RLWC Ticket Upgrades

[Dave T]

Just now, Scubby said:

I am just speculating here but were a lot of the key people on fixed term contracts until November 2021 and may have moved on. Budgets and contingency constraints (postponement led) may mean that has only partially been replaced?

Yes, I made this point when our Commercial Director left last year, and was told quite firmly here that its not an issue. 

I pointed out that it is not normal for key staff to leave a year in advance of a tournament and if it indicates that others are being cut then its a real worry. 

I hope my point that we have let the season launch settle and now they will have a push for 6m is right. 

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

I am in a similar situation, I will attend some games, but certainly less than the 2013 tournament, while spending more on tickets this time. However tickets were far too cheap in 2013, pricing for this tournament is still reasonable imo compared to other big events, hopefully the tournament sells and bring a lot of money into the sport. The cheapest category for the opening game is £30 adults and £15 concessions, if you want cheap tickets you should expect to be given the cheap seats.

Aye, I know I could attend more cheaply than my list, but that is based on my specific requirements (I. E. Not standing on uncovered terracing in October). Its a realistic price list for me. 

The Scotland opener seems weird pricing, and is out of sync with games at places like Saints and Wire. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I think the pricing is okay myself, there are cheap tickets if you want them, more expensive if you want them, as Kev has said, the pricing seems to reflect other big sporting events.

Tbh, the reason I'm not going to be attending more than 4 games (5 actually cos one is a double header) is to do with scheduling and the cost of public transport. I wanted to go to the games in Doncaster but with them being evening kickoffs I wouldn't be able to get back on the train and I'm not staying in Doncaster and adding the expense of a hotel on. I seem to remember the France v Greece game when it was originally scheduled was an afternoon game in which case I would have gone but its in the evening now which means they have actually lost a sale with rescheduling it as they have.

Funnily enough, when I was looking at tickets yesterday I noticed all 3 of the Doncaster games still had high ticket availability so for some reason or another those aren't particularly appealing to people, whether it being the games or like myself, the transport. 

[RigbyLuger]

6 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Funnily enough, when I was looking at tickets yesterday I noticed all 3 of the Doncaster games still had high ticket availability so for some reason or another those aren't particularly appealing to people, whether it being the games or like myself, the transport. 

Adding the England football band won't have helped!

[The Hallucinating Goose]

3 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Adding the England football band won't have helped!

That's probably the reason for the low sales! If I'd have already bought my tickets for those games before that was announced I'd certainly be asking for a refund now! 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

I got the email and it did make me wonder if this is the start of the ramp up to the tournament as I noticed there has been a fair bit more on social media in the last few days after being quite for several months. 

I won't be buying tickets in the near future as I already have them for the opener, the Wigan QF, the London SF and the final. There are a few other games I fancy but will wait until closer to the time before buying 

[zylya]

45 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I still haven't bought any tickets for this yet, although I plan to attend a fair few games. 

I must admit though, the pricing is nothing like a standard RL event. And that's fine, this shouldn't be a standard RL event, it's a World Cup, but I think it's a hell of a step up from last time, and what we normally are asked to pay. 

I hope the organisers know what they are doing. Last time there appeared to be a big reliance on people attending multiple games, but I worry that fans will be priced out of doing that. I certainly won't be attending as many as I would like to. 

For example, for my family of 3 in reasonable seats/standing it is going to cost:

Opener: £130

Scotland Opener: £90 (covered standing terrace) 

Tonga v PNG: £65 (seats) 

Eng v Fra: £85

Tonga v Wales: £50

PNG v CI: £50

Eng v Gre: £85

Sam v Fra: £50

Qf: £65

Semi: £130

Final: £150

This is the kind of thing I attended last time, paying probably £10-20 per ticket. 

Tickets for this tournament (excluding wheelchair and women's) will be around £1k for the 11 events. 

I accept that these are premium events, and some people will always be priced out, but if I add another £500 minimum on travel costs, in reality, I am not going to invest that much. 

I expect I will attend 33%-50% of what is listed above. 

This isn't a moan as such, I just hope the organisers know what they are doing, because as far as I'm aware, we have never sold RL events at this level of pricing, so if we are hoping regular fans will fill the grounds, we may be in trouble.

If we successfully tap into the general sports market, that will be great, but the strategy of playing at existing grounds suggests that will be challenging. 

I hope my worries are misplaced and the grounds are full, even if that means I can't personally justify spending that much and watch at home. 

For a comparison, my dad took me to the 2015 RUWC final where the cheapest tickets were £150 each (if you could even get them!). I think you're right that this has to be seen as, and promoted as, a premium event. I know that as fans we like to think more about the atmosphere and "fullness" of a stadium, but as a revenue generator, 10,000 fans at £150 each is worth the same as a sell-out 30,000 fans at £50 each. My hope is that this tournament can help build a bit of a war-chest for developing Rugby League in the country. Obviously still a huge shame for people who miss out.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

The article on The Sun website is suggesting that 30,000 tickets have been sold for the Emirates game as well which is fantastic if true. It also says we've hit 5 figures for the Middlesbrough game which is encouraging because I must say that is the game I am probably most concerned about for ticket sales. Quite frankly if that's even just half full I'll be happy enough. 

[RigbyLuger]

15 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

It´s very tough and again, we are now competing with Commonwealth games and other events like Womens Euros. People´s budgets are ridiculously tight and people under 30 have less disposible income than there parents generation so people are picking and choosing. If we can sell out the set pieces (Opener, Semi´s , Final, England Games). 

Second it is great we are doing it mostly in the north but you are saturating the market there. No games in South West (Bristol or Plymouth for even a game may have been nice when Liverpool pulled out and you are downsizing anyway). For Newcastle, hope Thunder and RFL can do a big push with both Universities there to really push the games in Newcastle , there´s 10,000´s of students who will be starting Uni and looking for an event to settle in the City. 

New demos, new markets is what we need to give us tragics hope. 

Wasn't government funding based on having the majority of games within the Northern Powerhouse (lol)?

[Scubby]

I will buy tickets, a lot of them and not cheap ones. I may even do hospitality for a few games.

However, I really don't feel compelled into action yet and that is still a real RL problem. I have a gauge of the tournament and know when they pressure points will arrive - prompting me to pull my finger out and get sorted.

Last year there was a roll of content that felt like it had momentum. This year much less so and it cannot be just me who feels happy to keep their cash in their pockets until much later in the year. It is a lingering legacy from the last 10 years and it is not my job to help the RL out by my changing behaviour. It needs to be changed by momentum and fear of missing out.

I have no doubt there will be a huge splurge of sales in September/October and there will be some very impressive crowds - even in places like Middlesbrough. The BBC will also be a huge advantage in its blanket coverage that the game has never had before.

[gingerjon]

7 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Wasn't government funding based on having the majority of games within the Northern Powerhouse (lol)?

Exactly that. Without the almost exclusive focus on the north of England we would not have received the government support.

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Exactly that. Without the almost exclusive focus on the north of England we would not have received the government support.

It was actually perfect for this tournament. For those of us who remember the disaster that was 2000 you cannot just create a road trip around the UK with no foundations or government support. Some of the venue choices for that were quite frankly nuts. 

50,000 will look amazing at St James' Park and 50-60,000 will look amazing at the Emirates. I think people are underestimating the power of the Women's and wheelchair tournaments here for wider coverage converting into awareness and ticket sales. As you say, none of that could have happened without that Govt Northern Powerhouse wedge of cash.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

14 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Yep looking at the fixtures it´s a massive stadium for not such a big game. Alot of the ticket sales I´d say for London are resting on England getting to the semi. If they can, I expect it to sell out. The tragics get Australia vs Kiwis in Leeds and we can sell out the final. 

Would also like to see France get a proper warm up game in France before the tournament starts to get a boost themselves. 

The whole tournament essentially comes down to England beating Samoa in the opening game! If we win that, we should finish top of the group which means we will probably play PNG in the QF at Wigan in a double header with England women. If Samoa beat us, which is a distinct possibility, we finish 2nd in the group and play Tonga in Bolton in the QF. Whichever route we end up going down the semi is still at the Emirates. 1st route and we play Tonga in London, 2nd route and we play Samoa or PNG, probably Samoa for a 2nd time in the tournament. Obviously I'm presuming PNG finish 2nd in Group D. 

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Scubby said:

It was actually perfect for this tournament. For those of us who remember the disaster that was 2000 you cannot just create a road trip around the UK with no foundations or government support. Some of the venue choices for that were quite frankly nuts. 

50,000 will look amazing at St James' Park and 50-60,000 will look amazing at the Emirates. I think people are underestimating the power of the Women's and wheelchair tournaments here for wider coverage converting into awareness and ticket sales. As you say, none of that could have happened without that Govt Northern Powerhouse wedge of cash.

Yes, we also cant ignore that the lowest parts of the 2013 tournent were in Limerick and Neath, and whilst Cardiff had a good crowd on paper of 45k, in reality, it looked poor for the opener to have 30k empty seats. 

I think the schedule is relatively sensible, but with some ambition. Although it's a shame that one of the marquee events has shifted from Anfield, but it can't be helped. 

[The Rocket]

World Cup trophies to tour 18 towns and cities over 48 hours as fantastic ticket initiative is launched

Cam Pattison March 29, 2022mode_comment0

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Today March marks 200 days to go until the Rugby League World Cup makes a real impact across the nation when England take on Samoa in the tournaments’ opening fixture at St James’ Park, Newcastle on 15 October 2022.

To commemorate the milestone, the tournament is undertaking a 48-hour trophies tour of the 18 host towns and cities in celebration of a 48-hour ticket upgrade offer.

There`s your promo, " 48 for 48 ".

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Scubby said:

It was actually perfect for this tournament. For those of us who remember the disaster that was 2000 you cannot just create a road trip around the UK with no foundations or government support. Some of the venue choices for that were quite frankly nuts. 

50,000 will look amazing at St James' Park and 50-60,000 will look amazing at the Emirates. I think people are underestimating the power of the Women's and wheelchair tournaments here for wider coverage converting into awareness and ticket sales. As you say, none of that could have happened without that Govt Northern Powerhouse wedge of cash.

I don't have any issue with it - I obviously have a personal preference for wanting all games to be played at the Pilot Field, Hastings or Priory Lane, Eastbourne (with smaller matches at the Polegrove, Bexhill) - precisely because I do remember the 2000 World Cup. That could have worked but the foundations were so flimsy it could not withstand that combination of poor planning and biblically terrible weather. 

With regards to this ticket offer - someone said it might work as it's a clever nudge about checking the fixtures and looking at what you might want to buy. I'll be generous and say if that's the thinking then it's done it's job so well done. If, however, we now get a run of constant deals and bargains then I think we're getting close to dumping on our own product and going back to the meat raffle mentality that affects too many of our big events.

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Yes, we also cant ignore that the lowest parts of the 2013 tournent were in Limerick and Neath, and whilst Cardiff had a good crowd on paper of 45k, in reality, it looked poor for the opener to have 30k empty seats. 

I think the schedule is relatively sensible, but with some ambition. Although it's a shame that one of the marquee events has shifted from Anfield, but it can't be helped. 

I really hope work is going on behind the scenes for at least 3 big UK internationals (either Ashes or 4N or similar) that would see Newcastle, Anfield (or similar) and Tottenham (or similar) full for 2023.

Mens, womens and wheelchair Ashes would be pretty awesome and straight forward in terms of logistics.

[Scubby]

4 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

World Cup trophies to tour 18 towns and cities over 48 hours as fantastic ticket initiative is launched

Cam Pattison March 29, 2022mode_comment0

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedInShare on E-mail

 

Today March marks 200 days to go until the Rugby League World Cup makes a real impact across the nation when England take on Samoa in the tournaments’ opening fixture at St James’ Park, Newcastle on 15 October 2022.

To commemorate the milestone, the tournament is undertaking a 48-hour trophies tour of the 18 host towns and cities in celebration of a 48-hour ticket upgrade offer.

There`s your promo, " 48 for 48 ".

The 3 WC trophies is a real unique PR point for stuff like this. That was a move that should really be applauded. 

[Dave T]

Just now, gingerjon said:

 

With regards to this ticket offer - someone said it might work as it's a clever nudge about checking the fixtures and looking at what you might want to buy. I'll be generous and say if that's the thinking then it's done it's job so well done. If, however, we now get a run of constant deals and bargains then I think we're getting close to dumping on our own product and going back to the meat raffle mentality that affects too many of our big events.

I think the fact it is such a niche offer suggests they are more than aware of the challenge you highlight and they aren't going down the xx% off route which is positive. 

"Buy category C and receive Category B for the next 48hrs" is an almost worthless offer that is clearly being used to just have something on the email. That does give me hope that they are comfortable with sales. 

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think the fact it is such a niche offer suggests they are more than aware of the challenge you highlight and they aren't going down the xx% off route which is positive. 

"Buy category C and receive Category B for the next 48hrs" is an almost worthless offer that is clearly being used to just have something on the email. That does give me hope that they are comfortable with sales. 

Aye, I'll save my wrath for, "Book hospitality and get a free England shirt".

As actually happened for a recent Challenge Cup final.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I love the cockeral on top of the trophy but does anyone else think it should be gold? Seems to disappear a bit in contrast to the gold globe. Just a random little thought. 

[Scubby]

6 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think the fact it is such a niche offer suggests they are more than aware of the challenge you highlight and they aren't going down the xx% off route which is positive. 

"Buy category C and receive Category B for the next 48hrs" is an almost worthless offer that is clearly being used to just have something on the email. That does give me hope that they are comfortable with sales. 

I'm partly joking but it is a genuine question not a snipe. If I hold out and hold out until the brow of the tournament am I likely to be picking up bargain basement prime seats or be disappointed and be stuck up in the heavens for the marquee games?

That is probably a key element to whether this tournament will be a success or not. Thwarting tight ***** like me.

[Scubby]

3 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I love the cockeral on top of the trophy but does anyone else think it should be gold? Seems to disappear a bit in contrast to the gold globe. Just a random little thought. 

You want a gold c*ck sitting loud and proud is that what you are saying?

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

I have only skim read the previous contributions to this thread, so apologies if this point has been made before.

Every comment I have read has put this in the context of sporting competitions, particularly previous RLWCs, which given the nature of this forum, is wholly logical and understandable.  However, isn't there a wider perspective here?

The energy price cap is about to rise by a whopping 54%.  Weekly food bills are heading upwards at an abnormally fast rate by the standards of recent years.

It seems quite smart to encourage people to buy RLWC tickets now, before the harsh reality of the autumnal cost of living starts to really bite.  It is that wider, domestic budget context, in which I think we need to see this offer.

I think somebody said this was a 48-hour offer.  So it will neatly conclude just before Friday's news broadcasts on TV and radio remind us that the new energy price cap level has just kicked in.

It is always a bit irritating to buy something at 'face value' and then see it discounted shortly afterwards.  In my case, I signed up for Premier Sports at £120 for a year, because I thought the combination of championship RL, plus NHL, plus GAA made it good value for me.  If I had waited a short while I could have got the £80 offer which is still available.  Hey. ho!  Yet if I thought £120 was worthwhile for me, then I suppose it still is.  And for now, I don't have to pay any more.  When I review it, it will be in the context of the then cost of living vis-a-vis the WWD domestic necessities budget.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

3 minutes ago, Scubby said:

You want a gold c*ck sitting loud and proud is that what you are saying?

Maybe not, I suppose we don't need another big, stiff, golden c*ck in RL, enough of them on the SL Board already. Surprised you didn't comment on the fact I basically said I love c*ck.