RLWC2013 celebrate 100 days to go

[League Express]

 

Today, Thursday July 18 marks 100 days to go to the kick-off of Rugby League World Cup 2013 and organisers are predicting a hectic final phase, with even stronger ticket sales as interest continues to build in both hemispheres.

Click here to view the article

[Southerner]

I actually think this is a clever idea. I've seen lots of updates on Facebook. I expect its raising awareness and interest at minimal expense. I'm pleasantly surprised at the concept.

[foozler]

Must be doing a good job at raising awareness for ticket sales as the eticketing site has been giving me a runtime error since mid morning so can't get in to buy more tickets!

[GeordieSaint]

Must be doing a good job at raising awareness for ticket sales as the eticketing site has been giving me a runtime error since mid morning so can't get in to buy more tickets!

 

I had that yesterday; bloody annoying! I restarted my computer and it seemed to work.

[Dave T]

I actually think this is a clever idea. I've seen lots of updates on Facebook. I expect its raising awareness and interest at minimal expense. I'm pleasantly surprised at the concept.

Yep - quite a nice simple idea that seems to be creating a buzz.

[jannerboyuk]

I suspect the double entendre of #findourballs was deliberate!

[deluded pom?]

 

 interest continues to build in both hemispheres.

 

99% of Aussies don't even know there's a WC taking place this year.

Edited July 18, 2013 by deluded pom?

[Dave T]

99% of Aussies don't even know there's a WC taking place this year.

im sure thats not true.

They may not be able to go into much detail but rl fans over there will be aware there's a wc on.

In the pr last week it said tour sales were good. How true that is i have no idea.

[Gav Wilson]

99% of Aussies don't even know there's a WC taking place this year.

 

[deluded pom?]

im sure thats not true.

They may not be able to go into much detail but rl fans over there will be aware there's a wc on.

In the pr last week it said tour sales were good. How true that is i have no idea.

You'd be surprised how ignorant of the WC the average Aussie supporter is Dave. The recent announcement that 7 have the TV rights may have alerted a few. hutch, an Aussie who posts on here sometimes, posted on one of the forums recently that he was the only one among his friends, who are all avid RL fans and played the game to varying degrees, who was aware of a WC taking place in 2013.

[Gav Wilson]

You'd be surprised how ignorant of the WC the average Aussie supporter is Dave. The recent announcement that 7 have the TV rights may have alerted a few. hutch, an Aussie who posts on here sometimes, posted on one of the forums recently that he was the only one among his friends, who are all avid RL fans and played the game to varying degrees, who was aware of a WC taking place in 2013.

 

Well then they are clearly all morons.

[Dave T]

You'd be surprised how ignorant of the WC the average Aussie supporter is Dave. The recent announcement that 7 have the TV rights may have alerted a few. hutch, an Aussie who posts on here sometimes, posted on one of the forums recently that he was the only one among his friends, who are all avid RL fans and played the game to varying degrees, who was aware of a WC taking place in 2013.

I actually don't believe them though.

 

There are plenty of fans who use forums and the internet and it is mentioned in plenty of places. Their fans will be aware what their national team will be doing each year, they will know that the Kangaroos are coming over for a WC. They may not be able to name venues or much else about it, but they will know about it.

 

On the NRL.com homepage their is an article about England RL selection for the WC.

 

I've been to Oz a few times, and I do find many of the ones I met quite inward looking, but ultimately their crowds at the last world cup were better than ours, and with a smaller population. 300k of them turned up to only 18 games.

[Southerner]

You'd be surprised how ignorant of the WC the average Aussie supporter is Dave. The recent announcement that 7 have the TV rights may have alerted a few. hutch, an Aussie who posts on here sometimes, posted on one of the forums recently that he was the only one among his friends, who are all avid RL fans and played the game to varying degrees, who was aware of a WC taking place in 2013.

If its true what you say then its a shame not more Aussies are aware of the WC. However it's far more important that the British people are made aware of the tourno as we're the ones who'll be attending the matches, buying merchandise, helping increase UK viewing figures etc. This kind of promotion isn't a bad start with still 100 days to go. I hope they continue and build some momentum.

[Fax1978]

It's funny that should be mentioned 're the Aussie's I watch virtually every nrl game each week on prem sports and the commentators do mention on occasion that a particular player may be playing in this year's wc but there is always a slightly dismissive quality to the comment. I'm sure it would be different if it were hosted in Australia, not a dig at the aus, but they would put more iinto it if they were getting more from it.

I think that now more than ever the aus really need and perhaps want a genuine challenge at international level to spark some interest.

[Jim from Oz]

I know the World Cup is on !

 

But I agree, most of my RL-loving friends here in OZ either don't know it's on or care little – which, I'd argue, is because of the poor way international RL/RLWC has been treated / scheduled over the years.

 

Channel 9 and FoxTel NOT buying the rights means they are less inclined to mention it on their telecasts.

[hutch]

Well then they are clearly all morons.

Thanks, ill be sure to pass the message on. One of them played around 100 games in the nrl, one played professionally in France and all are fans, members and or former players of reasonable junior success. I wouldn't call them morons as they have all been very successful in their respective careers. But only one knew the World Cup was on this year and the others had no idea who would even play in a World Cup. Some were dismissive, some were semi interested but all would list rugby league as their favourite sport.

The real issue here, as deluded pom has informed you is that there has been ZERO publicity for the World Cup here in Australia. Unless you actively seek it out, you would not know it is on. The conversation came up during a BBQ we were having during the second origin game, passionate rugby league fans just do not know the World Cup is on because the nrl does not promote the international side of the sport and the mainstream press basically ignore it as well. It is improving but we have a long way to go.

Edited July 19, 2013 by hutch

[thehullram]

not sure if anyone else heard it, but Martin Offiah was on BBC Radio 5 live with Phil Williams last night at about 11.40 for 20 minutes. Really great, live interview, which really talked up rugby league and the upcoming world cup. The #findourballs campaign got a lot of coverage, which looking at twitter will be only growing stronger throughout the day. 

 

The other major point that was mentioned, that I haven't seen anywhere else, is that Radio 5 live will be covering ALL matches live. Now I assume that some, if not most will be on sports extra, but, even if they are, this is a huge coup for the tournament during the football season.

 

All we need to do now is focus on starting to sell out some of the games, as soon as this happens people will have to start getting their tickets.

[markleeds]

I honestly think that wether permitting it is going to be a great tournament. If I am honest I don't really care about SL at the moment, it's all about the WC this year.

[Scubby]

I think people will be really surprised by this tournament. If we start getting pre-sales towards 300k-400k I have no doubt the BBC's ears will ##### up and they will want some more of the action.

 

The fact that places like Rochdale, Workington, Old Trafford, Avignon etc. could be sold out well in advance of the tournament really shows its potential. Why? Because of the spread of teams in games at those venues. It would not surprise me to see near full houses for all England group games too.

[John Drake]

I think that now more than ever the aus really need and perhaps want a genuine challenge at international level to spark some interest.

 

Well they got a genuine challenge in the last one: they didn't win it!

[John Drake]

99% in the UK wont know either until it starts to be shown on the BBC ( For matches shown only on Premier sports no-one apart from a couple of thousand RL fans will know about it)

 

CM

 

The World Cup will be shown on the BBC.

 

The BBC are showing all three of England's pool matches which includes the opener at Cardiff, one quarter final, one semi final and the final.

[South Wakefield Sharks]

Also all matches from the World Cup will be live on BBC Radio 5 Live, fronted by George Riley according to the Phil Williams show last night        http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036xyh5 just after the 11.30 news was the conversation with Martin Offiah.

[DugSWRLgan]

World Cup Family Stand tickets almost gone By Ian Golden | 19/07/2013

 

Rugby League World Cup organisers in Neath are delighted to announce that the Family Stand at The Gnoll has virtually sold out for the Wales v Cook Islands match on Sunday 11^th November (kick-off 2pm).

 

 

Just 22 tickets remain for this stand, the cheapest price bracket in regards to seating, but they are no longer available from the Rugby League World Cup website. These can only be bought from the official Neath RFC and South Wales Scorpions websites.

 

 

This news comes less than two weeks before the actual World Cup trophy arrives in Neath as part of the UK-wide trophy tour.

 

 

The Family Stand tickets have been snapped up mainly by school parties following a surge of interest as news of the trophy coming to The Gnoll escalates.

 

 

Phil Davies, chairman of South Wales Scorpions and Neath RFC, said: “We’re delighted that the Family Stand for Wales v Cooks Islands is close to selling out. It shows that popularity for the World Cup in Neath is increasing, especially amongst schools.

 

 

“As a result of this, sales in other areas are also increasing, The Town End ‘shed’ terrace behind the goal is going well and there are just 415 tickets available in the Grandstand.

 

 

“We are confident that we will have a sell out before the day of the match and we advise all fans to buy their tickets sooner rather than later.

 

 

“In the meantime, if you want to have your photo taken with the actual World Cup trophy, please turn up at The Gnoll on Sunday 28^th July for South Wales Scorpions’ match against Gateshead Thunder which kicks off at the earlier time of 1pm. We’re expecting a big interest so you can book your photographs for free on our website www.scorpionsrl.com.”

 

[Yakstorm]

If the tournament achieves its goal of having over 500,000 spectators, it will be hard for the media to ignore it. Sure those numbers aren't as big as what the Olympics, Cricket, Soccer or Union World Cups get, but it is still a big number.

I have to admit I'm impressed how this tournament is coming along. Sure it would be great if we had sold a million tickets and had more sponsors, but things are ticking over and we are on track for our biggest World Cup ever which is the most important thing.

[JonNgog]

For the 2011 Cricket World Cup, no attendance figures were released (suspicious), but for 2007 in the West Indies there was a total attendance of 672,000 at an average of 13,176. Don't think we will be far behind that average. Will we have a claim to the third biggest World Cup in Britain soon?

And we are clearly a long way behind RU, but you only have to see how far they have come since Britain hosted the 1999 World Cup, which had to be spread across Britain and into France because there wasn't enough interest to stage it all in England. The RU World Cup lacked an identity, struggled to find the right format - but then it got it right and now look at it.

I'm not always a fan of comparing us to other sports, as we must develop at our own pace, but these can be used for two things:

- make us realise we at a bad stage at all in terms of crowd figures if tickets continue to sell at the reported rate.

- make us realise how we can improve if we have patience and settle upon a format and settled year margin between World Cups.

Edited July 20, 2013 by JonNgog