NRL round 2 behind closed doors

The virus is an existential threat to the sport. The ARL have just admitted that without significant economic support from the government the consequences will be catastrophic.

There's no way rugby league in this country will be able to survive in one piece. Countless clubs will likely be liquidated- dreadful times.

I hope they don’t do that over here. It’s pointless and will add more costs to the clubs already struggling. The only option I see is a Government RFL bail out and that seems unlikely in any circumstances, even more so when you throw in the fact that we’re likely to plunge into a recession anytime soon.

This whole thing could and probably will change the face of RL as we know it.

I wonder what the position is in terms of Sky putting extra games on and the financial impact of that. Do they pay more if they put more games on TV? Or is it one set fee? Sky have pretty much no sport to show at the minute and whilst it’s unlikely we’ll even be able to play behind closed doors for too long, would we have any bargaining power?

Each NRL club has been given $425,000 by the NRL to help aid them in the short term. Doubt the RFL could rustle you £425 per club.

I can’t imagine Sky giving any more money to show live sport being played behind closed doors. That’s not to say we shouldn’t try though.

If the RFL were going to aid clubs short term it should be those in L1/Championship in the first instance. The way I see it we could see more than 10 clubs go bust from there and it’s something we just can not afford as a sport. SL clubs will take a hit but should be financially viable and sensible enough to ensure they get through a suspension of games. I do however fully appreciate that may mean staff redundancies which is undeniably catastrophic for those affected.

Well Sky have quickly moved to show todays game and will want to show some live sport if possible, so behind closed doors games will probably be shown as normal and maybe more frequently, but whether that includes additional payments to clubs I don't know.

How much revenue would Wigan lose? Aside from the fan zone which is brand new we make nothing from food and drink sales so would lose out on around 2k ticket sales and a half empty hospitality. We could probably survive on that for a while (although it would cost IFL slightly more a month than now) but other clubs most certainly couldn't.

EDIT - As a bit of an after thought this is where a clubs commercial team comes to the fore. If we know our games are on tv with no fans then why not sell advertising to companies that is placed over the seats in the East Stand? Whether companies can afford that at times like this depends on the type of company I guess but it would be an option. As would a reduction in the cost of merchandise. You'll still make a profit and may even make more of a profit if items sell out that wouldn't previously.

Does this not defeat the object playing behind closed doors and showing games on SKY if you've not got SKY your going to the pub to watch it or neighbours/relatives house ,coming into closer contact than you would probably at the ground. RL is going to face a big problem either to play behind closed doors or postponing fixtures a big financial headache either way. One suggestion is postpone for 6 weeks and scrap the loop fixtures on a revised fixture list so that you would only play each team home and away still a loss of revenue but far better than playing behind closed doors .

6 weeks?
What happens if its 10 weeks, 14 weeks? Etc.
If your 70 or older you may not be able to go out anyway shortly.

Difficult times and IMO some difficult decisions that may not actually have a "Right answer" to them. Maybe just less Bad answers.

When it's all over perhaps SL could re-start and complete the season by playing 2 games a week.

The obvious concern is player burn out. May be then the RFL/SL could bring in a temp by-law saying no players can play for than 5 games a month. Should the season start again in 3 months then players would only be able to play 15 games in 92 days around a game every 6 days.

More players would be required so the reserve squad players could be used in SL games, this would mean the reserve comp being cancelled.

These are unusual times and different solutions must be found. One thing for sure RL/SL can't afford to cancel the season as clubs wouldn't survive.

Whatever happens it’s going to be controversial but ultimately done for the public health and safety. The government is banning gatherings of 500 or more, that puts paid to the continuation of the SL season. At least with fans present anyway.

I can’t see SL continuing to be honest. Clubs lose more behind closed doors with no income and bills from game day to go out.

Bizarrely the L1 season could still, theoretically at least, go ahead. If the gatherings are those parameters.