RLWC Attendance-O-Meter

[GeordieSaint]

21 minutes ago, moorside roughyed said:

No. I mean smaller grounds in London as you alluded to like Chelsea,that's a nice ground that's not quite as big as arsenal. I just think the crowds at Emirates looked bad.

We got 67k in 2013 for a WC SF in London. The Emirates was more than appropriate. What wasn’t appropriate has been the same all tournament - the organisational culture - which has seen the empty seats in every single game. London isn’t the issue. The organisers are at fault.

Edited November 13, 2022 by GeordieSaint

[Toby Chopra]

It felt and sounded like the least 'heartland' crowd in London that I can remember, including 2013 and the '15 and '16 games at London Stadium.

I reckon well over half the crowd were from the south, which is pretty good. Fewer have travelled down from north for all the pricing and economic reasons we've long discussed, plus many will have chosen to attend the Elland Rd semi and watch England on TV. Which is fair enough, so I don't think there's anything overly worrisome about the Emirates crowd in particular. 

Was the stadium too big? Sure, there were plenty of empty seats visible, but once the crowd got going it still felt exciting in the stadium. Putting all that together, no reason not to aim for an international at Arsenal or Spurs every year. 

You do however - and I've raised this before - need to make more of an effort to help a London crowd know what's going on, as many aren't fully aware of exactly what's happening, which is why it can be quiet early on. 

Not a full NFL-style stadium commentary, but maybe announce who's kicking and receiving on last tackle, and definitely announce what's happening with penalties. It just helps a less familiar crowd connect a bit more quickly. 

[moorside roughyed]

2 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

We got 67k in 2013 for a WC SF in London. The Emirates was more than appropriate. What wasn’t appropriate has been the same all tournament - the organisational culture - which has seen the empty seats in every single game. London isn’t the issue. The organisers are at fault.

Whoever's fault is was,it didn't look good. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, bromleybulldog said:

Walking to the ground from Finsbury Park an hour before kick off I was pleasantly surprised at the number of fans I saw. Pubs en route were rammed, crowds drinking on the pavement outside. I began to feel very optimistic about the attendance. Crowds outside the ground as well. Inside at 13.45, nothing. Went to my seat, upper tier west side, Clock end- almost empty. At kick off I moved from opposite to the goal line to right on the centre line and had a block almost to myself. (It was high up). I would guess max 35k there, probably less. Atmosphere only picked up at the end of the second half when admittedly it was electric. Did the fans stay in the pubs to watch on TV? Samoa deserved their win, we looked way off the pace for most of the game. Hope they can give Australia a good game nexr week, though not holding my breath.

My experience too. I got in and thought wtf? However, I was in the camera face Ng stand, so no idea if they had filled that side for TV and I just couldn't tell.

 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

It felt and sounded like the least 'heartland' crowd in London that I can remember, including 2013 and the '15 and '16 games at London Stadium.

I reckon well over half the crowd were from the south, which is pretty good. Fewer have travelled down from north for all the pricing and economic reasons we've long discussed, plus many will have chosen to attend the Elland Rd semi and watch England on TV. Which is fair enough, so I don't think there's anything overly worrisome about the Emirates crowd in particular. 

Was the stadium too big? Sure, there were plenty of empty seats visible, but once the crowd got going it still felt exciting in the stadium. Putting all that together, no reason not to aim for an international at Arsenal or Spurs every year. 

You do however - and I've raised this before - need to make more of an effort to help a London crowd know what's going on, as many aren't fully aware of exactly what's happening, which is why it can be quiet early on. 

Not a full NFL-style stadium commentary, but maybe announce who's kicking and receiving on last tackle, and definitely announce what's happening with penalties. It just helps a less familiar crowd connect a bit more quickly. 

Let's hope they use all that marketing details from account holders to push the CC this year. 

[Dave T]

23 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Opposite the tunnels, other side. Block 517. 4 of us and was busy. A fair bit was covered by the overhang of the upper tier. They were all £100 plus tickets. 

Thanks. Assume you mean block 17, there is no 517?

The below is that section. Bustling, but loads empty. It's important to remember that these sections probably hold 700 to 1000 people each block. 

 

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

1 hour ago, moorside roughyed said:

I can't understand why they chose the Emirates at Arsenal. They'd have filled the Etihad in Manchester. It's just too expensive for some to go to London. Look at the recent attendances for the challenge cup finals. 

We had one game in London. A semi final. A match which we knew 2 years out would have England in it. We don’t need to get anyone down from the North to fill that, it didn’t exist for that audience. It existed to attract and engage a new one. 
 

Unfortunately, nobody in our organisation bothered to do it. They see Kevin Costner’s “Field of Dreams” movie as a template for a marketing strategy. Unfortunately in the real world, if you build it, they don’t just come. You have to go out and persuade them. 

 

[GeordieSaint]

Just now, moorside roughyed said:

Whoever's fault is was,it didn't look good. 

It would have been the same in Manchester or Liverpool.

Our sport is niche. You can’t just expect people to turn up. It takes significant organisation and investment. We’ve not seen any of it this tournament. That’s the issue. 

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

Thanks. Assume you mean block 17, there is no 517?

The below is that section. Bustling, but loads empty. It's important to remember that these sections probably hold 700 to 1000 people each block. 

 

Did you watch any rugby yesterday or just take crowd pictures?

[moorside roughyed]

2 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

It would have been the same in Manchester or Liverpool.

Our sport is niche. You can’t just expect people to turn up. It takes significant organisation and investment. We’ve not seen any of it this tournament. That’s the issue. 

I'm just looking forward to next season now.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

Did you watch any rugby yesterday or just take crowd pictures?

I knew I should have highlighted that these are edits of my pictures of the game, and not crowd pics! 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Thanks. Assume you mean block 17, there is no 517?

The below is that section. Bustling, but loads empty. It's important to remember that these sections probably hold 700 to 1000 people each block. 

 

Yes, that's it. Was row 19 seat 517. 

All the rows behind were busy. Wouldn't surprise me if rows to the front less so. But my feeling was that area wasn't the reason for the empty look. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

I knew I should have highlighted that these are edits of my pictures of the game, and not crowd pics! 

Are you going to do a slide show after Christmas lunch?

[The Masked Poster]

23 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

I’ve been baffled by the clamour for Peter Kay tickets TBH! Just watch one of his old stand ups it’ll be the same

he’s done dome brilliant TV, That Peter Kay thing , Phoenix Nights and Car Share, but seems to inly have ever done 2 sets of stand up in 25 years.

 

Anyway, sorry as you were …

I would tend to agree but I do think he's good and a funny guy. I based the comment on people I know trying to get tickets and being thousands behind in the queue. 

A big percentage of the people paying an arm and a leg for these tickets are the audience RL should have been targeting for this WC. 

[Dave T]

4 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Yes, that's it. Was row 19 seat 517. 

All the rows behind were busy. Wouldn't surprise me if rows to the front less so. But my feeling was that area wasn't the reason for the empty look. 

No absolutely, I expect a lot of sponsor tickets were there. I had freebies via Betfred for the QF and they were in the expensive section facing the cameras. 

I was surprised how empty behind the sticks at my end were when I just watched back, as on my photos and real life I thought it looked busy. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Dave T

[GeordieSaint]

I was sat in C Block in the lower tier. We were surrounded by people who were clearly not club RL fans; some were confused by some of the rules. But I genuinely thought most of them were about to wet themselves with excitement at times, especially in the 2nd half. But I could hear the group behind us loving the first half too. We genuinely have a great sport. It’s brilliant, fast, exciting and enjoyable when people get to experience it. So many lessons for the authorities. So many…

[Guest]

Just now, Dave T said:

No absolutely, I expect a lot of sponsor tickets were there. I had freebies via Betfred for the QF and they were in the expensive section facing the cameras. 

I was surprised how empty behind the sticks at my end were when I just watched back, as on my photos I thought it looked busy. 

I have picture from the back row of the same block a friend was sat and looking down it was busy looking. The upper tiers were more of a surprise to me. 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, pahars said:

37,792 and 39,732 

Fair enough, I stand corrected

[SouthLondonRL]

I thought around 40K seemed right, although I'm basing that on being at a season ticket holder at Crystal palace who regularly get 26K. The pubs were busy all around the ground. 

I took 3 newbies, one even missed a West Ham game to come along. The first half atmosphere was flat, however the second half was amazing. My friends were had a great day, posted about the event on social media and asked when the next international was. All agreed it was a better day out than at Twickenham. My friends are those that enjoy a day out at an international event. We all go to the cricket, the NFL etc and even what I thought was a steep 70quid ticket ro sit behind the sticks didn't put them off. 

He lies the problem, I cannot tell them when the next international is in London. I honestly think I can double the number if London gets a New Zealand game next year. 

[Jacob565]

The sponsors are another interesting factor.  Big brands aren’t backing the sport and that again is impacting profile. 
 

I don’t buy into any cost of living argument because football stadiums, commonwealth games, union matches all packed out. 

it’s about supply / demand and how to advertise the product. “Field of dreams” comment is spot on. It’s like to organisers think that despite 100 years of trying, people are suddenly going to back RL. Litmus test- did kids park run this morning, kids were either talking about the football or the womens union final. 

[League of the South]

56 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Opposite the tunnels, other side. Block 517. 4 of us and was busy. A fair bit was covered by the overhang of the upper tier. They were all £100 plus tickets. 

The section we were in at £85 a ticket was deserted, literally 11 of us had the whole row to ourselves. I’ve been to the Emirates several times previously, most recently 2 months ago, and regardless of pre-sales / people not turning up, trust me that there was no more than 25,000 people in that stadium yesterday.

I did see a couple of groups wearing Arsenal shirts so clearly there were some ‘new’ fans being attracted but clearly nowhere near enough. No idea why tickets weren’t handed out to key workers and residents of the surrounding London boroughs for example. As I understand it, for Twickenham games every rugby union club in the country is allocated a handful of tickets.......perhaps Rugby League needs to start thinking outside the box ?

[Dave T]

I don't think pubs being busy is any indicator. There are relatively few pubs and they'd be packed with 10k in the ground. 

[EggFace]

41 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

We had one game in London. A semi final. A match which we knew 2 years out would have England in it. We don’t need to get anyone down from the North to fill that, it didn’t exist for that audience. It existed to attract and engage a new one. 
 

Unfortunately, nobody in our organisation bothered to do it. They see Kevin Costner’s “Field of Dreams” movie as a template for a marketing strategy. Unfortunately in the real world, if you build it, they don’t just come. You have to go out and persuade them. 

 

So if the World Cup final won't sell out then we add that to most games of this World Cup like yesterday and on top of that the SL grand final and CC not selling out......thats very poor and as The Stranglers said....Something Better Change.

[League of the South]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I don't think pubs being busy is any indicator. There are relatively few pubs and they'd be packed with 10k in the ground. 

 

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I don't think pubs being busy is any indicator. There are relatively few pubs and they'd be packed with 10k in the ground. 

We went to a couple of pubs in Covent Garden and saw England union fans and football fans, didn’t see a single rugby league fan other than our group. I was surprised given it is an easy hop direct to the stadium on the Piccadilly line. Maybe £6.95 a pint is a factor though !

[Dave T]

Just now, League of the South said:

 

We went to a couple of pubs in Covent Garden and saw England union fans and football fans, didn’t see a single rugby league fan other than our group. I was surprised given it is an easy hop direct to the stadium on the Piccadilly line. Maybe £6.95 a pint is a factor though !

I saw plenty between Euston and Kings Cross, all sorts of RL shirts. Plenty of fans on my train down South. Lot of Leeds fans visible, probably more of their shirts than anyone else. 

Usually I see loads of Wigan shirts at events like this, not sure I saw one, but maybe they didn't go in club colours.