Questions about the Super League

[Knight87]

1) Why is only 2 matches per week televised from the Super League? In the NRL, all 8 matches are televised (3 on FTA, 5 on PayTV). I am sure, that there are more than enough networks over in the UK to televise all 6 matches of the round

2) Why isn't Sunday afternoon matches televised (only one Friday Night and one Saturday Evening match is televised on Sky Sports)? Are the crap matches of the round placed on the Sunday? Or is the dates for each game already set before the season commences, unlike the NRL, where it is done on a 5 week ahead basis?

 

[marv]

1) Why is only 2 matches per week televised from the Super League?
In the NRL, all 8 matches are televised (3 on FTA, 5 on PayTV).

Because Rugby League in the Uk is not as popular as it is in Aus

I am sure, that there are more than enough networks over in the UK to televise all 6 matches of the round

afraid not, some TV networks in the UK (I could name 2 which screen RL) could not care less about our game, if you lived here you would feel like me - happy we get to watch 2 games a week.

2) Why isn't Sunday afternoon matches televised (only one Friday Night and one Saturday Evening match is televised on Sky Sports)? Are the crap matches of the round placed on the Sunday? Or is the dates for each game already set before the season commences, unlike the NRL, where it is done on a 5 week ahead basis?

I actually think its against the law in the UK to screen live soccer at 3pm on saturday
so i imagine the same applys to 3pm sunday for both codes of rugby

 

[deluded pom?]

I bet they don't show eight live games in every state in Australia.

 

[Evil Homer]

They do not show all 6 games because the exclusive rights are sold to Sky for a lot of money, and they chose not to screen all the games as they also have Guinness Premiership, Cricket, F1, Tennis and anything else that might be going on as well as the Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2 and non-league soccer to cover. They do show one game of National League rugby on a Thursday as well as the two SL games.

The day the non-televised games are played is down to the choice of the club - St Helens, Leeds, Wigan and some others play on Friday nights, while the others play on Sundays. Catalans and Harlequins play on Saturdays to allow the traveling fans to attend. It's just about tradition and what day/time they think will attract the biggest crowd. The games are moved about 4-5 weeks in advance to a Friday or Saturday if Sky wants to show them, although for the first half of the season the televised matches are decided before the start so that they can be released with the fixture list.

 

[Johnny_L_O]

They do not show all 6 games because the exclusive rights are sold to Sky for a lot of money, and they chose not to screen all the games as they also have Guinness Premiership, Cricket, F1, Tennis and anything else that might be going on as well as the Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2 and non-league soccer to cover. They do show one game of National League rugby on a Thursday as well as the two SL games.

The day the non-televised games are played is down to the choice of the club - St Helens, Leeds, Wigan and some others play on Friday nights, while the others play on Sundays. Catalans and Harlequins play on Saturdays to allow the traveling fans to attend. It's just about tradition and what day/time they think will attract the biggest crowd. The games are moved about 4-5 weeks in advance to a Friday or Saturday if Sky wants to show them, although for the first half of the season the televised matches are decided before the start so that they can be released with the fixture list.

But League is the 2nd most watched sport on Sky. I'm sure if SL(E) got yhier act together they could get a couple more on.

 

[Th1rteen]

But League is the 2nd most watched sport on Sky. I'm sure if SL(E) got yhier act together they could get a couple more on.

Yes but a VERY distant second. Football OWNS Winter weekends with 10 matches spread over Friday night (occasionally), Saturday 12:45, Saturday 3:00 (most matches), Saturday 5:45, Sunday 1:00, Sunday 5:45 and Monday night (occasionally).

I do agree that perhaps another match needs to be televised but we have along way to go before all are televised. Of course I think that too much television spoils the sport and especially attendence. I've heard alot of Aussie League fans don't bother going to matches now because they can just watch all the matches on television - we don't want that to happen with Super League.

 

[deluded pom?]

For me when Sky bought the rights to live Premiership football and began showing two or three live games every weekend it just drove home to me how dull the average match of soccer is compared to Rugby League. I was brought up on MotD with just a highlights package every Saturday night which showed soccer in a far more watchable guise. Live soccer is ,for me, on the whole a waste of eighty minutes to get ten minutes decent football if you're lucky.

 

[bartman]

Aussie fans should be aware that unlike most of the NRL clubs, UK/Superleague clubs do not have the backing of profitable leagues clubs funnelling money into their football operations.

So things like attendance at matches, merchandise and jersey sales etc are actually a vital part of a club's revenue, and are not offset by the depth of broadcasting and grant revenue that might help run Australasian clubs.