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Time to look
forward
SO
what do the results of last week’s EGM vote mean for clubs in the Championship
and League One?
In
case you’ve been hiding under a rugby league
rock, the vote meant the end of the current Super 8s structure from 2019, and a
change in how television money will be distributed from 2022 onwards.
Several
clubs outside the top flight were strongly opposed to the move, holding a press
conference the day before the vote to outline their concerns.
But
despite that, nine Championship or League One clubs voted to back the proposal,
helping to give it a 68 percent majority.
In
simple terms, it means the Championship now moves to a 14 team competition
(which was controversial enough in itself at this late juncture), and from next
year promotion will be decided by a top five play-off with the winner going up
and one Super League club being relegated.
How
the TV money outside the top flight is split between now and the end of 2021
had still to be confirmed at the time of writing, but it is expected to be much
more balanced in the second tier that the current arrangement, which sees a
difference of £600,000 a year between the team
that finishes top of the Championship and the bottom.
After
2021 there is considerable uncertainty - central funding will go down unless
the Super League clubs manage to secure an improved television deal.
As
such the next three years are going to be crucial for the entire professional
game, but especially those clubs outside the elite who need to plan on becoming
more self-sufficient.
Some,
with Keighley Cougars one example, have already spoken publicly about their
desire to do just that, and the more clubs that follow suit quickly, the better
for their long-term futures.
With
no guarantee of what will happen from 2022 onwards in terms of central funding,
clubs need to generate more income themselves if they are to continue to
survive in their current form, a fact not lost on many chairmen.
Dewsbury
chairman Mark Sawyer had been one of the most vociferous opponents of the
proposal but admitted his club must now look towards the future.
Sawyer
said: “The vote went against us but we have to move forward together now.
“We
want to work alongside the RFL and the Super League clubs to help make the game
stronger.”
In
reality, there is no other way.
Some
Championship and League One clubs may well be unhappy about what has unfolded
in recent weeks, but their only option now is to try and strengthen their own
organisations and the sport as a whole.
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