magic attendance?

[GUBRATS]

What the Magic Weekend is , is a cup final for all the clubs , similarly the Bash , when it happens , it gives every clubs fans the opportunity for a day out , apart from your local derby , which game do most fans want to win ( assuming you're not one of the 2/3 clubs that make your competitions final or the CC 

So it works , as Dave said , it should not be questioned about why it happens 

Are there other things it can achieve ? , Well yes , it gives us ( RL ) a higher profile for one week a season than we normally get outside the 2 finals 

' Expansion ' ? , Well that's a difficult one , yes but probably only at somewhere like Newcastle that has a local team 

Does it make a profit ? , Must do or it would have been shelved years ago 

[John Rhino]

On 06/09/2021 at 12:05, Racks said:

 

Or as Magic is our festival event should it become the 9s comp with all 20+ represented?

No. We are always chopping and changing instead of building. 

Leave it well alone. Sort out the drunks, let people know where the cheap accommodation is (there's plenty of it a couple of miles along the tracks) and promote the hell out of it 

[Damien]

5 minutes ago, John Rhino said:

No. We are always chopping and changing instead of building. 

Leave it well alone. Sort out the drunks, let people know where the cheap accommodation is (there's plenty of it a couple of miles along the tracks) and promote the hell out of it 

It's been building for 14 years and barely grown.

[DimmestStar]

5 minutes ago, John Rhino said:

No. We are always chopping and changing instead of building. 

Leave it well alone. Sort out the drunks, let people know where the cheap accommodation is (there's plenty of it a couple of miles along the tracks) and promote the hell out of it 

It's fine saying keep it the same when you get a lovely Saturday game with the choice of drive home or have a Saturday night in Newcastle.

How about you volunteer to play Sunday evening when you have to go to work the next day? Then say let's keep it the same.

[Tommygilf]

8 hours ago, Dave T said:

Yes, we aren't worse than any others, but I think there is a level of arrogance that we are a family sport who can mix and this is reflected in the levels of stewarding. I have seen some absolute disgraces - people sitting in their own vomit, passing out drunk, falling over barriers, causing fights, and usually these people are left in the ground, or not even addressed by stewards. 

I don't think we can ignore the fact that drinking habits are changing. When living and working in Edinburgh it really surprised me how many people have embraced the sober lifestyle. And I mean 18 to 25 year olds. 

I think segregation for families is a must, I wouldn't even consider attending some events as a family - and that is a real challenge when we describe ourselves as a family sport. 

Oh I agree the stewarding is 9 times out of 10 pretty rubbish (again true for a lot of sports tbf). They pick easy battles like a kid having their foot on yellow lines for stairways but avoid serious loutishness like yobbo fans being physically or verbally abusive. At Wembley 10 years ago I remember Leeds fans throwing out a fellow Leeds fan who was being a dick to two Wigan lads sat down minding their own business. That should have been a steward. At Wakefield a few weeks ago (for a Championship game), stewards did sod all about low level consistent abuse to one particular black player. 

Perhaps my experience of Magic in 2014 is pertinent here. Leeds played Wigan at the end of the day with 3 games previous. Most Leeds fans (for this specific game) were congregated in one end of the ground with Wigan at the opposite. We were surrounded by significant numbers of Widnes, Salford, and Hull FC fans on top of Wigan and its fair to say the atmosphere felt decidedly hostile. The game on the pitch reflected that too. I was concerned by the lack of stewarding given a significant number of those fans had been in the ground literally all day and/or had lost and/or were not exactly going to love Leeds Rhinos. The lack of stewarding, or protection of being in a different stand even, felt a bit unnerving. Fair enough I was only 16 but I expected that atmosphere at football and had not had it on my previous visits to Magic or Wembley.

I know you're not a fan of changing the format here but Magic being essentially a fancy regular season game means that it relies on a significant amount of the "away days" crowd to fill the stands - on top of the day drinking session. That is always going to be more partisan and aggressive than the crowd for a 9s festival with a party stand etc.

I have to say I think that's a very niche experience with young people and alcohol. Perhaps its Scotland where attitudes are more American vis a vis drinking these days? My experience in England does not match up with that. Also to be factored in is the drugs shaped shadow lurking in the background that means not drinking does not equal sober sadly.

[Tommygilf]

I'm not sure I buy the "cup final for fans of teams who don't get there" argument, and I used to believe it myself. If it was, Wakefield and Salford's following would rival Leeds and Wigans, but they don't. Maybe it only applies to newly promoted sides with a bit of buzz about them?

I would hope the RFL did some real analysis with Magic Weekend attendees. From purely the publicly available information, we see numbers generally decrease the longer an event is held at one location, that proximity to the heartlands is not a defining factor in the event's success with crowd numbers. That's really it.

The questions you'd hope the RFL ask:

1. Who is going?

Is it the same people every year, suggesting there is a "Magic Weekend Crowd" who may even actually not be regular season attendees (opening a whole raft of further questions)? Is the drop offs because you get people going every other year or only semi regularly, and if so why? Are the drop offs because Magic has a fairly static attendee base who are impacted by fatigue? You can make very solid hypotheses just by knowing who is going.

2. Why are they going?

Big Day out for smaller clubs fans? Really love super league/rugby league? Fits with stag do/other events? A simple booze up in a different location?

Answering these can help us understand the fluctuations in crowds and grow them. Sundays didn't used to be 10k worse for example - but if a lot of attendees are going for a booze up then being placed on a Sunday could be a critical factor in them not going at all.

Researching and then implementing strategic responses doesn't seem to be RLs strong point however.

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Oh I agree the stewarding is 9 times out of 10 pretty rubbish (again true for a lot of sports tbf). They pick easy battles like a kid having their foot on yellow lines for stairways but avoid serious loutishness like yobbo fans being physically or verbally abusive. At Wembley 10 years ago I remember Leeds fans throwing out a fellow Leeds fan who was being a dick to two Wigan lads sat down minding their own business. That should have been a steward. At Wakefield a few weeks ago (for a Championship game), stewards did sod all about low level consistent abuse to one particular black player. 

Perhaps my experience of Magic in 2014 is pertinent here. Leeds played Wigan at the end of the day with 3 games previous. Most Leeds fans (for this specific game) were congregated in one end of the ground with Wigan at the opposite. We were surrounded by significant numbers of Widnes, Salford, and Hull FC fans on top of Wigan and its fair to say the atmosphere felt decidedly hostile. The game on the pitch reflected that too. I was concerned by the lack of stewarding given a significant number of those fans had been in the ground literally all day and/or had lost and/or were not exactly going to love Leeds Rhinos. The lack of stewarding, or protection of being in a different stand even, felt a bit unnerving. Fair enough I was only 16 but I expected that atmosphere at football and had not had it on my previous visits to Magic or Wembley.

I know you're not a fan of changing the format here but Magic being essentially a fancy regular season game means that it relies on a significant amount of the "away days" crowd to fill the stands - on top of the day drinking session. That is always going to be more partisan and aggressive than the crowd for a 9s festival with a party stand etc.

I have to say I think that's a very niche experience with young people and alcohol. Perhaps its Scotland where attitudes are more American vis a vis drinking these days? My experience in England does not match up with that. Also to be factored in is the drugs shaped shadow lurking in the background that means not drinking does not equal sober sadly.

It's a few articles like this that I have read that has confirmed what I have seen personally. There is also a real increase in the sober bloggers etc - although I should add I have a presence on my FB with friends/family who have had alcohol issues. 

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/blog/2020/why-are-more-young-people-going-tee-total

 

[GUBRATS]

3 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

I'm not sure I buy the "cup final for fans of teams who don't get there" argument, and I used to believe it myself. If it was, Wakefield and Salford's following would rival Leeds and Wigans, but they don't. Maybe it only applies to newly promoted sides with a bit of buzz about them?

 

Suggesting Wakey or Salford would take the same as Wigan or Leeds isn't realistic , I do know that for a sizeable amount of Leigh fans attending for the weekend it was their first and only game this season home or away 

Prior to the MW many clubs fans hadn't had an ' event ' to attend for decades , as I said similarily the Bash at Championship level achieves the same thing , it gives the fans , be they occaisional or die hard , something to look forward to , a day out supporting their club