Rugby League doesn't do anything to deserve mass coverage. It's a minority sport even in it's true heartlands and deserves it's space behind cricket, football, union, tennis, water polo, grass hill skiing, swimming, cycling and crown green bowles.

What league needs to do is be more proactive. Hire some advertising agencies and get results. Have Sam Burgess or Kyle Eastmond on Alan Carr's Chatty man or on those awful afternoon shows. Beg, bribe, sue the BBC or ITV into showing a national highlights show at a reasonable time. Bribe, beg, pay the makers of Eastenders to include League in their show. Slut themselves around the Sheiks in the East and get them to buy a franchise. Get Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe to form an impromptu and totally illegal game of street league in the centre of New York or London. Spread the word...

I'd agree we need to get our "stars" out in the media circuit, but thats very difficult when you're not based in London. Sadly in media, London rules all. Also why would the producers of Alan Carr put someone on who no-ones heard of south of Sheffield. Whilst you do have a point, RL deserves a lot more coverage than it currently gets.
Yes its behind football, international RU, international cricket and the major tennis tournaments but its on a par with domestic RU and is better attended than domestic cricket and the pansy @rse tennis tournaments no-one gives a stuff over.

This year for instance, I think it was the Wigan v Leeds game was the best attended sports event in the country that night, did it get a mention on the national news? Did it balls. Oh there was time for a section on disabled curling in Canada though. And this with the Womens World Cup is just another example of the BBC's (& the media in general) obsession with anything based in or close to London.

Oh and where is the Womens Rugby World Cup being held? Guildford. I guarantee you if it was being held further away from London it wouldn't have got a mention.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher ... _game.html journalists, in london, playing rugby league

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher ... _game.html journalists, in london, playing rugby league

the game is live on 5 live instead of football, 5 live sport is live from wembley aswell. http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/programmes/s ... 2010/08/28

the game is live on 5 live instead of football, 5 live sport is live from wembley aswell. http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/programmes/s ... 2010/08/28

England v Kazakhstan was truly embarrassing. I suppose the BBC are giving it so much mention as it is a world cup.
I don't watch too much television so I can't comment on the amount of Challenge Cup advertisement. I would have liked more than 25 minutes pre-match build up on the day though.

The Six Nations advertising cracks me up and annoys me in equal measures. I tend to think "Why are they editing Union to look like League?" and then I think "Why do the people who watch Union as a result of these adverts not just watch League instead?"

Maybe some bright spark in the RFL has decided they don,t need to advertise the challenge cup as they know its going to be a sell out every year. "Bunch of amateurs at HQ haven't a clue how to promote or market the game of rugby league.

Even the challenge cup draws were farcical, cup draws were done midweek in the early afternoon when most people are at work. Up here in Cumbria quite a few sports fans thought the cup final had already been played and weren.t aware it was this weekend.

Surely that's the BBC's responsibility.
Glad those sports fans now know it's this weekend. Would have been terrible if they'd have missed it.

The advert does nothing to promote the game, other than remind people it's on. It's rubbish.

Because they don't know it exists. Having said that, half of twickenham don't even understand whats going on infront of them but it's in the national media.