I agree was replying to the person who said give free wigan tv instead

Premier league football considering free to air with games being played behind closed doors when restrictions lifted .

Out on my daily run past the stadium and robin park I saw Hastings going into robin park arena. Doesn’t he live in Salford? Could be a sign that players are back in training and have an idea when games will resume. Or I could be reading too much into it... just seems strange for him to be there during lock down.

Edit: he has also posted this on social media so it’s no secret.

So am I but I paid for Wigan TV for the season up front (you save a few quid doing so) so any freeze on subscriptions would mean a refund or that simply would not be fair.

Not sure how Wigan TV would work anyway. I would hazard a guess it's not been designed to have the capacity to have circa 10k viewers on at the same time.

Also what about other clubs? Have they all got similar "TV" set ups?

He is allowed to go to work technically and I imagine the club will be testing players fitness levels as best they can.

As Robin Park Arena is now the HQ of the club, it does not mean that players are going there for training!

I think players are going there to train in pairs/small groups.

Back to the title of the thread, I hope there are no clubs who are still holding out hopes that crowds will be allowed into stadiums in 2020. It wont happen. As dreadful as it is to contemplate, that's the reality we face. Sticking heads in the sand isn't going to help. We need to focus on retaining any income streams we can (mainly broadcasting fees) and thinking creatively about other potential sources of income whilst drastically cutting costs.

I do feel the game could be looking at a spell of semi professional status.

Would the sport, for the time being at least benefit from going semi pro?

Don't want to start any argument but given money is going to be so tight when the world starts to spin again would the sport be better for a spell as semi pro rather than bumping along with the backside hanging out of its trousers?

Wigan Athletic have been given a date of October 1st apparently regards fans being let back in to grounds and that is the earliest and most optimistic scenario according to the report I read. I see no reason why any other sports would be different and if it is the case, it looks like we’ll watch the vast majority and maybe all of this season on the box. It’s going to be strange to do that and even more so when the games will be in empty grounds (and maybe not even in our own rugby league grounds).

It’ll be a huge challenge for the players as well to get themselves up for games. There’s every possibility big games, semis and the two finals could be played with no crowds. Something just feels wrong about that but if it needs to happen so be it.

Maybe he was going there to negotiate his release from his contract so he can go back home and play for Parramatta

Most semi finals are played in front of no crowds aren't they?

This could be a blessing for clubs like Huddersfield. Be like playing every game at home.

If crowds are not allowed at games at all this year I think that the GF and Challenge Cup would probably not take place. The respective finals may be two of the sports biggest money makers but without fans in attendance both would turn into loss makers. With the huge financial strain we already face it would be daft to hold the finals without any crowds and knowingly create further losses. We would name the league leaders champions and void the cup for this year.

If as you say crowds were to be allowed from the start of October then we may even see the hypothetical Old Trafford Challenge Cup final on the original GF date and mid November GF to allow both competitions to take place (prior to contracts ending on Nov 30th). Either that or we get a shorter league campaign to end as planned on October 10th at OT with crowds present for just playoff (top 4) semi finals and the GF (with the cup not taking place).

you could play the finals in any stadium not large ones if theres no crowds and then pay hardly anything to host it

If October the first is the date from when crowds can be let in then surely they’ll push back the grand final for at least a month to 6 weeks to try and offset some of the damage.

Watching those few NRL games that got played behind closed doors they where awful and frankly I think the sport will lose more fans than it gains but that’s just me

Regardless of the size of stadium used it would still cost some money to hold (meaning a loss making game) and when there is a viable alternative method for awarding a team the title of champions (i.e the league leaders) without making any loss, then not holding a GF would be preferable if no crowd could attend it. The Challenge Cup sadly is no longer such a priority in the eyes of much of RL's fanbase, I attend all of our cup games but most fans don't bother with it. It is likely that even fewer people than do so now would care to watch the cup games in the knowledge that should their team get to the final that they wouldn't be able to enjoy their day at Wembley. Imagine the frustration for fans of clubs like Salford or Wakefield who having never seen their team at Wembley saw them finally make the final only for them to not be able to attend it and to rub salt into the wound for their club's big moment (I know Salford made the GF last year but that wasn't on BBC with a captive audience) to be played out at an empty LSV. I know these are extraordinary times but it would just make the sport look third rate. It would be better not to hold the comp if we couldn't have fans in attendance at a big showpiece final.

The finals are the occasions they are in a large part due to the build up and traditions that go with them and the atmosphere generated by an enthusiastic crowd at the event. In the hypothetical (and possible) scenario where spectators cannot attend then the latter is absent straight away and there is no need for the former as this in the main is not broadcast so would not be witnessed by anyone. The finals would be a lesser spectacle than a standard league game.

Where did you see the report NK?
Could you send a link?

Personally I don’t know how people can determine dates so far in advance. If this does turn out to be true then professional rugby in the uk may not survive

What makes you think Parramatta want him?


Oh, right. Nothing.

wouldnt cost so much as there would be no need for vendors, stewards etc so minimal cost, could hold it at odsal as the RFL own it still dont they so would cost them nothing to rent

First club that sprung to mind when I was typing

I think there was some talk games could be played at the small Man City stadium used for their ladies team, with all teams being based in Manchester. The Grand Final and Challenge cup would be loss makers if you needed to pay to host them at OT/Wembley but if it came down to it and there couldn’t be a crowd, there would seem little point. If fans can’t be there then all you really need are some changing rooms and a field.

exactly pal

I wonder if you could maybe have a situation where fans are allowed in but only X amount of seats could be filled.

Maybe take the biggest Lancashire stadium in Super League (Wigan) and have all the Lancashire clubs play their home games there with a max crowd of 6-7k. Do the same with the Yorkshire clubs at Huddersfield. Maybe that could preserve some income. I know the co-operation of football clubs might be an issue but maybe there could be a bit of community spirit involved.

See what you’re saying but does that not defeat the object? Fans travelling from other areas into other areas in their thousands?

I don’t know what the answer is, I’d be amazed if anyone at the RFL or SL did either and that’s not a detrimental comment to them either, but I don’t think this is it.

My own opinion is to resume only when it’s safe to do so at your own stadia, with fans, otherwise for me the whole point of sport is gone.

Personally I don’t see crowds the size mainstream sport attract, being allowed in the UK this side of Christmas. I honestly think football is preparing for that very scenario and I reckon we get used to it.

The effects of covid19 in terms of social distancing measures, will be in our lives until at least 2021 imo.

Quite frankly I couldn’t care less if I didn’t see a game of football or rugby this year. I’ve lost all interest following COVID. I’m not saying others should be the same, by any means. But I’m just not interested, personally.
Albeit, I’d obviously expect the sports to be planning to ensure they see themselves through until business as usual in 2021.

Heard from a good source today we might be playing behind closed doors soon with SKY offering money.