Franchising for the fans

July 22nd 2008. An important date in the history of sport in this country. But how so, you may ask?

The answer is that July 22nd is the date that the 14 Superleague franchises will be awarded. The 14 teams that will make up Superleague next season will no longer be decded by promotion and relegation, rather by the allocation of franchise status, and a piece of the TV rights pie that goes with it. Imagine the Premiership becoming a closed shop to the Championship teams, unless you were deemed worthy to join them. There are, however, some critical differences.

The selection process has been ongoing for best part of a year now since the 19 candidates put together their business plans and submitted themselves to scrutiny by the independent panel of adjudicators. 10 clear criteria are the basis of the judgement, items such as is your stadium fit for the top level, are you financially solvent, and is your average crowd over 10,000. More importantly, as Rugby League seeks to expand itself into untapped goldmines of France and South Wales, criteria such as homegrown players and any other team within 20 miles are also considered vital.

Why is this so important - surely Rugby League is a minority sport in the UK?

Superleague has, since the advent of summer rugby, been a leader in terms of marketing. The Premiership dominates our conciousness, but has to do very little to keep us engaged. The RFL, who run Superleague, have managed to turn a predominantly northern, flat cap and whippets game into a glitzy (sometimes) and marketable asset, whilst boosting the standard of play and attracting some of the world's top players. All in a sport with strict salary cap guidelines on spending no more than 80% of your income on salary, and surviving on average crowds of approx 10,000. There are no billionaire owners, and even if there were, they would be prevented from going out and buying the Shevchenkos of the world by the regulations and salary cap.

If you've ever been to a game of Rugby League, you'll know the atmosphere is second to none, it's family friendly, you can stand up on the terraces with a pint and there's no trouble. Ring any bells? I'd suggest this is where football was in the late 1970s and 80s. Superleague are trying to keep this as the main selling point, obviously alongside their fast and furious games. For this they deserve congratulations.

One of the main benefits of no relegation is that coaches are not under as much pressure, and can (and do) allow their young talent to break through, rather than relying on substandard journeymen from abroad. Leeds Rhinos, one of the shoe-ins for a franchise award, played 15 homegrown players in the squad of 17 for their game last weekend, after losing 6 first teamers to the England team the same weekend. And still won! Can you imagine a league where David Bentley doesn't feel he had to leave Arsenal to get a game, or lower teams filling their ranks with unknown scandinavians as they're cheaper than their English equivalents?

A franchise system may be mooted as a future plan for the bloated plutocrats of the Premiership, but suffice to say there's no way in which it would be so well managed, and universally accepted, as the Rugby League version.

For those who are lost for something to do in the close (football) season, you could do worse than adopt your local Rugby League team - Salford City Reds in the Manchester area - and get nostalgic for run down terraces where you can enjoy a pie and a pint.