Mentioned elsewhere, that the deal for the national advertising (this will bring) would have cost around £2M p.a, so in real terms its a net gain on the previous deal, wether we could afford £2m on advertising is one thing, wether we can afford £1M less cash flow is another.
The way the RFL are throwing money round at the Bulls presently, can only lead us to assume neither are problems, and they are clearly minted!!!

Crap and frankly desperate IMHO.

Who are these people who will be persuaded to attend SL matches after being magically transformed into RL fans by the site of Steve Southern on a truck.

Are they the same folk who turn out in droves to support London, Crusaders, Gateshead etc etc.

We want cash to re invest in the game, and the game is woRTH IT IMO.

To me this is just another case of the RFL getting delusions of grandeur and thinking the world and it's wife is just waiting to discover RL - off the back of a lorry - it would appear. If only it were that easy.

I'm all for marketing the game, but instead of hard cash - absolute insanity.

Except, funnily enough, it was not the RFL that voted for the deal. It was the SL clubs. They decide, not the RFL.

The RFL brought the proposal to the Super League Clubs didn't they? So by virtue of that the RFL had already agreed the deal in principle subject to the club's approval

If so minted whats the problem with expanding SL then?

To the contrary DJ, Mr. Lewis said in an interview on sky following the 2012 licence announcement, that wether or not their were to be as many as fourteen teams in SL after this new round of licensing ended, would have to be discussed.
It does make you wonder!!!

Unless they spend all their monies before then, then claim poverty :/

TBH from a marketing pov, i think its a very innovative idea and something that should be applauded, it shows that they are following the lead of clubs such as ours with our own innovative marketing and media ideas.
Wether or not we (the game) can afford it, is a different matter, some of the recent actions of the RFL leads one to assume that they are awash with dough!!

It could turn out a dead duck only time will tell, but you can't fault them for being original, which is an original situation in its self, ironically.

Are you for real, I mean you looked daft enough on the Odsal issue but this.

The SL is a competition which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RFL. Above all else it decides via licensing who plays in it's premier competition.

The RFL in turn is answerable to it's constituent clubs.

SL (Europe) Ltd is basically the marketing arm of SL and represents only the 14 teams in the comp. However to even attempt to pretend it isn't answerable or totally controlled by the RFL is utterly laughable.

The RFL and SL in turn are answerable to the clubs.

So the people who negotiated this deal are the RFL and the 14 SL rubber stamped it. This is how it works unless the RFL and the 14 SL Clubs have somehow separated which is news to me.

The marketing element is fine as far as it goes. However it appears and I say again appears that it is the main element of the deal. As an add on or smaller element of a deal I'd be happy but as it appears the Lions share or even the entire deal then to me it is a dreadful deal. However I don't know the full deal si I'm onlt commenting on what is being suggested on here. Which could all be

If lewis and woodsy had a million quid each stuffed in their magic sock, for the sole purpose of advertising the game then fair play, i think its unlikely but who knows? arguably not them two lunatics.
The idea is a good one, its if the game can afford it, without a cash/sponsors injection.

I thought it was terrible to start with, an absolute joke. more I think about it more I think that it is actually for the good of the game - and I can see the logic behind it. Presumably the sponsorship money received is, somehow, divvied but between the clubs to a more or lesser degree, then the clubs are free to do what they want with it. No doubt that several clubs would spend a decent proportion of the money servicing historic debt or throwing it at overpaid over the hill imports. This way all the "money" is spent directly on advertising and marketing the game in an innovative and original way - and at least the RFL know that we are getting some good exposure for the game.

It also remains to be seen if other partners will come on board, something that would be less likely if somebody like Betfair got the deal - according to the reports I have read at least.

i didn't think about your last point, but it is a very good one, the more nationally marketed our game, the more likely other sponsors/businesses are to be attracted to add their endorsement of the game.
The point about it affording each club a marketing budget is interesting, wether some clubs can afford that expense of money for day to day running costs, or if thats how it will manifest itself will be worth watching.
Good points though.

From memory JE mentioned that the deal with Stobart is not comparable with Engage.

Engage had all sorts covered in their deal (grand final, post pads, boards etc) where as this is just naming for league and the other bits will be sold to others.

Even though Wakey voted for the bet deal he suggested we wait and see as once all sponsorship is sold it may be a different story.

It does have to be said though (even though it does contradict my original point), with just over 24 hours to go until the season kicks off they need to pull their fingers out!

Even if the game was down on its knees and legennds of the game were predicting we would be playing kick and clap within 5 years, and even if some dodgy gambler came to the game with an offer of 86 million readies, some people would still moan........

This inovative (vomit) advertising will not do what the RFL think it will. If they put the WC dolls on the trailers with no clothes on it would still not bring people through the tunstiles. Remember also that these trucks spend a huge portion of the day either stood in a factory yard of at a depot/truck stop. You would have got a better impact from bill boards.

"A huge part of the day" I think your way off the mark with that one.

Besides, who decided that the only objective of the trucks is to bring people through the turnstyles?

Wonder which lorry will be the first to be damaged, with John Wayne driving every lorry of theirs

The wheels will fall off the Castleford truck about mid-way through the season.

Out of interest, does anyone know if the clubs would have seen any of the main sponsor money in previous years bearing in mind that they will be putting their logos around the ground?

I think it's interesting to see how divided we all are on this topic!

It [imight[/i not get people through the turnstiles, but it [iwill[/i give RL exposure everyday up and down the country, millions of people will see these lorries, it's another brick in building a better portfolio for RL.

I know a lot of people from around where I live who, when I mention RL, automatically think of the Northern Rail Cup, as some of their trains are plastered with the motif. This deal may be a catalyst for much bigger cash deals in the future. Or I may be horribly wrong