RLWC Attendance-O-Meter

[Mr Frisky]

It is amazing that everything the 2013 tournament got right the 2022 ( ok 2021) tournament is getting wrong.......

Edited October 25, 2022 by Mr Frisky

[gingerjon]

8 minutes ago, Dave T said:

£2

Pre or post decimalisation?

[redjonn]

It's great we have the games on BBC, I enjoyed watching the game tonight cosy at home at no extra cost...

Saved me making any effort to go through  ticketing and travel.

I would have gone to the stadium otherwise...

It is a catch 22...

No matter the price I would still have watched from home. Unless it was england.

Of course I see benefits of BBC showing the games, but not sure about every single one.

[Man of Kent]

This won’t shock anyone but IMO the attendance figures are inflated.

Attendances figures aren’t head counts of course - they are sales figures - but I was at Ireland vs Lebanon on Sunday and there was absolutely no way on God’s Earth it was 6k+. Maybe 3-4K. 

But on the whole it’s a good World Cup and it’s only just getting started. Not writing it off as a failure by any means. 

[gingerjon]

5 minutes ago, redjonn said:

It's great we have the games on BBC, I enjoyed watching the game tonight cosy at home at no extra cost...

Saved me making any effort to go through  ticketing and travel.

I would have gone to the stadium otherwise...

It is a catch 22...

No matter the price I would still have watched from home. Unless it was england.

Of course I see benefits of BBC showing the games, but not sure about every single one.

I'm trying to think of the last World Cup (or equivalent tournament) in any sport that I'm aware of where every game was not available on TV/streaming.

I'm honestly not sure when that would be or what sport.

[RayCee]

Last year after the postponement I was starting to have my doubts about the calibre of the WC leadership. I'm not feeling reassured with what's transpired during the event so far.

It seems the focus hasn't been on the fans or the players but maximising profit. Of course, profit has to be important but the balance between that and affordability has to be struck and in that the organisers failed. 

The BBC coverage has been excellent and the game will have got some new fans through that. It's a shame at that each world cup, there are organisational miscalculations that reduce the potential benefit the tournament can bring. 

[RayCee]

2 hours ago, Big Picture said:

That makes the total after 16 matches 164,159 for an average of 10,259.

My figures don't quite match yours. Are there any corrections I need to make?

Eng - Sam	43,119	Round 1
Aus – Fij	13,666
Ton-PNG	10,409	Tot
Ire – Jam	6,320	95,525
Sco – Ita	6,206
C Is– Wal	6,188	Avg
NZ – Leb	5,435	11,941
Fra – Gre	4,182
Eng – Fra	23,638	Round 2	Accum
Aus- Sco	10,276
Ton – Wal	7,752	Tot	Tot
NZ – Jam	6,829	68,915	164,440
PNG – C Is	6,273
Leb – Ire	6,057	Avg	Avg
Sam – Gre	4,415	8,614	10,278
Fiji – Ita	3,675

[meast]

5 hours ago, EssexRL said:

I have been thinking the same. I would imagine very very few people have travelled to the UK for games for the reasons you say (although you would think a few might have travelled from France). So we are relying on England fans and expats. Clearly as Tonga and Lebanon showed there is interest amongst those communities.

There were a few Greece and Samoan fans at Doncaster and lots of noisy PNG fans at Warrington tonight.

[meast]

2 hours ago, Eddie said:

6,273 at Warrington. 

Looked and felt more from where I was in the South stand which seemed sparsely populated compared to the others.

Great atmosphere and colour from the Papuans though..

[meast]

1 hour ago, Just Browny said:

Was it £40 to go in the South Stand at Wire tonight? Absolutely crackers and terrible to see one of the best stands we have in RL in this country basically empty.

It was £20 to stand in either West or South

£30 for the end blocks and corner blocks of the North 

[The Masked Poster]

What people forget is that in 2013, pretty much most of the tournament was invisible to most people. And I went to loads of games then and loved it all. 

The TV coverage of 2013 is simply not on the same planet compared with today. Thems the facts. 

[Man of Kent]

39 minutes ago, The Masked Poster said:

What people forget is that in 2013, pretty much most of the tournament was invisible to most people. And I went to loads of games then and loved it all. 

The TV coverage of 2013 is simply not on the same planet compared with today. Thems the facts. 

Absolutely. The BBC coverage - not just the actual matches but also the reporting & social media - is more than  anyone would reasonably expect.

And if charging higher prices means that the international game gets more funding than would otherwise have been the case - at the cost of more empty seats - then so be it.

[Jim from Oz]

20 hours ago, Jim from Oz said:

TOTAL after week 1: 95,243 (11,905 per match)

Tonga v Wales: 7,753 

UPDATED TOTAL:  157,886 (average 10,525)

TARGETS:

2000 RLWC: 263,921

(8,514 per match)

 

2017 RLWC: 382,080

(13,646 per match)

 

2013 RLWC: 458,483

(16,374 per match)

 

2022 WOMEN’S EURO: 574,865

(18,544 per match)

 

ORIGINAL TARGET: 750,000

TOTAL FOR WEEK 1: 95,243 (average 11,905)

PNG v Cook Islands: 6,273

TOTAL FOR WEEK 2:  68,875 (average 8,609)

UPDATED TOTAL: 164,118 (average 10,257)

 

TARGETS:

2000 RLWC: 263,921

(8,514 per match)

 

2017 RLWC: 382,080

(13,646 per match)

 

2013 RLWC: 458,483

(16,374 per match)

 

2022 WOMEN’S EURO: 574,865

(18,544 per match)

 

ORIGINAL TARGET: 750,000

[Jim from Oz]

So, looking at the above figures, and presuming week 3 (I reckon about 50,000) will have less people than weeks 1 and 2 (a combined 164,118), if we get (my reasonably optimistic estimate of) 225,000 for the Q/Fs on, we are now tracking at a total attendance of 420,000.

That would be very disappointing. And while we are not looking (yet!) at the shocker that was the 2000 RLWC, we are tracking not much better than the underwhelming 2017 RLWC.

In fact, 2021(22) RLWC reminds me (from afar in Oz, admittedly) very much like 2017 RLWC in quite a few ways (crowds, lack of excitement/feel).

The two bright spots remain that 2021(22) RLWC is getting a great run on the BBC and should also make a good sum of $$$ for the IRL. 

Plus, watching all the 2021(22) RLWC  games on Kayo streaming, I remain as enthusiastic for the RLWC in general as I ever have … in my (100% biased) mind it is the BEST sporting event on earth … I just wish we could pull it all together, organisation-wise !

And thanks always to the players of all nations who provide such great entertainment, and all the fans and supporters who watch at the grounds or on TV.

Hopefully 2025 RLWC will finally realise the RLWC's potential !

Regards
Biased of Sydney
 

[JohnM]

Many pages ago I asked the question (maybe could have been put more clearly of course) about fans tours. Certainly, in the case of krikit and union, there seems to be a significant numbers of fans who have travelled from their home countries on organised tours.

Such a tour to France in 2025 would appeal to me.

On attendances -something I've avoided commenting on, as it's the on-field action that concerns me - it's my view that free-to-air coverage cannibalises attendances. 

There is in my mind no doubt of the excellence quality and quantity of coverage by BBC Sport and this more than compensates for any possible reduction in numbers through the turnstiles.

As for the ticketing experience, clearly some have had real problems.  I've found it unduly complex but not problematic. 

[UTK]

1 hour ago, Jim from Oz said:

So, looking at the above figures, and presuming week 3 (I reckon about 50,000) will have less people than weeks 1 and 2 (a combined 164,118), if we get (my reasonably optimistic estimate of) 225,000 for the Q/Fs on, we are now tracking at a total attendance of 420,000.

That would be very disappointing. And while we are not looking (yet!) at the shocker that was the 2000 RLWC, we are tracking not much better than the underwhelming 2017 RLWC.

In fact, 2021(22) RLWC reminds me (from afar in Oz, admittedly) very much like 2017 RLWC in quite a few ways (crowds, lack of excitement/feel).

The two bright spots remain that 2021(22) RLWC is getting a great run on the BBC and should also make a good sum of $$$ for the IRL. 

Plus, watching all the 2021(22) RLWC  games on Kayo streaming, I remain as enthusiastic for the RLWC in general as I ever have … in my (100% biased) mind it is the BEST sporting event on earth … I just wish we could pull it all together, organisation-wise !

And thanks always to the players of all nations who provide such great entertainment, and all the fans and supporters who watch at the grounds or on TV.

Hopefully 2025 RLWC will finally realise the RLWC's potential !

Regards
Biased of Sydney
 

Agreed, it feels very 2017 without some of the landmark results that 2017 offered on-field (so far), and generally less competitive games throughout the tournament. 

Biggest takeaway is that we have lots and lots of work to do before 2025, both on and off the field.

Prior to the tournament I made the comment that England winning might not be as important to the success of the tournament because we were looking at packed crowds and coverage across the tournament that would create most of the value moving forward. It's starting to look like a big England run to the final will be essential in maintaining interest and crowds throughout the rest of the tournament. 

[Jim from Oz]

1 hour ago, UTK said:

Biggest takeaway is that we have lots and lots of work to do before 2025, both on and off the field. 

Absolutely !

[Black Country Wire]

9 hours ago, Spidey said:

While everybody isn’t turning up I’m getting free upgrades at every game now

Quite. Been to 8 games so far and only watched from my designated seat in 3 of them.

[Toby Chopra]

3 hours ago, Jim from Oz said:

So, looking at the above figures, and presuming week 3 (I reckon about 50,000) will have less people than weeks 1 and 2 (a combined 164,118), if we get (my reasonably optimistic estimate of) 225,000 for the Q/Fs on, we are now tracking at a total attendance of 420,000.

That would be very disappointing. And while we are not looking (yet!) at the shocker that was the 2000 RLWC, we are tracking not much better than the underwhelming 2017 RLWC.

In fact, 2021(22) RLWC reminds me (from afar in Oz, admittedly) very much like 2017 RLWC in quite a few ways (crowds, lack of excitement/feel).

The two bright spots remain that 2021(22) RLWC is getting a great run on the BBC and should also make a good sum of $$$ for the IRL. 

Plus, watching all the 2021(22) RLWC  games on Kayo streaming, I remain as enthusiastic for the RLWC in general as I ever have … in my (100% biased) mind it is the BEST sporting event on earth … I just wish we could pull it all together, organisation-wise !

And thanks always to the players of all nations who provide such great entertainment, and all the fans and supporters who watch at the grounds or on TV.

Hopefully 2025 RLWC will finally realise the RLWC's potential !

Regards
Biased of Sydney
 

Plus the women's and wheelchair tournaments are only just about to get going and I reckon they're going to get some pretty positive coverage here in the UK too. 

We may not remember this tournament for packed stadiums (although let's see how it feels after the knockouts) but we'll certainly remember it as a magnificent festival of all that RL has to offer, with many millions in the UK having their first sustained engagement with the sport, via the BBC. 

[GUBRATS]

7 hours ago, gingerjon said:

What price should the final at Old Trafford be set at in this system?

I'm essentially referring to the group games 

 

[Eddie]

8 hours ago, Dave T said:

£2

That’s too high, don’t want to put anyone off. 

[Eddie]

If it was just prices putting people off then category D would be full at most of the games, which it clearly isn’t. 
 

The Hull QF for example has plenty of category D tickets left, £25 to see NZ v Fiji and some of the best players in the world doesn’t sound like much to me, in a RL mad city but there’ll probably be about 10-12k there.  
 

The impact of FTA coverage has been underestimated on this thread imho, plus the lack of fans from other countries and the fact that RL is a small regional sport covering an area of around 4-5m people. As a comparison if there was a football World Cup in Scotland with no away fans and all games on bbc they wouldn’t have packed stadiums either, there’d be much less than 6,000 at Falkirk for Honduras v South Korea. 

[meast]

19 minutes ago, Eddie said:

If it was just prices putting people off then category D would be full at most of the games, which it clearly isn’t. 
 

The Hull QF for example has plenty of category D tickets left, £25 to see NZ v Fiji and some of the best players in the world doesn’t sound like much to me, in a RL mad city but there’ll probably be about 10-12k there.  
 

The impact of FTA coverage has been underestimated on this thread imho, plus the lack of fans from other countries and the fact that RL is a small regional sport covering an area of around 4-5m people. As a comparison if there was a football World Cup in Scotland with no away fans and all games on bbc they wouldn’t have packed stadiums either, there’d be much less than 6,000 at Falkirk for Honduras v South Korea. 

It kind of goes with what I've been saying, yes some of the prices are a little bit high for the group games, but then you wouldn't expect many people to want to pay for a high class event experience at Samoa v Greece at Doncaster or Italy v Scotland at Kingston Park etc.

I think the fact that people ( RL fans mainly) can watch every game for free and thus not have to pay for games is a big factor.

I've been to 3 games so far and enjoyed every one of them in different ways.

[meast]

I posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago but how many people who are talking about empty grounds and poor crowds have actually been to or are planning on going to games?

It seemed the majority of people commenting the most are making no attempt to even try and get to games.

Again, it says a lot I feel.

[Northern Eel]

England’s T20 World Cup game against Ireland is currently being played in front of a very sparse crowd.

Adult tickets are $40 and only 2/3 of the lower bowl is open. I’d say 4,000 maximum rattling around in a 100,000 capacity MCG.

It’s not just our game…