the artist wrote:
He's correct in one way. What sort of TV deal do you think superleague would get if there were say 12 clubs the size of, say, Wakefield or Leigh or Whitehaven (just using as an example) pulling in 2 to 4k fans every week, no clubs with marquee players and empty stands. Not very vibrant at all. Like it or not its the big clubs which keep it going - and you could say that about so many other sports too
The level of TV deal very much depends on the numbers of viewers and advertisers that can be "encouraged" to support what is being shown on the box.
As we have seen recently with Women's football, if there is sufficient drive and promotion put in, numbers can increase exponentially.
If you go back 5 years, how many people would have tuned in to watch ladies football ?
And yet, after wall to wall media coverage, they can now sell out Wembley !
What is severely lacking in our sport in anyone with the ability to really "sell" the game.
We like to say its "the greatest game" but, as a sport, we have struggled to convince even the most diehard fans that it actually is.
In a way, it doesn't matter if its Wigan or Whitehaven, somehow there has to be a "buzz" created and with the exception of the people involved at Toronto, there doesnt seem to be anyone at the top of our game capable of properly promoting the sport.
The flip side of your argument about what kind of deal would clubs like Wakefield, Leigh or Whitehaven be able to achieve is, what would the difference actually be if you only had Wigan, Wire, Saints, Leeds and Hull in the pot ?
So come on big boy, how much greater would the deal be, assuming that you could still sell a sport with only 5/6 UK sides taking part
Although Football does really well on the back of half a dozen big sides, it also makes the most of it's diversity and doesn't deride the smaller clubs in the premier league and without the smaller clubs, there aren't any big ones, just football clubs.
