Before a ball was kicked, the Super League heralded the 2012 season in controversial circumstances. The competition will be known as the Stobart Super League in a three-year deal.
The Stobart brand sees the FTSE 250 logistics company in a marketing-led approach to sponsor English rugby league’s flagship competition, which will not include cash.
This is seen as either a failure for the Rugby Football League to secure decent monetary sponsorship or an innovative marketing coup that will see the Super League brand on the side of 100 odd trucks (an addition of 100 more trucks each year of sponsorship) across the length and breath of the UK and Europe with clubs choosing their preferred trucking routes.
Independent marketing analysts have stated the value of such exposure ranges from £2.5 to £5 million pounds.
The sponsorship has already seen international brand Heinz come on board as associate Super League sponsors and a number of current sponsors re-signing. According to Marketing Week UK, Stobart Group will take over from Engage Mutual Assurance, who decided not to renew its deal after eight years – which was thought to be worth £1.2m a year – last April because the sport no longer fit with its strategy to target the over 50s market.
This is a great indication of the youthful audience that now watches Super League rugby league in the UK, as does in Australia.
Added, the RFL has informed media Super League is the second most watched domestic league outside of football in England. It estimates that 24 million people watch live coverage and highlights across Sky and the BBC each season.
Further, the number of registered rugby league players in England has broken the 100,000 mark according to the latest official RFL statistics. Open age higher education and further education participation runs at over 70 universities and 130 colleges with strong bases in the Midlands, which has 20 percent of higher education participation – in fact, students account for 3000 of the players.
There are also 23,000 students who compete in the Carnegie Champion Schools competition from southern England, Wales to Scotland. The Armed Forces currently has in excess of 40 teams which accounts for nearly 1000 players. There are just on 30,000 people aged over 16 who have played touch, tag, masters and wheelchair rugby league in 2011.
On the field, St Helens RLFC christened their £30 million stadium, Langtree Park, before 16,000 loyal fans. The stadium is fully owned by the club – debt free.
Salford City Reds also moved into their new stadium in a region crucial for Super League growth, greater Manchester. Additionally, Super League 2012 welcomed back Widnes Vikings, who have become the first professional sports club in the UK to install a state-of-the-art 4g pitch, the most technologically advanced playing surface in the world.
Catalan Dragons entered a revamped Gilbert Brutus Stadium with a new corporate-laden 2500 seater stand and a huge media backer in Al-Jazeera Sport, televising all home games.
The London Broncos reclaimed their old name in a welcome move from staunch supporters who had drifted away from the club. Results on the field will now determine if the Broncos become a success.
The Broncos were competitive in their first match of the season against St Helens, losing 34-24 at London Harlequins rugby union’s Twickenham Stoop before 6000 spectators.
Next Friday in the World Club Challenge, Leeds faces Manly Sea Eagles at Headingley before a sold-out 22,000 crowd and an expected large live TV audience for Sky Sports and highlights on BBC.
The first round of Super League was affected by shockingly cold weather but crowds averaged 10,000 plus and Sky Sport’s TV audience for the Widnes versus Wakefield kick-off was 75 percent higher than the corresponding kick-off in 2010, and second only to grand final audience figures at Old Trafford.
Such numbers indicate good times ahead for rugby league in the UK, or as Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney tweeted on the weekend, “Rugby league is far better than super bowl”, with some of the English Premier League’s big name players gracing rugby league stadiums as fans.
google
Guest
Rugby union in England is boring! I am rugby fan but watching guys play in the mud is terrible, League enjoys a good following thanks to the summer schedule, Union along with the French are looking to change their season to summer so interresting times ahead. Television fans attendence etc should mean that legue is richer but I think union benefits from internationals so overall union gets more exposure and money. League in england and Australia should always be bigger than Union because quite frankly those are the only leagues to watch worldwide! Union has Currie cup, Celtic league (ireland,wales, scotland and italy), Top 14, Heineken cup, NPC, Super rugby, Trinations (aus, NZ, SA and Argentina) , 6 nations not to mention a few tiny comps in Italy (proffesional comp) and 6 nations B league. IN south Africa where there is university league played on monday nights the crowds were all over 10,000 (4 games per week only) television records not available yet.
Kevin Higginson
Guest
Has anyone seen the suggestion from an RFL spokesman about creating more inter-hemisphere clashes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/17082173 I think this could be a great idea, how about 16 teams in each conference, in 4 groups of 4. Play home and way in group (6 matches) play home or away v another group in conference (4 matches) play home and away v eqaul ranked team in conference (2 matches) This gives 12 matches in own hemisphere The season could be completed by the addition of 4 inter-conference games (2 home & 2 away) 16 matches in total 2 matches in other conference Play offs - group winners plus next best 2 records in each conference Play off in each hemisphere before a Super Final at neutral venue, maybe in SA or UAE (in October/November)
trakl
Guest
It is a different Kovana in terms of the language used and the sentiments expressed - after all, the Kovana on this site wouldn't come onto the rugby league pages and glory in the Vichy government's role in the demise of French rugby league? Would he? The Catalans are not about to be removed - and are irrelevant as to the English "domestic" nature of Super League. Irrelevant too regarding the title of this thread and the burgeoning popularity of English rugby league. It will be interesting to see the ratings for tonight's Leeds v Manly clash and how far ahead of the Premiership or Heineken Cup they prove to be...
kovana
Guest
Different website. Different kovana :) Anyways. Until the catalans are removed, i dont think the Super League is the actual 'domestic' competition of england.. IMO.
trakl
Guest
Crowds are important and are being discussed in this thread - historically crowds in rugby league's 100+ year history have been superior to club rugby union's and, indeed, Super League's. (History tends to move more in cycles than in straight lines). Your "concession" that club rugby league is "more popular on TV" is welcome acknowledgement of a simple truth - however, the recent figures suggest that Super League's popularity vis-a-vis rugby union's Premiership has grown extravagantly. Rugby league's participation levels are growing now that the sport is not banned in the Armed Forces, universities, schools as it was for a mere 100 years or so... That should please anyone who comes on a rugby league thread to speak about the game he loves, shouldn't it? Or do you, as you write on Planet Rugby, glory in the Vichy ban and banishment of the sport of rugby league? Or is that a different Kovana?
kovana
Guest
So its more popular in TV ratings.. So how about in Terms of Crowds, Participants? Anyways.. Considering the fact Pro Rugby League had a 100+ year history. I will concede that Club League in England is more popular ON TV, than the 16 year old Club rugby games nowadays.
trakl
Guest
Kovana - Barb ratings provide weekly audience UK figures - giving England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rugby union followers a chance to watch in greater numbers club rugby union than is achieved by club rugby league. They don't. Last weekend a club rugby league game was on at exactly the same time as a Premiership rugby union game - Sky Sports 1 v Sky Sports 2. The former reportedly got a higher rating than last year's Grand Final and beat the latter by an extraordinary margin. What on earth have club rugby union TV ratings in Italy - which I imagine to be relatively tiny - and France to do with the thread's theme of Super League in 2012? And wouldn't it be nice if Super League games featuring Catalans, for example, were actually made available to as many people in France as club rugby union games? It might have a chance to rate even higher, mightn't it? A bit like NRL games which are studiously kept out of harm's way in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia - resulting in the AFL fan's cry that the game doesn't score highly enough to be televised in the first place Why is it so hard to acknowledge the simple statement of fact that club rugby league attracts many viewers more than club rugby union in this part of the world? And that the gap appears to be growing exponentially? Super League is simply vastly more popular than rugby union's Premiership in terms of TV ratings - all achieved on the back of an humiliating paucity of coverage courtesy of our national press.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
Kovana we are comparing tv ratings in England. Bit unfair to add France England etc. Plus I hear Al Jazeer Sport became interested in the Catalan Dragons when hearing their ratings were 300,000 plus in France with good viewership across all France and with minimal promotion by Orange TV (not wanting to step on union toes). They feel they can double this audience and beyond. France 3 Sud TV attracted 600,000 plus for their European league internationals and are very interested what the sport has to offer. The small acorns...
kovana
Guest
Where Trakl? In the UK only? Based on the Barb ratings only? Is the HC a solely UK based comp? How about the TV Ratings from France and RTE.. And even Italy.
trakl
Guest
That's a fair minded piece, Billo - except that Heineken Cup games too really are beaten quite regularly by Super League games in terms of TV ratings. And there really is no "probably" about Super League out-rating the (vastly greater publicised) Premiership - it habitually achieves this by clear margins. The first two rounds of this season suggest it has pulled even further ahead. All of this is achieved despite national newspapers in the main employing not a single dedicated rugby league writer - meaning no previews, no profiles/interviews of/with the great players and often the most sparse of match reports. Australian rugby union followers don't know how fortunate they are vis-a-vis newspaper coverage by comparison with their rugby league counterparts in England.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
Billo, thank you for your comments. I didn't want to write just a puff piece and I myself have reservations about the sponsorship deal which I did allude to. But then again I only read/hear about the bias of the 'establishment' in England toward league and come across it on forums like this, so maybe the RFL do the best they can under circumstances. The SL have comparable club attendances, great tv ratings, surveys suggest it has the right mix of viewer market etc but still struggle to attract a big value sponsor where is it seems RU have it thrown at them. I can't believe the RFL are that bad at selling a game. Added, the Aviva double headers would I imagine get excellent media build up to attract that many. Where as I heard the same build up was hardly afforded to millenium magic etc which seems an innovative idea. There must be a parliamentary RL group for a reason. You are right in that SL system is so less restrictive and we gage seen RL introduce some great innovations to British sport which union seems to follow but accolades only occur when union adopt it. Hopefully new structures the RFL have put in place today will have an effect down the track especially introducing expansion clubs like Hemel, Northampton, Coventry, Bristol down a few levels and prove their worth over a longer period. Then we'll see if establishment bias is deep or not.
Billo
Guest
As a rugby supporter who lives in London and played a bit of league as a postgraduate student while at university in England, I can hopefully be less biased than some of my fellow rugby Roarers. We all know that international rugby vastly outrates international league on the BBC, but as far as club rugby goes, it's a much closer battle when it comes to TV viewers. But it's fair to say that, in terms of Sky's TV audiences, the leaguies are probably winning it, at least when you compare the Aviva Premiership to the Super League. But when you compare the Heineken Cup to the Super League the viewing figures are much closer, and often come down marginally in favour of rugby. League has some advantages that rugby doesn't have. To start with, Super League is clearly its main comp, whereas for rugby the Aviva Premiership is secondary to the Heineken Cup. The result of that is a growing inequality in the Premiership between those clubs that expect to qualify for the Heineken Cup, and those that don't, which makes the whole competition relatively less attractive to crowds and viewers. Super League's structure gives it a better chance of expanding than the Premiership. It can incorporate new clubs in France and elsewhere within its existing structure, because of licensing, whereas rugby can't. On the other hand, the leaguies, as ever, don't seem to know how to market their own game. Rugby in England can boost its crowd figures by taking big games to big stadiums, but the league authorities seem to have very few good ideas about marketing their game. Their recent decision to accept no money for a title sponsorship in exchange for a few adverts on the side of some lorries is a terrible admission of failure. You have to admire rugby league players, but they are constantly let down, on both sides of the world, by the people who run their competitions.
trakl
Guest
Which merely repeats what I have said - Super League sometimes, but not always, out-rates rugby union's European Cup. The figures this year suggest that the Super League ratings are already going through the roof and no Heineken Cup game - let alone Premiership game - has come close. It might be the Wayne Rooney effect as he tweets his love of the game to his 3 million followers... It also doesn't gainsay the fact that the Super League has for years achieved far higher ratings than the Premiership - and continues to do so. The BBC's live coverage of rugby league's Challenge Cup takes the game to many more people still...
trakl
Guest
@steve.h - It is not pedantic to say that neither of the clubs you describe as London clubs plays in London - the distance, I grant, for Australians might not mean very much but for residents of this country a team playing in Reading, Berkshire and Watford, Hertfordshire has absolutely nothing at all to do with Greater London. They just don't. I've not questioned your attendances - but do insist actually that the Twickenham and Wembley blockbusters have an enormous effect in the season's averages for rugby union. I don't even know, for example, if one of the double headers at Twickenham will have the clubs "sharing" the attendance or allotted the full attendance? (Incidentally, the average for the Premiership recently mentioned by that competition's Chief Executive, has been questioned by some as being about 2000 spectators per game higher than the figures suggest...) The averages, for example, for the seasons run concurrently - with the Twickenham game taken out of the equation - might be very similar indeed. Your point about the Heineken Cup is a good one - but remember that TV ratings for the Heineken Cup are often - not always - beaten by a run-of-the-mill Super League game. The BBC's live coverage of rugby league's Challenge Cup gives these clubs a much wider platform than the broadcasting of rugby union clubs' exploits...
Matt_S
Roar Pro
And Kovana, compare the media hype of both finals. Its a disgrace the union doesn't get higher ratings. In the Monday Times after the SL final, Britain's largest crowd for that weekend got less than a qtr page. The HC got 5 pages, prior & after. That is why league has had to form a parliamentary group to fight against the bias & at times downright injustices against this sport. But you unionists don't want to see that. Go away from these threads pls.
kovana
Guest
The SL 2011 Final had 319K for their Final. The Heineken Cup had 400K.
steve.h
Guest
Really......they are all within 25-45 km of London city center very pedantic argument and completely irrelevant. Its two teams in the league, you ignore more famous clubs like the harlequins, tigers, saints, Gloucester, Bath whose attendance are above the 11000 mark and in the case of the Tigers ranges around 20000. These clubs are the real reason why the Union figures are better than leagues. Not two blockbuster events every season. To focus on those two clubs would be the same if I focused on less performing teams (attendance wise) in league. The difference is that these teams can still bring in 82000 people to a game whereas I highly the broncos or widnes could muster more than 10000 to a game.I further think you cant look at the premiership isolation, there is still the Heineken Cup. @ Mr Posh, If they were getting anything near what they were getting in 1996 then there would have been no point in pronouncing rugby as professional sport. Essentially what I was trying to get as the RFU and the English public only began to take rugby seriously as a club sport post 1996. Where league only has club rugby there is a lot more going on in Rugby Union.
trakl
Guest
As you say the "SL has higher ratings than the AP." Crowds do have something to do with it - they're discussed here too. Framing the strength or otherwise of French rugby league purely on Catalans would indeed be ludicrous - framing debate about the Super League as representing the health of top flight English rugby league is apt. How would ratings differ were the French side to be replaced by a grand old traditional club - except improve even more? (And remember too that Super League ratings more often than not beat rugby union's European Cup). Incidentally, directly up against a Premiership rugby union match at exactly the same time in the second round of Super League saw a huge margin of victory for the latter over the former.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
Great news with GEM televising the WCC live at 5.45am Saturday morning, and Fox replaying 9am, and again on Ch. 9 at 2.30pm (QLD times).
sledgeross
Guest
Its simple paranoia guys, dont let them get to you. Superleague is nice to watch, slightly different to NRL, but with charms of its own. I would love for Nine to show more games so we can watch the AUssies playing over there.