Attendances (Multiple Merged Threads)

[Dave T]

13 hours ago, Eddie said:

Any guesses at the cup final attendance? I’d say 15,000 from Wigan, 5,000 from Huddersfield, 20,000 neutrals so a total of 40,000. 

 

13 hours ago, gingerjon said:

They will add on 1895 Cup sales too - at least another 5,000 across both teams.

I think the crowd could be quite a range tbh. 

If we look at the last full final we got 62k for Saints v Wire. If I'm going to be positive I'd hope we can achieve that again, and hopefully then get that sellout. Wire took a low following to that game, far lower than any of our previous trips and tbh I don't think it will have been much more than Hudds will take. So let's maybe knock 5k off that 62k.

But then we do know that we often get a boost on crowds for novelty, on the first time we visit a quality stadium. So there has to be hope that the uplift there would compensate and hopefully add more than that. 

The question is whether Spurs ground puts people off because its not Wembley. It wouldn't for me if I was free, but some like the tradition of Wembley. 

I'd be disappointed if we can't get an almost full house, even with Hudds there and their more modest fan base. 

[cookey]

I'm delighted for Ken Davy, who has done as much for rl and his local community in general as anyone. Hope he has a great day.

incidentally, anyone local know what his plansare for the Huddersfield YMCA RUFC sports fields? I heard it may become the training base for the Giants but any accurate, up to date local knowledge would be appreciated.

[redjonn]

Just for comparison and not sure if relevant but went to Leeds arena yesterday for a Netball SL club game (Leeds Rhino's v Manchester Thunder) and the attendance was over 4100.

Given that Leeds don't have a home arena and play between Hull, Sheffield and Leeds that's not a bad attendance.

Plus the demographic was mainly young and of course mainly female. It seems a very vibrant growing sport and growing.  So they seem to be doing something right...

[Eddie]

6 minutes ago, redjonn said:

Just for comparison and not sure if relevant but went to Leeds arena yesterday for a Netball SL club game (Leeds Rhino's v Manchester Thunder) and the attendance was over 4100.

Given that Leeds don't have a home arena and play between Hull, Sheffield and Leeds that's not a bad attendance.

Plus the demographic was mainly young and of course mainly female. It seems a very vibrant growing sport and growing.  So they seem to be doing something right...

You’d expect girls who play netball go want to go to see that tbf, and there will be club / school trips; so if anything I’m surprised the crowd is so low. 

[redjonn]

1 minute ago, Eddie said:

You’d expect girls who play netball go want to go to see that tbf, and there will be club / school trips; so if anything I’m surprised the crowd is so low. 

That's a very good crowd.  Can't see why you say 4100 is a low crowd for a Netball club game.   Last game in Leeds was over 3000 and so its growth and a record crowd for Leeds Rhino netball.

Especially considering they played Friday as well as Sunday, two games over the weekend, all be it one in Hull.  So its not as if you can get a consistent group of supporters that go every game.

I still think we as RL can learn from how Netball have significantly grown over the last decade and continue to grow,  Especially Yorkshire which doesn't have the infrastructure or pathways of the North west.

[Toby Chopra]

2 hours ago, bamfordsbeans said:

The biggest question I have with regard to crowds is why has the decline of crowds over the last few years continued since lockdown?

The comparison with soccer is significant and I don,t mean the top of their game but at the fourth and fifth tiers.

 

I think we need to be careful about the RL decline - it's not an inexorable one, at least in Superleague.

The SL per game average peaked at around 9.5k in the late 2000s. It had then fallen to around 8.5k by the three years prior the pandemic (2017-19). So a 10% decline. Certainly a concern and we can debate why. (Licensing and austerity possibly but not loops as most of the period was 14 teams, IMO) 

However, the stats for this season so far show the same figure - 8.5k - helped a bit by Toulouse averaging more than London did.  It's still early days, maybe they'll tail off towards the end of the season, but so far you could argue SL attendances have stablised at where they were pre-pandemic. I'd be interested to know where the Championship figures stand over the same period (removing Toronto's numbers as they were an exceptional item)      

Not a cause from complacency of course - standing still is going backwards in comparison to lower league football as you say - and the cup is definitely still declining. But there's a base to build on and hopefully take springboard from the World Cup.

[HawkMan]

On another thread Harry Stottle has posted that Leigh have 4 games of significance left of the season,  1895 final, Fev,  Bash and GF. 4 left and it's still early May! That's the problem,  not enough meaningful games to bring in crowds. Not wishing to turn this thread into something else,  but if we had 2 down from SL , then suddenly Leeds and Wakefield and Toulouse have many more big games to play to entice the fans. One automatically up from Championship and a four team play off for the other promotion place,  as in Soccer's Championship and suddenly the season goes to the wire for most clubs. Perhaps the age old concept of fans turning up to see a good old game of RL for the sake of it despite the context are drawing to a close.

Attendances towards the end of the season for soccer for teams in play off contention have been very good. 44,000 at Sunderland the other night, another 35,000 plus expected tonight at Sheffield Wednesday. Give fans of RL matches with real meaning and they'll come back. Of course turkeys don't vote for Xmas so I don't expect 2 down from SL any time soon.

[gingerjon]

26 minutes ago, redjonn said:

Just for comparison and not sure if relevant but went to Leeds arena yesterday for a Netball SL club game (Leeds Rhino's v Manchester Thunder) and the attendance was over 4100.

Given that Leeds don't have a home arena and play between Hull, Sheffield and Leeds that's not a bad attendance.

Plus the demographic was mainly young and of course mainly female. It seems a very vibrant growing sport and growing.  So they seem to be doing something right...

Was there any crossover with the RL Rhinos, either men's or women's teams, in terms of promotion on the day?

[M j M]

3 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Was there any crossover with the RL Rhinos, either men's or women's teams, in terms of promotion on the day?

There was an email which I got last week promoting it. I think the first time ever i've had a netball one.

I deleted it quite quickly but I'm sure some people might have had their interest piqued.

[redjonn]

6 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Was there any crossover with the RL Rhinos, either men's or women's teams, in terms of promotion on the day?

Only that as rugby fans we were made aware of the game. On the day though the vast majority seemed a different set of spectators. Mainly young teens and 20/30 year old females and many families with youngsters.

Their didn't seem to be any other promotion that I saw from the rugby side. The promotion I saw or heard seemed to come from the Rhinos foundation whom seem to do a lot to help the Netball side of things and of course the CEO Gary H whom seems keen on helping the Netball.

[Josef K]

It’ll be interesting how many turn up at Saints tomorrow. We have been on the crest of a wave with some decent crowds, but now out of the cup will the bandwagons vanish. I’ll find out tomorrow when i turn up and take my spec. 

[AB Knight]

8175 at Castleford today.

[welshmagpie]

I saw on Twitter 1,800 at Keighley. Good effort that.

[theswanmcr]

On 09/05/2022 at 09:38, redjonn said:

I still think we as RL can learn from how Netball have significantly grown over the last decade and continue to grow,  Especially Yorkshire which doesn't have the infrastructure or pathways of the North west.

Absolutely. It is doing lots of things right.

Regional franchises that link in with established names (Rhinos, Saracens), much improved TV presentation, a sport that plays plenty of internationals and is competitive at the highest level, riding the wave of the growing interest in womens sport in general.

Lots to learn from them especially in terms of the womens game - which seems to just replicating the mens with a northern SL and a small fry SL South.

[HKR AWAY DAYS]

I try to get to a few non-SL games. I've been to a few Fev and Batley games in the past 12 months and rather than say, ah nice one mate good on ya for supporting the lower leagues, I get the p**s taken out of me calling me a sad act from quite a few people.

Mad isn't it haha.

[AB Knight]

2451 at Barrow.

[Sammo]

How many were at Cornwall this weekend?

[tiffers]

10 minutes ago, Sammo said:

How many were at Cornwall this weekend?

1153 yesterday 

[Josef K]

12 hours ago, AB Knight said:

8175 at Castleford today.

Excellent gate once again. 

[Josef K]

There looked a decent crowd on at Catalans with excellent Wire support. 

[Eddie]

3 hours ago, tiffers said:

1153 yesterday 

Excellent. Not they just need to sort their offering on the pitch out, easier said than done I know! 

[AB Knight]

49 minutes ago, Josef K said:

Excellent gate once again. 

Gates are certainly holding up, my friend at the game said not as many KR fans as they usually bring. Still some of the ‘bigger’ crowds to come too (Leeds, Wakefield, Wigan).

[meast]

I was at the Huddersfield v York womens yesterday with a really enthusiastic crowd of around 300 present, if it's of any interest to anyone  

[Josef K]

7 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

Cas great,  Barrow once again getting them in and footy season done now. Got Leigh and Widnes as next two home games so should be around the 2k level again. 

They are fantastic. On Cornwall,  clear a fan base is there so question will be whether next season the owners are prepared to fund a competitive squad and see how they go. 

Might be a harder ask to get people next season if they lose every game this year. 

Cas are doing really well with their gates, and it’s great to see people turning up at Cornwall. 

[Josef K]

On Sky Sports on Thursday i am sure they said the Huddersfield gate was 4,269 but now it seems to have increased too 4,962. Not a bad gate for a Thursday evening.