I am led to beleive it cost in the region of £30,000 for clubs to go over to play catalans, that money would could be spent on a reasonably good squad player, and like snowie says catalans bring nothing to the table. Alot of clubs will miss the support Leigh bring! money down all around.

Correct. With the difference in away support today's result will cost the Club at least £40,000 but c'est la vie, we had no influence over the result.



Disappointing from a financial point of view but I'd rather spent a weekend in the South of France that Leigh.

Dont think Michael Carter would!

It won't cost the club £40k+, the revenue brought in from the other 11 teams will be fairly comparable to this season as Hull KR have replaced Leigh. Had Catalans gone down then we may have gained a bit of extra revenue, but that's not the same as losing money

What we are talking here is to take a team over to catalan ! You dont just fly 17 players over on easy jet it costs 30,000-40,000 to play over there. Now this is the simple bit ! When we play Leigh away we go by coach say 110 miles tound trip no stop over must cost alot less. Now when we play Leigh at home they probably bring say 500 fans at say £20 per person thats 10,000 now when we play catalans at home if we are lucky they might bring 10 fans thats £200 and you think we are better off without Leigh.

Presumably we would lose a lot more than £30,000 if Catalans weren't in Super League as there would be no French TV deal.

I believe the Academy have to go as well, 40ish players altogether, just the air fares alone start to add up.



It as become common to do it in the day since central funding stopped.

I'd like to see evidence where that French TV deal brings money into the game since they only show Catalans games. The only benefactors I can see are Catalans and Sky, if they were to show other RL matches then maybe you're right as that would mean more 'exposure'.

You may be right.

However, IF Catalan getting relegated meant that Sky were going to lose huge amounts on their TV income, maybe they would want to reduce their spend on a deal for RL.

Whether this would be more or less than the 30k that it costs each club to play there, I' dont know but, these things are rarely straight forward and if we go back to the concept of SL, it included a French club (albeit the failed experiment in Paris).

It costs the the Club £30,000 to fly the team and academy down to Perpignan plus reduced revenue from away supporters so whichever way you want to look at it we will be down around £40,000.

But we've been down by that £40k for the past decade so it's not like it's a new and unknown expense.

Indeed and I'm certain that faced with the cost of going to France every year vs being in the Championship, we'd be delighted to have the 30/40k to find.

The major problem will come in the next couple of seasons with the possibility of both Toulouse and Toronto landing in SL, a problem which The Championship already has to deal with and on far lower revenues.

AS I said previously, IF The RFL cannot cover these costs in an increased TV deal, we shouldn't bother and this is without any logistical difficulties which may arise in next seasons "qualifiers", which could well feature Toulouse, Catalan, Toronto and London.

Although a French club (Paris) were part of the original equation, the addition of Toulouse and Toronto were not and it puts some of the lower ranked Championship clubs in serious peril.

Agree, but if Catalans had gone down we would be £40,000 better off. I'm sure Michael and Chris would like an additional £40,000 to play with.

Moan moan bloody moan. Leigh bring 500. HKR bring 1000. Simple maths.

Stand still in any business and you wither and die.

The RFL are not brilliant but come on, media profile is everything and Catalans etc add to it.

Why did the RFU put a game on over the pond? Because they are scared we will win the market share.

We are leagues behind them in finance but very often light years ahead in ideas.

Get used to it. Other clubs may come to the table and in 10 or 15 years time there may be the super dooper league, super league and championships etc.

Whose bloody moaning. I have just stated the financial facts that Catalans being in Super League cost us.



For what it's worth I am already planning our trip to the South of France which we have made pretty much every year since Catalans have been in Super League.

Hope it's a summer fixture next year

You'd like to see evidence that French TV brings money into the game? Do you think they get the rights for free?

I'd like to see how it makes the slightest difference. Do you think teams like Rochdale and Oxford benefit from this super TV deal?

Do you think that Rochdale and Oxford would benefit from any new TV deal for SL



Although it would be great if the TV cash filtered right down through the RL pyramid, the reality is that the vast, vast majority goes to pay the wages of those in the top flight and whilst there is a little more going into the Championship that in previous years, there isn't enough to go round.

Dropping Catalan could actually reduce the TV deal and where does that help any British club ?



The fundamental question is whether we look after ourselves, even though this may mean less TV income and a shrinking game or, do we try and grow the sport.



Of course, EVERYONE wants more cash and the key is how to extract a better deal from Sky.

However, televising the game to the "converted" in the heartlands just wont grow the game and therefore wont allow any kind of better deal.

RL has to improve it's appeal to a wider audience, end of story.

Ah so it's to the benefit of SL and not the game as some people are saying then. If Catalans had lost on Saturday it wouldn't be disastrous as the expansionists on the VT claimed because A) the championship would be more intriguing then ever, B) don't think Sky would be able to reduce the TV deal until the current one runs out whenever that is, and C) despite all the money they've spent on Aussies have Catalans made any difference to French RL.

RL in France has always been a contentious subject, for many years they were actually banned by parliament from calling themselves rugby due to pressure from rugby union. Super League has brought tv deals and national coverage of a sport which would have otherwise been almost impossible to imagine had there not been a French SL club. The local French league is also getting stronger, predominately in the southern regions around Tolouse and Perpignan, with lots of young French talent coming into the game at a lower level. They're battling a tide of Union and the coverage from having a SL team is helping that cause, young French players are seeing league, and seeing it as a viable option now

My point was mostly aimed at those people saying Catalans cost us money by being in SL. It might cost us 40k to fly a team out there but I imagine we make that plus more on top from the fact there is a French TV deal.

Just out of interest, does anyne one know how much is the French TV deal worth, because I've never seen it really being mentioned until recently and does it get shared with all SL Clubs. Be interested to know how much each SL club gets out of the deal on top of what each team gets from Sky.

Didn't i hear someone say that if Catalan dropped out Super League they would go to the French league rather than the championship?

Belated apologies Sandal Cat. not a pop at you. Just the game of Rugby League filled with moaners and whingers who blame everything on the RFL, probably even Brexit.

Random unsubstantiated statements can be made on a forum with not much fear of a comeback legally which I suppose is how we get keyboard warriors like NGB4C who spout pap most of the time. The game has serious issues outside Super League but just my view, we need more expansion, more clubs, new supporters to break the deadly cycle of doom and gloom along the M62.

You have to keep re-inventing your business model or you wither and die or the competition take your clients away.