Hows ticket sales going for CCF

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Jughead said:

Yes, we did. We consistently hit 70k prior to 2017 and even since then, we’ve had a sub 60k attendance once, the Catalans v Warrington final. Last year’s was affected by a capped attendance and probable fear of large gatherings, for some. To be unable to hit 60k next week would be terrible, whether the game has been marketed or not. 

Prior to 2017 is a key number there, wasn't that when the 10k of Club Wembley tickets around the middle tier weren't automatically added as they ran out that spring? They were 10 years of pre-sold tickets for every event at Wembley. 

The malaise of sub preCovid crowds seems to be general throughout the game, a few positive exceptions aside. Not sure how the sport fixes that really.

[Tommygilf]

43 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Yep, it's how you package and present it that is more important. I often mention on these discussions that I'm a fan of Blossoms and was looking forward to seeing them at the Grand Final a few years back. I couldn't really see them as they were tucked in the corner and couldn't hear them as the sound was terrible. They came on, made some noise and left a few minutes later with little fanfare. 

We can hire a big name or an unknown, but it has to be staged well. 

Much like with Magic Weekend too sometimes there is no need for a big name artist for a multi game event. Just have a band that plays a few crowd favourites and classics to get everyone in the mood and smiling when the games aren't being played. Doesn't need to be overcomplicated.

[Scubby]

Groupon or bust!

[Dave T]

25 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Much like with Magic Weekend too sometimes there is no need for a big name artist for a multi game event. Just have a band that plays a few crowd favourites and classics to get everyone in the mood and smiling when the games aren't being played. Doesn't need to be overcomplicated.

Aye. I think you can go either way. Go for a name if you want to try and improve your brand by association, maybe sell tickets off that name etc. But if you are genuine looking to improve the customer experience then you can create a fun vibrant atmosphere with party bands, entertainers and the likes. 

[Jughead]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Aye. I think you can go either way. Go for a name if you want to try and improve your brand by association, maybe sell tickets off that name etc. But if you are genuine looking to improve the customer experience then you can create a fun vibrant atmosphere with party bands, entertainers and the likes. 

Maybe I’m being too picky but as someone who does both days at Magic, it got a bit same-y by Day Two last year listening to the same radio DJ presenting and playing music. On an event like that, I’d like to see a band or two (maybe even four or five over the course of a weekend) breaking it up for him and for those attending.

There was also a time when it was described as “the festival of Rugby League” and I always thought we failed to deliver the festival element away from six games of live music, food, drinks etc and I think we’ve always poorly done fan parks too. The 2020 one which was going to snake from the city centre of Newcastle to the stadium sounded like it had been thought out and then last year they delivered a 100 metre stretch with the same old couple of inflatable things for kids, the trophies and the oddballs stand and it was probably the poorest I’ve seen since someone decided an open air fan park was a good idea for England v New Zealand at the Olympic Stadium when the game was played in November. 

 

[sweaty craiq]

The 12 kick off will have a huge effect on Leigh and Fev sales,  the attraction of a CCF is the craic before the game inside and outside Wembley or Cardiff or Murrayfield. Tottenham is a fantastic stadium but that’s where it ends, add in a 12 ko and it’s most of the fun gone

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, sweaty craiq said:

The 12 kick off will have a huge effect on Leigh and Fev sales,  the attraction of a CCF is the craic before the game inside and outside Wembley or Cardiff or Murrayfield. Tottenham is a fantastic stadium but that’s where it ends, add in a 12 ko and it’s most of the fun gone

We were asked about a coach just for our game , we declined , but I do think other arrangements for that have been made 

The neutral ' celebration of our sport ' feel was hit in 07 by licencing , lots of lower tier regulars got out of the habit at that time 

[David Shepherd]

6 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

The 12 kick off will have a huge effect on Leigh and Fev sales,  the attraction of a CCF is the craic before the game inside and outside Wembley or Cardiff or Murrayfield. Tottenham is a fantastic stadium but that’s where it ends, add in a 12 ko and it’s most of the fun gone

The craic was brilliant last year, despite the early kick off.  Tottenham does look a bit of a dump though and a couple of brewery taps aside, the boozers look like dodgy murder pubs.

[David Shepherd]

3 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

We were asked about a coach just for our game , we declined , but I do think other arrangements for that have been made 

The neutral ' celebration of our sport ' feel was hit in 07 by licencing , lots of lower tier regulars got out of the habit at that time 

Some of the Fev busses leave straight after the 1895 which I think is a big shame.  I'm staying for the minor game that's on after the main event.

[Ullman]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

Prior to 2017 is a key number there, wasn't that when the 10k of Club Wembley tickets around the middle tier weren't automatically added as they ran out that spring? They were 10 years of pre-sold tickets for every event at Wembley. 

The malaise of sub preCovid crowds seems to be general throughout the game, a few positive exceptions aside. Not sure how the sport fixes that really.

Pretty sure that's correct. The attendance figures pre 2017 were artificially inflated by the inclusion of the seats in the almost deserted Ring of Indifference.

[GUBRATS]

10 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

The craic was brilliant last year, despite the early kick off.  Tottenham does look a bit of a dump though and a couple of brewery taps aside, the boozers look like dodgy murder pubs.

Should suit all the ' peekys ' then ?

[Ullman]

8 minutes ago, David Shepherd said:

The craic was brilliant last year, despite the early kick off.  Tottenham does look a bit of a dump though and a couple of brewery taps aside, the boozers look like dodgy murder pubs.

The only pub in Tottenham I've been in is the Ferry Boat Inn. Wasn't bad for a chain pub and has a large beer garden but is probably a bit of a walk to the ground.

There are some good boozers down the road in Stoke Newington where my son lives so we'll probably have a few round there before heading to the ground. Bit of a break with tradition as our usual CC Final routine has become a few pre-match beers in the beer garden of The Swan in Chiswick.

[Dave T]

56 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

So if concern is ticket sales it has to be this approach. 

The challenge at this stage is they've made their decisions, it's too late to throw a name at it now. 

The 1995 World Cup did that with Diana Ross, announced very late, we ended up with a rubbish crowd and it had little, if any effect. 

In reality, as with everything, there needs to be an ongoing longer term approach to this. 

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The challenge at this stage is they've made their decisions, it's too late to throw a name at it now. 

The 1995 World Cup did that with Diana Ross, announced very late, we ended up with a rubbish crowd and it had little, if any effect. 

In reality, as with everything, there needs to be an ongoing longer term approach to this. 

Yes, this all needs to be done early. Last minute panic acts are too late and I can't see many being persuaded to go if they weren't anyway purely because a certain act has been booked. Announce a quality program of entertaining well in advance and its a different story.

[Toby Chopra]

In some ways the worse it is the more scope it gives IMG to come in and shaken things up. I half wonder if the RFL feels the same way! 

[Dave T]

48 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Maybe I’m being too picky but as someone who does both days at Magic, it got a bit same-y by Day Two last year listening to the same radio DJ presenting and playing music. On an event like that, I’d like to see a band or two (maybe even four or five over the course of a weekend) breaking it up for him and for those attending.

There was also a time when it was described as “the festival of Rugby League” and I always thought we failed to deliver the festival element away from six games of live music, food, drinks etc and I think we’ve always poorly done fan parks too. The 2020 one which was going to snake from the city centre of Newcastle to the stadium sounded like it had been thought out and then last year they delivered a 100 metre stretch with the same old couple of inflatable things for kids, the trophies and the oddballs stand and it was probably the poorest I’ve seen since someone decided an open air fan park was a good idea for England v New Zealand at the Olympic Stadium when the game was played in November. 

 

I've long advocated renaming it to Festival of League, SLFest, League Fest, or whatever, I find Magic Weekend ab odd name and I'm stunned the Aussies took it. 

The best fanzine I went to was at Murray field, when we had a wide range of sponsors who had a presence there with stalls and competitions. A problem now is we have 2 or 3 sponsors who are not really interested. 

For me, every event should be about fun. Nobody should leave our events not having had a good time, they should be colourful, action packed days full of fun, games, music, videos, entertainers, food, drink etc. In the 90s we were one of the first to start to bring some of these things in, now we just look tired and cheap. 

To be fair to Elstone, it is something he picked up on and wanted a real effort around our presentation. 

[GUBRATS]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Yes, this all needs to be done early. Last minute panic acts are too late and I can't see many being persuaded to go if they weren't anyway purely because a certain act has been booked. Announce a quality program of entertaining well in advance and its a different story.

Or some decent reasonably priced BEER

[Dave T]

Just now, GUBRATS said:

Or some decent reasonably priced BEER

When I last went I sat in Club Wembley seats and I must admit, the range of beers was far better than I expected, and whilst expensive, wasn't totally stupid. It felt like there had been an effort made. I enjoyed it quite a lot (I think) 

[GUBRATS]

Just now, Dave T said:

When I last went I sat in Club Wembley seats and I must admit, the range of beers was far better than I expected, and whilst expensive, wasn't totally stupid. It felt like there had been an effort made. I enjoyed it quite a lot (I think) 

Posh ######

[Dave T]

3 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Posh ######

Nah, still a Northerner, the tickets were cheap

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

When I last went I sat in Club Wembley seats and I must admit, the range of beers was far better than I expected, and whilst expensive, wasn't totally stupid. It felt like there had been an effort made. I enjoyed it quite a lot (I think) 

Now that club Wembley seats can be sold the RFL should really be making a big push to sell them. They are pretty good value and you'd imagine it shouldn't be too hard a sell to get companies to buy them, never mind the fans. They could really be used to sell the event to a whole new audience.

[Jughead]

8 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Or some decent reasonably priced BEER

Little League thinking.

[GUBRATS]

Just now, Jughead said:

Little League thinking.

That's me

[Jughead]

Just now, GUBRATS said:

That's me

Think finals aren’t for you then. They’ll never have WMC prices and nor should they. 

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Think finals aren’t for you then. They’ll never have WMC prices and nor should they. 

If I go watching a band , do I want a game of rugby on pre match or at half time ? , No 

If I go to a rugby League match , am I bothered if there's a band on pre match or at half time ? , No 

Do I want a decent reasonably priced beer ? Yes , pre , during , at half time , in fact anytime