Could RL cope if it was big in the U.S?

[legend]

I know most will say i'm a lunatic for saying this but consider this if you will. If RL became a major professional sport in the U.S would RL in Australia and the U.K be able to keep up with escalating payments that would come about as RL became popular and there would surely be a mass exodus to the much greener pastures of the U.S or would the huge revenue of a professional sport in the U.S filter down to Australia and make the game much more profitable and put the squeeze on sports like AFL and Union.

What does everyone think the median or average player payments would be if the sport took off in the U.S and there is also the question of imposing a draft of somekind.

 

[tigger]

I think it would end up like Soccer, Basketball or Baseball. The best players would play where the money was & the players that couldn't quite make that level would play in Australia or Elsewhere......

$100,000 a week salaries in the Premier League!

 

[G@v]

Legend, what a wonderfull thought! I presume you're thinking along the lines that League would be as popular as the big four sports of the US. If that is the case, then the better players probably would head for North America. It would be a similar scenario to the NBA; there are very good basketball comps in Italy, Greece, Spain and Israel, as well as many talented players in other countries like Croatia andYugoslavia.

I think if a strong USRL existed, then we would start to see a stronger international calendar, more sponsorship would flood into our game, therefore our clubs in Australia and the UK would probably be able to keep a majority of local talent in their domestic league's but the lure of the US$ and fame would no doubt be a force that no player would find easy to resist.

Would a strong US comp help Rugby League to challenge soccer in the UK?

 

[legend]

Basically Gav, whoever can crack the lucrative U.S market with a non U.S sport will be the dominant sport in the worls. Soccer is the dominant world sport at the moment and has a relatively small presence in the U.S but with RL already established in the U.K, Australia and N.Z it would quickly spread to countries that mirror American sports like Japan, Taiwan, Cuba, Canada etc.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

To make the game large, rugby league really needs a strong financial backer...Dare i say it, Lachlan Murdoch springs to mind. He 'seemingly' has a genuine interest in the game, unlike Rupert...he has the $$$, if he could set up a fully professional comp with teams in...um, lets say:
-New York
-Chicago
-Philadelphia
-Utah
-Los Angeles
-New Jersey
-Washington
-Atlanta
-Boston
-San Antonio
10 teams....its a good start, not to large and the people will take to it if they like what they see. Upon a successful entry, further teams could be added, including perhaps one from Canada...
-Toronto
-Sacramento
-Miami
-Seattle
It would take a few years to work, although i can see a future, and a genuine opportunity for league to get one step ahead of union....
MFC.

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

America is such a huge country and so rich that a successful Rugby League comp in that country would soon gobble up all the great players from around the world, but I don't see that as a bad thing.
A regular comp that had all the best players from Aus., UK, NZ and all the minor countries, as well as a lot of players developed in the US, would have worldwide TV possibilities.
Maybe we would lose the possibility of seeing our top thirty or so players live, but we would have a comp on TV that would feature all our great players in a comp that would be played at an amazing standard.

 

[G@v]

What I would like to see (If this were a perfect world) would be the Brits concentrating on the eastern part and the Aussies concentrating development in the western half of the North American continent, with a blueprint set in place to have an organised league set in place within a certain timeframe.
<u></u>
<u>Eastern Conference.</u>
New York
New Jersey
Toronto
Boston
Detroit
Chicago
Cleveland
Philadelphia
Washington
Minneapolis
Atlanta
Miami

<u>Western Conference</u>
Los Angeles
San Francisco
San Diego
Sacramento
Phoenix
Vancouver
Seattle
Portland
Denver
Kansas City
Houston
Dallas

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Bugger that. Sod America I say, they love NFL butno one else really does so I say leave them to it.lets hammer union into the dirt in NZ, Aus, Great Britain and France and pull in a few more coutries with definite potential like Russia, Lebanon,PNG and Black South Africaand then we'll be able to have a decent professional comp with little worry of losing our players to other sports. Soccer is no threat, it's a different game with a different appeal. (mainly the appeal of watching grown men cry like girls faking injuries and mince around hugging and kissing each other I think)

 

[imported_EskimoRichy]

I'm not saying you lot are like this but I am sick and tired of people (RL fans especially) saying if this, iof that etc, no developments gonna happen unless these people do something about it, istead of dreaming or looking back, do something about it now! Go onto American and South African sports sites forums and spread the word about Rugby League! I have! It works, I know quite a few who are now convinced that Rugby League sounds gopod and they havn't even watched it before, write to Fox Sports America etc and tell them to get coverage! Do something about it, support your team, if ya a millionaire etc, help fund your favourite club or the Moroccan Super League Association or the Moroccan Rugby Football Leaghue etc!.

 

[Hass]

Lachlan Murdoch does have a passion for the game. The reason why you could see Origin in the States, but not in Victoria is because of Lachlan Murdoch.

He was in America at the time of the decider and wanted to watch the game live- so he simply organised Fox to tap into the BSkyB sattelite signal and what do you know- we had Rugby League on U.S Tele.

Cheers.

 

[imported_Lord Ted]

R.L. big in the U.S.
Sure.
Can just hear that Yank accent asking,"why do you pass the ball backwards,when you want to go forwards?"

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

Lord Ted,
The passing backwards to go forwards is also a rule in American football. They are only allowed one forward pass per play.
In fact, the game of Rugby League is very suited to the US because the rules and skills of League are very easily understood by someone who follows American football. A lot of people watching League for the first time don't appreciate our defence for example (AFL fans especially), but American football fans appreciate the defence immediately.
League is better than Union for the US because Union has a lot of 'technical' rules which are difficult to understand, while League is a simple and straightforward game.
Lachlan Murdoch is trying to get a League highlights package on fox cable TV in the US. I think this will be the start of a big move into the US market. About time we got something out of Newscorp.

 

[legend]

I actually beleive Lachlan has a real passion for the game and he seems to know how to take it to the next level. Give him a go I say. Could he be any worse.

 

[G@v]

Do you mean put Lachlan in charge of our game legend? Itcouldn't be any worse than the wilfs who are in charge at the moment.

 

[legend]

That's exactly what i'm saying Gav. I know he is a Murdoch but he seems to have a finger on the pulse and a genuine understanding of what the game truly needs.

 

[G@v]

Until I read that story about him getting the Origin match on TV in the US, I had assumed he was like his old man, and that he didn't give a toss about League.

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

Lachlan was in charge of Super League for a while, but he has moved on to bigger and better things. He actually spent about two years working on pulling the game into the Newscorp camp and developed a keen interest in the game when he did so. Maybe thats the best thing to come out of Super League.

 

[imported_Reservoir Dog]

I know Rugby League is played in only a few parts of the US, but I think it would be great if our game can break into the US market on a wider scale.
But I also go to Uni with an American guy, and after putting this question to him, he doesn't think it will have much ofa chance. He says that NFL is a lot bigger therthan anyone here could everimagine, and that the fans in the USwould treat Rugby League as an invasion rather than a novelty.
He says that some of the larger and more multiculturalcities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles,Washington DC and Houston might embrace it after awhile, but the Southern states wouldn't welcome it at all. Too many of the rednecks apparently live for NFL and Motorsports amongst only a few other things, and they're not to willing to except change. He should know, because he's family is one of them.
It's a shame really because it would be great for our game, in just about all areas, if we could crack the US sports scene.

 

[Willow]

Well I've had few visitors from the US and I've always taken them to a RL match. On every ocassion they were blown away by the experience.
I remember laughingwith one bloke who said he'd seen some Aussie Rules on tape before coming to Australia and expected Rugby League to be similar.
After the match he was in a state of shock and said it was like American Football only tougher.

I know this is a generalisation but in my experience, football fans in America seem to relate to RL far more than soccer or AFL.

It might take 100 years of building up the US infrastructure but I wouldn't be surprise if one day Legend's sceanario became a real issue.

 

[imported_Lord Ted]

I'll nominate an Australian team for inclusion in the American League.
The Pine Gap Bandicoots.