Setanta collapse means no NRL for UK fans
Roar Rookie By mattbeks, 26 Jun 2009 mattbeks is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- NRL, Rugby League, Setanta, State Of Origin
State of Origin is rugby league’s showcase. It’s about State against State, mate against mate. Not only is it a showcase of rugby league, it’s a showcase of being Australian.
Every year Aussie expats pack pubs right across the UK in the morning this time of the year to cheer on New South Wales or Queensland.
This year should be no different, but think again.
As of 6pm yesterday evening Setanta (the broadcaster for the NRL in the UK), ceased trading in the UK. This means Aussies right across the country will miss out on cheering their State and enjoying the greatest game of all at the greatest showcase the sport has.
Although this is unfortunate to say the least, questions should be raised on why the game’s showcase isn’t being beamed into the very country where rugby league was invented.
Imagine the Football World Cup not being televised in England.
This morning, Ireland will have coverage, Italy will have coverage, the United States will have coverage, even Zimbabwe will have coverage, so why not the UK.
This is a joke to say the least.
I live in the North of England, near some of the country’s biggest clubs. This is rugby league’s heartland, for crying out loud.
Obviously this is not the NRL’s fault, it’s Setanta’s. But my anger is centered on why Setanta stopped trading the day before rugby league’s biggest game. There are well over 300,000 Aussies living in the UK, many of whom have subscribed to Setanta to watch NRL as well as AFL on TV over here.
This can only say one thing about Setanta’s overall commitment to rugby league.
They couldn’t give a stuff.
My next question would be towards the NRL and how they are going to address the problem.
If they were serious on promoting the game in the UK, and worldwide, they would have a stronger strategy to get people watching.
Although I don’t claim to be an expert in broadcast deals, we need to learn from this and encourage prospective broadcasters to televise more games. The package we got from Setanta had up to two games a week, mostly one game a week.
I remember one week we had the bottom table battle of Cronulla Vs Canberra and that was it. Weekend wasted.
I can’t bear to see my team win a Grand Final and I am unable to watch it! Many of us wouldn’t mind paying an extra quid if we can see our teams play regularly.
So I leave it to you, NRL, to solve. We want our footy back on UK TVs now.
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- NRL, Rugby League, Setanta, State Of Origin
June 26th 2009 @ 5:55pm
Eamonn said | June 26th 2009 @ 5:55pm | Report comment
Viscount, spot on, infact most of the English would never have watched a whole game of Rugby League, never mind a whole game of AFL.
Only League game I saw in 28 years in the place was when some bloke called Sterlo came over and showed that the game could be something more than muddied men having to change shirts at half time. Thought “heyoop these Aussies ave a bit of somefink dunt they.”
Unfortunately there have never been enough Sterlo’s in the game to keep me interested at club level.
Still it’s clearly still strong in a few villages upnorth. I lived 60 miles from the North so didn’t hear anything about the game.
Still looks like Man Utd are going with the strength and putting a Rugby Leageu shirt on this year:)
June 26th 2009 @ 6:07pm
Ian Noble said | June 26th 2009 @ 6:07pm | Report comment
£100M in debt, only 1.2M subscribers, needed 1.9M for their business model. Unable to pay the EPL £30M for the outstanding tranche of money and the SPL £3M. Not too surprised that the battle to keep Setanta on the air has failed. ESPN have bought the EPL rights.
Perhaps if the OZ expats had bought subscriptions then Setanta mght still be trading.
June 26th 2009 @ 6:23pm
JimC said | June 26th 2009 @ 6:23pm | Report comment
Viscount Crouchback – good fishing – as you probably know. SOO is well known in the UK and has been on live since the early 90s.
But good attempt at some rah rah snobbery.
June 26th 2009 @ 7:08pm
Nird99 said | June 26th 2009 @ 7:08pm | Report comment
Jim C I dont think viscount crouchback and the original poster had anything to say about rah rah as you call it. they were talking, i believe about the football (maybe soccer to you) world cup.
June 26th 2009 @ 7:16pm
Steve Kaless said | June 26th 2009 @ 7:16pm | Report comment
My understanding is the NRL accepted a deal from Setanta 3 times more than what they were getting with Sky, so you can’t blame them for going.
However, I was stunned when John Brady said “this has caught us by surprise”. Their demise has been going on for months.
It would be very sad for both the NRL and AFL fans not to sort out as both finals series do create a real buzz amongst the antipodean tribes and amongst local fans despite what the rabble rousers say.
June 26th 2009 @ 7:20pm
The Answer said | June 26th 2009 @ 7:20pm | Report comment
mattbeks,
http://www.diwana.org It may provide you with salvation, if not a little delayed.
Eamonn,
You mock northern, regional England yet live in Canberra and talk about how Costa Rica can’t get enough of the A-league on community radio.
The Challenge Cup on the BBC has ratings in the millions and the final will again Wembley Stadium. We are smaller than the EPL, but not as small as you like to think.
June 26th 2009 @ 9:51pm
westy said | June 26th 2009 @ 9:51pm | Report comment
How do they say Eamonn
June 26th 2009 @ 10:15pm
mattbeks said | June 26th 2009 @ 10:15pm | Report comment
Thank you for all your varied responses. It’s much appreciated. I intend to answer most comments.
I’ll start with Micheal C’s comments- Yes I only touched briefly on AFL, this due to the fact I’m from a Rugby League state and rarely watch AFL. However you’re right on the money, it affects both codes. I feel for the AFL fans over here who enjoy watching games. From memory I think you can still get at least 1 game a week on British Eurosport, but don’t quote me. A reliable source of mine will be working for Eurosport HQ in Paris from next month and might be able to give me some more info.
Mushi- I ‘ll be honest, the coverage Setanta provided over here in the UK was a joke in the first place. I mentioned in my article the Cronulla V Canberra game as the only NRL we got that week. There were much more compelling games available to the British public for that week. It was at a time when both teams were struggling and you could tell from the performace in the game. The AFL had a comprehensive weekly wrap up show on Mondays or Tuesdays, the NRL didn’t. We did however get Thursday night’s Footy Show for a couple of weeks off and on. Even the A League has a weekly wrap up show on Sky Sports.
Brett McKay- Thanks for your constructive feedback, as you said it’s plain and simple Setanta ceased trading end of. Yes I am annoyed, but rather sit around, I’m actively doing something to let the Rugby League community both here in Britian and in Australia as well as the Sporting community in general that we want footy back on our screens ASAP. I’m not blaming the NRL at all, what I am providing is constructive feedback like yourself that we as an Aussie expat community have the desire to see NRL back on our TV’s in the UK in the near future. The sooner the better I say. I’m sure we can agree on that can’t we?
Lazza- NRL does attract decent ratings in the UK. It’s the 2nd largest market for the NRL to target due to 2 reasons: Britain knows a thing or 2 about Rugby League (pity they can’t reproduce the goods on the field) and secondly the UK clearly has the largest group of Aussie expats anywhere in the world. Over 400,000 Aussies live in the UK. I’d say it is up to the NRL and AFL as a business model to ensure that their code is televised on TV. It will help with the promotion of their sport and it will also help with the promotion of Australia as a country. You just have to look at average TV like Neighbours. No sane minded Aussie would watch that garbage just as not every Brit will watch it. However it is popular and acts as a promotion of Australia as a whole. With that in mind, both codes would be crazy not to ensure that both sports are televised into the UK.
Viscount- I think you’re giving very little credit towards the Brits, especially the Northerners. I was suprised when I first came to this country how many people knew about State of Origin, it was even stronger the further North you travelled. Yes it’s a minority sport in the UK when you compare it to Football. I think you’re missing the point when you mentioned Rugby League is “played only by peculiar little men with funny accents from the more deprived parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire.” Have you been to Lancashire or Yorkshire? I live in Liverpool which is not too far from Lancashire and I can tell you there’s nothing deprived about them at all. That is simply a typical “I’ve been to the UK because I’ve only been to London or stayed down in the south of England” comment. I’ll tell you what, I wouldn’t trading in living up north compared to the hustle and bustle that is London that’s for sure.
June 26th 2009 @ 11:36pm
pothale said | June 26th 2009 @ 11:36pm | Report comment
Knowing a little bit about the company and its two founders through a former career, my view is that Setanta will likely go back to its roots – to where it started and what it was good at – showing games to ex-pats. Irish ex-pats. Followed closely by countries with a large Irish/Anglo base who have an interest in particular sports and/or games. Soccer internationals is where it started featuring Ireland. GAA matches for US, UK and Aus ex-pat audiences. Comps featuring Irish teams such as 6 Nations and Heineken Cup. Setanta Ireland, Setanta US and I think Setanta Aus are still trading. There is a couple of Ireland-based businesses that are looking at reviving/sustaining Setanta Ireland right now. What happens with that will likely dictate what happens elsewhere.
In my view, Setanta made a mistake in pursuing the whole SPL and EPL pot of gold, particularly going up against Sky. Pick a market niche, make yourself real good at it, and deliver quality time and again. Instead, like Topsy, they decided to grow and grow, but never could get the subscription base up sufficiently to sustain it.
It’s either back to basics or fold the tent, lads.
July 6th 2009 @ 10:57am
Tom Alexander. said | July 6th 2009 @ 10:57am | Report comment
It’s funny you should say that Viscount Brokeback because those funny little men in the North of England just happen to provide the best sportsman in all of England the best Football players the best Cricketers the best Rugby Union and League players not the Lazy Londoners or simple rural folk in the south but those funny little people OOP north.