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Grand final attendance doom and gloom thread.


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2 hours ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Correlation is not necessarily causation. 

If the only tickets that go unsold were the club allocation tickets, it's fair to make that case. But there are lots of reasons why the crowd is smaller than it should be - and that's before you get to "one of the teams is from France". 

It doesn't seem to me that the popularity of the French teams is as high and widespread in Rugby League land as the majority of posters on these pages emphasize that it is.

I well remember the build up to the Million Pound game at the LSV, this site was awash with well wishers and support for Catalan, from the comments and the backing they were given one would have thought the stadium would be overflowing with those in their corner so to speak, in reality there was hardly any support at all in the ground for Catalan.

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2 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

I'm actually quite disappointed it took so long for this thread to start 🤡

Never mind, there'll be a better thread next year when the GF is Catalans vs Toulouse 😉

On a semi-serious note, if there were to be a Catalans v Toulouse Grand Final, I'd love to see it played at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

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Just now, Gav Wilson said:

On a semi-serious note, if there were to be a Catalans v Toulouse Grand Final, I'd love to see it played at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

Now that would probably cause this forum to explode 🤯

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12 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

It doesn't seem to me that the popularity of the French teams is as high and widespread in Rugby League land as the majority of posters on these pages emphasize that it is.

I well remember the build up to the Million Pound game at the LSV, this site was awash with well wishers and support for Catalan, from the comments and the backing they were given one would have thought the stadium would be overflowing with those in their corner do to speak, in reality there was hardly any support at all in the ground for Catalan.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. 

The issue here is that RL's flagship events, one an event that RL argues is a "blue ribboned" event of such sporting and cultural importance that it merits being on the protected events list, and another the pinnacle of the league season and the peak of sporting drama, aren't seen as "must see" events by the wider public, or indeed the RL fanbase. 

That's not a failure of the Catalans Dragons, nor are the Catalans the cause of that. It's a failure of the game's leadership in how it establishes, builds, develops and promotes these key events and how it (including the 12 SL clubs) builds a core audience for them. 

Whilst most top sporting and entertainment events sell out in 15 minutes, RL is still trying desperately to sell tickets to our biggest events 15 minutes before kick-off. 

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13 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

It doesn't seem to me that the popularity of the French teams is as high and widespread in Rugby League land as the majority of posters on these pages emphasize that it is.

I well remember the build up to the Million Pound game at the LSV, this site was awash with well wishers and support for Catalan, from the comments and the backing they were given one would have thought the stadium would be overflowing with those in their corner do to speak, in reality there was hardly any support at all in the ground for Catalan.

Didn’t the mighty Degsy Leigh centurions fill the ground on their own? 🤷‍♂️

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4 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Most Ryanair flights are close to full, it’s how they operate their business 

There must be a video somewhere of Michael O'Leary watching the Fev v Fax game biting his nails hoping Rovers would prevail!

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1 hour ago, Saint Toppy said:

I thought that restriction was now lifted. Man Utd are permitted to play in front of a capacity stadium again now and had over 73K there this weekend.

Why would a rugby game at the stadium be limited to 45K when a football game can have over 73K ? Are rugby fans more contagious than football fans or something.

We were discussing the rules for the CC final in July, not the GF. Full capacity is allowed at the weekend, same as the football.

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2 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Most Ryanair flights are close to full, it’s how they operate their business 

I'm a travel agent. Please don't try and explain the business model of the low cost carriers to me.

You're wrong by the way. A low price indicates the flight isn't anywhere near capacity. A high price indicates that the flight is almost full.

A seat on Thursday will cost you £9.99. I'd be amazed if more than 20 passengers were booked on that flight.

A seat on Friday will cost you £120. There will be less than 10 seats left on that plane.

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2 hours ago, whatmichaelsays said:

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. 

The issue here is that RL's flagship events, one an event that RL argues is a "blue ribboned" event of such sporting and cultural importance that it merits being on the protected events list, and another the pinnacle of the league season and the peak of sporting drama, aren't seen as "must see" events by the wider public, or indeed the RL fanbase. 

That's not a failure of the Catalans Dragons, nor are the Catalans the cause of that. It's a failure of the game's leadership in how it establishes, builds, develops and promotes these key events and how it (including the 12 SL clubs) builds a core audience for them. 

Whilst most top sporting and entertainment events sell out in 15 minutes, RL is still trying desperately to sell tickets to our biggest events 15 minutes before kick-off. 

Whilst I generally agree, and it is beyond doubt that we need to be doing better, we can't dismiss the fact that the teams who make the final will impact the crowds. Catalans will have the biggest impact, as they will probably bring 1 to 2k max instead of maybe 15 to 20k that Salford did two years ago. Ait isn't controversial for Harry to point that out. 

And other sports have the same issue. Look at the European Cup Final for Union - they have ranged between 56k and 82k at Twickenham depending on who is playing. Murray field has ranged between 50 and 66k. They have now started playing in lower capacity grounds, although by taking games to places like Bilbao they still show ambition. 

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3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Whilst I generally agree, and it is beyond doubt that we need to be doing better, we can't dismiss the fact that the teams who make the final will impact the crowds. Catalans will have the biggest impact, as they will probably bring 1 to 2k max instead of maybe 15 to 20k that Salford did two years ago. Ait isn't controversial for Harry to point that out. 

And other sports have the same issue. Look at the European Cup Final for Union - they have ranged between 56k and 82k at Twickenham depending on who is playing. Murray field has ranged between 50 and 66k. They have now started playing in lower capacity grounds, although by taking games to places like Bilbao they still show ambition. 

I don't disagree with that, but until we're talking about the only 'unsold' tickets being those from the respective club allocations, we're in a position where the sport isn't doing enough to position the Grand Final as a must-see event that people clamour to see, and where the sport is actually putting itself in a high risk position that unfashionable or far-flung teams make it's flagship events. I'm not even sure that the club allocations are that big (10-15k each?).

The fact that the response from the RFL to this problem was to insist on a security bond from overseas teams, rather than to look at how it makes the CC Final more relevant and more in-demand, shows that the mindset to me is wrong. We can quite reasonably talk about how expensive it is to reinvent how the sport promotes its key events, but there is a significant cost to not doing it as well.  

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Just now, whatmichaelsays said:

I don't disagree with that, but until we're talking about the only 'unsold' tickets being those from the respective club allocations, we're in a position where the sport isn't doing enough to position the Grand Final as a must-see event that people clamour to see, and where the sport is actually putting itself in a high risk position that unfashionable or far-flung teams make it's flagship events. I'm not even sure that the club allocations are that big (10-15k each?).

The fact that the response from the RFL to this problem was to insist on a security bond from overseas teams, rather than to look at how it makes the CC Final more relevant and more in-demand, shows that the mindset to me is wrong. We can quite reasonably talk about how expensive it is to reinvent how the sport promotes its key events, but there is a significant cost to not doing it as well.  

Yes, again, agreed with much of that, but I think a reality check is sometimes needed. We talk about big sports events being sold out in minutes, but this isn't the case for many comparable sports. Rugby's Euro Cup, Premiership Grand Final, Pro14 Final, Autumn internationals etc. all often have empty seats, and I think it's fair to say they are richer and better organised sports than RL. 

I don't think we need to benchmark ourselves unrealistically, but I understand the point you are making of not settling. 

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3 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

I thought that restriction was now lifted. Man Utd are permitted to play in front of a capacity stadium again now and had over 73K there this weekend.

Why would a rugby game at the stadium be limited to 45K when a football game can have over 73K ? Are rugby fans more contagious than football fans or something.

Didn't the old Wembley have a reduced capacity for the Challenge Cup Final (98,000) compared to the FA Cup Final (100,000) because rugby league supporters eat more pies?

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3 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

And that is all I am saying Dunny, blame it on whatever people want to, the simple reason that one of the team's is from France will result in a lower attendance.

Imagine if both teams were from France, as pointed out above. maybe an alternating neutral venue is the way to go here as per the Champions League. This would negate the comparison as all the variables would have changed

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2 hours ago, bratman said:

Me too, short term pain for long term gain IMO.

As others have said there should really be more tickets sold regardless of who gets there. Big clubs take maybe 15k? So that's max 30k non-neutral fans. Where are the other 45k?

There are usually plenty of tickets sold, are you saying that previous GF attendances have been too low also? 

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3 hours ago, M j M said:

Like I said if you've not done it before then it's a stress. I can guarantee you that's the case for people.

And it's not particularly the doing of the test or filling the form but it's finding out the specific requirements, which generally aren't all in one place. Plus the UK rules just changed which means you need to be careful to follow the correct rules.

If anyone cannot print off a copy of their covid record and print off a copy of the Location declaration they shouldn’t be leaving their house.  

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16 minutes ago, RLX111 said:

 

The fourth is now open for booking

Four flights chartered by the club on top of people making their on way there via the usual planes, trains and automobiles, sounds like a few thousand Catalans supporters will be there, a great effort to travel overseas to watch your club with 1 weeks notice.

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2 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

If anyone cannot print off a copy of their covid record and print off a copy of the Location declaration they shouldn’t be leaving their house.  

If you can't do basic comprehension then you probably shouldn't be leaving your house.

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