Fanscene wrote:I agree about the quality of coverage from BBC Alba, but.....
I did mean one broadcaster. The coverage is a bit fragmented though BBC Wales and Northern Ireland. I am massive advocate of the BBC and coverage of sport, but I don't think from a Scotland perspective, we are getting value.
Has the interest in club rugby increased due to the coverage in terms of attendance. I genuinely don't think so (although we had been pretty dire for a few years). I think coverage of Internationals has been the driver in interest, and being on BBC for Autumn and the Summer tours of Japan last year and Italy in Singapore was brilliant.
I feel that if Sky put some serious coverage into the Pro-12 it will grow the brand to get closer to the level that the English and French leagues are on. With the extra dosh, Scotland could keep more players up here, and manage their schedules. When they go South, they have no control, just look at the issue with George North when he joined Northampton. The RFU have joint contracts to manage players as they can afford to. The Welsh and Irish do, but they have 4 teams to place their key players in. With the International schedule under pressure, extra training may be difficult to get the players released from.
While I agree that coverage on Terrestrial would be good, I worry about the long term lack of funding as the BBC won't be paying to much for a non-mainstream league.
What I would hope is that Sky get the main games (potentially 3 a weekend) and they get first choice of all three. Then the terrestrial can pick up the best of the rest. This would allow Alba to show Edinburgh and Glasgow, as often they won't be the first choice due to the main Irish and Welsh teams seeming more popular.
So I have contradicted myself at the end but hopefully you get the gist.
so your argument is basically interest in rugby has not improved when free to air but would improve if pay per view. well there's optimism and there's delusion.
England do not have joint contracts. Just wrong.
Sky pay more for bigger audiences, England has around 6 times the population of Scotland, Wales and N Ireland combined. that is how it works.
Pay TV can help a sport. Exclusive pay TV can kill it. Guess why even the ERCC will go partly free to air next contract.