Should the NRL buy buy the ESL?

[MugaB]

But what is the benefit of the NRL buying the English Super League if they are going to run both competitions at exactly the same time?

The only benefit that I can see is access to players. The only way you could do it without seriously affecting the Super League product is to reduce the overlap not increase it.

The super league product is not getting any better anyways, why not try to boost it and strip what you can to improve the NRL

 

[Colk]

The super league product is not getting any better anyways, why not try to boost it and strip what you can to improve the NRL

Yeah but ripping out all of their good players is surely not going to help it either.

It has to be played in somewhat seperate seasons with trade or transfer windows like soccer does (there will always be some overlap of course) because otherwise you are just strip mining and that is not going to work in the long term.

 

[taste2taste]

The super league product is not getting any better anyways, why not try to boost it and strip what you can to improve the NRL

What a load of hogwash !

The Super League had near record crowd attendances last season ( only the NRL and Top 14 have higher average crowds ) they have a TV deal to televise all games for the first time including all Catalans games being aired in France and they have IMG overlooking thier entire competition for the next decade.

Super Leage is in the best shape it's ever been.

 

[The Great Dane]

This is typical of humans in 2020s. This idea has been floated for 24 hours and already the opinions expressed are iron clad. How can anyone have spent more than 10 minutes thinking about this yet? Have a ferking coffee and then get an egg and bacon roll first.
I like the idea of it but I see some problems. Let’s debate it with an open mind for a year.

This idea has been thrown in it's current form since around covid and when the ESL started investigating partnering with a private equity firm, so 3-5 years ago now. It's also been discussed informally for a lot longer than that, going right back to before the SL war. Generally it's presented in a similar manner with about the same amount of detail as well.

SL also effectively attempted to implement this in 96-97, and fell for pretty much all the pitfalls discussed above with almost universally negative results aside from the direct injection of cash into the sport (almost all of which was squandered BTW).

So yeah, this isn't a new idea, the people who've been paying attention have had much longer than 10 minutes to ponder the pros and cons of it, and something extremely similar has been implemented in the past to extremely mixed, largely negative, results.

 

[docbrown]

But what is the benefit of the NRL buying the English Super League if they are going to run both competitions at exactly the same time?

The only benefit that I can see is access to players. The only way you could do it without seriously affecting the Super League product is to reduce the overlap not increase it.

I doubt many players are going to want to swap to go play in ESL over the Australian Summer and come back to play in the NRL in March.

Why buy it? To control both main rugby league competitions and avoid having a global rival. You can align the season to boost the international test profile. With the structure I'm arguing for you've essentially got 9 to 10 months of content across multiple global timeslots.

 

[The Great Dane]

It's official! Buying the Super League is a good idea.

Gus Gould says so ! Actually, he's claiming he's the one who thought of it 4 years ago when he first told the commission to do it !

TBF, Gus was one of the first people to propose the idea in it's current form in 2020.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/le...it-can-thrive-once-again-20200620-p554i3.html

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/phil-gould-nrl-super-league-4248833

 

[Colk]

I doubt many players are going to want to swap to go play in ESL over the Australian Summer and come back to play in the NRL in March.

Why buy it? To control both main rugby league competitions and avoid having a global rival. You can align the season to boost the international test profile. With the structure I'm arguing for you've essentially got 9 to 10 months of content across multiple global timeslots.

You are essentially encouraging the pillaging of another competition to the point of it becoming irrelevant - strip mining assets for a short term benefit in essence. Whilst it may be happening now for sure, it would be increased significantly if they bought the ESL and put it in the same window.

Now, I think that is a terrible outcome, particularly for the competition over there and it is not really ‘why’ you should buy the competition. The point should be trying to improve their competition and in turn improve the game over there (well in my mind anyway)

 

[taste2taste]

I doubt many players are going to want to swap to go play in ESL over the Australian Summer and come back to play in the NRL in March.

Why buy it? To control both main rugby league competitions and avoid having a global rival. You can align the season to boost the international test profile. With the structure I'm arguing for you've essentially got 9 to 10 months of content across multiple global timeslots.

Does the NRL need to buy Super League to do this ? If it benefits both competitions and internationals it would be common sense for both leagues to make it happen regardless of who owns ESL ?

 

[The Great Dane]

I doubt many players are going to want to swap to go play in ESL over the Australian Summer and come back to play in the NRL in March.

Why buy it? To control both main rugby league competitions and avoid having a global rival. You can align the season to boost the international test profile. With the structure I'm arguing for you've essentially got 9 to 10 months of content across multiple global timeslots.

All that'd achieve is buying out the only commercial competitor in the RL market and instigating a global monopoly on professional RL products.

Monopolies are bad for all stakeholders except the owners of the monopoly and I shouldn't have to explain why.

 

[MugaB]

What a load of hogwash !

The Super League had near record crowd attendances last season ( only the NRL and Top 14 have higher average crowds ) they have a TV deal to televise all games for the first time including all Catalans games being aired in France and they have IMG overlooking thier entire competition for the next decade.

Super Leage is in the best shape it's ever been.

Yeah, its not going to get any better than it is now

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Better off merging them actually, that would really piss on thier pocket

Let a few Super League clubs join the Queensland Cup. It'll be a huge step up in class for the Poms, but I have faith that they'll be competitive. Great Britain Lions were competitive against the Burleigh Bears before losing in a tight game in 1999. In 10 years we might have England at the same level as PNG.

 

[final say]

The NRL buying super league is so exciting because all that would be required is the adoption of the same business model we have here:
no Promotion and relegation, teams in decent size/population locations. Grants the same for every club with the cap below that.
Every team strategically important
Every team profitable
Even competition
Strart with 10 teams:
Wigan
St Helens
Leeds
Warrington
Catalans
Toulouse
Hull ( forced merger)
London
Manchester
Birmingham

Pay off the teams who missed out to play in a strong second division and form a feeder system to the top tier.

Watch it go.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

NRL Australasia.
I'm all for it.

It'll overtake EPL as the most watched sports league in the world when it admits Singapore United as the 18th team.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

The NRL buying super league is so exciting because all that would be required is the adoption of the same business model we have here:
no Promotion and relegation, teams in decent size/population locations. Grants the same for every club with the cap below that.
Every team strategically important
Every team profitable
Even competition
Strart with 10 teams:
Wigan
St Helens
Leeds
Warrington
Catalans
Toulouse
Hull ( forced merger)
London
Manchester
Birmingham

Pay off the teams who missed out to play in a strong second division and form a feeder system to the top tier.

Watch it go.

Merging Hull KR with Hull FC is the greatest thing about this proposal. Especially if it's orchestrated by V'landys and culminates with Perth not getting a team in the NRL.

 

[The Great Dane]

The NRL buying super league is so exciting because all that would be required is the adoption of the same business model we have here:
no Promotion and relegation, teams in decent size/population locations. Grants the same for every club with the cap below that.
Every team strategically important
Every team profitable
Even competition
Strart with 10 teams:
Wigan
St Helens
Leeds
Warrington
Catalans
Toulouse
Hull ( forced merger)
London
Manchester
Birmingham

Pay off the teams who missed out to play in a strong second division and form a feeder system to the top tier.

Watch it go.

Watch it go straight to the morgue. . .

The English RL community and establishment would reject such a proposal out of hand, and any attempt to force the issue would result in widespread protests, boycotts, and probably a SL style civil war if it wasn't dropped.

Just saying to set up teams in places like Birmingham and the city of Manchester (there're already SL teams in greater Manchester, e.g. Wigan), amongst other similar proposals, is much easier said than done as well.
It'd take generations and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to cement those teams in their markets, and any attempts to do so without local expertise and support would almost certainly be doomed to fail. It'd make expansion projects the likes of GWS and the Suns look like child's play.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

NRL should look at buying a stake in the FFRXIII.

 

[final say]

Watch it go straight to the morgue. . .

The English RL community and establishment would reject such a proposal out of hand, and any attempt to force the issue would result in widespread protests, boycotts, and probably a SL style civil war if it wasn't dropped.

Just saying to set up teams in places like Birmingham and the city of Manchester (there're already SL teams in greater Manchester, e.g. Wigan), amongst other similar proposals, is much easier said than done as well.
It'd take generations and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to cement those teams in their markets, and any attempts to do so without local expertise and support would almost certainly be doomed to fail. It'd make expansion projects the likes of GWS and the Suns look like child's play.

The support for Super league is going down year after year.. why?
As you delicately put " the establishment " are holding it back. They are the ageing demographic who demands nostalgia over everything else " bring back the Bears " crowd on steroids!
The game in England will continue to go backwards and decline as thier supporter base ages and frankly dies..

Super league has to capture the imagination of a new generation if it's to survive.

Wests - gone
Saints- gone
Steelers- gone
Jets- gone
Bears- gone
Tigers- gone

Super league was bad in a lot of ways but it cleared the dead wood.

Small clubs in small towns must go outside of historically successful clubs and still keeping some tradition.

Have to go to grow:
Liegh
Castlford
Windnes
1 Hull
Salford ect

 

[final say]

NRL should look at buying a stake in the FFRXIII.

Maybe the NRL could simply by the participation of the clubs worth keeping a offer franchise options for places where they want clubs.
By buy participants is simply offering them a grant above what they get now: Wigan, st, Warrington, Leeds, Catalan, Toulouse, Hull .
Then open up bidding for franchisees.

 

[taste2taste]

TBF, Gus was one of the first people to propose the idea in it's current form in 2020.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/le...it-can-thrive-once-again-20200620-p554i3.html

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/phil-gould-nrl-super-league-4248833

Gus doesn't explain how buying the ESL would make it better, other than the chance to tap into the North America market, at the time Gus wrote this article Toronto were going good and Ottawa were going to join.

Nothing I've read explains how buying the ESL would make it better ? Surely the IMG process is going to make the ESL the best it can be ?

 

[siv]

You assume the NRL wants French teams playing in England

It could be a option to fix the Englush game

Then the focus may move to fixing the French game

We are clearly in a reverse SL War