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Why are Salford’s attendances always so poor?


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Image is everything in the modern world, RL in Salford is out of fashion.

Once the generation break is passed it is difficult to get a generation with no affiliation to take an interest, even if you are successful.

It will take a long time for Salford to recover to former attendances, people who think a bit of success will bring dead people rolling back in are living in cuckoo land.

 

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Honestly, I think the location puts people off.   The stadium isn't that bad but is kinda a pain to get too. The bus service isn't great. Train and tram stops very far. Traffic is so bad that the club basically tells you to stay out an hour after the match before trying to leave (just check the website).  Once the Trafford center opens up it's tram stop it'll be better, but a 25 min walk is still a deterrent for many people.

 

The stadium doesn't get great numbers for union and football either, with both other clubs  between 2.5-3.5k average attendances.

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2 hours ago, TboneFromTO said:

 

 

The stadium doesn't get great numbers for union and football either, with both other clubs  between 2.5-3.5k average attendances.

Sale union announce attendances of 8k plus. Even if they were fudging numbers its still way higher than Salford. Sad indictment on the Red Devils.

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I don’t get where this thread has come from, if I’m honest. 

Salford played Huddersfield on Friday night. It happened to be Valentines Day, the game was televised for Sky Sports and Storm Dennis was starting to take full swing. The crowd was 3,350. 

Rewind six months ago, almost to the day and Salford hosted Huddersfield at the AJ Bell. It was a 3pm kick-off on a Sunday, the weather was good and Salford were on a good run. They attendance was 2,750. 

Salford have shown a 22% increase on last year’s game against the same opposition. Rather than slag them off because they might not have a five figure crowd, let’s congratulate them as a club for such an increase in such a short time and long may it continue for them. 

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4 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Minority sport is no excuse for Salford who were formed in 1873 and joined the Northern Union in 1896, 1 year after Rugby League was invented. 

If Catalans and Toronto can get decent home support, any club along the M62 can blame nobody except themselves if their crowds are poor. 

Maybe Salford should hand out free tickets like your beloved Toronto do, eh Kev ! Also, why do Toronto never bring more than 30 fans to games over here, when little clubs like Leigh (you'll like that) took nearly 400 over there in 2018. Answers on a postcard to.....Sir Kev !

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6 hours ago, Padge said:

Image is everything in the modern world, RL in Salford is out of fashion.

Once the generation break is passed it is difficult to get a generation with no affiliation to take an interest, even if you are successful.

It will take a long time for Salford to recover to former attendances, people who think a bit of success will bring dead people rolling back in are living in cuckoo land.

 

Toronto don't have these problems attracting new fans 

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3 hours ago, moorside roughyed said:

It could be that the local population are not that interested in either code of rugby. 

This, certainly for Manchester.

Its been two decades since I used the playing fields in Manchester (Liverpool too) and I can’t ever recall seeing a rugby ball. With a sizeable Asian populous in Manchester there was some cricket being played there, but other than that it was football only.

Both rugby codes have their own mini cultures; RL: former coal mining towns in the north, and RU: leafy suburbs in the south. You don’t hear much about either from the outside. They are very much tied into their own communities. Because neither are in mainstream culture you just don’t hear joe public talking about how Widnes are faring, or how Wasps are getting on. It’s not in general conversation, which makes it very difficult to attract new interest. There’s not one rugby player playing today (either code) who the general public could name. The last one was Johnny Wilkinson, which was due to an event that broke into mainstream culture. Still, only he (and two or three other England internationals) benefited from that exposure, as club RU remained in the shadows, stuck in its own mini culture. After that RUWC I don’t recall seeing any more coverage of club RU, or it being talked about more in the media or on the street. 

The 2005 Ashes. That series was able to attract new followers to the game. It did so as it entered mainstream culture, with those not accustomed to cricket becoming interested  (cricket to an Irishman is akin to ice hockey to an Indian, so the impact was big enough to break through such a barrier). Think I’ve watched most ashes series since, and wanting England to win. 

 

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Salford have come from a low base, however the most important thing is they are growing and working hard to grow their crowds after hitting an extra low low in 2018.  

Comparing YOY, as @Hela Wigmen pointed out, the Salford v Huddersfield game enjoyed a 25% increase despite being in a worse timeslot (Valentines Day) and having the game shown live on Sky.   The club got over 4,500 the week before against Toronto and are currently averaging 3,971 for the season.

Last year they averaged 3,676, the year before was a record low of 2,748.   Sure they've had some bigger years, but if you look at Salford's crowds in the SL era they have only averaged 4,206, so they are not far off where they were pre their current ground.

Ironically, Salford's biggest year from an average attendances aspect in the past 40 years was 2012 - the first year they moved to their current venue and average 5,503.  Outside of that, 2007 and 1997 are the only other times they've cracked 5K. 

If the club can be competitive this year and challenge for the Finals, they may push for 5K this year, especially considering they haven't had any of their traditionally 'higher drawing' opponents yet. 

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4 hours ago, clogdance said:

Maybe Salford should hand out free tickets like your beloved Toronto do, eh Kev ! Also, why do Toronto never bring more than 30 fans to games over here, when little clubs like Leigh (you'll like that) took nearly 400 over there in 2018. Answers on a postcard to.....Sir Kev !

Maybe they should hand out free tickets. That's how you get people with zero knowledge of the sport along for a good day out. So next time, a few of them come back and if you're lucky, they bring their mates. Time after that, they start following the game and understanding the play.

I've brought complete non-fans who'd never seen a game of rugby of either code to Lamport to watch the Wolfpack. I promise them a great day out and lots of beer. Over a couple of seasons, four have converted to season ticket holders and about six more come out fairly regularly. Toronto has gone from zero fans to a steady 7000-8000 in three years, with 10000 at the last MPG. Most had no clue about rugby league back in 2017.

Wolfpack had 50+ at Castleford. Last game of the 2019 season @Bradford, there were 200. You diminish your argument with silly digs.

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3 hours ago, Yakstorm said:

Salford have come from a low base, however the most important thing is they are growing and working hard to grow their crowds after hitting an extra low low in 2018.  

Comparing YOY, as @Hela Wigmen pointed out, the Salford v Huddersfield game enjoyed a 25% increase despite being in a worse timeslot (Valentines Day) and having the game shown live on Sky.   The club got over 4,500 the week before against Toronto and are currently averaging 3,971 for the season.

Last year they averaged 3,676, the year before was a record low of 2,748.   Sure they've had some bigger years, but if you look at Salford's crowds in the SL era they have only averaged 4,206, so they are not far off where they were pre their current ground.

Ironically, Salford's biggest year from an average attendances aspect in the past 40 years was 2012 - the first year they moved to their current venue and average 5,503.  Outside of that, 2007 and 1997 are the only other times they've cracked 5K. 

If the club can be competitive this year and challenge for the Finals, they may push for 5K this year, especially considering they haven't had any of their traditionally 'higher drawing' opponents yet. 

At the willows they were averaging 5k or so 

Maybe their crowds have risen from lows but they have been falling for ages 

Now without koucash support they will fall back down the table after one excellent year off Jackson Hastings back 

It's why super league is stagnant

Clubs like wakey hull kr or Salford have one breakout year then sink back to mediocrity.

 

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6 hours ago, Celt said:

see my post above.  Stuff like this just sounds like excuses i'm afraid.  The union people get a lot more than 2.5k FFS.

I did some wrong math(was using this year's numbers dividing by the whole season which isn't done yet) but last year their average attendance was 6.6k ish.  The lowest of their league.  While it is more then srd I wouldnt say they are good numbers.  The stadium is hard to get to and is absolutely a deterrent for more audiences.  Casual fans may even be less inclined to go because it's poor public transport links.  These are all things businesses have to worry about

It's faster to get to st Helens, Wigan and Warringtons grounds from central Manchester (Piccadilly gardens) for example then the ajbell. (Less transfers/walking too) why would someone who wants to check the sport out go all the way to the AJ Bell when time wise the other three options are quicker?

I mean their promotional game isn't great and they could benefit from direct marketing but as a sports fan, given the choice is go somewhere else that's faster/easier to get to

 

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4 hours ago, Yakstorm said:

Salford have come from a low base, however the most important thing is they are growing and working hard to grow their crowds after hitting an extra low low in 2018.  

Comparing YOY, as @Hela Wigmen pointed out, the Salford v Huddersfield game enjoyed a 25% increase despite being in a worse timeslot (Valentines Day) and having the game shown live on Sky.   The club got over 4,500 the week before against Toronto and are currently averaging 3,971 for the season.

Last year they averaged 3,676, the year before was a record low of 2,748.   Sure they've had some bigger years, but if you look at Salford's crowds in the SL era they have only averaged 4,206, so they are not far off where they were pre their current ground.

Ironically, Salford's biggest year from an average attendances aspect in the past 40 years was 2012 - the first year they moved to their current venue and average 5,503.  Outside of that, 2007 and 1997 are the only other times they've cracked 5K. 

If the club can be competitive this year and challenge for the Finals, they may push for 5K this year, especially considering they haven't had any of their traditionally 'higher drawing' opponents yet. 

That's a more realistic view as their is, actually, some optimism at Salford at the moment.

One selected crowd figure seems to have been used as the basis for regurgitating old arguments to the effect that there is little interest in RL in 'Manchester;'.

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8 hours ago, Hela Wigmen said:

I don’t get where this thread has come from, if I’m honest. 

Salford played Huddersfield on Friday night. It happened to be Valentines Day, the game was televised for Sky Sports and Storm Dennis was starting to take full swing. The crowd was 3,350. 

Rewind six months ago, almost to the day and Salford hosted Huddersfield at the AJ Bell. It was a 3pm kick-off on a Sunday, the weather was good and Salford were on a good run. They attendance was 2,750. 

Salford have shown a 22% increase on last year’s game against the same opposition. Rather than slag them off because they might not have a five figure crowd, let’s congratulate them as a club for such an increase in such a short time and long may it continue for them. 

I'll continue to monitor the as the season goes on. Some good positives there though.

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7 hours ago, Celt said:

see my post above.  Stuff like this just sounds like excuses i'm afraid.  The union people get a lot more than 2.5k FFS.

I've also been monitoring the Sale Sharks attendances they are better than Salfords but the real question is why? On the field Salford are clearly delivering the superior product.

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53 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

At the willows they were averaging 5k or so 

Maybe their crowds have risen from lows but they have been falling for ages 

Now without koucash support they will fall back down the table after one excellent year off Jackson Hastings back 

It's why super league is stagnant

Clubs like wakey hull kr or Salford have one breakout year then sink back to mediocrity.

 

willows definitely wasn't averaging 5.5k, maybe in the last season because of the very reason that it was their last season there. 

Koukash leaving has actually increased crowds quite a lot, he alienated the vast majority of the fans with the constant musings of wanting to relocate the team to Manchester, looking to take gems to be played at the ground next to the Etihad, breaking the rules and just basically constantly moaning about the fans. Scrapping the Academy was probably the last straw for many!

 

As for transport to the AJ Bell, i would hardly say that its a pain to get to, parking at the stadium is available, parking at Barton airport is available and a 5 minute walk to the stadium. parking is available at the Ski slope, places to grab somethign to eat there and then its a 10 min walk to the stadium.

The crowds at Salford have always been on the low side but witht he guys who are currently in charge of the club and the engagement with the community they are slowly increasing.  

 

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