Certainly the further you progress in the Cup the more money you make. I am not sure what the present prize fund is, I can't find a full list on a quick scan of Internet, but the winners fund is around £100k with half that for beaten finalist and half that for semi final losers, so you can see that the amounts are not large.
Notwithstanding that a good cup run can add cash to the bank but again it is not huge. If you assume a crowd of 5000 money via the gate would be £55/£60k. After expenses and shared amounts this leaves clubs £20/£25k. Very nice to have but not a panacea for ills. In most Championship clubs it would create one years breathing space.
The modern cup does produce minor shocks, and close results, but this is much less than in soccer and indeed historically "shocks" are much less frequent than we recall. Even Sheffield's win was based upon a combination of deliberately weakened opposition (underestimating them), a good draw, injuries and one good win.
I never complain about a nice cup draw but fans will only come out in bigger numbers to watch a Super League team at the shay not another Championship side that has benefitted from a lucky draw. Super League fans certainly do not fall over themselves to see their team play a championship club, home or away.
As the Cup is now the third most important contest (after leagues and play-offs) for super League clubs and economics are not wonderful I would like to see a restructure. But -and this involves clear foresight from the RFL - this has to come after we get confirmation, or otherwise, of any changes in the Super League structure. It can't be done in isolation.
What is more important as a Fax fan is that the present Board have ensured we don't need a cup run to survive and we can sit back and enjoy the activities on the field and no worry about the finances off of it.
