Was pottering through the BBC Sport website as I'm sure most of you do when I came across Dave Woods' article on the competition having spoken with the RLWC CEO Jon Dutton.

A few things stood out in this, firstly they will make a decision in May 21 as to whether the WC will take place or moved to 2022. Inclined to agree with Dutton that moving it to the same time in 2022 & trying to compete with the Football World Cup would be shooting yourself in the foot. Not sure how easy it would be to get SL & NRL on boards for that. In any event we know the Aussi's only really care about the NRL.

The second thing that stood out was funding. Dutton said the whole plan for the WC was based on generating 90% of revenue from ticket sales & Government funding. Well the Govt has already agreed to stump up £15m for the event & a further £10m for legacy community projects. The suggestion is that if grounds are only allowed to be part full, they will expect more money from the Govt. Not a great use of taxpayers money in these times I would venture.

The only conclusion you can come to from this reliance on ticket sales is there has not been a huge amount generated from TV or Corporate Sponsorship. Yes, there is a Principle Sponsor Cazoo, no idea how much they have paid, but they are at the end of the day 2nd hand car sales people. Add to that Official Sponsors Deloitte doing the accountancy, Eversheds Sutherland, Kappa, Manchester Met Uni & Kuehne+Nagel & Partners Community Integrated Care, Movember, Northern Powerhouse, Global Climate Action, Sports England, UKSport, Dept Culture & Sport, RFL & Intl RL. Looking at that lot it is easy to see why 10s of millions of pounds will not be generated. Where are the big Global Brands? Should the organising committee called for the Monkey to sort it out?

If you look at the 2019 Union World Cup, they were able to attract the likes of Emirates, Heiniken, Mastercard, DHL Societe Generale plus local Japanese sponsors that are by no means small. They were able to sell their TV rights to every continent to a greater or lesser extent. Have no idea who we have sold our TV Rights to of course or how much has been paid.

On the whole I'm not that bothered if it takes place or not, I appreciate NB & some others on here do but any competition where only 3 teams can win is not competitive & unless we can increase interest, the big hitters won't want to invest. But if it does go ahead, fingers crossed it makes as Harry Enfield would have said, "Loads of Money".

Not sure why there is an expectation to have global brands supporting the RLWC, RL is not a global sport. As for the competition winners, how many teams have won the SL you could ask the same question why they bother with SL every year?
That discussion aside.
The article basically saying that the WC orginisers were confident that the Comp will go ahead, personally i think that just shows that in reality not very confident at all.

As for interest in RLWC and the international game as a whole. I have said it before, RL fans generally are pretty apathetic towards the international game, supporting your local club is of interest. Thats why i dont think reducing the number of domestic games for benefit of international games is good for the fan.
RU has a totally 180 view of that, the international games in lots of fans eyes is more important than the club.
I get the point of tv money sponsors etc. And raising the profile of the game.

Amongst fans there is probably an increased interest in the international game during a World Cup not because of who is going to win it but more about watching players from teams in lower leagues getting to play for emerging nation teams, i would suggest who wins is irrelevent to most seeing entertaining rugby is what matters

I hope it does go ahead, if it does not its going to be because they dont think they will have the spectators, which probably means the domestic game is unlikely to jave had many live spectators

I'm no Marketing man, but you don't need to be a global sport to attract a global brand. Coca-Cola do a lot of grass root sponsorship where they see value for their brand. I have no idea if we approached that type of company & were told no thanks or we never bothered.

You are right NB, only 4 teams have won the Grand Final with a further 4 appearing in a final. Not great for a sport that has a salary cap & where the only advantage you would expect 1 club would have over another would be coaching & the quality of the marquee player(s). Maybe there is a Sarries hiding out there in the Heartlands?

Unfortunately the view you espouse about lack of interest in the International game can only lead to decline & decay. I would think if you lived in the north you could get to a game within 30/45 mins travel (not of course Warrington to Hull) if you wanted to have a look. So how or where can it grow? You are not going to get an upsurge in viewing figures on Sky unless the base of the game is broader.

If we make so little profit from the WC, where is the revenue coming from to help those emerging nations to emerge? It needs money & lots of it. We know SL want to keep every last penny for themselves which is why Leigh are having to play with almost 1 hand tied behind their backs next season.

Unless there is more vision & innovation (Coca-Cola love sports that want to innovate) but not in Canada, the only long term outcome looks like smaller deals with Sky & a part time SL. By then I suspect Broncos & Catalan will have gone & Hughes too.

I want to move this great game forward, you are saying NB the Northern Hoards are happy to vegetate. Hope you are wrong.

The only way that I can see the RLWC happening, is if it is played behind closed doors.
The vaccinations by the time the event happens, should be pretty much done. However the fear of major international events shipping in variants of the virus from afar, will be too much to allow the sort of event planned.
Could it be pushed back a year, possibly, but it is not ideal. I think the RLWC will be cancelled.
As for the Olympics they will not happen. The risk is too great.

I've not got excited about it at all! In fact the number of official emails about it! Make The RFL seem desperate!

Deadc,
Not overly sure about your asessment of the future of the game, but if thats what you think then agree i hope its wrong.
Not sure why you think broncos and catalan will be gone, certainly not Catalan. Parts of france have a healthy all be it low key, rugby league community, toulouse in one form or another have been around twice as long as london broncos nearly. Dragons came about from a risk taker trying to break the mold a bit, result a pretty succesful outcome in merging of two teams. Rugby League will never expand in UK until it takes a radical approach, it will still be around though.
The lack of interest in the international game is not really a surprise, majority of RL fans want to see there club play week in week out.
Reckon victor is right, latest news reports re other major sport events remaining behind closed doors and viability of running em, is not good. I think olympics are going to get cancelled. Can the RL world afford the RLWC without fans, i dont think so.
Dissapointing for fans of any sport but its what it is at the moment.
Talk of champ games being played similar to SL last year, how many will pay for streaming?

Too many SL Club Chairmen are simply only interested in their own club, the old motto of the former weekly 'Rugby Leaguer' was 'All for the Good of the Game' now that does not seem the case, there is no excitement from club chairmen and owners, I would love to have seen what Eddie Hearn and his father could have produced?

The International Game needs a complete rethink, I have never been to an International Game for years.

Double headers of Championship games, which will only be broadcast on an app? Sky have said they are not interested in the Championship, tell them broadcast or lose them? or would Sky want a refund, would Amazon, or BT be interested in double headers?

Our complete sport seems so flat at present! no one with real get up and Go!

I agree with the final sentiment. Self interest and lack of ambition has diminished a great game. Maurice Lynsey was criticised, but at least he kicked the game out of a rut - if it’s the Hearns or someone else, the game needs fresh input. Wigan can’t play St Helen’s six/eight times a year, even the most blinkered fan will get bored.

Also, agree re TV, try every channel etc and offer Champs if there can be no fans