I wonder what time it will be when a game finishes on a Thursday or Friday night if there's a draw after 80 minutes, should this come to pass? Sky's kick off times will have be brought forward again.

So dwindling tv audiences and attendances don't matter? If the game keeps dropping tv viewers from Sky then the next tv deal will be much worse than the current deal - it is all PART of making the sport attractive to not just hardcore fans like us but the wider viewing public , baffling rules and long drawn out interruptions will not help .Lets face it the Sky money is only keeping the game afloat - without it the game would be semi-pro at best. When the deal is renewed and it is , as is quite possible, on much reduced terms due to poorer viewing figures then the consequences could be dire. Cricket is going through a similar issue - the faster T20 is doing well but the 4 days game is dying on its feet.

I will freely admit there are many much bigger and more important issues but the issues I mentioned would be easily fixable and a quick win- the other issues, as we have seen with the internal squabbling over the changes to the format for next season are much harder to resolve. Sadly the game is struggling at the moment and some within the administration of the game seem to either want to bury their heads in the sand or just hope it all works out on its own. I fear for the future of the game which is a shame because it is the best sport to watch when it is played at it's best (such as the recent Saints v Wigan game) relying on just the loyal fan base is not enough to keep the game going.

I’ve always thought the next tv deal will make the current one seem like a huge payday for the sport,I think it’ll be well down on the current one and I’m not sure who’s going to pick the slack up?fantasy stuff like amazon and Netflix?not in my lifetime,Sky again depends if the Disney deal goes through I’d assume they only want rights for worldwide sport such as football,will they even be interested in a niche sport?

Very uncertain times for the sport

Yep. That’s why i said in brackets after it “copied from the NRL”

The thing that is just utterly baffling to me is that we’ve got the same game, played under different rules in the two leagues. Then you’ve got international rules, it’s just ridiculous. The RLIF need to grow a set and have both leagues playing under the same rules and the International game to boot.

The RFL bringing in Golden Point is utterly bizarre as draws generally are cracking games to watch. Bringing this in would do nothing for the dwindling crowds both on TV and the stadia.

IMHO Thursday night games is the largest contributory factor towards declining attendances. Games are played in almost-empty stadiums and the number of ST sales will have fallen simply because we have every chance of at least two of our home games being switched at short notice to a day we cant make.

There's a multitude of reasons our attendances have fallen gradually over the past few seasons (given to me by friends who no longer attend), including but not limited to:

Thursday night games.
Introduction of Super 8 fixtures.
Moving home games to Millwall & Sydney.
SW's predictable and boring rugby style (although a few have admitted that this season it has improved, excluding the poor run).
Overall feeling that the sport continues to be run by fools and the sport is in decline.

One thing I have thought about, had IL taken his eye off the ball over the last couple of years? When he came in he was a very vocal chairman for a good number of years. However he did move across to become the Chairman of the Football League a couple of years ago, during this period he was extremely quiet when it came to Wigan RL.

It's only until recently (Lam/Edwards announcement, spearheading the Ellstone campaign for changes to SL) that he's regularly been back as the face of the club. It also co-incides with his decision to resign as the Chairman of the EFL two weeks ago.

Does anyone else think that he's done that to take back a bit of 'day-to-day' control of the club? ie to address falling attendances, structure of SL, staff re-structure? He did state 'other business interests' as a reason for resigning.

Obviously I'm aware he has a number of other businesses away from sport, so maybe a case of me adding 2+2 = 5.

We need an announcement



I agree and do think there will be some further changes announced regarding the move to Robin Park. I believe some building work will commence in October/November. IL has always wanted a rugby league museum in Wigan and this maybe part of the Robin Park arena. I would imagine he would also be looking to put bar/food facilities there similar in many ways to the Aussie Leagues clubs to increase matchday revenue for the club. It'll be up to the fans then to support it.

Yep, you can go back up to ten years ago with his museum comments, that would be a good start and long over-due.

Having a bar and food facilities is the right way to go. It makes sense that everyone migrates away from that bar under the South Stand before and after each game.

A good start would be to put that Warrior IPA on Tap, something the supporters can identify with (similar to the Saints beer they have), supplies by local brewery Wily Fox.

A couple of months ago there was a big van selling Kingfisher which was pretty bewildering.

If you can get 1000+ supporters to shell out a few quid before and after each game that’s pretty good revenue into the club (and away from DW).

Does this new structure allow for players to renegotiate contracts such as say, Anthony Gelling? I couldn't see Widnes earning an immediate promotion if they do get relegated, so perhaps he has some grounds to tear up his contract?

Much like Bryson Goodwin when he had signed for Leigh prior to their subsequent relegation it will be up to Gelling, his agent and Widnes as to what is affordable or desirable. If as expected Widnes are relegated and decide they can't afford the contract then they will seek to release him from it, if he decides he doesn't want to play in the Championship he will seek a release from it. If one party is happy to see the deal through while the other isn't then they will probably look to get a SL club to pay a transfer fee.

Whether or not he could tear up the deal if Widnes didn't want to without repercussions depends on whether it contains clauses stipulating that it only applied to playing in SL.

Thank you for the good example