Championship revamp

[TigerFeetSteve]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60482313

Hmmm can't say I like this, especially as one of the clubs liable to lose out would be Nottingham who I think our partnership and joint training sessions seem to be working in a reduced cap environment. I'd certainly rather see a Nottingham team with our partnership in the Championship than a Tigers A team...

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Not sure this is needed, they should just look at France. IMO its quite simple.
RFU need to pump a bit of money in, rather than take it out, get them a terrestrial TV deal (sooo many channels nowadays, that should be easy) so the clubs start to benifit from sponsorship deals, and we should start to get a competative second teir*. We have enough players in this country. Dual contract players or deals like we have with Notts should help also.
If it's on telly it will drum up interest. Scrap the prem cup and bring back a national cup, which prem teams can join at a certain stage. Possiby limit it to prem seconds or something....

*Actually it is already competative, but aim to build on that and go back to relegation/promotion in 5 years (ish)...

[Tiglon]

2018/19 average attendances in ProD2 - 5,500
2018/19 average attendances in Championship - 1,700

There's clearly a very different level of interest and I'm not so sure it would be that easy to get a TV deal.

I think something has to change so that the younger players at Prem clubs can get regular rugby without going off fully on loan and spending the season with only-just-professional (in some cases) facilities and coaches etc.

English rugby is very much focused these days on the elite game - the up side of these proposals is the potential for more meaningful and regular rugby for Premiership youngsters, the downside is that there will be very few opportunities to continue a professional rugby career if you don't make it in the Premiership.

Fewer professional clubs potentially means more fans going to watch Premiership clubs, so perhaps it will be beneficial for Prem clubs struggling to make ends meet.

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I'm not saying they'll fill stadiums straight away, or even ever, but exposure would be good for revenue streams which in turn increases player wages and facilities.
We have sloads of players in this country already, more exposure will help get even more kids wanting to play. It'll take years and it needs investment, I just don't see that coming from prem clubs second teams..

[Tiglon]

I just mean that if no one is turning up to watch the matches then there probably isn't much demand to watch on tv either. How many people are going to choose to watch Doncaster vs Nottingham on a Saturday afternoon instead of Tigers vs Exeter?

A TV deal would be great, but I would be surprised if they had never tried, or were turning away potential broadcasters.

[Offside]

I just mean that if no one is turning up to watch the matches then there probably isn't much demand to watch on tv either. How many people are going to choose to watch Doncaster vs Nottingham on a Saturday afternoon instead of Tigers vs Exeter?

A TV deal would be great, but I would be surprised if they had never tried, or were turning away potential broadcasters.

It would be interesting to know what ProD2 viewers are viewing for. Is it their home team that they want to watch instead of the Top 14 or is it at a different time or do they watch on catch up as avid rugby fans of any rugby? Tigers fans who’s local team is Tigers are not necessarily the people who would then support a local tier 2 team so it would be interesting to gauge opinions depending on Leicester vs other location fans are at.

[Rugbygramps]

Agree that the championship needs greater exposure. 2 points for me, firstly as others have pointed out there just isn’t the interest for it to be viable for TV companies to broadcast games.
Secondly last I heard the RFU were struggling financially so I’m not sure where the money is going to come from to pump into the championship

[Cagey Tiger]

Just for information, the English National League (football - 5th tier) have a TV deal with BT Sport. Only 6 out of 24 teams have average home gates above 3,000 this season. 6 average less than 1,000. And this is against a background of almost saturation Premier League TV coverage. English rugby has around 3 televised games a week by comparison, including England International matches.

[trendylfj]

I really don't see too many clubs having enough players to turn out 23 on a weekend and a different 23 midweek no matter how many games the 2nds play. We have 48 in the senior squad, 11 in the senior academy, and several of those are out on loan. It is not just a numbers game either. We have 11 props on the books at present and so we would have to borrow from somewhere unless we were going to be very lucky with injuries. I assume that the prem cup will remain so that just leaves the issue of the cap reduction. Most people, myself included, seem to think that the senior squad will be reduced in order to get under the cap which in itself will cause difficulties in turning out 2 teams.

[jgriffin]

ProD2 teams have strong town/local identities and use municipal stadiums. Not like UK at all.

[GB72]

Championship rugby is not really a viable option on its own. I can see the point raised about lower tier football but any football attracts viewers and so revenue, rugby simply does not.

My point about it not being viable on its own is that it would be an attractive proposition if the RFU sold it along with England rights. They are a valuable commodity and so a media package that included the England home rights together with an obligation to broadcast championship rugby even if it was on a lesser chanel like ITV3.

The problem is that, aside from the 2 big companies that have whole sports channels to fill with content, everyone else, espcially terrrestial TV, only want the crown jewels but have little interest in showing the wider game.

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This is why I think the RFU should be trying to market the championship to potentail sponsors* to get a small tv deal. The actual channel doesn't matter. Do they still have the playoffs in the championship? If they have a single final at twickernham or large prem ground rather than the two header they did have, it's like a cup game. Just needs a bit of marketing and razamataz.

Including prem teams just seems lazy to me. Could even market it along side the ladies prem 15's (is that what its called) and internationals.

*this may or may not be happening, I have no idea, just saying stuff really....

[LE18]

I really don't see too many clubs having enough players to turn out 23 on a weekend and a different 23 midweek no matter how many games the 2nds play. We have 48 in the senior squad, 11 in the senior academy, and several of those are out on loan. It is not just a numbers game either. We have 11 props on the books at present and so we would have to borrow from somewhere unless we were going to be very lucky with injuries. I assume that the prem cup will remain so that just leaves the issue of the cap reduction. Most people, myself included, seem to think that the senior squad will be reduced in order to get under the cap which in itself will cause difficulties in turning out 2 teams.

I think Tigers would need to turn to some Amateur players. Back in our day, Tigers used to turn out each Saturday 1st, Extras and Swifts all on same day. Are those lower team days returning with an element of sponsorship etc?