I was listening to the 1 o clock news on the beeb today, it would seem that BT Sport has just paid £170M+ for 4 years of the RU domestic comp. Compared to our £90M for 5 years through sky and the relevant viewing figures for each sport it would seem that we have being sold short by the sports leaders on an epic scale..

You're probably correct about that.

But would they have shown us on Thursday nights with the idea of moving us to Monday nights too?

I thought £90million was what we signed in 2011.

The new 5 year deal we signed was £182million

Ian Leneghans thoughts exactly. Pity some of the other chairmen went for the quick buck rather than negotiating a proper deal.

Whom watches BT sport?

Leneghan went for the quick buck...He just changed his mind after the deal was done.

And if the RFL had taken a similar deal from BT Sport, the complaint would have been "why are we on a channel which nobody subscribes to..."

Yes it was, but let's not let facts get in the way of a good moan eh

Correct.

Reality is, how many TV companies are sat there with massive cheque-books waiting to sign RL up??

The reality is these decisions are made by incredibly wealthy people, most incredibly wealthy people follow Union not League.

And NO, I'm not a flat-capped ferret-owning northerner with a chip on my shoulder, I'm a Londoner, and a realist!

Now, I know when it comes to Wendy-ball, these "suits" don't take their own prefferences into account, they go with the bucks, but when it comes to smaller sports, they do!

Even when we DO exceed Union attendances and viewing figures, we will STILL be offered less, because they aren't that interested and they KNOW their rivals aren't that interested either! The Beeb have been able to treat League horrendously over the last 50 years, firstly when there was no competition, but when there was, they quickly realised ITV were no more interested than they were.

Channels 4 and 5 followed and were even less interested, only Sky, owned by Australians and linked to existing Antipodean sports channels has any interest in our sport.

However, knowing what it is Sky want to show, I fail to see why no effort whatsoever has been made to get other games televised, or even a highlights package. Neither the Beeb or Sky are intersted in the Challenge Cup until the end, nor do they show any Championship games. It's a wasted opportunity.

Don't be daft. They go with whichever sports get the most viewers, this in turn attracts more advertising revenue. If fencing attracted 300k viewers they would all want it, regardless of whether the execs like it or not.

TV commercials are charged against rating cards. Rating cards are also worked out using A B C analysis of socio-economic groups.

It's not beyond reason that 50,000 A rated viewers are worth more than 200,000 C rated viewers. It's not the whole story but goes a long way to explain some of the " disparity".

We mere mortals are not privy to commercially sensitive rate cards but if League Weekly can afford to advertise on Premier Sports then that alone tells a story.

If RL was on BT sport, you would save an absolute fortune (unless you want the round ball game as well)

Going back to the Sky deal, it was certainly done hastily.

When did the existing union deal expire?

I think he was left with little option and agreed under duress. Anyhow, he was probably right.

Do you mean, how long does the current deal last ?, if so it is 6 years till 2021 I think ?

This.

Take a look at the adverts during a Union game on Sky compared to those during a League. It's not as straightforward as "all the adverts are posh for Union" but there is a difference. There's significantly more adverts for the likes of Land Rover etc during Union games rather than betting firms during League games.

Also, watching the adverts during a Union game is far more entertaining than the actual game.

Not everyone voted the same way though so how was he under more pressure? He was probably right before or after he changed his mind?!

So, we're now moaning about a lesser game, signing a lesser deal for a lesser channel ?

Good thread this.

I'm just wondering how far in advance of expiry of their current deal they have negotiated, given the dogs abuse our game got for dealing early.

okay so if we are getting £182M over 5 years that's £36.4M per year which includes SL, the championship AND Internationals how is that more than the RU's £170M+ (£40M+/year) just for their top tier and a domestic 7s tourney? how is your statement factually correct?
Good post yours

First of all, very well done on pretending your £90m claim didn't happen.



It's not even worth discussing internationals. The other code will always bring in a lot more but we do still have the next 2 RL World Cups up for grabs as Sky don't have those rights.

And i'll take £4m a year less to be on Sky over BT all day, every day.

Signature material that. Thanks!!