RLWC Attendance-O-Meter

[Guest]

1 minute ago, St Reatham said:

Fair enough. Let’s just find the biggest stadium in the UK to hire, do nothing to advertise or promote a fixture, and watch the fans flock to it.

Promotion takes money and has to be front loaded before sales come in. The RFL has no money at all and cannot take the risk of spending money on promotion it doesn't have.

So it is not easy.

A lack of money drives a lot of RL's issues in the NH.

[pahars]

14 minutes ago, St Reatham said:

If we are to believe some posters here, yesterday’s attendance was only 30k, for a WC SF. Can forget what Tier nation England were playing - it was a WC SF! I said 30-40k, so maybe target a 40k stadium in London?

The only 40k ish stadium is Stamford Bridge which wouldn’t hold a full size pitch and they have never shown interest in RL. 
 

We have recently held events in Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham though and could well get more then 40k.

[MatthewWoody]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

Yesterday's game got a bigger attendance than any international in the heartlands since the World Cup final in 2013. If that is no appetite then we may as well give up.

Is this appetite as big as it seems on this forum in our bubble? 

[Guest]

Just now, MatthewWoody said:

Apple and pears maybe. 

Still, I wonder why this northern audience feel less attracted by England playing an historical match than their club playing the final of a competition that is played every year. 

To be fair - the CC is a one off. The WC has had plenty of games nearby and potentially a final at OT if England got there.

So less imperative to make yesterday.

[Damien]

1 minute ago, MatthewWoody said:

Is this appetite as big as it seems on this forum in our bubble? 

Crowd sizes are the best indication of appetite. I'm not sure what else you want.

[Chrispmartha]

1 minute ago, MatthewWoody said:

Is this appetite as big as it seems on this forum in our bubble? 

Yes the majority of people in the stadium yesterday won’t have ever heard of this forum.

There will have also have been millions watching it on tv

[MatthewWoody]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Crowd sizes are the best indication of appetite. I'm not sure what else you want.

Are we satisfied by these attendances? 

I think they're been good but could have been better. 

I said the same about the attendances of the Kangaroos' games.

But it seems we must be happy and satisfied nevertheless.

Edited November 13, 2022 by MatthewWoody

[Damien]

1 minute ago, MatthewWoody said:

Are we satisfied by these attendances? 

I think they're been good but could have been better. 

I said the same about the attendances of the Kangaroos' games.

In London, which was the discussion, yes.

[Guest]

Just now, Damien said:

In London, which was the discussion, yes.

The game needs money. London can deliver numbers and also pricing.

It can't be ignored - but no doubt it will.

[MatthewWoody]

Just now, Damien said:

In London, which was the discussion, yes.

Hmm.

I find it odd a national cup final attracts more people than a World Cup sf.

 

[Damien]

Just now, Leonard said:

The game needs money. London can deliver numbers and also pricing.

It can't be ignored - but no doubt it will.

Pricing is a good point. You can quite easily charge more, and RLWC2021 style prices, in London and get away with it. Every London game I have been to everyone has been amazed at how cheap tickets were. That is a lot more potential income.

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, MatthewWoody said:

Hmm.

I find it odd a national cup final attracts more people than a World Cup sf.

 

You cant know much about RL then.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Pricing is a good point. You can quite easily charge more, and RLWC2021 style prices, in London and get away with it. Every London game I have been to everyone has been amazed at how cheap tickets were. That is a lot more potential income.

Yes. Costs are higher of course - but you can't ignore the ability to get 40k paying, say, £50 a head compared to 25k at £20 - £25 per head.

The game needs money to drive it and London offers that. Just look at "Twickers" and the financial juggernaut that it.

[MatthewWoody]

Just now, Damien said:

You cant know much about RL then.

But I can know something about all this "appetite".

We attack Australians for giving more importance to club and SOO games than the Int scene, and then we have more people attending the CC final than a World Cup sf with the home nation involved.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, MatthewWoody said:

But I can know something about all this "appetite".

We attack Australians for giving more importance to club and SOO games than the Int scene, and then we have more people attending the CC final than a World Cup sf with the home nation involved.

You are comparing a one off game to a WC game where there are many games.

Im not quite sure what point you are trying to make?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Chrispmartha said:

You are comparing a one off game to a WC game where there are many games.

Im not quite sure what point you are trying to make?

He has a point in that the crowd was a disappointment. Nobody thought it would be that low and it shouldn't have been either. That is before arguing how many were actually there.

But - he has no point in that because the CC might get 60k that doesn't mean we can afford to ignore the international game that might get 40k.

Players are also attracted to the game by the international aspect - the reverse of which is players leaving to RU precisely for that.

[MatthewWoody]

Just now, Chrispmartha said:

You are comparing a one off game to a WC game where there are many games.

Im not quite sure what point you are trying to make?

A World Cup sf involving England. Not any "game".

The point I'm making is that maybe this appetite for International game is not as big as we keep saying.

While this WC has had many positives, I think attendances could have been bigger. Club game is still seen as more important.

[MatthewWoody]

1 minute ago, Leonard said:

He has a point in that the crowd was a disappointment. Nobody thought it would be that low and it shouldn't have been either. That is before arguing how many were actually there.

But - he has no point in that because the CC might get 60k that doesn't mean we can afford to ignore the international game that might get 40k.

Players are also attracted to the game by the international aspect - the reverse of which is players leaving to RU precisely for that.

Who said we should ignore the Int game? 

I'm saying this appetite is less shared than we expected it to be. More must be done to build, actually.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, Leonard said:

He has a point in that the crowd was a disappointment. Nobody thought it would be that low and it shouldn't have been either. That is before arguing how many were actually there.

But - he has no point in that because the CC might get 60k that doesn't mean we can afford to ignore the international game that might get 40k.

Players are also attracted to the game by the international aspect - the reverse of which is players leaving to RU precisely for that.

The crowd was disappointing i agree but we have had 2 40k plus crowds outside of the heartlands against a tier 2 nation, it isn’t a disaster 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

The crowd was disappointing i agree but we have had 2 40k plus crowds outside of the heartlands against a tier 2 nation, it isn’t a disaster 

That's fair - but when you expect more and for the quality of game, it was a disappointment. If 2013 was 67k - I am not sure that Aus or NZ adds a huge amount to that crowd.

We are where we are - but it is clearly something to build on if they can get a regular structure in place.

[Tommygilf]

58 minutes ago, Leonard said:

On a separate note - I would love to seem some SL games on the road to cash in. One of my friends who came to broncos this year, a few CC finals previously and yesterday is waxing lyrical and was saying newbies next to him were also gagging for some more games.

On the basis they won't be watching Broncos - I would be interested to see what a decent high end SL game might do. 

Although I get that will be tough to achieve for obvious reasons. Almost makes me wonder if we should sack off Magic and put those games on the road individually.

 

I certainly think that with certain loop fixtures, especially a second home game against Catalans for example, an opportunity is presented for something like this.

[Mr Frisky]

35 minutes ago, St Reatham said:

Fair enough. Let’s just find the biggest stadium in the UK to hire, do nothing to advertise or promote a fixture, and watch the fans flock to it.

Thats called the Challenge Cup final mate.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, Leonard said:

That's fair - but when you expect more and for the quality of game, it was a disappointment. If 2013 was 67k - I am not sure that Aus or NZ adds a huge amount to that crowd.

We are where we are - but it is clearly something to build on if they can get a regular structure in place.

2013 was against New Zealand which will be a far bigger draw than Samoa to the casual sports fans in London, (and traditional rl fans) it was also cheaper to buy tickets.

The issue we have is we seem to attrsct crowds that no stadium caters for, well maybe SJP is the closest.

If we are to play matches in London (essential IMO) then we have to book a stadium that is probably going to be s bit too big.

I am confident however that a game against NZ or Aus in a 3 game test match in London would get a decent crowd

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Leonard said:

Maybe - just not sure what games in Hudds offers the sport. Coventry has shown it will turn out and it might have more strategic value. Probably why I would have a game at SJP and maybe there needs to be consideration of fast tracking a team in that area into super league.

For sure - ground selection needs to be joined up with a plan for future years.

Having the odd game at Anfield and then nothing again seems a pointless when you could try and build a larger legacy elsewhere.

I'm not sure of strategic value in Coventry for top England international games. 

Hudds is geographically sound and a good size, like Bolton or Wigan on the other side of the Pennines. 

We need to serve our existing customer base, which is Yorks, Lancs and London. Newcastle, South Yorks and Liverpool are just strong places to stretch those boundaries a little. 

But I am just talking for three tests - we should create other events for places outside of this. 

[Tommygilf]

Interest isn't the greatest problem this tournament faced.

A poor customer experience, from ticket buying to attending a match, including all the facets of that in between, won't have helped increase attendances or help boost repeat purchases outside the hardcore few.

Add to that the sheer density of tickets available, particularly in the NW, and the scheduling of games more broadly (2 games at Headingley on the opening weekend for example). Then juxtapose that with the pricing that made no sense with either the existing RL customer base, or the saturation of certain areas with matches. 

There has been a decent level of interest in this world cup, across the three tournaments. Unfortunately the organisers decisions have meant they have been really poor at tapping into that interest.