Magic attendance

[Jughead]

2 minutes ago, Limmertime said:

So true.... Defo with the community game. 

Also a bank hol would help entice fans, aswell as affordable accomodation. 

Some very simple changes could make the difference, also ticket prices.. Cheap for some seats, expensive however for decent seats

Didn’t some want the Cup Final moved from a Bank Holiday because it was a Bank Holiday?

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, Dallas Mead said:

Get……more……neutrals.   That’s it.  Keep it in Newcastle as it’s an excellent city for a “party” weekend (still recovering this morning) for the as-is fans, but start to promote the thing for next year NOW with the Newcastle public.

This is why some seem to like Magic. I'm not sure if it makes it that appealing to a wider audience though.

[GUBRATS]

In the last few posts it shows everybody is looking for something different from the MW , like suggesting cancelling the lower tier fixtures ? , No , the vast majority of RL fans are club centric , and if you follow your club , you'll do that before travelling to Newcastle for an expensive day/ weekend , we have our own day for that in 3 weeks , maybe cancel the SL fixtures for the Bash 

It is for the fans of the clubs attending , and a wider TV audience , let's just stick to that , it works fine 

[Coastal_Geordie]

32 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

Does anybody know how well the MW was promoted in Newcastle itself?

New poster here in peace.

Aside from the regular Premier League football which is the hot ticket in Newcastle consistently- we are used to these flagship events in Newcastle.

St James park has hosted Olympic 2012 football including Brazil (similar sized crowds to Magic weekend), Rugby Union 2010 World Cup including the All Blacks (sellout), England Rugby Union 2011 friendly (sellout), Newcastle Falcons Premiership Big Game (smaller crowds than Magic weekend) and 2019 Rugby Union Heineken Cup final (sellout).  

All of these events are promoted pretty heavily in the local media and by Newcastle United via their own channels too. 

The upcoming RLWC opening England game at St James has also been promoted well in addition to other matches at the Falcons/Thunder ground Kingston Park.

Newcastle and the North east is not going to change from being a football obsessed region.  The Falcons rugby Union team aside from a brief period of Jonny Wilkinson post World Cup mania when 10k crowds were common has now settled on around 5k.  The football meanwhile could sell out 60k plus if the stadium was bigger.

People in the North east will however support big events particularly at St James.  I was there all weekend with my son for every game having attended most of the magic weekends in Newcastle.  It is our only exposure to live rugby league having been a casual fan watching on Sky over the years. 

I would like to see Newcastle Thunder get promoted to Super League and would be more likely to attend games - maybe even buy a season ticket - than in the championship.  A crowd of 2k to 3k would probably be the upper end of expectations though being realistic.

In the meantime I hope magic weekend stays in Newcastle.  Being biased while having visited most major UK 50k plus stadium, I don’t think another compares to St James from an overall match day experience. You can walk off the train into a pub into the ground and it’s all compact.  You don’t have to walk through any ropey estates (Anfield/Elland Road) or travel to the ###### end of nowhere away from anything central (Wembley/Manchester stadiums).  

I am hopeful Magic Weekend is back in NE1 in 2023 and in the meantime looking forward to England v Samoa in October.

[Damien]

To me some of the aspects of what people want from Magic should be filled by internationals, not the club game. If we are saying Magic has a place to attract neutrals or help expansion clubs then I think internationals do that to a far greater than any club games. Games like England v Samoa should absolutely be in Newcastle and I suspect will attract far more neutrals than any Magic weekend. Ditto internationals in London.

I think all of the supposed benefits of Magic can be got in greater ways by doing other things better. Magic is a jack of all trades and master of none solution.

[OMEGA]

I’ve been to every one of the Magic Weekends including Cardiff, Liverpool and Newcastle

Ive just had the best ever weekend up there and without a doubt it’s the best place for the event

We do need to get crowds up somehow but that’s the challenge, not finding a new city/venue, we’ve already found that

[Limmertime]

30 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Didn’t some want the Cup Final moved from a Bank Holiday because it was a Bank Holiday?

Can't please everyone I suppose... Its the fact that it's a normal Monday after day 2 that perhaps put people off staying late on the Sunday or staying over? 

[Scubby]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

To me some of the aspects of what people want from Magic should be filled by internationals, not the club game. If we are saying Magic has a place to attract neutrals or help expansion clubs then I think internationals do that to a far greater than any club games. Games like England v Samoa should absolutely be in Newcastle and I suspect will attract far more neutrals than any Magic weekend. Ditto internationals in London.

I think all of the supposed benefits of Magic can be got in greater ways by doing other things better. Magic is a jack of all trades and master of none solution.

If the World Cup opener far outsells MW in terms of sales to the local area, despite WC tickets being much more expensive, then you will have your answer.

Whether they act on that is a different matter altogether.

[Davo5]

The attendances seem to be stuck around the 60K mark and given the 2nd day involved Wire,Hull & KR who’s usual great following was probably lower than usual given their for this year it was a pretty good turnout.

Its pretty obvious that to improve the attendances we need to get more local NE folk to attend but how do we do that,better promotion ? getting into schools & offering discounted family tickets ? better fan zone/entertainment ?

What we can’t continue to do is just turn up every year & hope the crowds come.

[daz39]

Nowt wrong with Newcastle, nowt wrong with Magic, maybe instead of folk moaning about it or trying to change/move we all get behind it and make it even better?

 

I'd love the idea of a festival/campsite or something on Town Moor or Leazes park for the evenings after the games etc, so much potential in Newcastle.

[Dunbar]

47 minutes ago, Coastal_Geordie said:

New poster here in peace.

Aside from the regular Premier League football which is the hot ticket in Newcastle consistently- we are used to these flagship events in Newcastle.

St James park has hosted Olympic 2012 football including Brazil (similar sized crowds to Magic weekend), Rugby Union 2010 World Cup including the All Blacks (sellout), England Rugby Union 2011 friendly (sellout), Newcastle Falcons Premiership Big Game (smaller crowds than Magic weekend) and 2019 Rugby Union Heineken Cup final (sellout).  

All of these events are promoted pretty heavily in the local media and by Newcastle United via their own channels too. 

The upcoming RLWC opening England game at St James has also been promoted well in addition to other matches at the Falcons/Thunder ground Kingston Park.

Newcastle and the North east is not going to change from being a football obsessed region.  The Falcons rugby Union team aside from a brief period of Jonny Wilkinson post World Cup mania when 10k crowds were common has now settled on around 5k.  The football meanwhile could sell out 60k plus if the stadium was bigger.

People in the North east will however support big events particularly at St James.  I was there all weekend with my son for every game having attended most of the magic weekends in Newcastle.  It is our only exposure to live rugby league having been a casual fan watching on Sky over the years. 

I would like to see Newcastle Thunder get promoted to Super League and would be more likely to attend games - maybe even buy a season ticket - than in the championship.  A crowd of 2k to 3k would probably be the upper end of expectations though being realistic.

In the meantime I hope magic weekend stays in Newcastle.  Being biased while having visited most major UK 50k plus stadium, I don’t think another compares to St James from an overall match day experience. You can walk off the train into a pub into the ground and it’s all compact.  You don’t have to walk through any ropey estates (Anfield/Elland Road) or travel to the ###### end of nowhere away from anything central (Wembley/Manchester stadiums).  

I am hopeful Magic Weekend is back in NE1 in 2023 and in the meantime looking forward to England v Samoa in October.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for providing a local insight into Magic and Rugby League in the region.

One thing is for sure, sporting passions, alongside pretty much all other areas of life, are deep seated and a city/region like Newcastle will always be football first.

But Newcastle and Magic fit so well together for all the reasons you mention and the one thing that will grow the sport is consistency - let Thunder develop as a club and a team as they have been doing - getting all the core parts right - and provide the public of Newcastle with a Rugby League event every year in the shape of the Magic weekend.  Let it take 10 years or 20 or 30.  What is the rush, let the sport grow gradually with the appropriate roots rather than a boom and bust approach.

If we want to target another region, don't shift Magic, just create something else to showcase the sport.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Dunbar

[OMEGA]

1 minute ago, daz39 said:

Nowt wrong with Newcastle, nowt wrong with Magic, maybe instead of folk moaning about it or trying to change/move we all get behind it and make it even better?

 

I'd love the idea of a festival/campsite or something on Town Moor or Leazes park for the evenings after the games etc, so much potential in Newcastle.

Absolutely agree

Just a thought but Leeds Rhinos run a Rugby League camp at Butlins near Skegness which is hugely successful every year. They get families involved who normally don’t have anything to do with RL and they have initiatives to encourage local junior clubs to take part in large numbers.

The RFL need to try something similar, encouraging Junior Clubs and maybe school trips over the weekend. Fun fairs, attractions etc for the evenings for families with young kids who don’t want a night out around the town

[EggFace]

32 minutes ago, Coastal_Geordie said:

New poster here in peace.

Aside from the regular Premier League football which is the hot ticket in Newcastle consistently- we are used to these flagship events in Newcastle.

St James park has hosted Olympic 2012 football including Brazil (similar sized crowds to Magic weekend), Rugby Union 2010 World Cup including the All Blacks (sellout), England Rugby Union 2011 friendly (sellout), Newcastle Falcons Premiership Big Game (smaller crowds than Magic weekend) and 2019 Rugby Union Heineken Cup final (sellout).  

All of these events are promoted pretty heavily in the local media and by Newcastle United via their own channels too. 

The upcoming RLWC opening England game at St James has also been promoted well in addition to other matches at the Falcons/Thunder ground Kingston Park.

Newcastle and the North east is not going to change from being a football obsessed region.  The Falcons rugby Union team aside from a brief period of Jonny Wilkinson post World Cup mania when 10k crowds were common has now settled on around 5k.  The football meanwhile could sell out 60k plus if the stadium was bigger.

People in the North east will however support big events particularly at St James.  I was there all weekend with my son for every game having attended most of the magic weekends in Newcastle.  It is our only exposure to live rugby league having been a casual fan watching on Sky over the years. 

I would like to see Newcastle Thunder get promoted to Super League and would be more likely to attend games - maybe even buy a season ticket - than in the championship.  A crowd of 2k to 3k would probably be the upper end of expectations though being realistic.

In the meantime I hope magic weekend stays in Newcastle.  Being biased while having visited most major UK 50k plus stadium, I don’t think another compares to St James from an overall match day experience. You can walk off the train into a pub into the ground and it’s all compact.  You don’t have to walk through any ropey estates (Anfield/Elland Road) or travel to the ###### end of nowhere away from anything central (Wembley/Manchester stadiums).  

I am hopeful Magic Weekend is back in NE1 in 2023 and in the meantime looking forward to England v Samoa in October.

You got the dates wrong for some as it was 2015 for the Rugby Union World Cup and sold out crowds for All Blacks v Tonga at St.James Park but also they had 2 other World Cup games that sold out with Scotland v Samoa and South Africa v Scotland, Falcons played Northampton in 2018 and England v Italy friendly was 2019.

[Tre Cool]

As an elite, showpiece event we should seriously consider cancelling all other RL on Magic Weekend.  You could easily add 5k+ to the attendance.  Give discounted tickets to season ticket holders at Championship clubs, with some kind of cashback for the clubs.  Fans at lower league clubs often follow Super League clubs as well and watch Super League on Sky so to suggest they wouldn't be interested is wrong.  If you tried hard enough you could probably get 5k from Cumbria alone.   Run some buses over.  York's a short train ride away too.

[daz39]

5 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

As an elite, showpiece event we should seriously consider cancelling all other RL on Magic Weekend.  You could easily add 5k+ to the attendance.  Give discounted tickets to season ticket holders at Championship clubs, with some kind of cashback for the clubs.  Fans at lower league clubs often follow Super League clubs as well and watch Super League on Sky so to suggest they wouldn't be interested is wrong.  If you tried hard enough you could probably get 5k from Cumbria alone.   Run some buses over.  York's a short train ride away too.

As i said there's so much untapped potential that would be easy to tap into and put into place surely?

Agree with the championship clubs, a lot of non super league fans have super league going mates, surely they would tag along for the weekend/day if their own team didn't have a match?

[Anita Bath]

56 minutes ago, Coastal_Geordie said:

New poster here in peace.

Aside from the regular Premier League football which is the hot ticket in Newcastle consistently- we are used to these flagship events in Newcastle.

St James park has hosted Olympic 2012 football including Brazil (similar sized crowds to Magic weekend), Rugby Union 2010 World Cup including the All Blacks (sellout), England Rugby Union 2011 friendly (sellout), Newcastle Falcons Premiership Big Game (smaller crowds than Magic weekend) and 2019 Rugby Union Heineken Cup final (sellout).  

All of these events are promoted pretty heavily in the local media and by Newcastle United via their own channels too. 

The upcoming RLWC opening England game at St James has also been promoted well in addition to other matches at the Falcons/Thunder ground Kingston Park.

Newcastle and the North east is not going to change from being a football obsessed region.  The Falcons rugby Union team aside from a brief period of Jonny Wilkinson post World Cup mania when 10k crowds were common has now settled on around 5k.  The football meanwhile could sell out 60k plus if the stadium was bigger.

People in the North east will however support big events particularly at St James.  I was there all weekend with my son for every game having attended most of the magic weekends in Newcastle.  It is our only exposure to live rugby league having been a casual fan watching on Sky over the years. 

I would like to see Newcastle Thunder get promoted to Super League and would be more likely to attend games - maybe even buy a season ticket - than in the championship.  A crowd of 2k to 3k would probably be the upper end of expectations though being realistic.

In the meantime I hope magic weekend stays in Newcastle.  Being biased while having visited most major UK 50k plus stadium, I don’t think another compares to St James from an overall match day experience. You can walk off the train into a pub into the ground and it’s all compact.  You don’t have to walk through any ropey estates (Anfield/Elland Road) or travel to the ###### end of nowhere away from anything central (Wembley/Manchester stadiums).  

I am hopeful Magic Weekend is back in NE1 in 2023 and in the meantime looking forward to England v Samoa in October.

Genuinely interested why you are not interested in supporting your local team unless and until they reach superleague.  There is terrific competitive rugby played in the championship.  

[Damien]

23 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

As an elite, showpiece event we should seriously consider cancelling all other RL on Magic Weekend.  You could easily add 5k+ to the attendance.  Give discounted tickets to season ticket holders at Championship clubs, with some kind of cashback for the clubs.  Fans at lower league clubs often follow Super League clubs as well and watch Super League on Sky so to suggest they wouldn't be interested is wrong.  If you tried hard enough you could probably get 5k from Cumbria alone.   Run some buses over.  York's a short train ride away too.

I just don't understand this. Its a round of league games, the game shouldn't come to a standstill. I also think you severely overestimate its appeal.

Why does any of that make it any more appealing to other RL fans? If they want to go currently then they will go. Cancelling a Championship match isn't going to make a Leigh fan spend a fortune to go and watch Wigan, they could do that anytime if they so desire. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Damien

[Just Browny]

The debate about concurrent fixtures is an interesting one.

On the one hand, if you cancelled all other fixtures you would get some fans of those teams saying "I'm only interested in my team, I'm not going to Newcastle to watch $uper Gr€€d".

On the other hand, all pro RL the other weekend was cancelled for an England exhibition match against a made up team. 

Personally I think I'd like a full set of international fixtures over a weekend and keep the semi-pro/amateur fixtures on alongside Magic, but it isn't straightforward.

[Death to the Rah Rah's]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

To me some of the aspects of what people want from Magic should be filled by internationals, not the club game. If we are saying Magic has a place to attract neutrals or help expansion clubs then I think internationals do that to a far greater than any club games. Games like England v Samoa should absolutely be in Newcastle and I suspect will attract far more neutrals than any Magic weekend. Ditto internationals in London.

I think all of the supposed benefits of Magic can be got in greater ways by doing other things better. Magic is a jack of all trades and master of none solution.

I agree with that, RL badly needs an international profile with regular fixtures along the lines of the Tri-Nations but substituting the Aussies for Tonga, Fiji, Samoa etc. so that GB or England are playing different teams each season.

I can't understand why the Tri-Nations was scrapped as it seemed to be a successful competition 

We might be able to persuade the Aussies to come every 4 years and fill the other years with Tonga, New Zealand, Fiji etc. France could also be brought into the fold to help lift their international profile.

Needs something done, but as always it can be added to the ever growing list of RFL under accomplishments !      

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Just Browny said:

The debate about concurrent fixtures is an interesting one.

On the one hand, if you cancelled all other fixtures you would get some fans of those teams saying "I'm only interested in my team, I'm not going to Newcastle to watch $uper Gr€€d".

On the other hand, all pro RL the other weekend was cancelled for an England exhibition match against a made up team. 

Personally I think I'd like a full set of international fixtures over a weekend and keep the semi-pro/amateur fixtures on alongside Magic, but it isn't straightforward.

England games are completely different, we all supposedly support England and the international game. I'd also say finals are different too. Cancel all RL fixtures on the premise that vast swathes of other RL fans will suddenly find a desire to spend a fortune to watch run of the mill loop games, nope.

[del capo]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

A magic weekend festival style campsite would be superb. Obviously it’s way too out of the box for the RFL to consider though. 

There was a magic weekend campsite at Newcastle Racecourse in 2015.......................

[Coastal_Geordie]

53 minutes ago, EggFace said:

You got the dates wrong for some as it was 2015 for the Rugby Union World Cup and sold out crowds for All Blacks v Tonga at St.James Park but also they had 2 other World Cup games that sold out with Scotland v Samoa and South Africa v Scotland, Falcons played Northampton in 2018 and England v Italy friendly was 2019.

Fair play - my memory isn’t what it was!

 

[Tre Cool]

23 minutes ago, Damien said:

I just don't understand this. Its a round of league games, the game shouldn't come to a standstill. I also think you severely overestimate its appeal.

Why does any of that make it any more appealing to other RL fans? If they want to go currently then they will go. Cancelling a Championship match isn't going to make a Leigh fan spend a fortune to go and watch Wigan, they could do that anytime if they so desire. 

They might not spend lots of money to watch Wigan (obviously)but they might to spend a weekend watching elite RL in a major stadium in a big party city not too far away, surrounded by like minded people.  It's a great event, you can't compare it to a regular Wigan, or any other, home match.  

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, del capo said:

There was a magic weekend campsite at Newcastle Racecourse in 2015.......................

So, another example of a good idea done once and then abandoned?

[Leyther_Matt]

48 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

As an elite, showpiece event we should seriously consider cancelling all other RL on Magic Weekend.  You could easily add 5k+ to the attendance.  Give discounted tickets to season ticket holders at Championship clubs, with some kind of cashback for the clubs.  Fans at lower league clubs often follow Super League clubs as well and watch Super League on Sky so to suggest they wouldn't be interested is wrong.  If you tried hard enough you could probably get 5k from Cumbria alone.   Run some buses over.  York's a short train ride away too.

I understand what you're saying. I've thoroughly enjoyed my two visits to Newcastle for Magic when Leigh have participated (and a couple of years as a neutral at the Etihad).

The cost of the tickets isn't the issue and more the cost of travel, particularly from the north west. I'm currently pricing up trains for our away game at Newcastle in August and a day return from Newton-le-Willows (our nearest station on that line) is £90, and even then it's with a timetable that has every single train currently marked as "this train will not operate". I could drive up and save a few quid, but even my 1.2 litre Citroen is going to cost a little over £60 in fuel.

In a similar vein to when this was discussed for the Challenge Cup final, it is a big enough ask to be thinking of paying that out to watch the team you actually support, so do so as a neutral is something that is simply out of the question for a lot of people, particularly mid-season with school holidays and associated expenses on the horizon.