London Broncos make NY Times

[papabear]

people are like sheep , they will always follow whats most popular.

see afl in the southern states.

 

[RoosTah]

people are like sheep , they will always follow whats most popular.

see afl in the southern states.

That's part of my point though - they're AFL mad, yet the Storm has been able to build a fairly strong support base down there, and even the Rebels in rugby are showing potential in spite of limited time and poor results.

 

[Evil Homer]

I'm guessing RL still has at least some profile in Melbourne despite it not being the main sport there? That's not the case in the UK, the sport receives virtually no media coverage at all, certainly not in mainstream national media and so there's just no penetration into the public conscience. This isn't just a problem in London, I live in a town about 25 minutes outside of the sport's heartlands in the north of England and I'd say about 95% of the people here have probably heard of RL but either don't know what it is and would be unable to differentiate from RU or it just doesn't register with them at all. I'd say less than 5% are likely to have ever seen a match even on TV, that's being generous. And this isn't rare, there are places that are RL mad and then you can drive 5-10 minutes to the next town and nobody knows about the sport. Even in the heartlands where the sport is most popular it can still be a bit of an underground thing and you'd probably struggle to see it if you didn't know it was there. So imagine what it's like in a massive, apathetic city with no penetration at all.

It's not a case of Londoners not liking the sport, it's a case of them not really knowing it exists. I think Londoners probably do like the sport and it could be relatively popular there if things were done the right way.

 

[RoosTah]

I'm guessing RL still has at least some profile in Melbourne despite it not being the main sport there? That's not the case in the UK, the sport receives virtually no media coverage at all, certainly not in mainstream national media and so there's just no penetration into the public conscience. This isn't just a problem in London, I live in a town about 25 minutes outside of the sport's heartlands in the north of England and I'd say about 95% of the people here have probably heard of RL but either don't know what it is and would be unable to differentiate from RU or it just doesn't register with them at all. I'd say less than 5% are likely to have ever seen a match even on TV, that's being generous. And this isn't rare, there are places that are RL mad and then you can drive 5-10 minutes to the next town and nobody knows about the sport. Even in the heartlands where the sport is most popular it can still be a bit of an underground thing and you'd probably struggle to see it if you didn't know it was there. So imagine what it's like in a massive, apathetic city with no penetration at all.

It's not a case of Londoners not liking the sport, it's a case of them not really knowing it exists. I think Londoners probably do like the sport and it could be relatively popular there if things were done the right way.

I understand where you're coming from, but to be honest if you went to Melbourne before the Storm were established I don't think you'd find too many people who knew that there were two types of Rugby... in fact I went to Adelaide recently and that still seems to be true down there.

What's happened in Melbourne is that the Storm have put the game in the papers by being successful (winning in their first year helped), and that in turn has enabled the game to get a foothold. It's obviously hard in the UK, but this stuff can be done.

 

[cumberlandsashes81]

I understand where you're coming from, but to be honest if you went to Melbourne before the Storm were established I don't think you'd find too many people who knew that there were two types of Rugby... in fact I went to Adelaide recently and that still seems to be true down there.

What's happened in Melbourne is that the Storm have put the game in the papers by being successful (winning in their first year helped), and that in turn has enabled the game to get a foothold. It's obviously hard in the UK, but this stuff can be done.

Success always helps.

Brief look at London's average crowds since inception...

http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/teams/london-broncos/seasons.html

Top two averages were in their best years (5,699 in '96 and 4,947 in '97) - basically, the crowds fall away the worse the team becomes.

 

[roughyedspud]

when i was in melbourne for the world cup back in 2008,the morning of the game i was sat in a cafe having breakfast,reading the melbourne age,a big arsed broadsheet back then,the sports section consisted of 4-5 pages of AFL,4-5 pages of horse racing and the write up about the england v australia page was probably a 3rd of a page,hidden away...

i would'nt no whats its like week to week covering the storm? but id imagine its abit more,not a lot, but a bit more than what london got/gets in the london evening standard

 

[RoosTah]

when i was in melbourne for the world cup back in 2008,the morning of the game i was sat in a cafe having breakfast,reading the melbourne age,a big arsed broadsheet back then,the sports section consisted of 4-5 pages of AFL,4-5 pages of horse racing and the write up about the england v australia page was probably a 3rd of a page,hidden away...

i would'nt no whats its like week to week covering the storm? but id imagine its abit more,not a lot, but a bit more than what london got/gets in the london evening standard

It's pushed to the side a big, but Origin this year got quite a bit of press down there (helps that it gets 4 million viewers) so it depends on the event really. And sadly, whilst the 2008 RLWC did pretty well, it was treated as a bit of a joke even by the Sydney press.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Yes soccer is the main problem. But, ya cud write a book on this. A lot of it is also to do with the history of England and its culture.

They had a phone in on BBC Radio 5 Live last year on rugby league v rugby union, and in that hour a lot would be explained to you. One southerner said that, "Rugby League is the beta-max of sport", he's totally wrong of course, but again it's to do with history, perception and culture; even Wales has 7 distinct cultures and accents, England, well I'd guess they have 25 plus.

Depends on the context

Beta was always of higher quality than VHS but just couldnt get their marketing right. So in a sense the guy was correct

 

[CC_Roosters]

Looking at at some of London signings for next year and I think they will do fine possibly pushing for top 4. Wes naiqama! Surely he is on a decent wage in the nrl?

Funny how it takes the yanks to produce a well written rugby league article. The rubbish standards of journalism in Australia and the microculture of egos and vendettas is piss poor beyond belief

 

[adamkungl]

great article, and good on the Broncos. Hopefully there are some good heads in the organisation finally to put the work in necessary to succeed. Would love to see it one day.

 

[RedVee]

Would they have done better staying in Fulham?
Perhaps what I mean is what would be the sweet spot location for a London RL club?

 

[Foreign Legion]

Would they have done better staying in Fulham?
Perhaps what I mean is what would be the sweet spot location for a London RL club?

I think they should have stayed in Fulham they would of had nice little thing going by now... the problem with London is that they never seem to find a base camp and settle down in one stadium.... or try and own there own stadium.
They have been too nomadic for the last 30 years. Plus they have had 4 name changes (fulham, crusaders,harlequins and broncos) and every colour under the sun. I've always like the Fulham colours but the colours of the broncos mark 1, had the most successful years with Martin Offiah, Shaun Edwards, Richard Branson and being challenge cup finalist in '99'
It's a real shame that London are at the cross roads at the moment. But I think for the club to survive and prosper it has to have 15 year plan and find a stadium that it can finally call is own... and slowly build up a fan base in the local area and help bring back all those disgruntled former supporters.
Also I think London should be trying to get former greats on board and help promote the club like Tulsen Tollet (who is now a BBC sports reporter), Mark Tookey, Martin Offiah and even trying to persuade Shaun Edwards to coach... but with the club being relegated and the lack of money, it would be highly unlikely that Shaun Edwards would cross over from union now... but if he was convinced to coach it could really change the fortune of the club and the sport in London, in general.

 

[Sydney Knight]

I think there only long term hope would revolve around a billionaire stepping in a Richard Branson or Marwan Koukash type.