Allied to all of this is growing opposition to the concept of French teams. They don't want Catalans to have any Sky money, and they don't want Toulouse in at all. The thinking (which I don't subscribe to) is that these French clubs take more from the pot than they bring in, that they don't add enough value to the sport in the UK. Of course, this point can be debated endlessly
The Dragons are already paying close to an additional £1 million this year in travel costs for all the other teams and the officials to fly to Perpignan for their home games. The talk is that in 2026 the RFL could take all of Catalans' central distribution, and share it with the newly promoted clubs, so the Dragons will have to stump up around £2.4 million just to participate, and that's without including what they have to spend on their players.
It is madness.