How much is the next ESL contract worth?

We negotiated 53 mil in 04 to run till the end of this year, not sure if this has been renegotiated?

Are the tri nations games included in our package. If so, it does seem we get a raw deal.

Yep, you are right, Guinness do sponsor the TV coverage as well as the league comp.

I don't agree when you state that the adverts that are shown during a match are different though. On my Sky box I don't have any SL games, but I've just nipped back to a World Cup game, and the adverts were:

Gillette Fusion (programme sponsor)
Sky Arts programme
Shell
Apple iPod touch
Blackberry
Nationwide
Panasonic VIERA
Specsavers
Barclays

These are pretty major advertisers, and whilst these may have been slightly out of the ordinary due to it being a World Cup, and the adverts may have been sold as part of a package, but this was a lower rated WC game and not an England one.

This is something that interests me and in SL we often see blue chip companies advertise during the games. Simply, RL is one of Sky's major players, and Martyn Sadler on Totalrl.com has confirmed that i is more expensive to advertise during SL over Guinness Prem.

Personally, I think the fact that the BBC and ITV have interest in Union gives them more bargaining power with broadcasters, whereas unfortunately, the BBC won't even broadcast the Super League show nationally when they have the rights to.

didnt wigan v leeds last year attract the biggest figure for a league game of either code? somewhere above 400k?

In the advertising world they believe that there's a certain group of people that are very difficult to reach with TV advertising. They are the big spending company directors, doctors, lawyers, etc. Basically, the people that spend the most don't tend to watch a lot of telly. Reaching these people is like the Holy Grail of advertising.

Therefore, top-end advertisers (banks, flash cars, etc) fall over themselves and will pay a premium to get ads in programmes they believe that these people watch. RU is probably an example of such a programme.

I used to work in advertising for channel 4. Take my word for it that they would go all dreamy eyed at the mention of cricket and RU.

If advertisers want to reach the demographic for RL fans they can just stick a few ads in Corrie, or whatever.

......interesting steretype that. So, because I watch RL, I am classified in the same group that most RL fans are. Corronation Farm or whatever it is called is only even on in gutterfax residence when Mrs GFax is watching it.........I am normally in the other room watching ANYTHING else.
I don't read a tabloid newspaper, keep pigeons or race whippets either, so it goes some way to proving what I have always said about certain forms of lazy marketing (Advertising)...it's all smoke and mirrors.
I take it that when you were at C4, the massive majority of bookings were inbound calls from those leeches in the Advertising Agency Arena. This bunch of 20% grabbing nomarks simply convince their clients the best way to spend their budgets is in mass media, when in reality the best way to market is by being clever.
Proctor and Gamble are still (only just ahead of the Government) the biggest ad spenders in the UK, BUT increasingly, they are moving away from TV and Outdoor and towards more accountable advertising.....'tinternet and the like.
Just because an Ad agency tells their client that advertising during the cricket will sell them more high end product doesn't make it so.

And it also happens that the ad agency gimp, his boss and the client at channel 4 all like going to the cricket. Free tickets all round.

Hello I am currently worth circa £23 million.I watch Corronation Farm.
I read tabloid newspapers, keep pigeons and race whippets.
I hate RU, I hate Lewis/Hetherington/Wood.
What bracket do I fall in?

No need to be pedantic, the demographic groupings are obviously not accurate all the time they just give reasonable representation.

So why is it more expensive to advertise during Live SL as opposed to Live GP games?

I have no doubts about what you are saying, however it seems Sky aren't able to charge these premium rates that you refer to for Union.