The Lower League Apocalypse

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After a few weeks of negative news, the Magic Weekend gave us reasons to feel cheerful about rugby league. On Tuesday, we were brought back down to earth with a bump with the news that London Broncos would move towards being a part time club.

It was a sad day for the sport as England's capital no longer has a full time professional rugby league club for the first time in over 25 years.

London's statement attributed "a vastly reduced central distribution in 2022" to the decision to move towards a part-time operation. There are not many full-time teams in the Championship but that does not mean that the pressures are not felt by other clubs.

Rochdale Hornets, to name but one club, are set to face a 78% reduction in their central funding from 2022, according to this tweet by its chairman, Andy Mazey.

The Root Cause?

This situation has arisen from Super League's new broadcast deal, due to take effect from next season. Its value is substantially reduced from the previous broadcast deal. This is far from unique as broadcasters feel the squeeze, rugby union and cricket have the same financial black holes to fill for the same reason.

Rugby league has always been in a financially precarious position so this hit is felt more acutely. The Huddersfield Examiner reports that the RFL will receive £5M from this deal, compared to £10M from the last deal. The distribution for lower league clubs also falls by 50%.

The newspaper report states that some League 1 clubs are braced for a 75% cut in revenue, confirmed by Mazey's above tweet.

The Solution?

How can any business survive such a drop in income? Especially given the challenges of the last 18 months? Especially rugby league clubs who were already struggling? I am not sure if all of them can.

As it does every few years, rugby league is talking about restructuring its leagues from 2023 onwards. The suggested model would see two leagues of 10 teams. Currently, the three professional and semi-professional leagues contain 36 teams.

So under this proposed structure, what happens to the remaining 16 who are not in the 2 x 10 structure? Will they revert to amateur status? Will they simply die?

Historic clubs like Batley, Hunslet, Swinton, Oldham, Rochdale and Keighley are at risk. These clubs may not be at the forefront of today's game but that was not always the case. Batley won the first ever Challenge Cup. Swinton has hosted some of the biggest matches of the 20th century and even beat the Australian national team once upon a day! Hunslet once held all major trophies in the game at once.

You Don't Know What You've Got

I do not know what the answer to our obvious funding problems, but it cannot be to allow these sides to perish. 

History is not all that you would lose. You may lose the connection between Rochdale and local Fijian community. You disconnect hotbeds of talent. The next Alex Walmsley or Matty Ashton may never play professionally.

Super League clubs do control the wider sport in this country. A degree of self-interest will be inevitable. However, if the sport chooses to cut off our lower clubs in an attempt to save themselves, then we will all suffer. 

You do not know what you've got until its gone. And if we as a sport allow several clubs to slip further into obscurity or extinction then it will be a moment of shame for the sport, the likes of which we have not known for a long time, or perhaps ever.

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