledge of the intent of payday loan companies is interesting. Where did you develop those powers?