Curry in a can....mmmmmmm!

Should we expect more from Stobart - or any other RL sponsor - than free advertising?

The missus, as an O2 customer, took advantage this weekend of their free pie and a pint offer ([url=http://www.o2priority.co.uk/deliverforengland/o2forenglandhere[/url, if you want to exploit it) which is associated with the England Six Nations effort in the lesser code. You get:

* two pies (one meat, one veg)
* two cans of weak southern IPA (no doubt head-free too, but at least it's beer)
* two coasters advertising the sport/O2 to rest your cans on
* a large (4' easy) England flag
* two reusable freezer ice bags for a coolbox

Even though I have hee-haw interest in England's performance at the union game, and live in a region where burning the flag would probably be more acceptable than sticking it on the house, we still get free stuff telling us the game's on and building anticipation. This kind of promotion - which spreads the word to the disinterested as well as those already interested in the game (unlike, say, the Nutrigrain bar giveaways from CCs gone past) could be a great way to raise nationwide awareness of RL.

A national link up of SL or the internationals with Domino's (mentioned earlier with the NW leagues) where, say, the game-night deals had some association with the match, or buy-one-get-one-free with free flag and programme for internationals on Four Nations nights could be good for this.

Essentially: where were everyone's two cans of soup and commemorative spoons for the WCC, Heinz? I was looking forward to putting the spoons on Cash in the Attic in 20 years' time.

I work right on the M62, next a large and very busy petrol station. I probably see ten Stobbart trucks a day. How many have I seen with the SL designs on them? A big fat 0! They turned down just under a million quid for that??WTF. I might tattoo the SL symbol on my bum and name next seasons league after it. Similar deal.

I did a return trip to Kent last weekend and saw three of them. Personal experiences are only indicative, not the whole story.

I drove from Maidstone to Leeds and back and saw a Salford lorry at the bottom of the M1 on the return leg. That was out of about 25 Stobart Lorries in total, which were all plain.

Betfair or whatever they were called offered £1.4m.

Was that for two years? I'm sure I read they offered around £750,000 a season.

Quite possibly, I was just told by an RFL employee that they declined a £1.4m bid.

£50,000 per club per season if nothing went to the RFL.