Leeds Rhinos - southstander.com • 2021 | The new 12th team in Super League is ---

I read that the new sky deal is 50% lower than the current deal. the cash will stay in SL and nothing going to the lower leagues. Unfortunately what else do we expect. The only bidder are SKY they have no competition and they can say take it or leave it. As a sport we are so little minded. Instead of leveling up we always level down to the lowest point. In the last 10 years we have gone backwards. Over 10 years ago we had a plan, a plan to have better stadiums, academies, modern facilities etc. Unfortunately we still have grounds like Wakefield, Castleford, poor supported teams like Salford, Huddersfield and HKR. We cannot change the sport because the majority of the chairmen do not want change, they want the money, they use the money to pay all the wages and subsidise the running of the clubs.
We try and expand the game, so Toronto are brought in, the run out of money, off they go, then Leigh are in, they were probably the best bet, but where is the expansion away from the M62 corridor.
We need to remember why SKY pay their sponsorship, it because they want to sell more SKY sports in their TV package. they do give us the money for fun, its to buy their packages and they feel that they have enough coverage in the M62 corridor.
We have to get real and make changes, we need to employ someone on £300k + pa and let them put a plan together. If it upsets people and clubs then fine, but we need a 5 year plan, licencing, no relegation, all clubs must have an academy, better stadiums, better facilities minimum seater and standing stadiums. If you dont deliver you are out. Some clubs do need to merge together.
Candidly looking at SKY sports, we dont get any better coverage than the like of Darts, netball, basketball etc. Let us stop kidding ourselves, however good we think the game is others do not think like us, so it is time for a new direction, change, and new faces at the very top, We are driven forward by people that even i would not employ. If we dont make the changes, start looking forward to the players going back to part time professionals.