Quote The Dentist Wilf="The Dentist Wilf"Quote The Dentist Wilf="fosdyke99"despite all the new ways to watch,youtube,streaming.the long term aim must be to get more people through the turnstiles.you cant beat being live at a ground.'"
Obviously completely agree with that but the problem is I think that the continued periods of lock down and sport behind closed doors has changed a lot of fringe supporters feelings about attending games and many sports are starting to feel that a mixture of the hardened fans in ground and live streaming or broadcasting etc of all games for the rest, as with the NFL and the NRL is the way forward for sustainability or at least like with this deal they are keeping their options open to see what happens after things have settled down after the pandemic..'"
The more I see & read about the new deal the more it seems that it isn't a bad deal when taking everything in to account in terms of SL.
Its clear the landscape has changed in terms of fans through the gates for all sports globally. I don't doubt that fans will come back eventually but it will take time and there will of course be some that decide to no longer go for a number of reasons due to the enforced extended break.
I don't think there has ever been a more important time to promote and sell the game to a wider audience to not only entice regular RL fans back but also people starved of watching a live sporting event and entertainment for over a year than now. The RFL with SL and Championship must work together to try and expand the audience and with the football season coming to an end if done right the game could really steal a march and make some real progress in this if they are able to use more platforms than under the previous SKY deal.
There is a need to have some games on free to air channels and the possibility of the BBC doing a prime Saturday afternoon slot would certainly help to reach a much greater audience, which would help to generate interest in the sport then filter down to people wanting to go and see a game live.
