I know Sky have just bought the rights for the foreseeable future and that is great but could the RFL still sell the rights to Catalans' home games?

The inclusion of Catalans is great for the game IMO and I have no issue with having a team in mainland Europe but financial times are hard and a lot of people just can't afford to travel all that way just for a game of rugby.

I would have expected a deal from the outset to show all Catalans home games on TV even at 2am (not just a highlights show).

I would happily pay per view or add a subscription channel (at the right price) for this to be the case. As Catalan had a TV deal over there I guess there could be scope for an international station to buy the rights? The RFL could surely get something sorted?

Could Catalans as a club not sell the rights to their home games for extra income?

Catalans have a TV deal themselves with a French channel and I think it's an exclusive one apart from selected Sky games. I think the problem is that Sky can't afford to send camera crews over to France unless it's a big game and I doubt any other UK channel would be interested.

Well I was thinking about this the other day.

You have specialist channels for Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool. Now, I know they're multi-million pound football clubs, however why couldn't the RFL push for a RL channel?

It wouldn't need 24 hour programming, but it would be an excellent way of increasing exposure of the sport. And not just at SL level. You can have live games or possibly games on delay from other leagues. Classic games from years gone by. Player and team profiles etc etc

I was thinking that. They could show more matches and games from the past and then make up the rest of the time with semi pro games, replays, interviews etc.

It would really improve the profile of the sport too and I'd be happy to pay to see it

I doubt it will ever happen because it would cost a fortune to run and we have just signed a 5 year deal with Sky.

How would having an RFL TV channel help exactly? To fund it, it would have to be paid for, which wouldn't increase exposure at all.

A while back I was reading what a Premier Sport rep was saying when they were looking at bidding for new sports. Premier Sports only pick up deals from sports that already have contracts with production companies. They don't have their own camera crews. They just own the rights to a channel, pay for access to a production company and then stream the footage. The big issue that they have is that Sky own the rights to an awful lot of stuff. If I remember rightly there was a period of time when when Sky weren't broadcasting NRL in this country, but still owned the rights, which meant no one else could step forward.

I suppose Premier Sport could get in touch with the French channel about streaming Catalans games, but I would imagine that Sky will own the rights to SL broadcasts in this country.

Unless they could raise advertising income which, admittedly, wouldn't be simple.

That is how I understand things to work , which is why the rumour of Premier showing Championship RL seems highly unlikely , unless their is some company out there that specializes in cheap outside broadcast of sports events , like a Netto version of SKY ?

Maybe the Polish version ?

Would evolving these RL forums onto a free sat radio format, like Talksport or Five live, be a realistic move where they could offer , live commentaries, fans chat & pay per view streaming of games.

pay per view online. All those fans who can't get to Perpignan could pay say 5quid to watch the game live online. It's the future!

I have thought about the RFL having its own channel it seems a great idea but at the moment Sky pay somwhere around 18 million a year into our sport. The RFL would have to recoup at least that in revenue plus running costs of the broadcasts all from subscriptions & adverts. Given the fan base of League it just would not work! a shame realy.

Premier Sports showed some of the Student RL games a while ago so Im assuming must have paid for camera crews for that and the coverage wasn't bad.
I'd agree that it's still unlikely though.

it would be hopefully turned down by the clubs owners , at the moment the only money comes from the Co oP sponsorship , will they be willing to continue putting money in for a lower level of exposure ?

Only sensible option for the Championships is a Highlights package of 1 or 2 matches a week with a run down of results and preview of upcoming matches , otherwise , leave it alone , we cannot afford it anymore

You will find that most sport channels get an outside company to produce the games.

Premier Sports show Blue Square footie so they must hire a company to produce that for them.

As for Catalan Dragon games. Orange sports shows a few games a season live the rest are shown as live on Sunday mornings.

Well, I’ve got a letter from Premier Sports this morning stating they will be showing Championship games from February 2012.

Showing at least 30 matches from the league, Grand Finals of both Championships & the Cup.

Subscription of £7.99.

Is that £7.99 per month? Any details known of benefits to the clubs or info about the programmes? Either way-i'm subsrcibing.

Likewise, plus continuing NRL coverage of more games than I have time to watch.

Yep, £7.99 a month.

It also says the coverage will have a local Rugby League community approach (whatever that means) & will include behind the scenes features on clubs & staff.

Plus the NRL, which is why I got it in the first place. Far better value than Sky, but, I’ll probably still subscribe now those pesky Crusaders gave my club a lifeline.

Cheers mate, i'm definately in.

Of course they can afford it, they just don't do it because they don't see the point and it's easier to stick within England and Wales.

Probably means something like Channel M; so it will be something like one camera and pi$$ poor commentary.

The Premier Sports email says....

Premier Sports are delighted to announce that Championship Rugby League from England will be coming to the channel live and exclusively from next February 2012. We intend to broadcast at least 30 matches from the league, Grand Finals of both Championships and the Cup. The coverage will have a local rugby league community approach and will include behind the scenes features on clubs and staff. The hope is that the current and new subscribers will feel the £7.99 subscription offers great value with over 180 live rugby league games available to view from Australia's NRL and now the Championship in Britain.

I'll definitely subscribe to that.

Out of curiosity, is there any news of a deal for the Challenge Cup yet?