: Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:50 pm
wereutherein1987? wrote:
putting aside they have no players now, how can they sustain a s/l franchise with avg attend < 5k.
Celtic v Quins = 3,089?
Simple economics determines it's game over.
Why dont s/l branch out ie, Wy > SY > lincolnshire > Derbyshire > and so on, more chance of survival if they have local rivals and a support network.
Sheffield - Halifax 1,457
Halifax - Whitehaven 2,014
Widnes - Halifax 4,039
Halifax - Featherstone 2,456
Halifax - Leigh 2,094
Halifax - Barrow 2,872
Halifax - Sheffield 2,212
Fev - Halifax 2,673
A hundred plus years and you've not once topped that figure at The Shay this season, even against other aspirant SL clubs from the heartlands.
CC can sustain a business with TV money. Sky want them because Welsh union fans take a passing interest in CC games, so Sky sells more adspace on hte back of a bigger TV audience. Or: put it another way... Leigh, Fax, Widnes, don't add a single viewer to the Sky audience, whereas CC do. That's why they are in SL in the first place.
I have criticised the franchise process extensively, and I'm a firm believer in P&R, but your simple economics are simply wrong.