Thunder’s crowds up 400% since rebrand from Gateshead to Newcastle

[Newcastle Thunder]

 

Rugby League is growing in popularity in the North East as Newcastle Thunder report they are welcoming more fans to Kingston Park stadium than ever before, with a 29% rise in attendances compared to the same period last year.

Over 9,000 fans have poured through the turnstiles at the seven home games held so far this season, resulting in an average of 1,289 as the club continues to grow.

Specific highlights have included a bumper attendance of 4,137 at the Magic Night Out fixture against Bradford Bulls and two attendances of over 900 fans against York and Coventry, that have surpassed the 917 average achieved last season.

The scale of the growth that Thunder are enjoying is further highlighted when compared to the final season at Gateshead International Stadium in 2014 when an average of 249 fans attended during the season.

That figure means that since moving to Kingston Parks Stadium in 2015, the club’s attendances have grown by more than 400%

And with half season tickets now on sale to cover the final six home games of the year, offering supporters the chance to save the equivalent cost of two match-day admission tickets, Thunder are hopeful this season’s average figure will rise yet further.

General Manager Jordan Robinson said: “To be averaging over 1,000 fans at our home games is a big marker for the club that shows real progression that comes from a combination of hard work from all the staff and our ever improving involvement with local clubs.

“We’re welcoming more and more new fans to our match-days who are enjoying what they are experiencing and are coming back for more and with some big games to come, in terms of our pushing for the promotion play-offs, we’re hoping that growth will continue through the rest of the season.”

http://www.thunderrugby.co.uk/general/crowds-on-the-rise-at-newcastle-thunder/

 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Hopefully a big club in the making.

Sleeping giant, like York IMO.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

What’s the true average without the pre-Magic weekend attendance?

[Chamey]

10 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

What’s the true average without the pre-Magic weekend attendance?

814, up from 800 last year.

[Jimbo78]

8 minutes ago, Chamey said:

814, up from 800 last year.

Tbf that game was against Bradford so even though their may have not been a 4k+ crowd in attendance had it not been played on the Friday before MW it would have still attracted a healthy crowd.

As a born and bred Geordie who had no previous interest in Rugby League until I was hooked by Magic Weekend being hosted here I started following Widnes Vikings 3 years ago after the first MW (thanks to them supporting the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation) and have travelled down to Widnes several times to watch them play. However just last month with us being at a bit of a loose end and with the weather being nice and hot we decided to go and watch Newcastle Thunder v Whitehaven to fill in a Sunday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very good, entertaining game, friendly atmosphere and my 5 year old son got a high five off all the Thunder players at full time which he was absolutely buzzing about! He begged us to take him to the next game, which we did, and I'm pleased to say he seems hooked on it. He even managed to persuade us to buy him a replica top which he never has off his back and we've also bought half season tickets for the rest of this season.

There's a huge catchment area up here and it's great to see the club growing from what it was just a few years ago. Hopefully it continues.

[DlEHARD]

Hello Manchester Red Devils.

[RayCee]

Having the Magic Weekend in Newcastle must have lifted the awareness of RL in the area. That plus a club that seems switched on and the signs look good. How long before players from this region are playing in SL? 

[XIII Ram]

3 hours ago, RayCee said:

Having the Magic Weekend in Newcastle must have lifted the awareness of RL in the area. That plus a club that seems switched on and the signs look good. How long before players from this region are playing in SL? 

Chris Thorman (Wallsend) for Sheffield Eagles in Super League IV, 1999

..but I agree things are looking up. Thunder certainly haven't had an easy ride - but as someone from the NE who saw their 1st ever season in SL and has dropped in periodically on the up & down seasons of intervening years I can see cause for optimism now on the back of good ownership/management,  a healthy amateur scene plus interest generated by Magic. There are dedicated RL people up there who deserve praise, not least for keeping the club and game alive. This is steady, not spectacular progress, but the audience for RL is being grown and could grow further. 

A game at Thunder is a good day out and I recommend people to make the short trip from the heartlands to check it out.

[West Leeds Riviera]

3 hours ago, DlEHARD said:

Hello Manchester Red Devils.

I wonder how much moving to Kingston Park had to do with it as well

[Eleftherios]

Cracking day out at Thunder, give it a try. RL is on the up in the NE.

[AB Knight]

I've said it before, but for me the next step is to have Newcastle playing the opening game of Magic Weekend at St James Park. I think it would serve a greater purpose than Toronto vs Toulouse.

They've made great strides, and with the good work being done at Cramlington Rockets I think Newcastle Thunder stepping out at St James Park would be a huge boost for the sport in the local area. To me it's a missed opportunity not having them involved, we see it so often in Rugby League, we aren't far off but just can't seem to connect the dots.

To make it fair and assuming Thunder don't get promoted this season, I'd make it Newcastle Thunder vs the loser of the NL1 Playoff Final, not a bad 'booby prize' for whichever team misses out on promotion, knowing they'll step out in front of 10-15k next year.

[kiwis 13 6]

Very positive news for the Thunder. I think it would be a great Idea to include the Thunder on the bill in the next Magic Weekend in Newcastle. 

[wilsontown]

Good to see some positive news here for a change. There were certainly a good few Geordies enjoying the sunshine, if not the result, in York on Sunday and even saw a few Thunder shirts in town after the game. On the pitch they were certainly among the better sides I've seen play at York the last couple of seasons.

[The Daddy]

10 hours ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

What’s the true average without the pre-Magic weekend attendance?

Some people always have to take a negative outlook. 

[Cowardly Fan]

14 minutes ago, The Daddy said:

Some people always have to take a negative outlook. 

I'd say it was a more relevant statistic than the press release. The problem is the magic weekend game is not only higher due in part to the travelling Bradford fans, but it also has much more impact given there have been less home games so far. 

Newcastle have made some good progress (and I've no issue with a bit of spin), but by the end of the season that increase is more likely to be around 5-10%.

[deluded pom?]

2 minutes ago, Cowardly Fan said:

Newcastle have made some good progress (and I've no issue with a bit of spin), but by the end of the season that increase is more likely to be around 5-10%.

On last season or since the rebrand?

[Cowardly Fan]

22 minutes ago, deluded pom? said:

On last season or since the rebrand?

On last season. I'm not trying to diminish their achievements, but just trying to compare like with like. 5% growth given similar results would be a great achievement, if we had that across the game we'd be very happy. 

[TheLegendOfTexEvans]

8 hours ago, DlEHARD said:

Hello Manchester Red Devils.

Are you Robbie Paul?

[deluded pom?]

8 minutes ago, Cowardly Fan said:

On last season. I'm not trying to diminish their achievements, but just trying to compare like with like. 5% growth given similar results would be a great achievement, if we had that across the game we'd be very happy. 

I agree, any increase is good and still a good improvement since moving to Kingston Park.

[Markos]

3 hours ago, AB Knight said:

I've said it before, but for me the next step is to have Newcastle playing the opening game of Magic Weekend at St James Park. I think it would serve a greater purpose than Toronto vs Toulouse.

They've made great strides, and with the good work being done at Cramlington Rockets I think Newcastle Thunder stepping out at St James Park would be a huge boost for the sport in the local area. To me it's a missed opportunity not having them involved, we see it so often in Rugby League, we aren't far off but just can't seem to connect the dots.

To make it fair and assuming Thunder don't get promoted this season, I'd make it Newcastle Thunder vs the loser of the NL1 Playoff Final, not a bad 'booby prize' for whichever team misses out on promotion, knowing they'll step out in front of 10-15k next year.

Great shout. I don the know if they already do, but some clever marketing and incentives in the Newcastle area to get more locals attending the magic weekend, and to make sure it's not just full of travelling support off for a day out (not that I want less of those btw, just more locals). Combine that with an appearance from the local team and it could boost attendances further.

I'd love to see some of these big cities really establish themselves in the game as areas with large catchments and a strong team are more likely to pull in bumper crowds to the game.

Great news.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

1 hour ago, The Daddy said:

Some people always have to take a negative outlook. 

Not at all. I was interested whether the pre-Magic game was heavily skewing the statistic and wondering what a truer figure is based on a normal weekend throughout the year. 

[dixiedean]

1 hour ago, Markos said:

Great shout. I don the know if they already do, but some clever marketing and incentives in the Newcastle area to get more locals attending the magic weekend, and to make sure it's not just full of travelling support off for a day out (not that I want less of those btw, just more locals). Combine that with an appearance from the local team and it could boost attendances further.

I'd love to see some of these big cities really establish themselves in the game as areas with large catchments and a strong team are more likely to pull in bumper crowds to the game.

Great news.

Over 20% of Magic tickets are sold to NE postcodes. Now some may be exiled M62er's like me, but far from the majority. There are plenty of Geordie voices there. Even my mother-in-law knew it was happening.

Could always be more of course.

[redjonn]

If I was marketing at Thunder I wouldn't see a need to actually play at the Magic whilst the Magic is in Newcastle.   What they do now with a game before makes the most of the weekend.    Other teams can gain by playing at Magic as per Toronto, Toulouse in addition to Thunder with the pre-magic game and Magic generating more awareness of the sport.

[DoubleD]

8 hours ago, Cowardly Fan said:

On last season. I'm not trying to diminish their achievements, but just trying to compare like with like. 5% growth given similar results would be a great achievement, if we had that across the game we'd be very happy. 

However you’d need to remove the magic crowd last year as well if you’re taking out the Bradford crowd this year

[TheLegendOfTexEvans]

7 hours ago, redjonn said:

If I was marketing at Thunder I wouldn't see a need to actually play at the Magic whilst the Magic is in Newcastle.   What they do now with a game before makes the most of the weekend.    Other teams can gain by playing at Magic as per Toronto, Toulouse in addition to Thunder with the pre-magic game and Magic generating more awareness of the sport.

Depends what effort is made to sell tickets to existing newcastle fans.  If you offer some deal like £5 a ticket to existing season ticket holders before a certain date.  You could generate significant local interest which you want to pass over to the thunder.