• NRL
• NRL Fixtures
• NRL Grand Final
• State of Origin
• Kangaroos
• NRL Tipping
• NRL RSS
• NRL photos

The Crowd Says (111) | Page 1 of Comments

• June 2nd 2012 @ 2:14am
  Johnno said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:14am | Report comment

  Rugby union is still much much much much more dominant than rugby league in France.
  But with the Dragons in the english super league it is making good inroads and getting pockets or scraps if you like from rugby.
  so that is good for rugby league. Rugby league in france is baed in the south and is getting a nice little niche market with the catalyn dragons. So good luck to rugby league would be great for rugby league if france get world class at rugby league again and have a strong national team. But in the code war in france still a long way behind rugby union. In tv ratings, attendances, and junior development, and playing numbers. Rugby union is still no1 in France by a long way. but good for rugby league trying in France and trying to get some market share,

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:27am
    allblackfan said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:27am | Report comment

    johnno, wake up!
    soccer is still king followed by rugby union!
    Good for you for talking up French rugby league but do u really think it has to be associated with a TV channel that even terrorists like sending their video clips to!!!

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:53am
      Johnno said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:53am | Report comment

      allblackfan i was not comparing soccer here mate. I was comparing just rugby league vs rugby union. Soccer is still king in france no question but rugby is gaining momentum though it can’t be denied if tv ratings, and junior participation are indicators in france, and french top 14 and HEK cup rugby.

      With the terrorists sending there video clips they send there video clips to all major tv stations all the big ones, and you wool deb amazed who CNN do interview with you name it. I watch loads of CNN and they do 1 on 1 interviews with some of the most ruthless dictators in the world . Robert Mugabe or Zimbabwe as one example i recently watched an interview with done by CNN .

      So I have no problem with Al Jazeera or any other media station, the media interviewing terrorists or dictators, becoz it educated the world’s population more about there agenda and combats terrorism not helps, it overall as more regular people know about it terrorism and world events,
      not just intellectuals or politicians.

      ANd CNN do it all the time i have just given you the Mugabe interview i could put it up here but I wont as not really sport.

      And Al Jazeera channel is coming to foxtel Australia this year sometime this year for free as part of there new packages, as is ( (CCTV) channel which is china central television channel also coming to foxtel Australia and china is not a democracy.

      Heck 60 minutes Australia on channel 9 have interviewed some bad people over the years war criminals to dictators, all stations and many tv shows and media companies do allblackfan , so no big deal with terrorists sending there video clips to Al Jazeera as they do to many other media stations who are seen as so called nice media stations.

      Heck the IRA used to always send video clips to media stations in england and newspapers and there opinions and agendas would get noted, so so bad people in the world send there information and clips to all media stations , and it is very hard too define who is the so called good media stations and bad media stations or networks in this sadly corrupt world a lot of the time.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 3:53am
      JVGO said | June 2nd 2012 @ 3:53am | Report comment

      Allblackfan, you are letting your preconceptions and prejudices show here. Al Jazeera is an extremely credible netwok. I would trust it over channel 9 any day, or most American Networks, definitely over Fox..

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 4:18am
      Patrick Angel said | June 2nd 2012 @ 4:18am | Report comment

      Wow, either you’re very simple, very xenephobic or both. You do realise those videos get sent to everyone, including the news networks with non-Arabic names right?

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:22am
      Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:22am | Report comment

      That is a rubbish comment AB fan,even CNN had a reporter doing an interview with OBL years ago,and he was a known terrorist.
      BTW rl in France is on the up,after all the false dawns and debacles of the past.get used to it.
      Having the tV channel involved ,with influence in the Middle east ,is a good thing not a negative.
      What the hell has the strength of iu in France,got to do with rl securing Tv rights or growing for that matter.The insecurity at times is mind boggling.
      Tv channels in the US and here interview some low lifes for a story.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 9:48am
      sheek said | June 2nd 2012 @ 9:48am | Report comment

      ABF/Johnno/Others,

      Actually rugby union was the top football code in France until they hosted & won FIFA 1998. Then football took over, with its immigrant wave of outstanding stars in the 1990s & early 2000s.

      But football in France at this time somewhat mirrored rugby union in Australia. While intensely popular, it failed to bed-down deep roots that would sustain it when the golden generation passed on.

      Consequently, rugby union appears to have reclaimed the top ground. Much like rugby league reclaiming ground it lost to rugby union in Australia. Or so it seems.

      Rugby league in France can’t claim any massive improvement. It has fallen so, so, so, so far. Back in the early 1950s it was arguably the strongest rugby league team in the world (there were 4 very good nations in France, Great Britain, New Zealand & Australia).

      France remained highly competitive until the early 1970s, but it has been a steady downhill fall since then. Today, they don’t rank among the top 6 or 7 rugby league nations, which is very poor, considering their former history & status, & the relative low number of rugby league playing nations.

      But I guess you have to rebuild somewhere & sometime…..

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 10:14am
        MV Dave said | June 2nd 2012 @ 10:14am | Report comment

        On what basis do you suggest that RU has reclaimed top ground from football? Around 10 million spectators attended Ligue 1and 2 games compared to around 4 million for the RU top two divisions. Football has a TV deal reaching close to $1 Billion per season with Top 14 TV deal around $50 million per year http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/canal_plus_retains_top_14_with_multi-million_dollar_deal/

        • June 2nd 2012 @ 9:38pm
          sheek said | June 2nd 2012 @ 9:38pm | Report comment

          MV Dave,

          I did read it in a recent article, perhaps even the Guardian, but I’m no longer sure where.

          If I can be bothered to find it, I’ll let you know.

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 10:32am
        jamesb said | June 2nd 2012 @ 10:32am | Report comment

        Thanks Sheek

        I was going to mention that League was strong in France in the 1950s. The other points I agree with.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 12:39pm
      JZ said | June 2nd 2012 @ 12:39pm | Report comment

      so if the all blacks didnt get played on tv and the kiwis did would the all blacks be as big still i think not, tv plays a huge part if promotion

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 1:08pm
        p.Tah said | June 2nd 2012 @ 1:08pm | Report comment

        Ummmm… Yes the ABs would still be king

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 12:33pm
    Lazy Ted Failyou said | June 2nd 2012 @ 12:33pm | Report comment

    RL is going backwards in Europe and has been for years, it peaked in the mid 1950s. Union is professional, has all the big clubs, the major cities, the entire box ‘n’ dice. Sydney, Australia is the final holdout. Just like those Japanese soldiers left on isolated Pacific islands after the end of the war for decades.

    Give it up Sydney, the jig is up!

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:12pm
      Cman said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:12pm | Report comment

      @ Lazy Ted Failyou. It’s going to be ok Mate. RL won’t hurt you. You don’t need to be scared.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:22pm
      Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:22pm | Report comment

      LOL going backwards.That is why govts like the Ukraine has given rugby league full recognition. That is why the code has received grants from the European Sports CommissionTthat is why the code secured stage 3 Commonwealth Govt recognition.
      Go to the RLEF website for the 2011 Annual Report.

      If people are going to make ill informed statements,better to do it in private ,than in a public domain.

      BTW the same Japan ,despite losing the war,became an economic powerhouse.Ditto Germany.

      History obviously not well learnt.

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 7:33pm
        Lazy Ted Failyou said | June 2nd 2012 @ 7:33pm | Report comment

        Ukraine !?

        That is funny.

        No doubt Borat will be captain of the Chernobyl first team.

        • June 2nd 2012 @ 11:03pm
          Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 2nd 2012 @ 11:03pm | Report comment

          How is rugby union going in PNG?

          A professional rugby league team is on the verge of entering the Queensland Cup for the 2013 season. The Prime Minister has pledged to donate K1.5 million to it and a major sponsor is already on board. The squad for the team will consist of 25 full-time athletes who were born and bred in PNG.

          How is PNG's professional rugby union team going?

          Oh, they don't have one?

          http://www.pncpng.com/pdf/20120514_pma_pnc_pr_media_alert_rugby_league_bid.pdf
          Well that's just too bad, eh?

          How's rugby union going in Lebonon?

          Rugby league is miles ahead of rugby union in Lebonon.

          Go troll some where else.

        • June 2nd 2012 @ 11:49pm
          strayrabbit said | June 2nd 2012 @ 11:49pm | Report comment

          Lazy Ted Failyou check out rugbyleagueplanet.com league is on the rise in europe…….

        • June 3rd 2012 @ 11:51am
          Crosscoder said | June 3rd 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment

          It may well be funny,but a fact nonetheless and it appears uncomfortable for some.

          Funny that a country with 3 times the population of Australia,where the Govt has granted that recogniton status ,opening up many opportunities.

          http://www.rlef.eu.com/news/article/400/rl-receives-full-government-recognition.

          So Lazy TF you may be right ,it is so funny, rugby league in that country is now laughing.They have their own comp,and Borat can play any time he so wishes.
          And coming from Chernobyl he speaks of you in glowing terms.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 4:32pm
      Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 2nd 2012 @ 4:32pm | Report comment

      Since when has Brisbane been a rugby union city?

      The only schools that it play the game in Brisbane are the GPS schools, where rugby league is banned by old bigotswho are realise no kid would play union if they had the choice of playing league. Some of the kids who play in the union teams at the GPS schools play junior rugby league on the weekend for their nearest club.

      Brisbane is a rugby league city. If you don’t believe it then come here and see for yourself. Only a few old snobs who choose to live in a fantasy world give a stuff about union up here.

      Rugby league has grown immensely over Europe since the turn of the century. Now played in more countries across Europe than ever.

      Go troll some where else.

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 7:35pm
        Lazy Ted Failyou said | June 2nd 2012 @ 7:35pm | Report comment

        Brisbane, they just follow what the big towns tell them to do. Might be time for little Brisbane to start thinking for themselves and get your hands out of our pockets with all the tax handouts we are forced to hand over to the ‘Greece of Australia’.

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 10:21pm
        Beba said | June 2nd 2012 @ 10:21pm | Report comment

        Lies removed. Thanks, Roar mods.

        • June 2nd 2012 @ 10:59pm
          Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 2nd 2012 @ 10:59pm | Report comment

          Beba,

          The Broncos’s average attendance is bigger than the Reds. It wasn’t that long ago that the Reds were averaging less than 20,000 to their games. The Broncos have averaged 32,000 to 34,000 to their games over the last 6 or 7 seasons.

          The Broncos have over 25,000 members. I don’t know how many of them are ticketed members. Neither do you, so stop pretending you do.

          You don’t know if the Reds have 35,000 ticketd members. Many of their crowds are well under 35,000, so I’m guessing that the real number is well below the figure you stated.

          Television ratings are interesting. Rugby league kills rugby union in Brisbane on TV, as well as in crowd figures. An under-20′s NRL match featuring the Broncos would outrate a Reds match on Foxtel (in Brisbane) more often than than not.

          The FTA networks overlooked the Super 15 when the recent rugby TV deal was signed because they know just how unpopular it is in Brisbane and Sydney. If they thought there was genuine interest in it then they would have jumped at the opportunity to televise it.

          Participation rates are well in rugby league’s favour. THere would be at least 3 or 4 times more people playing rugby league in Brisbane, even though some of the GPS schools ban their students from playing league!

          • June 3rd 2012 @ 9:22am
            Matt_S said | June 3rd 2012 @ 9:22am | Report comment

            QGIRL, the Reds have given away free memberships to juniors who sign up for a local junior union club hence the ‘explosion’ in memberships.

            I’m surprised the moderators allow such attacks & lies and one must question their general sporting knowledge??

        • June 3rd 2012 @ 11:54am
          Crosscoder said | June 3rd 2012 @ 11:54am | Report comment

          Beba.
          Research my good man.The Broncos have over 20,000 members.The misinformation or downright untruths presented by a couple of ru types on this forum,beggars belief,and shows the moderation is open to abuse.

          When the Reds appear on FTA TV and secure the constant FTA and Pay Tv ratings the Broncos achieve,get back to us.

      • June 3rd 2012 @ 11:01pm
        Big Kev said | June 3rd 2012 @ 11:01pm | Report comment

        Mate you are dreaming. The Reds get 30,000 a game. Rugby is huge in Brissy

        • June 3rd 2012 @ 11:25pm
          Ian Whitchurch said | June 3rd 2012 @ 11:25pm | Report comment

          Big Kev,

          More accurately, the Reds get 30 000 a game when they are winning. Their long term average is more like about 19k

        • June 4th 2012 @ 1:04am
          Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 4th 2012 @ 1:04am | Report comment

          “Crowds are already up by 29 per cent in 2011, with an average attendance of 29,436 watching the Reds win seven of their eight home games in their charge to top of the competition standings.

          A 50,000-strong crowd for Saturday’s clash with the Blues would give the Reds a season average of 31,723 eclipsing the current mark of NRL giants the Broncos, who are attracting 30,932 per game.”

          http://m.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/reds-crowds-set-to-overtake-broncos-20110628-1gp5p.html

          Maths isn’t my strong suit, but if my calculations are correct, then the Reds average for 2010 was 20,900.

          The Broncos average for 2011 turned out to be 33,209. Their average for 2010 was 35,032. The last time their average was down around the Reds’ 2010 average was in 2002 (20,131).

          http://stats.rleague.com/rl/crowds/brisbane.html

          The Lions were averaging around 30,000 during their successful period. Does that mean Aussie rules was huge in Brisbane?

          The participation rate for Aussie rules in Brisbane isn’t that high. Same goes for rugby union. If you don’t count the few GPS schools that force it down the students throat, then very few people are playing it.

          Rugby league has way more registered players in Brisbane. Unlike rugby union, the junior competitions are propped up by GPS school teams. Take away the GPS school teams and the junior union competitions would shrink in size.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 4:53pm
      Renegade said | June 2nd 2012 @ 4:53pm | Report comment

      Ted,

      You should drop the ‘Lazy’, ‘Ted’ and ‘you’ from your name and just keep – FAIL.

      • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:01am
        The Link said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:01am | Report comment

        Lazy Ted Failyou – classic AFL strategy to lambast international RL, it’s just so boring.

        and now RU has all the major cities in Europe locked up!!

        International RL goes ok, what the trolls don’t understand is it doesn’t need to be as popular as RU to be successful, just it’s own nieche. France is a good example, RL doesn’t need to dominate there, just needs to be big enough to offer a choice and footy pathway which it is getting with the dragons and this 2nd tier league.

        Sheek, I’ve heard a few things on this site but the claim that RU is bigger than Football in France is dillusional. RU is going OK as an international sport, but the hubris of its fans knows no bounds sometimes.

        • June 3rd 2012 @ 12:50pm
          Col Quinn said | June 3rd 2012 @ 12:50pm | Report comment

          Just on French RL. The game was banned by the Nazi Vichy regime, who gave all the RL resources to the French RU. Up to then French RU was in decline. Most of the French RL players went and joined the Resistance many were killed fighting the nazis. I wont go into what some of the French RU stars, of the time, were doing and what uniform they were wearing. In the 1950s the French, being the French, elected a right wing governement, who banned the use of the name Rugby League and commenced a political campaign against the French RL. I understand this was revenge for the French RL siding with left wing restance groups during WW2. It was even banned from being broadcast on TV! This lasted up to the 1970s, when anti discimination action started to undo the damage done. By then it was to late and the selfish attiitude of English RL Club owners further exasperated the situation by trying to curtail international RL. This is all factual history. RL is starting to expand in France again, mainly due to SKY TV and French business, now not constrained by political interferance, is starting to invest in French RL. When you speak to French sporting journalist there is much embarrisment over the treatment of French RL by the past French governments and lack of action by the media on the past discrimination. As for the rest of Europe most European countries have national RL side, where in the past RL was never played. Such is the popularity in the Netherlands and Germany that there are campaigns for both these countries to have Super League sides. RL in Germany is growing so quickly that german sports comentators suggest that it will be the second largest code of football in 10 years. Now Lazy Ted how about a bit of humour in your comments instead of vitriole. RL will never over take RU but what is wrong with RL having reasonable sporting presence around the world.

          • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:18pm
            Maximus said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:18pm | Report comment

            German RL – a million miles behind soccer and down with RU, Gailic footy, NFL and AFL…

• June 2nd 2012 @ 2:58am
  matthew said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:58am | Report comment

  Rugby league hasn’t got a prayer in France. They’ve got all the sports they want and are over-saturated: football, basketball, handball. League is a novelty sport in France and has no potential for growth.

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:32am
    Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:32am | Report comment

    As rugby league is in fact growing,that makes your observation look rather lame.

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:47am
    Tiger said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment

    So sport that has grown considerably over the last decade and now has 30k participants with the aim of 50k in 2015 and another team in super league has no room for growth?

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 9:42am
    jdubya said | June 2nd 2012 @ 9:42am | Report comment

    You do realise that RL was the dominant rugby code in France before WW2 when it was banned and had its assests seized and given to RU? Of course you don’t.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 11:17am
      Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 11:17am | Report comment

      jdubya.
      You are not supposed to bring that up LOL.For some it was overblown,never happened or just an excuse.Yet the French govt in 2002 advised the complete opposite,and did some finger pointing.
      I mean what would a commission know, after deep investigative work ,have any idea.

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 3:48pm
        jdubya said | June 2nd 2012 @ 3:48pm | Report comment

        Tell me about it…

        if it was up to the Union guys we get on here the same thing would happen in Australia. They keep trying to kill us but we keep coming back stronger.

        • June 2nd 2012 @ 4:34pm
          Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 2nd 2012 @ 4:34pm | Report comment

          They do it in the GPS schools over here. Time for the state government to stop funding the GPS schools until the blatant discrimination against rugby league ends.

          • June 2nd 2012 @ 4:56pm
            jdubya said | June 2nd 2012 @ 4:56pm | Report comment

            Same thing happens in the GPS schools in Sydney, they are literally the only schools (apart from a handful of public schools) in the state who are keeping junior rugby alive and would rather allow Bird Flu into their grounds than Rugby League.

            The union types discriminate against league because people have shown again and again that they prefer League, when it is given a fair run.

          • June 2nd 2012 @ 6:31pm
            Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 2nd 2012 @ 6:31pm | Report comment

            The government needs to grow a backbone and tell the union bridage to shape up or go the way of the dodo. I suppose the one good thing about the discrimination is it galvanises the rugby league community. I refuse to have anything to do with rugby union because I detest its militant stance against rugby league.

          • June 2nd 2012 @ 6:49pm
            Emric said | June 2nd 2012 @ 6:49pm | Report comment

            QGIRL

            What militant stance is that?

          • June 3rd 2012 @ 11:04pm
            Big Kev said | June 3rd 2012 @ 11:04pm | Report comment

            The stance RU took after years and years of RL poaching its best players no?

          • June 4th 2012 @ 1:22am
            Queensland's Game Is Rugby League said | June 4th 2012 @ 1:22am | Report comment

            Rugby league has always been a professional sport. Its modus operandi was to reward its athletes. The RFU chose to be amateur because it was run by a bunch of fatcats who wanted to keep all of the money to themselves. Don’t blame rugby league for the RFU’s incompetence and refusal to get with the times.

            The RFU was given all sorts of entitlements from the British military and private schools under the pretence that it was an amateur sport. Rugby union made under-the-table payments to their best players to keep them in the game. The British military introduced the sport to some countries around the world, free of charge. Rugby league was barred from the British military until the 1990s. Private schools in England, New Zealand, Brisbane and Sydney have favoured the game since the 1900s. Private schools still bar rugby league.

            Vichy is the most disgraceful incident in the history of all sports. Any self-respecting rugby union fan would feel a great sense of shame for the injustice that the FFR and Vichy heaped upon the FFR 13. Rugby union supporters on this site still continue to dismiss the incident. That makes them almost as bad as the criminals from the Vichy era.

            Take away the militant support that 6 private schools in Brisbane and Sydney give rugby union and it would crumble.

      • June 3rd 2012 @ 8:47am
        sledgeandhammer said | June 3rd 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment

        Irrelevant, given rugby league was booming in the 1950s in France. Clearly League did recover 100%. So why did league in France die out by the 1970s? Was it the Vichy Government rising from the grave?

        • June 3rd 2012 @ 12:06pm
          Crosscoder said | June 3rd 2012 @ 12:06pm | Report comment

          Well sledgehammer(in denial mode) it didn’t recover 100% To suggest it did is utter BS..It did not receive Govt funding as it was not officially recognised for decades,and youth gravitated to the offical code as a result.
          The time immediate post war had remnants(players young and old) of the 40s era .No assets and little in teh way of funds.

          You do understand no school assistance,no govt grants,no ability to call yourself rugby league but “game of X111″.If that is not relevant then nothing happened in 41.

          The proof is now in the pudding with govt recognition,ability to get into schools the game is growing.
          Why do you think the Govt having a Commission into Sport under Vichy ,the results out in 2002,because it had no long term affect on the codes? Because it did,

          I will let you into another secret the FRU paid their players in the amateur years prior to 95,and any decent rl player of note jumped at the chance.

          • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:11pm
            Maximus said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:11pm | Report comment

            Good point CC

            RL derived from RU but took Rugby in their name – surely there would have been corporate ownership there…

          • June 3rd 2012 @ 3:15pm
            Crosscoder said | June 3rd 2012 @ 3:15pm | Report comment

            Well no Maximus.Until such time as rugby league is legally not entitiled to include rugby in its name,it is legally entitiled to fight for the right to do so,when it is denied.Which is exactly what happened in France.
            There are in fact two codes of rugby.They are differentiated by one being union and one league
            One can argue that soccer is the only code entitiled ti use the name football ,yet we have various codes using football in their moniker.

            We know who took over the corpoarte ownership in 41 and for the next 50 years or so..

• June 2nd 2012 @ 4:56am
  allblackfan said | June 2nd 2012 @ 4:56am | Report comment

  Wow, thanks for the response, guys!
  Not wanting to dive into this because we can get so easily sidetracked.
  BUT … I work in mainstream media. I trust AJ no more than I would US, UK or Aust media like Fox, AAP, Reuters, Agence France Presse, etc

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:25am
    Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:25am | Report comment

    it’s called freedom of the press.If you trust AJ no more than the others,I suggest you not work in mainstream media,as that would indeed be hypocritical..

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 1:45pm
    JVGO said | June 2nd 2012 @ 1:45pm | Report comment

    On that basis it seems like a pretty dumb comment then.

• June 2nd 2012 @ 5:15am
  Oethesaint said | June 2nd 2012 @ 5:15am | Report comment

  Matt s this all sounds tops but the “2013-14 summer league” is confusing. If the league overlaps 2013-14 doesn’t that make it a winter
  League in France? Or will it be played in the summer in France in mid 2013 or 2014 (in the off season of the current elite one championship that runs October through to May roughly?)

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:04pm
    Matt_S said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:04pm | Report comment

    Oethesaint, yes that is one of the questions that has arisen over this proposal. Will the Elite continue to run during the winter, will this new professional league be above the elite comp? These are questions yet to be answered but will be interesting indeed. Not too sure of the figures I have but this proposed comp will have a salary cap of about 2.5-3 million euros per club. Again, I can’t substantiate this just yet.

    For other posters who suggest league is wasting its time in France-boo hoo too bad. Does that mean union should pull up stumps in the USA? They have basketball, Ice hockey, American Football & baseball after all. To me that is a definition of a crowded sporting market. If a sport wants to promote its product ten that’s for the sport and its supporters. Any negative talk seems to be one of either ignorance or fear.

    There is a market for league in France. 16,000 for an international against the Irish Wolfhounds in Avignon a year back or so would have been unheard of only a couple of years back. Catalans are doing wonders in their region and surrounds with stadium development, corporate backing which attracts blue chip sponsorship like Emirates & AXA, and on the road games to Barcelona (22,000 I think), and next Weekend v Wigan in Montpellier at the soccer stadium. With Al Jazeera jumping on board and Toulouse beginning a new stadium re-developement, just slam dunk this no potential drivel.

    • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:13pm
      Maximus said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:13pm | Report comment

      Aust v France drew how many in Paris a couple of years back. 5K ?? I think Vichy manned the gates…

      • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:37pm
        Matt_S said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:37pm | Report comment

        Paris is a hard nut to crack for most sports. Union pours millions of euros into staging free games courtesy of rich backers, get 80,000 then when they return to their small stadiums back to 7,000 with 5,000 empty seats. There are only so many interested Southern French expats living in Paris.

        5,000 is a start and when & if France XIII can compete against the kangaroos then crowds may come back. When there was a chance of France XIII beating the Kiwis, 16,000 came to watch, so their is potential. But according to unionites there is ‘zero’potential. I dislike your ignorance, fear, and at times questionable alliances.

        And maximus, please do not trivialise Vichy. many people were hurt/murdered/killed through Vichy.

      • June 3rd 2012 @ 3:20pm
        Crosscoder said | June 3rd 2012 @ 3:20pm | Report comment

        At least in Paris they didn’t sprinkle glass on the field Maximus.
        The code would be lucky to own gates,as they lost the lot.Or to be precise had their assets purloined with the support of…..read the Commmissions findings.

• June 2nd 2012 @ 6:23am
  D Maaga said | June 2nd 2012 @ 6:23am | Report comment

  There is a strong chance that Al Jazeera TV will wrestle French ProD2 rugby and Federal 1&2 rugby from Canal TV according to Serge Blanco.

• June 2nd 2012 @ 6:23am
  D Maaga said | June 2nd 2012 @ 6:23am | Report comment

  There is a strong chance that Al Jazeera TV will wrestle French ProD2 rugby and Federal 1&2 rugby from Canal TV according to Serge Blanco.

• June 2nd 2012 @ 6:54am
  Brad said | June 2nd 2012 @ 6:54am | Report comment

  There’s no doubt that sport in France has reached saturation point and the current economic climate is probably not the best time to be starting a new sporting competition. The ligue 1 is struggling however, crowd averages dropped below 20,000 for the first time in a decade and it’s believed that in 2 years top14 and ligue 1 attendances will be the same. A recent survey in l’equipe showed that 59% of respondents would rather support the national rugby team than the football team. Rugby league has always had a passionate following so there is no doubt support would be there for a well run competition.

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 7:45am
    MV Dave said | June 2nd 2012 @ 7:45am | Report comment

    Brad you do understand that a number of the football stadiums are being renovated with reduced capacities eg Marseille (down to 40,000 from normal 60,000) and new ones being built for Euro 2016 eg Lille, Lyon. Also there are a number of smaller teams with understandably smaller attendances currently in Ligue 1 and this can change depending upon promotion and relegation (eg Lens ave attendance in Ligue 2 was 22,000 this season). Football even in such a situation, still has much higher attendances than the Rugby…and this won’t change any time soon.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:05pm
      Tigranes said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:05pm | Report comment

      MV Dave

      most rugby teams play out of smaller stadiums as well. I understand Top 14 averages about 14-15K per game, the Ligue 1 averages just under 20,000 and this figure has decreased. Im not sure if this qualifies as much higher attendances – plenty of soccer supporters in Australia insist that the 10,000 average for the HAL is “not far behind” the 19,000 average for the NRL.

      The issue for rugby was that the majority of the teams were located in the south and southwest – new clubs are arising in the north and eastern areas and Paris now has 2 clubs.

      • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:40pm
        MV Dave said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:40pm | Report comment

        Also read my response to Sheek above…the differences are much higher.

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:20am
    D Maaga said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:20am | Report comment

    rugby is now a major sport in france but it will never challenge soccer as number even if top 14 crowds are up.

• June 2nd 2012 @ 7:13am
  D Maaga said | June 2nd 2012 @ 7:13am | Report comment

  Interesting reading and this could be good for French rugby when Canal+ Top 14 rights end in 2016 because they will now have a serious competitor in Al Jazeera sports.

  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/02/us-aljazeera-sports-idUSBRE8310O720120402

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 8:07pm
    Matt_S said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:07pm | Report comment

    Also good news for rugby league because the likes of Canel Plus won’t have the same loyalty to union if that sport moves on. They will also come to see league as a great sporting product the same way Al Jazeera sport has.

    It’s a win win situation for sport.

    • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:15pm
      Maximus said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:15pm | Report comment

      French RL are gunna does this and gunna do that. Good news on the Al Jezeera front but dont go overboard is all we are saying – there have many false French RL dawns before….

      • June 3rd 2012 @ 1:39pm
        Matt_S said | June 3rd 2012 @ 1:39pm | Report comment

        Scared?

• June 2nd 2012 @ 7:39am
  Bellringer said | June 2nd 2012 @ 7:39am | Report comment

  Of course Blanco would be worried about D2 rights because that’s where Biarritz will be playing rugby very soon.
  –
  Comment left via The Roar’s iPhone app. Download The Roar’s iPhone App in the App Store here.

• June 2nd 2012 @ 8:30am
  Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 8:30am | Report comment

  I note the general thrust of the article is about rugby league getting on Al Jazeera and the planned summer comp with 13 teams.

  .From what Ihave established we get the usual run of ,but ru is doing this ,doing that, over there.Good on them,but what has that to do with what rl is doing?

  After what rl has been though over the decades, this is indeed goodnews, for what most rl fans regard is a minor but growing sport in France

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 11:32am
    League fan said | June 2nd 2012 @ 11:32am | Report comment

    I agree Crosscoder there seems to be a lot of comments about what RU is doing but who cares this article has got nothing to do with RU. It is great news that RL has big ambitions in France. International RL needs more competive nations and hopefully France can develop their game to the good old days of the 50′s and 60′s where they use to play Australia in front of crowds of over 50,000.

    It is also interesting that France will be hosting some games next year in the world cup. This can only be further good news and I am sure they will get great support.

  • June 2nd 2012 @ 11:38am
    Zippa said | June 2nd 2012 @ 11:38am | Report comment

    Crosscroder are you looking forward to the world cup next year. It will be interesting to see how France go. Hopefully with all this RL development in France this will flow through to the national team and it will be good to see them competive again. I am also interested in seeing how the USA perform.

    • June 2nd 2012 @ 2:34pm
      Crosscoder said | June 2nd 2012 @ 2:34pm | Report comment

      Zippa indeed so,whilst the code has a dreaded habit of shooting itself in the foot,it has this remarkable resilience of getting back on its bike and pedalling on to its final destination.

      What I have gleaned by what is happening in France,Germany,Italy,Malta,Czech,Serbia,Ukraine,the UK and Scandanavia,the game is growing,bringing new players on board,getting into schools and unis,to varying degrees,all done with limited funding but an ever increasing number of volunteers.

      Judging by the quality of junior French rl players,they may well have something to work with in 2013.
      Agree the US will be worth watching to see how much they have progressed.It is of itself good to seem them make it ,in the first place.