Just some more general UK league questions in general:
1) What was rugby league in UK like pre-Super League? Was the previous Rugby League Championship successful or not? What are television ratings on Sky Sports like for the SL (I heard recently that a league game beat a Union match in the ratings. Mayhave been Wigan/Leeds, not sure)? I obviously know EPL soccer gets the highest ratings, but where does league stand (in # of viewers) in comparison to soccer
I don't think anyone has answered this bit yet.
RL always beats Union in terms of TV ratings. RL usually draws a couple of hundred thousand for the matches on Sky and around a million for the early Challenge Cup rounds on FTA. The final is always one of the most watched sports events of the year.
All sports are absolutely dwarfed by soccer, but in terms of TV viewership RL is probably the second most watched sport on TV, with 50% of the viewers coming from the South of England or from areas not traditionally associated with RL. Only for international events such as the RU World Cup or Ashes Cricket do these sports beat RU, in terms of domestic leagues RL attracts far more viewers.
5) Do you think Rugby League has the potential to overtake Rugby Union in the future in the UK? Like, how popular is Union over there, in comparison to League (in terms of media coverage)? Do you think League can give Soccer a run for its money, especially if England win the World Cup this year in Australia (similar affect to what happened when England won the Union WC in 2003 and the Cricket Ashes in 2005)? What affect would England doing well in the RLWC have on the popularity of the sport over there?
Yes, definitely. RL is as popular as Union now. The difference is, most of the Union teams are centred around London and the South of England, where the media is. Most of the people in charge of newspapers etc are from posh, upper-class Public Schools where RU was the main sport. So RU gets a completely unfair amount of media coverage compared to RL or any other sport really. In terms of crowds SL and the Guinness Premiership are about level, and RL attracts far more viewers on TV. However, Union is rammed down everyone's throat my the media at any opportunity, especially during international season. The main difference in popularity between the two sports is the internationals - English people are very passionate about international fixtures and so during the 6 Nations or whatever RU recieves a lot of media coverage and rates quite highly on TV, despite the fact that most people acknowledge that it is boring. RL does not have a proper international programme like this. As for the WC, I don't feel it will make any difference whether England do well or not because the format of the world cup is ridiculous and devalues the whole thing. One thing English people like to see is fairness and meaningful games, and the WC won't deliver this. Many people I've spoken to who like RL but are not fans (I live in a non-traditional area) cannot understand why the WC has been given a contrived format with only 3 teams that have a realistic chance of winning. Added to that, the WC will not be on FTA television, and will recieve minimal promotion because of the format and the failure of past World Cups. So I don't think it will make any difference whether England do well or not.
