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Are you worried about attendances?


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18 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Anyone want to take a guess at number at Hull today. 

The crowd was read as 9k (don't know the exact figure but remember hearing it over the tannoy). Was ok, but much lower than it would have been usually.

First game back for me since Radford was sacked against Warrington. Just glad to be back at the rugby! Although I've gotten so used to watching in TV with a slight delay that every time my phone buzzed I thought it was my phone saying someone was about to score!

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12 hours ago, Dave T said:

What's your next idea burning down the ticket office and punching every fan in the face as they enter the ground? 😆

I always knew there was a way of getting me to buy my father in law a ticket.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Back on topic re attendances, Leigh fans can only get tickets for tomorrow's game at Wigan by ordering through the Wigan club either on line or by telephoning the Wigan ticket office, I have just one question WHY.

How many Leigh fans will it put off, I will hold my hand up as the first to say me!

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8 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Back on topic re attendances, Leigh fans can only get tickets for tomorrow's game at Wigan by ordering through the Wigan club either on line or by telephoning the Wigan ticket office, I have just one question WHY.

How many Leigh fans will it put off, I will hold my hand up as the first to say me!

Because Wigan have got a new ticket system so as yet aren’t able to bulk print tickets to send to away clubs. Nothing more, nothing less. Took less than 2 minutes to do it online (I’m not exaggerating), and it was even negotiated (and publicised as such) that Leigh would still get a 25% cut. Probably took you longer to write your post on here. 

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Just now, Leyther_Matt said:

Because Wigan have got a new ticket system so as yet aren’t able to bulk print tickets to send to away clubs. Nothing more, nothing less. Took less than 2 minutes to do it online (I’m not exaggerating), and it was even negotiated (and publicised as such) that Leigh would still get a 25% cut. Probably took you longer to write your post on here. 

Thanks Matt.

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Various posts deleted.

If the pathetic name-calling in here does not stop, suspensions will follow.

Those responsible have been warned.

Now, back on topic, please.

Thanks.

.

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1 hour ago, ShropshireBull said:

Yes it does seem silly that cameras are set up to give the worst impression of your product...

It's literally impossible to change at Headingley but at the flat pack stadia you'd have thought they could give it a bit more thought.

9,196 there at Headingley last night, the lowest home Leeds crowd since 2003. And I suspect that includes me as a ticket holder even though I couldn't attend. Clearly people are isolating and so on and a good number will not be keen to go out in crowds but there's a job to be done if the game has lost a third of our support base.

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On 29/07/2021 at 02:09, Dave T said:

That's an overly pessimistic list, particularly when it is padded out with Sinfield. 

We are in a pandemic, it should be no surprise that getting crowds back in grounds is challenging. Wire got 8k tonight, slightly more than I thought. Whilst that is low for this match, it is a miserable Wednesday night in the school holidays, against a backdrop of cancelled games due to Covid and the North West having very high cases. 

OK Dave.... "Overly pessimistic" as you say. 

Add Leeds lowest crowd for 18 years to that list now.

But yeah.... We won't know if there's a real problem until next March. 👍🏼

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17 minutes ago, The Frying Scotsman said:

OK Dave.... "Overly pessimistic" as you say. 

Add Leeds lowest crowd for 18 years to that list now.

But yeah.... We won't know if there's a real problem until next March. 👍🏼

Ask yourself why would we suddenly be seeing these poor crowds?

What actually has happened that has suddenly turned fans off SL?

You can try and make out that there is something that the sport has done that has created this - when it is clear as day that the current situation is due to the pandemic. Fans have always moaned and claimed the game is dying - but Leeds fans haven't just walked away because of anything that has happened - it is directly the pandemic that is affecting the crowds. 

We are in a season where games are being called off left, right and centre, people are being pinged and having to isolate, the scheduling is all over the place, normal ticket sales periods haven't been in place - this is all pandemic stuff. I've pointed out we are in damage limitation mode, or survival mode, call it whatever you want - but that is due to the pandemic - 2022 is going to be closer to 'normal' and that is when you can compare to 2019. 

I'm surprised anybody is surprised that we are getting lower crowds. Genuinely surprised.

We see it all the time in Rugby League - once we move outside of the BAU sales process, crowds drop - the Challenge Cup and Playoffs games evidence this literally every year. We are not in a BAU cycle at the moment.

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43 minutes ago, M j M said:

 

9,196 there at Headingley last night, the lowest home Leeds crowd since 2003. And I suspect that includes me as a ticket holder even though I couldn't attend. Clearly people are isolating and so on and a good number will not be keen to go out in crowds but there's a job to be done if the game has lost a third of our support base.

My point on all of this is that external factors are having a huge impact crowds at the moment, none of this is to suggest that RL is in great shape and no better can be done, but that was also the case when Leeds used to get 16k crowds for gams like this.

But if we look at that direct comparison of 2020 vs this year - vs Wire Leeds got 12.1k versus 9.1k last night. If we look at the differences, the main ones are the whole pandemic thing. We didn't have standard sales processes for this season, we are playing at 7.30 on a Sunday versus the standard Friday night, we have reluctance to buy tickets as games are getting called off, we have people isolating, we have people nervous about attending huge crowds - I can easily see how this would affect the crowd by this kind of %. 

Exactly the same point goes for Wire v Wigan on Wednesday which was a good few k lower. 

These games in reality, are probably somewhere between the Cup games and League games, and that is what we are seeing.  

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12 minutes ago, Dave T said:

My point on all of this is that external factors are having a huge impact crowds at the moment, none of this is to suggest that RL is in great shape and no better can be done, but that was also the case when Leeds used to get 16k crowds for gams like this.

But if we look at that direct comparison of 2020 vs this year - vs Wire Leeds got 12.1k versus 9.1k last night. If we look at the differences, the main ones are the whole pandemic thing. We didn't have standard sales processes for this season, we are playing at 7.30 on a Sunday versus the standard Friday night, we have reluctance to buy tickets as games are getting called off, we have people isolating, we have people nervous about attending huge crowds - I can easily see how this would affect the crowd by this kind of %. 

Exactly the same point goes for Wire v Wigan on Wednesday which was a good few k lower. 

These games in reality, are probably somewhere between the Cup games and League games, and that is what we are seeing.  

Seems a reasonable explanation, as you say, the real comparison will come early in the 2022 season when there has been a full lead into the season, with hopefully the worst behind and a regular schedule of matches.

I hope all clubs have their thinking caps on and are sharing ideas on how to get fans back into the grounds

100% League 0% Union

Just because I don't know doesn't mean I don't understand

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9 minutes ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Seems a reasonable explanation, as you say, the real comparison will come early in the 2022 season when there has been a full lead into the season, with hopefully the worst behind and a regular schedule of matches.

I hope all clubs have their thinking caps on and are sharing ideas on how to get fans back into the grounds

My summary can easily be dismissed as burying head in sand, but it is nothing of the sort - we need to understand what the problem is before we take action. RL has challenges whether this pandemic arrived or not - and to be fair, the solutions may be the same anyway, but I'm afraid that we ay need to suck up some of the crowd impacts and losses for this year. 

We are still in the pandemic, we need to survive and do the best we can, but next year is the real test - if I'm honest, I would put all of my attention, budget, thoughts on how to maximise next year - with a refresh, relaunch, whatever - this year is survival.

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What worries me is the lack of initiatives, I don’t think many clubs work together and share ideas.

Maybe I’m off topic but I was due to attend Sheffield vs York yesterday, to be played at Doncaster after the Doncaster vs Hunslet match. Now, the match was postponed so none of this really matters but....

I bought a ticket for the Sheffield game at £20. I hoped it would get me into the Doncaster game too but was told I’d need a separate ticket at £12. Why can’t the clubs work together, a joint ticket for those who want them? I had business down near Doncaster anyway and would’ve still attended Doncaster vs Hunslet (which sounded like a great match) to get my RL fix, but instead because I only had a ticket for the Sheffield match it was refunded.

At some point clubs need to work together, share ideas, come up with initiatives before its too late. 
 

And before anyone says it, free tickets are rarely the answer - I know of a club that gave free tickets for a match, they had to collect on the day before the game and in return all people had to do was write their name and email on a sheet of paper on a clipboard. One of the columns asked if the club could use their details to contact them for future matches. Even though it was explained to each person that it helped the club, approximately 9 out of 10 said no. I often see people say ‘do free tickets and get everyone’s details to encourage them back’ but when 90% refuse, what good is it really doing? Saying that it sounds like Barrow are doing well because they are making it more of an event, not just an 80 minute match.

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4 hours ago, Eddie said:

Anyone know how many were at Headingley last night? Looked like a decent crowd, and up for it too. It’s a shame that the tv camera is on the ‘wrong’ side there, as it is at Warrington and Saints also. 

I've said this so many times... I have no idea why it would be so difficult to point the camera towards the south stand. I was watching it with a potential convert and they mentioned the empty North stand... Thankfully they did a few panned shots across the south stand where it looked fantastic 

Surely something can be done 

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Just now, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I've said this so many times... I have no idea why it would be so difficult to point the camera towards the south stand. I was watching it with a potential convert and they mentioned the empty North stand... Thankfully they did a few panned shots across the south stand where it looked fantastic 

Surely something can be done 

Huddersfield could get everyone to sit in the same stand, it would then look half full on tv. 

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5 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Huddersfield could get everyone to sit in the same stand, it would then look half full on tv. 

I know that's a gag but I do think things like that need to be looked at!! 

The TV product is do important and everyone is more attracted to watching full stands... 

Surely the clubs and Sky could easily fix this? 

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1 minute ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I've said this so many times... I have no idea why it would be so difficult to point the camera towards the south stand. I was watching it with a potential convert and they mentioned the empty North stand... Thankfully they did a few panned shots across the south stand where it looked fantastic 

Surely something can be done 

It absolutely cannot be done.

Putting on a live TV presentation isn't just having some bloke holding a camera. The Sky trucks all park up in the South Stand car park, directly adjacent to the gantry and electrical stuff. They plug directly into the TV systems and areas given over to the TV crews which have been created there.

The site of the North Stand is ridiculously cramped and was the subject of the most painful negotiations and compromises as part of the rebuild. Every spare millimetre on that side of the ground is given over to revenue-generation, the idea of bringing in the TV gantry and presentation areas as well would not have been practical.

Moreover the design of the North Stand and the way the load bearing works to support the roof on both sides of the ground is already very complicated. A requirement for additional strengthening to have a gantry hanging from underneath the RL side would have added yet more unnecessary cost and complication.

 

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