Memorandum submitted by Super League (Europe)
Limited
RUGBY LEAGUE'S
HISTORY
1. The sport of Rugby League b
egan its life in 1895 when a group of clubs, based
in northern England, broke away from the existing rugby establishment
to form the Northern Union.
2. This was a temporary title, which was
eventually changed.
3. The split was caused by the need for
the northern rugby clubs to compensate their players for the time
they took off work, in order to play Saturday fixtures.
4. This professionalism was wholly unacceptable
to the southern establishment who operated on strict Corinthian
amateur principles and defended their position vigorously.
5. The northern players were predominantly
factory and manual workers and so these "broken time"
payments were vital to them. Players at southern rugby clubs were,
by and large, from the professional classes and they could afford
the luxury of missing work to play.
6. So, it can be seen that the 1895 split
set the two different "factions" on two different paths.
7. Rugby Union maintained its strict amateur
principles and Rugby League (although not yet using this title)
was already up and running as a professional sport.
8. Rugby League players may not always have
been full time professionals but for over a century their clubs
have had to provide significant wages and bonuses for them.
PROFESSIONAL
RUGBY LEAGUE:
INCOME AND
OUTGOINGS, OPPORTUNITIES
AND OBSTACLES
9. In more recent times, the need to pay
out substantial transfer fees and provide players' wages have
been significant factors for Rugby League.
10. Clubs have been compelled to carry out
ongoing recruitment and this situation was severely exacerbated
during the later part of 1994 when British clubs had to compete
with massive contract offers made to their players by the Australian
Rugby League (ARL).
11. In effect, the ARL attempted to strip
Rugby League in this country of many international and high-grade
personnel in order to bolster their own domestic playing strength.
At the time, the Australian game was divided, with the ARL operating
a separate competition from Australian Super League following
a major dispute over TV contracts.
12. The real victims were British Rugby
League clubs who had no option but to empty the coffers to retain
vital personnel.
13. Before the days of the £87.5 million
Sky Sports deal which provided the opportunity for Super League
and the successful switch to a summer season, Rugby League as
a professional sport received little in the way of TV rights revenues.
14. For example, the deal with the BBC to
televise the entire Challenge Cup, the Regal Trophy tournament
and all major international Test matches amounted to under £1
million.
15. Before the creation of a specific body
to represent the amateur and youth arm of Rugby League the sport
was often misrepresented as a solely professional sport with no
benefits to the wider community.
16. As a consequence, it was often not considered
as a fitting recipient for grant income and it also missed out
on assistance and sympathetic treatment by organisations such
as the Sports Council and the Armed Services.
17. Even when this sector of Rugby League
began to develop it still did not receive sufficient support in
the same way other comparable sporting disciplines did. There
were obvious knock-on consequences for the professional clubs.
With the grass roots not flourishing, they were denied a player
production line which, in turn, artificially inflated player's
wages and the transfer market.
18. The overall image of Rugby League must
also be considered. Prior to the late 1980's the sport was treated
very poorly by many sections of the media. This, combined with
a poor TV presence, meant that it was unattractive to many potential
sponsors and thus it was denied many opportunities to generate
revenue.
19. The issue of club stadia is crucial.
The consequences of Lord Justice Taylor's report in August 1989
on sports grounds compelled Rugby League clubs to carry out major
refurbishment work. The fundamental nature of the required changes
proved to be a heavy drain on finances and left many clubs in
a poor fiscal state, before they received the Super League TV
monies.
20. This meant that a great proportion of
many clubs' new income had to be used to help them maintain the
status quo, rather than enabling them to make significant progress.
21. The Taylor Report was published in the
aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster. It led to the formation
of the Football Trust which in turn distributed over £90
million to all 92 clubs in the Football League for the express
purpose of developing and enhancing their stadia.
22. Soccer as a whole has also benefited
from the Pools, which was available as an income stream prior
to the Hillsborough tragedy.
23. All this is a sharp contrast to the
fortunes of the professional Rugby League clubs.
24. Like soccer, they were compelled, by
the newly introduced Safety at Sports Grounds Act, to carry out
major refurbishment work on their stadia because of the level
of support they attracted.
25. Unlike soccer, the clubs received nothing
initially and, even when the Sports Grounds Initiative was created
by the then Minister of Sport Ian Sproat, the distributions to
Rugby League were not sufficient to fulfil demands on clubs made
by local authorities, safety legislation and basic spectator comfort.
26. There can be no doubting that all Super
League clubs aspire to providing top class stadia for their spectators.
They are unable to fully carry through these aims and this is
clearly a consequence of the above course of events.
27. A comparison of Rugby Union and Rugby
League is also useful.
28. Firstly, Rugby Union has always been
able to generate substantial TV rights.
29. The BBC paid out millions for 5 Nations
rugby alone and Union's wider global spread, although not genuine
in terms of playing strength, did help the sport to gain large
sums for rights to World Cup tournaments.
30. It must also not be forgotten that Union
clubs, prior to the advent of professionalism, have never faced
the wide range of running costs that confronted a professional
League club.
31. Union clubs did not have to pay regular
salaries and bonuses to their players.
32. With one or two notable exceptions,
Union clubs have not had to regularly cater for large crowds and
provide the type of associated major spectator comforts.
33. Union's perceived status as a participation
sport and its heavy connections with the Armed Services have enabled
it to obtain significant sums from grants and public monies etc.
Many elite players have been able to train full-time at no cost
to their clubs via a career in the forces. Union's image has also
enabled certain players to use celebrity status to support their
playing efforts.
34. Union has benefited from the perception
that is "the" code of rugby.
35. This has been created by the high media
profile of the 5 Nations and the national media's unique relationship
with the game.
36. Without the need to pay player salaries,
Union clubs have been able to channel all sponsorship monies from
these tournaments into the development of their grounds and infrastructure.
RUGBY LEAGUE'S
SUCCESSES
37. The terms of their Super League membership
means that clubs are compelled to operate extensive programmes
which either offer all sections of their community the opportunity
to participate in Rugby League (and related activities) or improve
access to other types of involvement and spectating.
38. An excellent example of how successful
this kind of activity can be is the Bradford Bulls.
39. The Bulls operate a "Community
Development Programme" which in 1998 alone reached 53,655
children in the Bradford Metropolitan area.
40. It is a multi-faceted operation and
goes far beyond encouraging participation in Rugby League.
41. In 1997, the club's efforts in their
community received major recognition.
42. The Bulls earned a regional "Sportsmatch"
award which was then followed by the national overall title in
all categories of "Sportsmatched" schemes. The Minister
of Sport, Tony Banks, made the presentation personally to club
Chief Executive Gary Tasker.
43. In addition, the Federation of Yorkshire
Sports honored the Bulls work when the club received a "General
Fair Play Award". This recognised the Bulls' extensive work
at grass roots level and also the club's Equal Opportunities Policy.
44. At the thirty fourth annual general
meeting of the Federation of Yorkshire Sport Secretary Mel Welch
commented:
45. "The Federation is very committed
to Fairplay in sport. The essence of sport is for it to be enjoyed
by everyone and the Bradford Bulls have demonstrated how this
can be done. They have set a fine example for every club, large
or small, to follow."
46. In 1998, the Bulls joined forces with
their local Training and Enterprise Council in a major project
aimed at cutting school truancy.
47. Elite players were involved in the scheme
which involved the "mentoring" of younger children to
encourage them to attend classes.
48. The club is also involved in a number
of projects to increase attendance at both First and High Schools
in the district.
49. An excellent example of the resourcefulness
of the Bulls community programme is "Bulltag".
50. This is a non-contact form of Touch
Rugby League designed by Bull's coaching staff to be played by
all ages in mixed groups. The club has organised a weekly competition
and this provides local families with an opportunity to participate
together in an exciting recreational sport. The events themselves
also act as a great focal point and social occasion for local
people.
51. The Bradford Bulls Community Development
Programme does not only benefit people within the club's recognised
geographical boundaries. The "Bulls Connection" is a
scheme aimed at grass roots Rugby League and Union clubs anywhere
in the UK.
52. It allows them to tap into the Bull's
bulk purchasing power and obtain cut price training and playing
equipment. The Bulls also make available expert advice on sports
safety and injury prevention.
53. The scheme alredy involves clubs from
Leicester and Scotland and was recently joined by a major West
Yorkshire Rugby Union club; a great example of how the Bulls are
at the heart of so many people's involvement in sport.
54. The Bradford Bulls are certainly excelling
in the area of community involvement and set the standard for
everyone in Super League.
55. A look throughout Super League would
reveal that many clubs in the competition contribute much to their
localities in many different ways.
56. The work of the London Broncos and Gateshead
Thunder shows that these new members of the League are offering
far more than an exciting sporting spectacle to their publics.
57. The Huddersfield Giants club provides
a good example of how a stadium upgrade can be a major boost and
galvanizing factors for a club.
58. The Giants entered into a joint venture
with their local authority and also their near sporting neighbours
at Huddersfield Town AFC. This partnership gave them access to
a grant from the Sports and Arts Foundation (now the Sports Ground
Initiative) which played a key part in the development of their
present home, The Alfred McAlpine Stadium.
59. They have subsequently attracted the
backing of a major investor and have signed up a "blue chip"
sponsor.
60. Rugby League has been extremely active
when it comes to financial prudence and internal spending controls.
A good example of this is the Salary Cap.
61. The Salary Cap restricts clubs to spending
only a certain proportion of their income on player payments and
thus helps them develop commercially.
62. In Super League the system operates
as follows. Clubs are allowed to spend only £700,000 or 50
per cent of their income (whichever is greater) on players' wages.
This gives them a sensible budget to work with but also does not
restrict them from prospering via their own initiatives.
CONCLUSION
63. Super League and Rugby League as a whole
has much to offer.
64. To its regular and casual supporters
it can offer a high quality spectating environment.
65. To all sectors of its local community
it can offer opportunities to participate, excel in and organise
sporting activity.
66. It is also unquestionable that when
a team, whatever the sport, enjoys a period of on-field success,
the locality benefits in many other ways.
67. The tremendous "feel good"
factor which abounds after a championship is clinched, impacts
on many different kinds of people.
68. Different Super League clubs enjoy different
levels of overall success and prosperity.
69. All of them strive to deliver many benefits
and opportunities to their supporters and their wider communities.
June 1999
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