All is not well in that rah-rah game...

[urlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9196204/Wasps-urgently-need-investment-to-stave-off-administration-following-breakdown-of-takeover-talks.html[/url

It's Richard Lewis' fault

common theme, rugby clubs sign top players, dont win, go bust.

They should get rid of franchising and bring back P&R.

What they need to do is to get rid of all those southern clubs.

Surely Rangers' insolvency and the near bankruptcy of 3 NRL sides is everything to do with SL and franchising as well?

Sport is no different to the rest of the business world.

A few tough months, a few bad deals, some over-commitment and suddenly you're insolvent

Its been more than a 'tough few months' economically speaking. SL is doing remarkably well if you take into account the overall economic environment and the fact that in terms of sponsorship etc you should expect secondary sports like RL to suffer disproportionately.

Interesting to see in the article's comments that the tophatters are calling for the up and coming clubs like Exeter to be supported instead of the incumbents. I think Exeter is in an expansion area, so it's a bit different fro the endless debates here.

There's also debate about the salary cap and stadias. No calls to sack the RU board, probably because they've been doing that for the past few years.

Will the Newcastle Falcons also have problems if they get relegated?

Not sure I'd call the south west an expansion area, that's probably the one part of england where ordinary people have some interest in RU.
I think folk on here are right to criticise the way RL is run at time, but I do wish we'd keep a sense of proportion. There is a lot that's wrong in RL, but we shouldn't assume other sports have all the answers.

Some RU clubs are in exactly the same situation as some of the in debt RL clubs.

Spending money that they hope success and new sponsors/increased crowd will pay for.

Some clubs get it about right, others end in the mire.

Daring to dream can be a bu99er.

Will RU ever break out from being supported only along the M1 and and M5 motorways ?

Aviva Premiership Rugby Union clubs are running to a salary cap of £4m (with a number of clubs requesting an uplift to compete with the French Top14) on gate receipts of 5-8k (Wasps, Newcastle, Saracens, Sale etc)

They will attract higher corporate sponsorship due to the nature of the audience but the whole thing is a house of cards – I would love to see some of the balance sheets of these clubs

Its more of an advisory then a cap isnt it?

I bet their chairmen dread seeing them.

Quote ="Dreamer"Some RU clubs are in exactly the same situation as some of the in debt RL clubs. Spending money that they hope success and new sponsors will pay for. '" A similar position maybe, but they can attract a multimillion pound sponsorship pound deal for a "vehicle partner" www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news ... e-sponsor/

Quote ="Dreamer"Some RU clubs are in exactly the same situation as some of the in debt RL clubs. Spending money that they hope success and new sponsors will pay for. '" A similar position maybe, but they can attract a multimillion pound sponsorship pound deal for a "vehicle partner" www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news ... e-sponsor/

Quote ="Wales for super L"A similar position maybe, but they can attract a multimillion pound sponsorship pound deal for a "vehicle partner" www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news ... e-sponsor/'" Get Landy on board with us then!

Quote ="Wales for super L"A similar position maybe, but they can attract a multimillion pound sponsorship pound deal for a "vehicle partner" www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news ... e-sponsor/'" Get Landy on board with us then!

I love some of the responses to this

Quote ="Wales for super L" A similar position maybe, but they can attract a multimillion pound sponsorship pound deal for a "vehicle partner" www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news ... e-sponsor/'" How much will filter down to the clubs and how on earth are BMW going to incorporate "midget throwing" into their advertising campaign The point is, they are so busy trying to match the high spending French that they blow it all anyway. Nice position to be in though.

Quote ="Wales for super L" A similar position maybe, but they can attract a multimillion pound sponsorship pound deal for a "vehicle partner" www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news ... e-sponsor/'" How much will filter down to the clubs and how on earth are BMW going to incorporate "midget throwing" into their advertising campaign The point is, they are so busy trying to match the high spending French that they blow it all anyway. Nice position to be in though.

Its not rocket science to realise those figures don't stack up. There's a reason why the salary cap at Superleague used to be a maximum of 50% of gross income. Don't know what sort of sponsorship money thos clubs attract but hard to imagine them having an income anywhere near £8m per annum.

The sport your laughing at gets huge payment from the rfu and there fantastically run international scene,somehow can't see them being talked into excepting a sponsorship that pays nowt eh?

The BMW deal is nothing to do with the clubs......the RFU are not in financial trouble.....

.......If only Lewis was still with us to broker the deal eh

The problem here is that a lot of people in power in Rugby League in the UK and Australia are just to short sighted to see the benefits that a properly run International programme would bring.
If it wasn't for international RU the game would probably be semi professional in the UK and in Australia and NZ.
How would Cricket survive at county level in England and Wales if they didn't have test matches to bankroll the counties?

Alas, it is the CLUBS who control the game in League.....not the governing Body. You only have to look at what is going on at Oddslum and the whining coming from 2 other club owners...they have become used to being given millions of pounds and now they want 2 teams jestisonned to protect their clubs........
...I can never see the clubs allowing the governing body a level of control it would need to gain even a slight foothold on the international stage, but you are correct Hudds 1895......a properly run International game would raise the profile of the game...it's just that whilst you might get some joy out of the UK, the Aussie clubs are already spending their new TV deal money.........you only have to look at the negotiating that had to take place to ensure this season started.

If Wasps or any other Union club was to go to the wall, then the RFU would simply replace them and move on......they wouldn't waste time, effort and money bailing them out.

Look at Bradford.......I suspect a certain amount of pressure was brought to bare on the RFL to bail them out......something that the RFU would never allow.