https://www.superleague.co.uk/articl...league-in-2022
10 live matches per season including 2 play-off matches
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https://www.superleague.co.uk/articl...league-in-2022
10 live matches per season including 2 play-off matches
Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
Last edited by EddieVonEagle; 24th November 2021 at 08:23.
I read that as ten, of which two are play-off games. Either way, it’s good news and the sort of thing we have desperately needed more of.
St Helens Rugby League Football Club
Its not much, but its certainly a start, hopefully this is the start of a long partnership and the end of our over reliance on Sky.
Excellent news. Ch 4 dipping its toe and at the same time not interrupting our Sky deal. It’s early days but IMO if Ch 4 would take over from Sky I would be more than happy but guess it depends on what (if they decide to take it off Sky) they are willing to pay. Be interesting who will host the shows as well. Fingers crossed we can eventually ditch Sky..
Humans are more concerned with having than being.
Great news. I just hope they get the production right and get a good commentary team in and the right people doing the analysis etc.
As someone else has mentioned I hope this acts as a little threat towards SKY as well and they are less complacent when the new deal comes around. I would love a genuine rival for the main rights to emerge so that SKY stop treating us like an afterthought.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
exciting times! I wonder how this will affect kickoff times? Looking forward to seeing who is in the production team and how they handle "the big screen" as there are differences in how Sky and BBC do it. So we'll be on BBC, Sky and Channel 4 next year.
Italian football, NFL, Australian rules all got regular slots on Channel 4 and their coverage was very good. Lots of people were sceptical when Channel 4 won the Ashes cricket series in 2005. But their presentation was superb and many of the things they initiated are still used today.
I really hope they do a great job presenting our sport
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This is the best news to come out of the game for a while. This will be excellent exposure for the game - with the cup games on the BBC this will mean a steady supply of RL on terrestrial TV, something we've not had since the beginning of the '90s. The timing couldn't be better as we move towards a world cup, too. Just as importantly, having another broadcaster in the fold can only be good when it comes to broadcast negotiation time.
Best news I’ve heard for a while. I’d love to get rid of my Sky subscription altogether.
Cancelled mine about 3 years ago and the only thing I miss is the darts at Christmas, subscribed to SaintsTV instead. This is great news and fair play to the RFL, I’ve given them dogs abuse over the years but if they can get this right, it would move the game in the right direction.
This is great news but not quite for the reason that some have posted on here.
When Super League was (in my opinion) at its peak in the early 2000s there were great games and marketable players but no one outside of Rugby League was seeing it. We haven't had a household names in our sport since Offiah and Hanley. The sport has desperately needed a free to air platform for a long time. The cup should have been this but lack of investment from the BBC and the constant running down of the competition from Sky and the RFL has meant that the free to air product has been poor.
Hopefully the production level from C4 is of a decent quality and it enhances the value of the main (currently Sky) deal. Having a small amount of games exposed to the general public should increase the hunger to watch more games and allow a tv company to sell subscriptions on the back of it. If we could get a highlights/magazine show to compliment it too that would be ideal. The purpose of this deal is not to replace Sky but increase the value of what they are bidding for.
The model in the USA is you get to see a boxing match on free TV but the Heavyweight title match is on PPV. Having a playoff match on C4 then the Grand Final on pay TV will only increase the hunger to pay to see the Grand Final. That could be done in the form of subscriptions, ticket sales, or even going to a pub to watch the game. Either way if people are watching the game will benefit.
Add to that clubs and the league itself are going to have a much easier time selling sponsorship.
I could agree with you but then we would both be wrong.
The main thing is that we have 3 broadcasters now in BBC, Channel 4 and SKY. If next seasons rule changes favours a more exciting attacking game then the game could be in for more exposure with monies on the end of it.
One thing I meant to comment on is the fact that Channel 4 News never, in my experience, refers to Rugby League. I stand to be corrected but I don’t even think they mention the Challenge Cup Final or the Grand Final. Maybe this will lead to more news coverage, which will also keep the sport in the public eye.
Good news for the sport and the fans. I hope C4 get a decent commentary team, and get sufficient viewing figures to further their interest. Do we know are these games going to clash with more attractive games shown on sky at the same time?
I mentioned last year, I wonder if it would be possible to have a saturated period with games on terrestrial, a la the hundred. It does however appear it'll be spread over the year.
Imagine late summer a match on C4, say Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for two weeks? Rather than ad hoc
I think Claire Balding would be great. She was very good when she covered it on the BBC.
Mark Chapman would also be good but I suspect he's contracted to the BBC rather than freelance.
They also really need to involve Adam Hills in some capacity. He loves the game and if some of the coverage could include items on the disability and community game even better.
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I thought she made a virtue out of not being an 'insider' - she asked lots of good questions that would be helpful to newcomers to the game (as does Mark Chapman, to be fair to him). She's currently RL president as well so with her and Adam Hills you have two very good candidates.