Road Games

[headtackle]

Had been meaning to post this last week but better late than never

Saw Bath v Bristol Union game was played at Twickenham in front of a crowd of 60000

I know we have Magic weekend but wonder if we are missing a trick in not taking individual big games to larger stadiums

Not sure what the reaction was amongst Bath/bristol fans but plenty seem to have travelled for a day out. Would we be better off if we took certain games to a big city stadium ie Saints v Wigan, Leeds v Castleford etc to the likes of the Etihad, St James Park, Villa Park etc etc as one offs. 

Union seem to get a lot of coverage about trying to break crowd records  etc. Probably a polarising argument but wonder why they seem to be making it work 

 

 

[Lobbygobbler]

1/ Twickenham and Richmond area is a great night out 

2/ Their fans generally have more money than ours

3/ Their crowd will be augmented by lots of posh west country folk who live in London 

4/ Twickenham is an easy straight 90 min drive from Bath across the M4

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

Catalans are taking a game to the Nou Camp 

[Dave T]

I think we need to do more with this kind of thing, but we need to be mindful that what goes on in London and RU can't generally be replicated elsewhere.

I do think there is something in more coordinated big events. Maybe double headers in big cities over a few weekends, to complement Magic Weekend and a Catalans game in Barcelona. But you do risk canibalising some events.

I think there are some grounds that we should be staging major events at every year - Wembley, Old Trafford, St James, Anfield, Elland Rd, Barcelona, Spurs/Arsenal and maybe Cardiff and Edinburgh/Glasgow. You then have Canada and the USA. 

Pool resources and spread the risk.

[EastLondonMike]

For a while i've thought we should be committing to a few games per season in non-traditional areas in an attempt to spread the appeal and generate greater interest. But long term planning is not something we're good at in RL.

A game every year in, say, Cardiff, over a 5-10 year period would, in my opinion, certainly generate greater interest in RL in South Wales. It might not lead to a SL level club side, but such things don't need to. If we could create a greater fan base who purchase merchandise, tickets to big events and SKY subscriptions, and maybe a generation of kids playing the game it would be worthwhile.

[Clogiron]

2 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

For a while i've thought we should be committing to a few games per season in non-traditional areas in an attempt to spread the appeal and generate greater interest. But long term planning is not something we're good at in RL.

A game every year in, say, Cardiff, over a 5-10 year period would, in my opinion, certainly generate greater interest in RL in South Wales. It might not lead to a SL level club side, but such things don't need to. If we could create a greater fan base who purchase merchandise, tickets to big events and SKY subscriptions, and maybe a generation of kids playing the game it would be worthwhile.

Didn't SL try this back in the early day's with the Bull's playing at Leicester and St ellens in Cardiff I think, can't remember the others but 1 may have been in Edinburgh? anyway like everything else it was dropped with indecent haste

[Oliver Clothesoff]

We don’t get enough people watching Rugby League in the places where Rugby League is rooted deep in that town or city, taking a game elsewhere would, largely, do absolutely nothing for the game. 

While the Camp Nou and Barcelona is a great trip for the fans, what’s the actual point of that game, for example? We take a game there, we hope the crowd is good (also, what’s the marketing like on FCB social media?) and then what? 

 

[Cdd]

I’d like to see far more big events like this. Catalans at the Nou camp will be fantastic.

Why not double headers at Elland Road and Saints v Wigan at Anfield. Two big clubs playing in London every year. 

State of Origin in London is the main one i’d like to see. A commercial dream for the NRL and a huge profile fixture for RL in the UK. Win win.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

5 hours ago, Cdd said:

I’d like to see far more big events like this. Catalans at the Nou camp will be fantastic.

Why not double headers at Elland Road and Saints v Wigan at Anfield. Two big clubs playing in London every year. 

State of Origin in London is the main one i’d like to see. A commercial dream for the NRL and a huge profile fixture for RL in the UK. Win win.

I would love to see state of Origin here but how you gonna get clubs to release players mid season to fly across the world when they won't even release players at the end of the season for internationals over here? 

[Oliver Clothesoff]

The game doesn’t need more events, the game needs its existing events to be marketed much better. 

 

[CmonTheBorough]

11 hours ago, Clogiron said:

Didn't SL try this back in the early day's with the Bull's playing at Leicester and St ellens in Cardiff I think, can't remember the others but 1 may have been in Edinburgh? anyway like everything else it was dropped with indecent haste

Gateshead Thunder beat Wigan 20-16 at Heart of Midlothian's Tynecastle stadium in Edinburgh in 1999.

[Clogiron]

17 minutes ago, CmonTheBorough said:

Gateshead Thunder beat Wigan 20-16 at Heart of Midlothian's Tynecastle stadium in Edinburgh in 1999.

Thought it might have been Gateshed involved but the old mind's a bit hazy on details nowadays,. Gateshead, another brief chapter sacrificed for the greater good

[Tommygilf]

Speaking from a Leeds perspective, I think we should be taking 'big games' to Elland road. I'd earmark 1 fixture, such as Cas, and play it there every year. I wouldn't take loads every season or anything like that, but especially with us having the loop fixtures for the foreseeable future, 1 game at Headingley, 1 at Wheldon road and 1 at Elland road makes sense to me.

Across the wider league this 'third game', especially if its against a rival, lends itself to being at a bigger/more high profile stadium.

[CmonTheBorough]

8 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

Thought it might have been Gateshed involved but the old mind's a bit hazy on details nowadays,. Gateshead, another brief chapter sacrificed for the greater good

I know the feeling!  Many beers under the bridge since then but I seem to remember it being a Friday night and on Sky.

[Dave T]

Super League On the Road Games - 1998

Bradford v London - Tynecastle - 6,863

Cas v Wire - Cardiff Arms Park - 4,431

Halifax v Sheffield - Sixfields, Northampton - 3,087

Hudds v Hull - Gateshead - 4,306

Leeds v Salford - Gateshead - 4,122

Saints v Wigan - Swansea - 8,572

As you can see, a rather uninspiring bunch of fixtures in random venues. If you want an example of something being done half-heartedly and then abandoned, this is it. I had a great weekend attending the Cardiff and Swansea games, but they weren't amazing events.

I think in reality, we will always have less attractive games, so maybe three double headers allow us to create decent events.

Hudds v Wakefield / Saints v Wire 

London v Salford / Hull FC v Hull KR 

Catalans v Castleford / Wigan v Leeds 

Let places bid for these events, or target areas for growth. The likes of Coventry seem obvious with their partnerships going on there. 

[redjonn]

I hate the idea that when as a season ticket holder the game isn't played at the home stadium.    

If its advised at start of season and the travel game is optional then AOK.   Otherwise as it miffs me as the fan that commits to the club season ticket programme I'd stop buying the season tickets. Then because I don't have the season ticket I would go to fewer games and then stop all together as I find other things to do.

Of course spread the game but we have non season ticket games, aka the Challenge Cup and Magic, etc to use.

[Dave T]

12 minutes ago, redjonn said:

I hate the idea that when as a season ticket holder the game isn't played at the home stadium.    

If its advised at start of season and the travel game is optional then AOK.   Otherwise as it miffs me as the fan that commits to the club season ticket programme I'd stop buying the season tickets. Then because I don't have the season ticket I would go to fewer games and then stop all together as I find other things to do.

Of course spread the game but we have non season ticket games, aka the Challenge Cup and Magic, etc to use.

Yep, I think it needs planning and co-ordinating properly so people know what they are buying. 

[whatmichaelsays]

4 hours ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

The game doesn’t need more events, the game needs its existing events to be marketed much better. 

  

The game needs more marketable events. 

Nobody cares about the third or fourth installment of Salford v Huddersfield every year. Not even Salford and Huddersfield fans want that. 

The clubs like loop fixtures because it allows them to be lazy. 

[whatmichaelsays]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

Speaking from a Leeds perspective, I think we should be taking 'big games' to Elland road. I'd earmark 1 fixture, such as Cas, and play it there every year. I wouldn't take loads every season or anything like that, but especially with us having the loop fixtures for the foreseeable future, 1 game at Headingley, 1 at Wheldon road and 1 at Elland road makes sense to me.

 Across the wider league this 'third game', especially if its against a rival, lends itself to being at a bigger/more high profile stadium.

The problem is that it isn't cost-effective for Leeds to do that. 

Even if they sold out Elland Road, 35,000 tickets at Elland Road - minus the venue rental probably generates a lot less than 15,000 at Headingley plus the income from concessions and corporate hospitality. 

Sure, as an event it looks great for TV audiences and the image of the sport, but there's no financial incentive for Leeds to take games to Elland Road. 

[DoubleD]

15 hours ago, headtackle said:

Had been meaning to post this last week but better late than never

Saw Bath v Bristol Union game was played at Twickenham in front of a crowd of 60000

 

Sorry to hear that, how are you holding up? 

Have you sought professional help or were you fortunate enough to sleep through it?

[Oliver Clothesoff]

49 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

The game needs more marketable events. 

Nobody cares about the third or fourth installment of Salford v Huddersfield every year. Not even Salford and Huddersfield fans want that. 

The clubs like loop fixtures because it allows them to be lazy. 

And what marketing do we do for the current events we have in a season? Very little at all. 

Adding more events that won’t be marketed adequately will just be an exercise in losing money. 

[EastLondonMike]

There's definitely still mileage in the idea, as there was back in the day when the 'on the road' fixtures were first played.

It just needs some commitment.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

17 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

There's definitely still mileage in the idea, as there was back in the day when the 'on the road' fixtures were first played.

It just needs some commitment.

It needs a strategic plan (why, when, where, what etc), a major marketing campaign and money to hire stadia. 

Rugby League doesn’t have the capabilities as a collective for those things above, IMO. 

[whatmichaelsays]

45 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

And what marketing do we do for the current events we have in a season? Very little at all. 

 Adding more events that won’t be marketed adequately will just be an exercise in losing money. 

The lack of marketing for the events we have is a club issue. They 'own' most of the events and they sell the tickets. 

But there becomes a point where we have to seriously look at the quality of the product. Step out of this TGG bubble and ask who the hell wants to watch some of the 'events' that we put on in some of the surroundings that we host them in?

Marketing and advertising are not the same thing. Marketing is about actually creating something that people want to buy, not just telling them about the thing you're trying to sell - and a third or fourth game between Huddersfield and Salford is not something that people want to buy.

[headtackle]

Strategic plan shouldnt be that difficult to arrive at - main fault of our game is to try something then drop it too quickly. There have been a string of ideas and initiatives many of which are never given chance to come to fruition. 

Target the areas/cities etc we think could support a club then use SL to promote the game. For example with a team in Coventry punters might not go along to watch low level fixtures. Different matter if a double header at the Ricoh. See the local club then sit back and watch a SL game. Key thing is dont do it as a one off but instead the game needs to commit to 1 game per season. Same with Gateshead - double header at St James' Park which again Union played at a few weeks back

Marketing is key and something we are not good at.  Surely though there is an established marketing approach using different media platforms when putting on events like a big match. Pay someone to provide quality advice on this then should have a model capable of being rolled out over and over again.

Finally, yes there is a cost to hiring big stadia. However many football clubs are not exactly flush with cash and the possibility of some extra revenue in the summer should appeal to some. Just needs some commercial negotiation so that the stadium owner takes on some of the risk. If it is a win:win deal they should see that there is the possibility of a longer term relationship.