SUPER League champions St Helens insist their cross-code challenge with Sale Sharks is not merely a money-making exercise.
A near full house at Knowsley Road on January 27 could net the clubs more than £100,000 and considerably ease Saints' well-documented financial problems.
Saints chairman Eamonn McManus, who is seeking to negotiate a television deal for the game, is hoping it will be a money-spinner but says the two clubs have simply responded to demand for the fixture.
"Both games are professional and have a cost base and the whole point of playing rugby is to make money to meet that cost base," said McManus.
"But it is the players and spectators who have demanded this and we have reacted to that. We are not forcing any game on anyone. This is happening because people want it."
The game against the Sharks, spawned from the inaugural cross-code challenge between Wigan and Bath seven years ago, was driven by St Helens coach Ian Millward, who has been trying to get the match on for two years.
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