RLWC 2025 France

[Damien]

48 minutes ago, theswanmcr said:

We want/expect to play big games in big stadiums but seldom sell them out eg last years’ SL final and World Cup 2013 finals at Old Trafford. We do not have that latent audience to sell out a big occasion regardless of who is competing.

Eh? The 2013 World Cup final at Old Trafford was between Australia and New Zealand, was a sellout crowd of 74,468 and set a new international rugby league attendance record.

We can do it and have done it.

[theswanmcr]

43 minutes ago, Damien said:

Eh? The 2013 World Cup final at Old Trafford was between Australia and New Zealand, was a sellout crowd of 74,468 and set a new international rugby league attendance record.

We can do it and have done it.

Fair enough I got that wrong - was actually thinking of the 2000 final where the evening paper gave away thousands of tickets. In 2013 yes we did sell out but tickets were still on sale close to the day - I guess though that does show good progress and yes that we can do it for a men’s final in England where the hosts were a week away from making the final.
Other tournaments/ countries/ venues/non finals etc will be different. The women’s World Cup final was played before the men’s last time out in Australia so if it’s good enough for them…

 

[Niels]

1 hour ago, theswanmcr said:

Fair enough I got that wrong - was actually thinking of the 2000 final where the evening paper gave away thousands of tickets. In 2013 yes we did sell out but tickets were still on sale close to the day - I guess though that does show good progress and yes that we can do it for a men’s final in England where the hosts were a week away from making the final.
Other tournaments/ countries/ venues/non finals etc will be different. The women’s World Cup final was played before the men’s last time out in Australia so if it’s good enough for them…

 

That's a good point. The Australian J league also has women's games before the mens.

We have to consider what other countries who play the game prefer also.

[Exiled Wiganer]

I would also like to note, in case anyone only looks at the last couple of pages of this thread, that the organisers of the 2025 World Cup have NOT proposed any double headers. That was my (I think) suggestion, when thinking about how a France women’s game alongside a men’s game not featuring France could draw in a bigger crowd than either game would attract individually. 

[Damien]

Behind the scenes with the French team from the recent England international:

 

[Yakstorm]

Double / Triple Headers have a place in Rugby League, but only when by combining the matches it creates a larger / better product. 

For me, Magic Weekend, in both SL and NRL, are examples of that as they both have turned another round into an event, which gets both additional media coverage and revenue for both bodies which they previously didn't get.

I'd argue the Challenge Cup Semi Final also works, though some would argue that the two Semis use to and still could be big events in their own right. 

Unfortunately for International RL matches, they are usually nothing more than cost saving measures, with a lesser game usually attached to a more marketable game.

Now if France2025 can make some bigger events by playing Double or Triple Headers, then so they should.  I'd imagine there might be a desire to play both the French Men's & Women’s matches as a Double Header to launch the tournament and if that helps then sell out a bigger venue and/or get more coverage for the tournament, then great. I just hope they avoid attaching say Cook Islands v Jamaica to a Les Chanticleer's match because they felt it was too hard to market.

[Big Picture]

2 hours ago, Yakstorm said:

Double / Triple Headers have a place in Rugby League, but only when by combining the matches it creates a larger / better product. 

For me, Magic Weekend, in both SL and NRL, are examples of that as they both have turned another round into an event, which gets both additional media coverage and revenue for both bodies which they previously didn't get.

I'd argue the Challenge Cup Semi Final also works, though some would argue that the two Semis use to and still could be big events in their own right. 

Unfortunately for International RL matches, they are usually nothing more than cost saving measures, with a lesser game usually attached to a more marketable game.

Now if France2025 can make some bigger events by playing Double or Triple Headers, then so they should.  I'd imagine there might be a desire to play both the French Men's & Women’s matches as a Double Header to launch the tournament and if that helps then sell out a bigger venue and/or get more coverage for the tournament, then great. I just hope they avoid attaching say Cook Islands v Jamaica to a Les Chanticleer's match because they felt it was too hard to market.

With Internationals in particular, double headers are a bad idea because they effectively make one of the matches an undercard/opening act for the other.  That's completely contrary to the idea of Internationals being the pinnacle of sport.

Unfortunately, matches like Cook Islands vs Jamaica are always going to be a tough sell given the low stature of those countries in the world.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Of course we can have double headers, if we think it’s a good idea. Or triple or quadruple headers. There is no reason why good organisers can’t sell loads of tickets for Cook Islands v Jamaica. I was in a large crowd in Bristol who loved watching a Cook Islands match in 2013. The beauty of our game is, of course, that when people see it in the flesh they realise they are seeing something special. Anyone who under estimates the ability to sell a Jamaican team has spent too long in lockdown. 

[langpark]

A tweet from RLWC2025 organisers today, suggests that there is only ONE remaining host city to be named. 

https://twitter.com/CDMFrance2025/status/1484891195046350859?s=20

[theswanmcr]

10 minutes ago, langpark said:

A tweet from RLWC2025 organisers today, suggests that there is only ONE remaining host city to be named. 

https://twitter.com/CDMFrance2025/status/1484891195046350859?s=20

No they now have 39 towns/cities who have expressed an interest - so nearly there for the bare minimum required. More to come yet after the official announcement. All encouraging stuff either way.