Four North AmerIcan cities interested in joining the RFL

[RL The greatest game]

Four north American cities interested in joining RFL, says CEO Nigel Wood | Sport | The Guardian

 

[Foreign Legion]

http://www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php?/topic/313864-new-york-boston-and-hamilton-in-2019/

New York, Boston and Hamilton for 2019

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

If they can go the distance and become sustainable, these clubs will change the face of RL and probably make SL the premier comp.

It would be cool to see an older brand (College name and stadium, CFL logo or something similar) used for these clubs.

Treat the new team as just a new branch of this older institution. We gain immediate recognision, an immediate potential fan base and a bigger historical narrative to play with.

Having said that, i can understand if the clubs avoid that kind of baggage and go clean-skin...

 

[Pommy]

http://www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php?/topic/313864-new-york-boston-and-hamilton-in-2019/

New York, Boston and Hamilton for 2019

Seems like a bit of a dream to have three new teams up and running in 12 months.
If it were to happen obviously they couldnt all be promoted anyway, maybe worth staggering it for that reason alone.

 

[Perth Tiger]

I guess the reasoning with letting them all in is even if 1 or 2 don't last in the long term, they will still help in creating the conditions for some of the teams to become successful.

 

[roughyedspud]

This is getting silly..

4 more teams plus Toronto is 5 teams it really won't be hard to find 3 more investors to create 3 more teams and there we have a 8 team north American competition..

 

[Foreign Legion]

This is getting silly..

4 more teams plus Toronto is 5 teams it really won't be hard to find 3 more investors to create 3 more teams and there we have a 8 team north American competition..

Have a Canadian and American Conference. Sounds good to me

 

[IntRLEnthusiast]

I think that misses the point.. Creating an american league instead of what they are currently doing won't attract the big players or get american players up to scratch or help the english game.. the trans atlantic thing has an appeal (for now) that those putting time and money into it believe will pay off sooner rather than later with american TV money. I think from there they might try and put domestic competitions together at some point but for now they actually want the appeal of being part of a trans atlantic competition.

 

[The Great Dane]

I think that misses the point.. Creating an american league instead of what they are currently doing won't attract the big players or get american players up to scratch or help the english game.. the trans atlantic thing has an appeal (for now) that those putting time and money into it believe will pay off sooner rather than later with american TV money. I think from there they might try and put domestic competitions together at some point but for now they actually want the appeal of being part of a trans atlantic competition.

And starting up a new competition costs an order of magnitude more then joining a pre-existing competition, especially in the USA...

 

[deal.with.it]

The only issue will arrise when Vancouver or LA want a team and it's 14 hours to either UK or Aus. Then what? Well I guess that's when a stand alone comp may happen

 

[Jankuloski]

Need way more info than this to start discussing if we’ll have conferences in a new league..

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Nice! I hope it works out for all clubs. If the momentum grows from this and a couple more want in there may be a North American conference created to limit travel, that could also kick France into gear and get a European conference off the ground with France as the main contributor of clubs.

With a UK, European and North American conference, the beginning of the season can be all inter-conference matches to limit travel and then split up into the Super 8 groups to finish off the season or something like that.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

This is getting silly..

4 more teams plus Toronto is 5 teams it really won't be hard to find 3 more investors to create 3 more teams and there we have a 8 team north American competition..

Maybe, but it would lose any of that prestige from being associated with the 100 year old competition...

Competing directly with the established teams in the established comp gives these new American teams a specific standard to be measured against.

A new comp, isolated from the established clubs, will always struggle with being the seen as lower-quality.

This isnt even mentioning the lost marketing angle from being the first American-European club comp on the planet. Fans would probably be interested seeing clubs come over from England/France.

 

[Pommy]

An American competition would also be very exposed should a side go belly up, in theory all the North American side should be insulated from each other’s failures, should there be any.

It’s baby steps hopefully one day there can be a real American League of a high standard, but that’s not going to happen over night.

 

[Perth Red]

Players, fans, money? Apart from that sounds a great idea.

 

[Perth Red]

Maybe, but it would lose any of that prestige from being associated with the 100 year old competition...

Competing directly with the established teams in the established comp gives these new American teams a specific standard to be measured against.

A new comp, isolated from the established clubs, will always struggle with being the seen as lower-quality.

This isnt even mentioning the lost marketing angle from being the first American-European club comp on the planet. Fans would probably be interested seeing clubs come over from England/France.

American football had a euro-America club league back in the early 90's so not the first

 

[deluded pom?]

American football had a euro-America club league back in the early 90's so not the first

Wasn’t that totally European based though?

 

[Perth Red]

Wasn’t that totally European based though?

No, had American and Canadian clubs in it as well

Barcelona Dragons
Birmingham Fire
Frankfurt Galaxy
London Monarchs
Montreal Machine
New York/New Jersey Knights
Orlando Thunder
Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks
Sacramento Surge
San Antonio Riders

 

[taste2taste]

Bit of an update in todays Sydney Herald of New Yorks bid and for an international double header in NY

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/pl...national-a-double-header-20180725-p4ztjb.html

Wilby, a long-time official with French rugby league outfit Catalans, is also hoping that a New York franchise will join the Super League or the Championship by 2020.

"We’ve garnered support from the local mayor’s office, from multinational companies that have provided statements of intent to be part of the New York bid," he said.

"These companies wouldn’t be interested in rugby league if not for the name New York, which is a positive for us.

"We’ve also got some branded hotels keen to work with us moving forward."

 

[deluded pom?]

That’s the first time I’ve heard of Wilby being involved with Catalans.