That's a good point.

28 U.S. states don't have an NFL team, for example.

It’s completely wrong though.

The reason college football is so popular is simply because Americans love football.

Towns completely close down on a Friday when their local high school is playing.

Thats how popular it is.

The current scenario across all 3 top tiers of RL in the UK is as follows:

WEST YORKSHIRE - 11
GREATER MANCHESTER - 6
CUMBRIA - 3
EAST RIDING YORKSHIRE - 2
LONDON - 2
WALES - 2
FRANCE- 2
SOUTH YORKSHIRE -2
NORTH YORKSHIRE - 1
MERSEYSIDE - 1
CHESHIRE - 2
WEST MIDLANDS -1
NEWCASTLE - 1

by my calculations and based on 48 counties in England & wales, there are 36 without a professional/semi-professional Rugby League team. So half of the USA doesn't have an NFL team......75% of England and Wales don't gave a RL team.

Solution?

Schools.

Alas, a march has been stolen there by other sports, so it is community clubs where the game needs to focus its attention. If enough kids at a school are playing RL at club level, then the schools will take notice....and I am sure that if you start such a campaign of recruitment and awareness in a major metropolitan area like London, you'll reap long terms rewards, so no doubt the RFL will hold summer training camps in west Yorkshire...because with 45% of the pro sides coming from a county with the word YORKSHIRE in it, it's a mystery why the country thinks we're nothing more than a local hobby

Absolute garbage.

Across the north where RL is strong many schools play Union ignoring the kids preference for league, because the head may be a toff, and he may engage union minded sports teachers. The record is they do not take notice at all. I grew up on a big northern council estate where we all watched Rugby League. The estate comprehensive school we attended played exclusively Union. Same where we live now. Bradford Bulls signed one of the lads from the local school to play for their academy, so a clear pathway was in place. Despite this and the kids again being RL minded Union is forced on them.

I've heard so bullshit in my time and a fair amount of it from you and your other accounts, but there's so much to unpack there it might take a while:

1.
Hmm....er, OK.
14,500 fans rocked up to watch Hull City football side at the weekend. This is at the lower tier of the 2nd tier of the football pyramid, with City recently bouncing up. Up the road (you mentioned union, not I), Newcastle hosted Harlequins watched by a measly 6,000 fans, whilst Sale managed 7,500 (apparently)......28k fans over 3 games in the north including a lower tier football game...that's more than day 2 of the Premiere RL Magic weekend this year.....2 tiy union clubs and a recently promoted soccer team draw bigger crowds than the likes of Wigan...yeah......
2.
Without documented and verified proof, this is opinion. It's one I've heard countless time but yet to see any proof. What I do know is teachers are involved in a job that involves "engaging" kids. If said kids were 100% league and not union, then the teachers would follow what their "VOCATION" steered them to do. Like the days of 'KES' & "Vichy France ate my hamster"....you troll to the masses like drake and the fascists at the frequently unread RL press corp.

By the way......your northern teachers should have told you a comma doesn't precede AND.....turn off your American spell checker NOW!
3.

More anecdotal gibberish

You dragged union into this, I didn't, but whilst we're here......They will play a shed load of internationals this autumn to do little more than generate revenue and future revenues......show me the TV deal for The France England RL game and I'll maybe listen to your whining.......Ireland are apparently playing in Las Vegas......I doubt a local there Knows what Rugby is, but they'll play in a full stadium with a few million watching on TV.......miniscule in terms of college football, but between them ad the all black a week later, 100,000 fans will have paid to watch a game of union in America.....


Back on thread. Maybe a few purist RL schools in the north eed to have ther games broadcast on youtube/ourleague? Kids games of union are shown here in little old NZ and there's still only one game in town...

I would ask for proof but I know you dont deal in proof for your wild claims.

Yet the players can't be paid which is nothing short of a disgrace.

I don't know what sort of proof you are looking for but I can give you a direct example of this happening. When we moved to Leeds I went to a large comprehensive in East Leeds, with solidly working class children. Everyone who liked Rugby was a league fan but the deputy head was involved in Roundhegians RUFC and insisted that the school only play Union, both in games lessons and against other schools. I directly asked him why in a school of Rugby League fans we weren't allowed to play League and he said "because Rugby League doesn't teach children the right skills". It still sounds a big unhinged to me after all these years, but he clearly had strong ideological objections to Rugby League and managed to use his position to stop it being played. It happens.

https://www.leedsrhinosfoundation.org/b ... -in-leeds/ 21 High schools in Leeds took part. So can someone name the "many" high schools that only play Union?

https://www.leedsrhinosfoundation.org/b ... -in-leeds/ 21 High schools in Leeds took part. So can someone name the "many" high schools that only play Union?

I can only name the one I went to as I haven't a clue if its a widespread issue but John Smeaton in Leeds wouldn't allow league when I was there. Admittedly that was a while ago now but it was just an illustration of how one zealot can insist on Union being played in the RL heartlands. Might be an isolated case, I dunno.