Latest IMG proposals for Super League

[Wb1234]

Bradford is sleeping giant. Toulouse can be as strong as Catalans. Need combined Manchester & investors from London & Paris, well maybe that last location. M62 corridor has population of 13 million. Occitania has 6 million. Build around that base.

Salford is basically Manchester

They had a rich owner too but they forced him out of the game by not being flexible

Paris has never been rugby league heartlands it’s the south where they need more teams

 

[Pippen94]

Salford is basically Manchester

They had a rich owner too but they forced him out of the game by not being flexible

Paris has never been rugby league heartlands it’s the south where they need more teams

Salford is part of Manchester like Oldham & Leigh. Need one united club. London & Paris aren't heartland at all, but if stable investor emerges it doubles reach of league.

 

[Pippen94]

x.com

x.com

 

[Wb1234]

x.com

x.com

Yeh this was the part img were supposed to grow revenues and share with super league

Now they could be out

 

[Pippen94]

Yeh this was the part img were supposed to grow revenues and share with super league

Now they could be out

They're reduced league to m62 comp. There's going to less money coming in.

 

[Wb1234]

They're reduced league to m62 comp. There's going to less money coming in.

The tv deal already got cut 30 percent or so

I can see it going up next time back to normal which would mean most clubs go back to break even

 

[Gobsmacked]

It's frustrating to look at the structure of SL . The size of the towns ( hardly cities) really could be a feeder comp to one representative of big cities.. Leeds is the only stand out large city.
Maybe we should leave ( super league?) Exactly where it is and start an entirely new comp above it.
A Massive investment I'm sure but shouldn't it look more like:

Manchester
Liverpool
Birmingham
Sheffield
York
Hull
Leeds
London
Catalan
Toulouse
Lyon
Toronto

The NRL should announce a new comp , state a bigger cap and equal grant, a three year bidding process for a 2030 start. Spend the next 5 years negotiating a broadcast agreement and sponsorship. There's nothing to stop the current club bidding to be part of it: Leeds, Catalan, Toulouse , Toronto , London and York would be in the best position to bid and jump comps. The other Like Saints, Wigan, Salford ect could merge or rebrand to represent bigger geographical areas.
This small town shit is doomed.

 

[Wb1234]

The top six clubs in super league are actually pretty good

Hull fc
Leeds
Warrington
St Helens
Wigan
Les Catalans

Then :

Hull kr got promoted and in that time keep growing their business. They own their own ground and it’s getting improved so really they have earned their spot


Wakefield is a city and rugby league dominates. They own the ground and it’s slowly being upgraded.

Castleford … very close to Wakey. Have been a very strong super league club with good crowds

Salford …. Never had much money but between Salford and Manchester the population is huge

Bradford …. Always been a big club but the ground sets them back big time. Playing at valley parade is probably the only solution

Giants … total waste of space. Hudds has never been a rugby town it’s a waste of time

London. … crowds over 30 years across super league aren’t great around 3k. But they change grounds every few years. London has very healthy juniors and around 30 to 40 percent of tv viewers

Newcastle … Gateshead (next to Newcastle) were a very decent super league side and showed a lot of promise. The Newcastle falcons (union side) own their ground and have oil money behind them

Midlands … Donny has the best ground but Sheffield the most potential but a poor ground

York .. potentially strong crowds, popular town for tourism and new ground built. North Yorkshire so some geographic diversity

 

[Pippen94]

It's frustrating to look at the structure of SL . The size of the towns ( hardly cities) really could be a feeder comp to one representative of big cities.. Leeds is the only stand out large city.
Maybe we should leave ( super league?) Exactly where it is and start an entirely new comp above it.
A Massive investment I'm sure but shouldn't it look more like:

Manchester
Liverpool
Birmingham
Sheffield
York
Hull
Leeds
London
Catalan
Toulouse
Lyon
Toronto

The NRL should announce a new comp , state a bigger cap and equal grant, a three year bidding process for a 2030 start. Spend the next 5 years negotiating a broadcast agreement and sponsorship. There's nothing to stop the current club bidding to be part of it: Leeds, Catalan, Toulouse , Toronto , London and York would be in the best position to bid and jump comps. The other Like Saints, Wigan, Salford ect could merge or rebrand to represent bigger geographical areas.
This small town shit is doomed.

I think that is too much too soon. There's big city club in the championship who can be promoted. Wigan, saints & all of the big six aren't merging nor should they. Toronto won't happen again.

 

[Gobsmacked]

I think that is too much too soon. There's big city club in the championship who can be promoted. Wigan, saints & all of the big six aren't merging nor should they. Toronto won't happen again.

Your right but I think we need to be heading in that direction. How are you going to ever get a good TV deal when the teams playing are representative of less than 100,000 people? It's ameture stuff. We need to be looking much bigger picture.
The big 6 I suppose are still good enough but hopefully as everyone are constantly looking to improve their grading, that will eventually show see sides like Liegh or Wakefield ect will top out and sides like Sheffield and York continue to grow along with Toulouse and London.
The grading system should work out long term in this regard hopefully.

 

[Gobsmacked]

The top six clubs in super league are actually pretty good

Hull fc
Leeds
Warrington
St Helens
Wigan
Les Catalans

Then :

Hull kr got promoted and in that time keep growing their business. They own their own ground and it’s getting improved so really they have earned their spot


Wakefield is a city and rugby league dominates. They own the ground and it’s slowly being upgraded.

Castleford … very close to Wakey. Have been a very strong super league club with good crowds

Salford …. Never had much money but between Salford and Manchester the population is huge

Bradford …. Always been a big club but the ground sets them back big time. Playing at valley parade is probably the only solution

Giants … total waste of space. Hudds has never been a rugby town it’s a waste of time

London. … crowds over 30 years across super league aren’t great around 3k. But they change grounds every few years. London has very healthy juniors and around 30 to 40 percent of tv viewers

Newcastle … Gateshead (next to Newcastle) were a very decent super league side and showed a lot of promise. The Newcastle falcons (union side) own their ground and have oil money behind them

Midlands … Donny has the best ground but Sheffield the most potential but a poor ground

York .. potentially strong crowds, popular town for tourism and new ground built. North Yorkshire so some geographic diversity

I get that some of these clubs are strong but being such small towns means that they can't really grow and are tapped out for fans- tv views really suffer in this regard.
Why aren't Salford rebranded as Manchester? All of Manchester can support them..they're alienating 80% of their potential market- we need to be maximising our potential market!

 

[Wb1234]

I get that some of these clubs are strong but being such small towns means that they can't really grow and are tapped out for fans- tv views really suffer in this regard.
Why aren't Salford rebranded as Manchester? All of Manchester can support them..they're alienating 80% of their potential market- we need to be maximising our potential market!

Different council

Salford Council support them financially

Salford itself is around 800k people and it’s on the door of Manchester cbd

St Helen’s tried to be a Liverpool club and it didn’t work

Those big cities don’t care about rugby

 

[Perth Red]

That's right, I said exactly...
Perth is not a rugby league city.
Repeat..
Perth is not a Rugby league city.
And neither is London.
Should Rugby league be given a chance to bed in in Perth- yes.
Should Rugby league be given a chance to bed in in London- yes.

Try being consistent with your opinions once in your f**king life.

Are you suggesting London hasn’t had chances in SL? I mean theyve only been in it 20 years out of 31!

 

[Perth Red]

The good thing is that all of the next highest ranking side are good size towns and or expansionary locations.

The top 16 has the potential to make for a good SL. Just need another 20 million quid a year from tv to pay for it.

 

[Perth Red]

Yeah I don’t think London’s reach should be restricted to the suburb that their ground is in, as an example.
If the NRL did the same thing would the Storm get Greater Melbourne? Would the Raiders get the ACT plus surrounding NSW area? or just the area near Bruce?

Do ESL survey attendees at the gates for which postcode they live in?

It’s not, it’s based on council areas. In londons case an area of 40sq km and a population of 215k people. I get why broncos would lay claim to having a population reach bigger than that, but I also get that img needed to create black and white measurements that could be based on fact and therefore non arguable and non subjective. Council population being an obvious black and white measure. plenty of clubs could lay claim to having higher potential population reach becuase there are no other clubs reaching adjoining populations, Salford being an obvious one.

 

[Perth Red]

What do the giants offer that Bradford don’t in spades

Money to make them viable and a decent stadium. As an ex bulls fan I’d love to se them back in SL but I also understand why they aren’t right now,

 

[Perth Red]

I get that some of these clubs are strong but being such small towns means that they can't really grow and are tapped out for fans- tv views really suffer in this regard.
Why aren't Salford rebranded as Manchester? All of Manchester can support them..they're alienating 80% of their potential market- we need to be maximising our potential market!

Not really, my club has gone from an avg 7k crowd to an avg 10k crowd, the most in its 130 year history. Like anywhere better experience, team performing, right pricing and making the game fun to go to will see more consumers.

 

[Perth Red]

It's frustrating to look at the structure of SL . The size of the towns ( hardly cities) really could be a feeder comp to one representative of big cities.. Leeds is the only stand out large city.
Maybe we should leave ( super league?) Exactly where it is and start an entirely new comp above it.
A Massive investment I'm sure but shouldn't it look more like:

Manchester
Liverpool
Birmingham
Sheffield
York
Hull
Leeds
London
Catalan
Toulouse
Lyon
Toronto

The NRL should announce a new comp , state a bigger cap and equal grant, a three year bidding process for a 2030 start. Spend the next 5 years negotiating a broadcast agreement and sponsorship. There's nothing to stop the current club bidding to be part of it: Leeds, Catalan, Toulouse , Toronto , London and York would be in the best position to bid and jump comps. The other Like Saints, Wigan, Salford ect could merge or rebrand to represent bigger geographical areas.
This small town shit is doomed.

That’s like saying we should ditch all these Australian suburban teams and have just two clubs in every major Australasian and Asian city. Reality is rugby league is a niche sport with a niche following that’s generational. Breaking into new markets is hard, long and expensive Unless there is migration of rl fans from elsewhere.
would all the suburban nrl fans In Sydney be happy to see their club dropped and jump on board two super Sydney clubs? No? Why do you think it would happen in uk?

 

[Perth Red]

Club responses starting g to come out

bradford

EXCLUSIVE: Bulls five weeks from big score boost as Odsal lease starts next week

BULLS CEO Jason Hirst says the club’s IMG score will rise by a point in five weeks and confirmed the club will be leaseholders of Odsal from…

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk

HKR

The club are delighted to confirm our IMG grading as the top award of ‘Category A’.

Hull Kingston Rovers are delighted to confirm our IMG club grading as the top award of ‘Category A’.

hullkr.co.uk

Sts

St.Helens receives Grade A IMG grading | St.Helens R.F.C.

Club grading will determine the membership of the top twelve ranked clubs participating in the 2025 Betfred Super League competition, following IMG's

www.saintsrlfc.com

HFC

IMG Grading: Hull FC Awarded Grade B For 2025 - Hull FC News

Hull FC can confirm they have been awarded Grade B status following the completion of the IMG grading process ahead of the 2025 Betfred Super League season.

www.hullfc.com

salford score breakdown

Salford Red Devils reveal IMG grading breakdown as club finishes last in Super League rankings

SALFORD RED DEVILS were given a score of 13.97 in the IMG grades that were released earlier today. In doing so, the Red Devils were the last club to make it into Super League, with Toulouse Olympiq…

www.totalrl.com

Toulouse

Toulouse Olympique chief speaks out on IMG grading as French...

...

www.rugby-addict.com

London

London Broncos announce positive IMG grading for 2025

www.londonbroncosrl.com

 

[Gobsmacked]

Not really, my club has gone from an avg 7k crowd to an avg 10k crowd, the most in its 130 year history. Like anywhere better experience, team performing, right pricing and making the game fun to go to will see more consumers.

Wow 3k ! The league is saved!
Let's talk when you go to 20k... but that won't happen because as it stands, the population of Hull with 2 teams makes that impossible.
As it stands, only half of Hull is possibly watching a Hull game on TV .. which is f**k all...then you wonder why the TV deal is so small...
1 Hull club doubles that reach, then make it vs Liverpool for example.. and your potential audience is 3 fold TV viewers.

It takes a long time though, like 20 years or more like the Storm. It'll be somewhat the same for Perth to become a real success but it's a far better option than central Coast.
Central Coast is a Rugby league strong hold that would probably have more fans at the beginning but it's capped by a small population, where Perth is a better long term investment because it’s growth isn't so limited.

Either someone shakes up SL to take it out of the village or it happens slowly over time but if it stays the same, it's a slow death ( part of why the NRL are probably looking to get involved)