Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:33 am  

So only 1 team have a better average than Wigan?

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:48 am  

I must admit I'm surprised that more than half the clubs in the top division aren't getting regular five-figure crowds. This is arguably the second biggest sport in the country and apart from soccer I can't think of another that receives as much airtime and column inches nationally.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:14 pm  

Catalancs wrote:

I must admit I'm surprised that more than half the clubs in the top division aren't getting regular five-figure crowds. This is arguably the second biggest sport in the country and apart from soccer I can't think of another that receives as much airtime and column inches nationally.

I think the root of this is that there is a disproportionate amount of coverage for Rugby Union in the media. As you say, around half of the clubs in the top flight average less than 10,000 per week – the overall average of the Aviva Premiership at 9,805 is much closer to Football League 1 (7,075) than the Championship (17,334) and yet would get a disproportionate amount of national media coverage

Even looking at the Sport England participation figures, the following sports outrank Rugby Union on the number of active participants

Swimming
Football
Athletics
Cycling
Golf
Badminton
Tennis
Equestrian
Squash and racketball
Bowls
Cricket

Football certainly outranks Rugby Union in terms of media profile but I would argue that the others don’t (cricket during the summer of course but probably on a par overall)

The fact is that Rugby Union is high in the public consciousness due to its high media profile but this isn’t reflected so much in the number of people that pay to watch the game at its elite level or those that take part

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:26 pm  

Dunbar wrote:

I think the root of this is that there is a disproportionate amount of coverage for Rugby Union in the media.

There is only one sport that has national coverage on BBC of the domestic game of either live games or a magazine program of the elite competition and that is Rugby League, no others are represented in this way. There is no FTA broadcast of the elite english domestic competition, or the elite competition. The most widely read newspaper in the country is dedicated mostly to football there is some coverage of RU but not much. The largest subscriber broadcaster typically broadcasts 1 game a week from the English competition. I will leave you to guess which sport has the best treatment of a team sport in domestic competition.

As you say, around half of the clubs in the top flight average less than 10,000 per week – the overall average of the Aviva Premiership at 9,805 is much closer to Football League 1 (7,075) than the Championship (17,334) and yet would get a disproportionate amount of national media coverage

What disproportionate coverage? The time when it does get coverage is when the major international competitions take place.

Football certainly outranks Rugby Union in terms of media profile but I would argue that the others don’t (cricket during the summer of course but probably on a par overall)

The only time cricket gets any strong coverage is around the Test matches, domestic game gets coverage but not much, T20 has improved coverage but that is disappointing now.

The fact is that Rugby Union is high in the public consciousness due to its high media profile

No that is not a fact it is an opinion the two things are very different. RU does not have a high media profile the only sport that does is football and is certainly not high in the public consciousness the only places in the UK where this occurs is South Wales and Northern Ireland and a few towns and cities. There are something like 35000 clubs affiliated to the RFU the majority would not be able to tell you the name of their nearest elite club or their local clubs. In terms of media profile before RU went professional it had a much higher national media profile the same goes for RL both sports now are significantly more popular with a lower national media profile, which contradicts your statement.

If you want evidence of this go to the national newspaper archive. Domestic RU/RL was getting very good coverage compared to now. Football became increasingly more popular due to social reasons and coverage increased to what we have now. BBC aside all other media outlets are commercial enterprises and react to their markets.

but this isn’t reflected so much in the number of people that pay to watch the game at its elite level or those that take part

I am not sure which other sports have higher attendances for all it's matches. Participation you have a point but then again going based on that athletics, cycling and swimming would completely dominate media coverage.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 2:36 pm  

you dont have ITV then with there FTA coverage of Rugby Union. Of course in Wales, NI & Scotland you could add that there are live games every week of the union elite competition.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:22 pm  

Thoth wrote:

Dunbar wrote:

I think the root of this is that there is a disproportionate amount of coverage for Rugby Union in the media.

There is only one sport that has national coverage on BBC of the domestic game of either live games or a magazine program of the elite competition and that is Rugby League, no others are represented in this way. There is no FTA broadcast of the elite english domestic competition, or the elite competition.

If I read this correctly, you are saying that of all UK sports, only Rugby League on the BBC has a FTA national coverage of its elite competition

I am really at a loss to understand what you mean by this

Super League is the elite competition of Rugby League and I have never seen a live game broadcast outside of SKY. There is a magazine programme for SL but, as I live in London, I cannot view this and the only time I see SL on the BBC is for the end of season play off highlights. I can however see the weekly BBC broadcasts of Match of the Day and Match of Day 2 and the ITV 4 broadcast of Aviva premiership highlights. As it happens, I am a sports fan so I subscribe to SKY to see all of these live and therefore I am ok with it

The main point of my post is that Rugby Union gets a disproportionate amount of media coverage compared to other sports when mapped against the attendances it draws for its elite domestic competition and its participation levels. As this is a Rugby Union thread, I am not saying it is disproportionate to Rugby League particularly, I would be more frustrated if I were a serious fan of Swimming, Athletics, Cycling, Badminton, Equestrian, Squash, Racketball or Bowls as they receive far less media coverage than their participation levels warrant

Finally, I apologise for not getting through the rest of your post – I made the assumption that it was similar to the first line and therefore not really worth my time

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Wed Dec 14, 2011 11:58 pm  

Barnet FC to move out. Were they pushed or did they jump?

Saracens rugby union club now has plans to revamp the Copthall, turning it into a multi-purpose community sports venue, prompting Kleanthous (Barnet chairman) to accuse Barnet council in October last year of "looking to invite others into the borough whilst escorting us out via the back door".

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Dec 15, 2011 12:33 am  

Catalancs wrote:

Barnet FC to move out. Were they pushed or did they jump?

Saracens rugby union club now has plans to revamp the Copthall, turning it into a multi-purpose community sports venue, prompting Kleanthous (Barnet chairman) to accuse Barnet council in October last year of "looking to invite others into the borough whilst escorting us out via the back door".

Barnet Council have pushed the soccer club out.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Dec 15, 2011 12:59 pm  

Was just going to point out the problem with your post Thoth, but dids has very eloquently done it for me.

gf, is there and echo in here?

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Dec 15, 2011 1:23 pm  

I wonder what Barnet council think Saracens are going to bring to the borough, other than more traffic on 20 days a year?

The idea of a community resource should be that it's in the hands of the community, not in the hands of a professional sports club with a rich chairman.