St James park

[Tosh]

Has it now cemented it’s place as a certain stadium pick in any 3 test series against both New Zealand and Australia(if they can be @rsed to tour)?

[Damien]

Of course it should have. Any 3 test series should be Newcastle, London and either Manchester or Leeds. 

Additionally:

 

Newcastle deserve it. Simple.

[Tosh]

Just now, Damien said:

Of course it should have. Any 3 test series should be Newcastle, London and either Manchester or Leeds. 

Additionally:

 

Newcastle deserve it. Simple.

Personally I think st James park should replace elland Rd until any serious redevelopment takes place at the stadium.

[Jughead]

With the absence of Magic Weekend in the future, keeping ties in Newcastle with games at SJP against Australia or New Zealand would see crowds still do well, I reckon. It offers people the opportunity to visit for the weekend or day (kick off time dependent) and helps an area that’s probably had greater exponential growth than any other non-traditional area in the past ten years. 

I would be hesitant two have two of three games in a series out of the headlands and I imagine IMG will recognise that, too. IMG did say London was going to be a focus area and I am assuming they mean with internationals, so we may not see as much of Newcastle as we could/should. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Jughead

[Damien]

10 minutes ago, Jughead said:

With the absence of Magic Weekend in the future, keeping ties in Newcastle with games at SJP against Australia or New Zealand would see crowds still do well, I reckon. It offers people the opportunity to visit for the weekend or day (kick off time dependent) and helps an area that’s probably had greater exponential growth than any other non-traditional area in the past ten years. 

I would be hesitant two have two of three games in a series out of the headlands and I imagine IMG will recognise that, too. IMG did say London was going to be a focus area and I am assuming they mean with internationals, so we may not see as much of Newcastle as we could/should. 

Why? London has consistently got our best crowds, usually full of Southerners, and Newcastle has now joined them with a great crowd full of Geordies and the highest grossing gate for a RLWC group game. If the heartlands want more international games then they have to show up for them. If anything 1 heartlands game should mean we can get a bigger gate.

[Jughead]

Just now, Damien said:

Why? London has consistently got our best crowds, usually full of Southerners, and Newcastle has now joined them with a great crowd full of Geordies and the highest grossing gate for a RLWC group game. If the heartlands want more international games then they have to show up for them. If anything 1 heartlands game should mean we can get a bigger gate.

Given the issue IMG have with existing events in the calendar, an international game in Newcastle and London apiece in three weekends on top of the cup final, semi-finals, Grand Final and season tickets (plus whatever they replace Magic with), I wonder if they’d be okay with all of that in one calendar year or whether they’d perhaps alternate.

 

[Coastal_Geordie]

I know loads of people who were attending their first ever Rugby League match today.  It was definitely a much more local crowd than we get for Magic Weekend which feels dominated by Yorkshire/Lancashire.  There were still plenty of club RL kits around too.

I do feel the consistent Magic Weekend however has laid groundwork for big events in Newcastle.  The fact is though England is much more of a draw than club teams from elsewhere in the country than Newcastle.

If RL wants to grow it needs big games outside the heartlands like v Samoa today.  St James has hopefully established itself now as one of the primary homes for England moving forward.

[Damien]

15 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Given the issue IMG have with existing events in the calendar, an international game in Newcastle and London apiece in three weekends on top of the cup final, semi-finals, Grand Final and season tickets (plus whatever they replace Magic with), I wonder if they’d be okay with all of that in one calendar year or whether they’d perhaps alternate.

You are making the mistake of trying to sell to the same audience. The whole point of having games in Newcastle and London is not to do that.

[Tosh]

4 minutes ago, Coastal_Geordie said:

I know loads of people who were attending their first ever Rugby League match today.  It was definitely a much more local crowd than we get for Magic Weekend which feels dominated by Yorkshire/Lancashire.  There were still plenty of club RL kits around too.

I do feel the consistent Magic Weekend however has laid groundwork for big events in Newcastle.  The fact is though England is much more of a draw than club teams from elsewhere in the country than Newcastle.

If RL wants to grow it needs big games outside the heartlands like v Samoa today.  St James has hopefully established itself now as one of the primary homes for England moving forward.

Locals from newcastle and the greater northeast region have obviously no affiliation with clubs from Yorkshire and Lancashire that play a totally alien sport to the majority of them but England on the other hand is something they can and judging by the crowd obviously have got behind.

[Tosh]

London, newcastle and Manchester then alternate between London, newcastle and Sheffield.

[Eddie]

14 minutes ago, Tosh said:

London, newcastle and Manchester then alternate between London, newcastle and Sheffield.

Why have two of the three games away from where the game is played and where 95% of its fans are? I get the idea of taking games elsewhere but 2/3 is a lot. 

[Tosh]

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Why have two of the three games away from where the game is played and where 95% of its fans are? I get the idea of taking games elsewhere but 2/3 is a lot. 

To grow the game. Better and bigger stadiums.

[JohnM]

1 hour ago, Jughead said:

With the absence of Magic Weekend in the future, keeping ties in Newcastle with games at SJP against Australia or New Zealand would see crowds still do well, I reckon. It offers people the opportunity to visit for the weekend or day (kick off time dependent) and helps an area that’s probably had greater exponential growth than any other non-traditional area in the past ten years. 

I would be hesitant two have two of three games in a series out of the headlands and I imagine IMG will recognise that, too. IMG did say London was going to be a focus area and I am assuming they mean with internationals, so we may not see as much of Newcastle as we could/should. 

Not sure Magic Weekend has actually gone. It's demise was proposed by IMG. But I expect it's the clubs that make the final decision. Isn't that the case?

In any event, yes Newcastle should be a big game banker.

[Damien]

7 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Why have two of the three games away from where the game is played and where 95% of its fans are? I get the idea of taking games elsewhere but 2/3 is a lot. 

Like the 17k that showed up at Hull in 2018? It's quite simple, we often get better crowds elsewhere. 

Our best crowds for internationals are London. Newcastle just got 43k. It's a no brainer to follow that up.

[Eddie]

27 minutes ago, Tosh said:

To grow the game. Better and bigger stadiums.

Without clubs growing there it’s not growing the game though, it’s just playing one off games somewhere else. There isn’t a club in London or Newcastle who average over 1,000 fans. 

[FearTheVee]

1 minute ago, Eddie said:

Without clubs growing there it’s not growing the game though, it’s just playing one off games somewhere else. There isn’t a club in London or Newcastle who average over 1,000 fans. 

What is your point? That we should play it somewhere where it will get a smaller crowd?

[Eddie]

6 minutes ago, FearTheVee said:

What is your point? That we should play it somewhere where it will get a smaller crowd?

No. Just that I’d like to see the majority of England games in the heartlands (ie 2 of a series of 3), until a time comes where playing them elsewhere is helping expand the game, which I don’t think playing internationals in London or Newcastle is. Appreciate that I may be in the minority though.  

[Eddie]

30 minutes ago, Damien said:

Like the 17k that showed up at Hull in 2018? It's quite simple, we often get better crowds elsewhere. 

Our best crowds for internationals are London. Newcastle just got 43k. It's a no brainer to follow that up.

You can’t compare a test match v NZ with a World Cup opener though, obv the crowd today in Hull would have been bigger than England v NZ in Newcastle. 

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, Eddie said:

You can’t compare a test match v NZ with a World Cup opener though, obv the crowd today in Hull would have been bigger than England v NZ in Newcastle. 

That makes zero sense.

[Tosh]

16 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Without clubs growing there it’s not growing the game though, it’s just playing one off games somewhere else. There isn’t a club in London or Newcastle who average over 1,000 fans. 

And yet they deliver the bigger crowds.

[Tosh]

7 minutes ago, Eddie said:

You can’t compare a test match v NZ with a World Cup opener though, obv the crowd today in Hull would have been bigger than England v NZ in Newcastle. 

Would it have got 43k in hull?

[Damien]

6 minutes ago, Eddie said:

No. Just that I’d like to see the majority of England games in the heartlands (ie 2 of a series of 3), until a time comes where playing them elsewhere is helping expand the game, which I don’t think playing internationals in London or Newcastle is. Appreciate that I may be in the minority though.  

You play internationals elsewhere because of the extra revenue generated by bigger crowds, to increase awareness and to appeal to sponsors. 

[Tosh]

9 minutes ago, Eddie said:

No. Just that I’d like to see the majority of England games in the heartlands (ie 2 of a series of 3), until a time comes where playing them elsewhere is helping expand the game, which I don’t think playing internationals in London or Newcastle is. Appreciate that I may be in the minority though.  

Where would you play them?

[Eddie]

1 minute ago, Tosh said:

Would it have got 43k in hull?

Ridiculous comment, would Eng v NZ got 43k in Newcastle? Anyway I can’t be arsed arguing about it, have a good’un. 

[Yard Dog]

A test series game in Newcastle would be great but only downside is that it would probably have to be at the expense of a game in either Manchester or Leeds (given that one of the 3 games in a test series is probably going to have be in London)