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Championship Club Attendances 2018


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2018 in the Championship experienced a drop in attendance numbers. Because this competition has a fairly high change over rate in the teams competing, it's not so easy to gauge the data. Average attendances have increased 11.5% over the past two years, although dropped 10.3% from 2017. Bradford's probable return in 2019 would be a significant boost to the averages. The 2018 list is below:

  2018
1 Toronto 5,781
2 Leigh 3,539
3 Toulouse 2,437
4 Featherstone 2,316
5 Halifax 1,752
6 Barrow 1,239
7 Batley 1,082
8 Dewsbury 1,001
9 London 861
10 Swinton 840
11 Sheffield 704
12 Rochdale 549
  Summer B 11,805
Total 249,125
Avg 1,818

For more detail and stats go to https://rugbyl.blogspot.com
 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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59 minutes ago, RayCee said:

2018 in the Championship experienced a drop in attendance numbers. Because this competition has a fairly high change over rate in the teams competing, it's not so easy to gauge the data. Average attendances have increased 11.5% over the past two years, although dropped 10.3% from 2017. Bradford's probable return in 2019 would be a significant boost to the averages. The 2018 list is below:

  2018
1 Toronto 5,781
2 Leigh 3,539
3 Toulouse 2,437
4 Featherstone 2,316
5 Halifax 1,752
6 Barrow 1,239
7 Batley 1,082
8 Dewsbury 1,001
9 London 861
10 Swinton 840
11 Sheffield 704
12 Rochdale 549
  Summer B 11,805
Total 249,125
Avg 1,818

For more detail and stats go to https://rugbyl.blogspot.com
 

London's attendances are an absolute disgrace. I just don't see how this can happen in a city of that size.  Perhaps too many false dawns for RL in the city and too many moves, but still. They have offered an amazing product on the field this year. Surely with enough Northerners living in the city and Aussie expats they could get a much larger crowd. Is it just that their is too much competition from RU?

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And now look at average crowds compared to the crowds against Toronto. So Toronto don’t bring away fans eh? If they don’t they seem to be attracting extra “home” fans somehow, in some cases a lot more. The underlined I believe are actually the biggest for that club this year.  

Club avg  v TWP

Leigh 3539  5452

Barrow 1249  1266

Halifax 1752  2036

London 861  1205

Swinton 840  701

Sheffield 704  863

Rochdale 549  504

Featherstone 2316  3121

Toulouse 2437  3513

Batley 1082  1151

Dewsbury 1001  932

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41 minutes ago, ojx said:

London's attendances are an absolute disgrace. I just don't see how this can happen in a city of that size.  Perhaps too many false dawns for RL in the city and too many moves, but still. They have offered an amazing product on the field this year. Surely with enough Northerners living in the city and Aussie expats they could get a much larger crowd. Is it just that their is too much competition from RU?

Don’t blame the people, blame the quality.

There is very little RL culture in London. Without a successful top division team, they have very little to entice fleeting supporters, let alone new ones

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2 hours ago, ojx said:

London's attendances are an absolute disgrace. I just don't see how this can happen in a city of that size.  Perhaps too many false dawns for RL in the city and too many moves, but still. They have offered an amazing product on the field this year. Surely with enough Northerners living in the city and Aussie expats they could get a much larger crowd. Is it just that their is too much competition from RU?

Ah but suburban London is like a collection of small towns and Ealing is essentially a glorified provincial rugby union club ground as found in small British towns.

Unless you’ve been there it’s hard to decribe. I’ve said it before and will say it again, Ealing is a dead end.

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2 hours ago, ojx said:

London's attendances are an absolute disgrace. I just don't see how this can happen in a city of that size.  Perhaps too many false dawns for RL in the city and too many moves, but still. They have offered an amazing product on the field this year. Surely with enough Northerners living in the city and Aussie expats they could get a much larger crowd. Is it just that their is too much competition from RU?

While I have been to Toronto, more than once, you it would appear have never been to London or understand the psyche of Rugby League fans. Northerners in the Capital by and large still support their old Club some by trekking north, some by sitting at home watching SKY or posting on TRL. The only time you are ever likely to see them is if THEIR club is down at Trailfinders.

Ditto Aussies and Kiwis doing the OE (Overseas Experience) - Apart from the fact that many are from Victoria and the West Coast or Suoth Island in NZ . They again support their NRL Club or Australia if they are in London. Evidence - the Australia v New Zealand game played at Twickenham Stoop when he place was almost sold out and with 15,000 plus in attendance during the Harlequins RL era.

Toronto have the novelty factor, just as catalans did once , Even I went to New River for Toronto v Halifax. However as has been pointed out on here there have a number of false dawns for the game in London so the surprise is that London still have a core fan base and do not benefit from large travelling support coming down to Trailfinders which boosts the average attendances of many championship clubs.

Anyway, we will see if Toronto still have the novelty factor and supprt once you cease winning every week and once sides are able to bring their full squad over to Canada.

 

 

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3 hours ago, East Coast Tiger said:

And now look at average crowds compared to the crowds against Toronto. So Toronto don’t bring away fans eh? If they don’t they seem to be attracting extra “home” fans somehow, in some cases a lot more.

Why wouldn't Championship clubs attract a bigger number of home fans for a match against a much fancied and hyped top of the table opposition?

The Leigh game for example was the first match of the season, and given at the time both sides were expected to be battling for top position, it's no wonder the crowd was much bigger than the overall average.

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30 minutes ago, thirteenthman said:

Why wouldn't Championship clubs attract a bigger number of home fans for a match against a much fancied and hyped top of the table opposition?

The Leigh game for example was the first match of the season, and given at the time both sides were expected to be battling for top position, it's no wonder the crowd was much bigger than the overall average.

Lucky Toronto are such a good club then. The northern clubs must be rejoicing at the extra cash in their bank accounts thanks to the Wolfpack - but wait, don’t we hear constant whinging that they are losing out due to the Wolfpack? This away support these 100-year-old clubs apparently rely on musn’t be that great if a foreign team with supposedly no support can outdo them. Fev got a bigger crowd for the Wolfpack than they did Leigh, Halifax, Batley or Dewsbury. Maybe fans of those other clubs had visa issues getting to Fev. 

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12 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

Is that TWP average right Ray? It seems a bit low to me. They have had a few crowds around the 6-7000 mark and last week got 8000+. Does the opening fixture which was played away from Lamport drag it down that much?

Good point DP. I should have mentioned they played two of their home games in the UK and also forfeited a home game to play at the MW. It was mentioned in the link article but not here. It really did affect the average quite a bit.

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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Looking at link Hull KR and Bradford accounts for the drop from last year. London’s attendance is steadily going back up . They need to stay at the same ground for a longer period.  Good to see Sheffield going up. Toulouse looking pretty healthy too. I assume that could increase further.

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10 minutes ago, RayCee said:

Good point DP. I should have mentioned they played two of their home games in the UK and also forfeited a home game to play at the MW. It was mentioned in the link article but not here. It really did affect the average quite a bit.

Yes, I’d forgotten about the game against Halifax at the New River stadium. Didn’t they only take that one game to the UK as well as the MW match? Their opening home game was played in Ontario but away from Toronto at a small capacity stadium. I’m struggling to remember where it was played.

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7 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

What was their average at Lamport then out of interest?

Just found that their attendances have been posted on Wikipedia. Going by them, they averaged 6,591 at Lamport and 6,183 in Canada (if you include the game at Fletcher's Fields which only drew 2,917).

 

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2 hours ago, deluded pom? said:

Yes, I’d forgotten about the game against Halifax at the New River stadium. Didn’t they only take that one game to the UK as well as the MW match? Their opening home game was played in Ontario but away from Toronto at a small capacity stadium. I’m struggling to remember where it was played.

Yes, I forgot one of the games was in Canada but not Lamport. I must be getting old. 

My blog: https://rugbyl.blogspot.co.nz/

It takes wisdom to know when a discussion has run its course.

It takes reasonableness to end that discussion. 

 

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1 hour ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Just found that their attendances have been posted on Wikipedia. Going by them, they averaged 6,591 at Lamport and 6,183 in Canada (if you include the game at Fletcher's Fields which only drew 2,917).

 

Technically speaking if you include the attendances at New River, shouldn't they also be able to claim 36 000+ as a "home" gate for the Toulouse game at MW?

 

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2 hours ago, westlondonfan said:

Looking at link Hull KR and Bradford accounts for the drop from last year. London’s attendance is steadily going back up . They need to stay at the same ground for a longer period.  Good to see Sheffield going up. Toulouse looking pretty healthy too. I assume that could increase further.

I think that’s the important thing with London. Conaistency and continual improvements - we can rib them all we want, but I’m glad that their attendances are increasing year on year. 

They have to now (whatever league they’re in next year) break that 1,000 mark over the next couple of years.

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7 hours ago, East Coast Tiger said:

And now look at average crowds compared to the crowds against Toronto. So Toronto don’t bring away fans eh? If they don’t they seem to be attracting extra “home” fans somehow, in some cases a lot more. The underlined I believe are actually the biggest for that club this year.  

Club avg  v TWP

Leigh 3539  5452

Barrow 1249  1266

Halifax 1752  2036

London 861  1205

Swinton 840  701

Sheffield 704  863

Rochdale 549  504

Featherstone 2316  3121

Toulouse 2437  3513

Batley 1082  1151

Dewsbury 1001  932

Also depends on circumstances Featherstone played Toronto on Good Friday which is traditionally a good crowd but for some reason played Leigh at home on a Saturday evening at 6.30 which would potentially have been a bigger crowd if it had been on a Sunday.

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  • 2 months later...
On 8/5/2018 at 6:48 AM, dixiedean said:

Technically speaking if you include the attendances at New River, shouldn't they also be able to claim 36 000+ as a "home" gate for the Toulouse game at MW?

 

Would you happen to know what the attendance was @ New River? Thanks.

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London don’t exist in London unless you have some sort of pre-existing knowledge of Rugby League. I’ve never once seen a shred of marketing on any Tubes, Trains, Buses, Papers, Magazines etc, I’ve never once been approached by the club even though I’ve bought tickets from them in the past and there’s no coverage of them and their fixtures/results anywhere. 

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