RayCee

Ottawa Eager Beavers. They'll be a damned good side.

That is true, although a trend in other sports too. York is a case that shows what can be done. Back in 1981-82, when in the top flight the club attendance was 3,677. In 2016 592, 2017 1,092, 2018 1,624 and so far in 2019 2,054. If York maintains the 2019 figure, that's good for a newly promoted Championship side. One would expect it to be higher if they actually made it into SL. York is an excellently run club getting more people through the turnstiles each season. If other clubs could emulate that model, I'm sure the gap you mentioned would lessen.

I noticed that when researching the attendances. Back then some of the variances were huge.

All sport has moved that way, hasn't it?

There were many more matches than today and some fans would pick what to go to. That could in part account for the lower average attendances than today. However, I'm about to look at clubs individually and do a series on that. I will highlight the difference between a winter and summer season. I did notice CC attendances while doing this research and based on what I saw, I'm not convinced it would change anything. It's also very time consuming. If you put something together that was illuminating, I'd be keen to see what it was.

Super League brought many new fans along too.

I've added the previous five years now. It doesn't change hugely except Wigan was even further ahead. https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2019/03/european-attendances-1985-86-to-1989-90.html PS. I've also added the final in the series, the five years prior to the one above. That that be accessed by a link in the above article.

Ah, the quality word. I get what you are saying and many agree but it doesn't work for me. I'll explain why. Point 1: People watch sport to be entertained. The NRL has much better quality that SL. However, people go to SL games and enjoy the lesser quality product. Why? That is because they buy into supporting their club and enjoy the product. The same reason why fans enjoy Championship games. Of course, the standard has to be of a reasonable level too, but once a reasonable standard is reached, then this idea of diluting quality is debunked. Which leads into the next point. Point 2: There are thousands of young players who come through the RL systems in Australia, NZ, PNG, Fiji, the UK, France but with limited opportunity few make it to the top. Some may have potential and given a chance would shine, but it didn't happen for them. Many hundreds of such individuals disappear from the game as players each year. There is more than sufficient talent out there for the current 30 pro teams (approx) we currently have. They need a pathway and opportunity. Summary: There is talent to support what Ottawa wants to do. Too much of it is wasted with current limited opportunity. Expansion shouldn't be too fast but steady growth can be accommodated.

It's coming across that way. You sound like Parky mark 2 and like Parky, I don’t want to enter into discussion with you because it will descend into a pointless debate. I think Ottawa can succeed. Time will tell but I'm glad Eric Perez wants to take us on this ride.

Also, looking at individual match stats, games between Wigan and Saints had huge crowds.

Any idea of how many were not declared, say as a percentage?

And for every home game, there will be a stag night. I'm in.

Correct. MoK. I was surprised to see they were that much lower back then. I won't be critical of current attendances in future.

RL is extremely difficult to catch highlights. Even the NRL website now blocks me. I watch the highlights of any football (soccer) game I wish. On possible reason is the source seems to be Russia and copyright enforcement may be difficult.

Interesting times.