No alarms, no surprises when littleis on offeris on offer

Jul 10 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

IN less than two weeks the Rugby Football League will unveil the 14 clubs which have been given licences for the next three seasons.

There are unlikely to be any surprises with the 12 current Super League teams almost certain to retain their places added to by two of Widnes Vikings, Salford City Reds and Bridgend-based Celtic Crusaders.

Widnes, despite going into administration last winter, appear to have got their noses in front of their North West rivals, who have hampered themselves by their bid.

The City Reds have always stressed they are from Salford, not Manchester, and do not want to lose or even dilute their identity.

But the club’s value to Super League is in being Manchester's, and even Greater Manchester’s, rugby league team. Clinging to their Salford identity means alienating potential fans, sponsors and media who would attach themselves to a successful Manchester team.

Sale Sharks, who play 10 miles away in Stockport, have become Greater Manchester’s rugby union team and have set out a blueprint that Salford City Reds have steadfastly refused to adopt.

Decision day on July 22 will be the day when their folly becomes clear.

But the real issue with the Super League licence process is why there weren’t any applications from outside the rugby league structure.

From the inception of summer rugby in 1996 there has been an unfulfilled aspiration to spread the game to the major conurbations of the UK. It was hoped that the introduction of three-year licences, with no requirement for a club to work its way up the pyramid structure through promotion, could attract bids from places like Leicester, Newcastle or even Dublin.

But the main reason for this not happening is the prize on offer simply isn’t big enough.

The money from the television deal is less than £1m a year, much smaller than rugby union’s settlement and dwarfed by the Premier League’s deal.

Sponsorship money generated centrally is also much smaller with both the value and number of deals done by the governing body pitifully small.

It means that rugby league clubs, unlike its competitors, have to generate proportionately much more of their revenues which carries with it a much greater risk.

And it is this obstacle that helps to perpetuate the perception as rugby league as a largely Northern game. There has to be the potential of making a profit from an investment in an expansion club, wherever it is based in the UK. Rugby league simply doesn’t offer that, which is why there will be no excitement when the licences are handed out.