RLWC Attendance-O-Meter

[UTK]

16 hours ago, RP London said:

i'm assuming the 1,000 are sat behind the man with the camera or he's including ground staff and the two team's support staff!

they've just hosted a world cup, where the final was at the MCG to then have this series is utter madness, the only other sport I could imagine doing this would be RL (but we wouldnt as its an international outside of a tournament so doesnt happen anyway )

The real problem is that Cricket Australia allowed ODIs to be taken off FTA channels here, has effectively killed the format in Australia.

Certainly a digression from the thread topic but nonetheless a very relevant concept for RL.

[Damien]

6 hours ago, UTK said:

The real problem is that Cricket Australia allowed ODIs to be taken off FTA channels here, has effectively killed the format in Australia.

Certainly a digression from the thread topic but nonetheless a very relevant concept for RL.

All of this does show that RL is not immune to these issues:

An inconsequential one-day series between Australia and England, watched by meagre crowds in an off-peak November timeslot, has provided a chilling preview of the international cricket landscape over the next four years.

That’s because the future tours program for 2023-2027, announced in August, was the result of a devil’s bargain reluctantly struck between the International Cricket Council and the boards of the game’s richest member nations, including Australia, England and India.

A record-low crowd of 10,406 watched Australia complete a 3-0 whitewash against England with a thumping 221-run win at the MCG on Tuesday night. The previous lowest mark for a men’s one-day international featuring Australia at the MCG came in 1979 during the World Series era when 12,077 saw the hosts take on England.

It was a freezing night in Melbourne and a poor look for cricket, following crowds of 16,993 and 15,428 in Sydney and Adelaide, respectively. But there is much more limited-overs cricket without context to come.

Cricket 2022: Devil’s bargain behind record low ODI Australian cricket crowds (smh.com.au)

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

All of this does show that RL is not immune to these issues:

An inconsequential one-day series between Australia and England, watched by meagre crowds in an off-peak November timeslot, has provided a chilling preview of the international cricket landscape over the next four years.

That’s because the future tours program for 2023-2027, announced in August, was the result of a devil’s bargain reluctantly struck between the International Cricket Council and the boards of the game’s richest member nations, including Australia, England and India.

A record-low crowd of 10,406 watched Australia complete a 3-0 whitewash against England with a thumping 221-run win at the MCG on Tuesday night. The previous lowest mark for a men’s one-day international featuring Australia at the MCG came in 1979 during the World Series era when 12,077 saw the hosts take on England.

It was a freezing night in Melbourne and a poor look for cricket, following crowds of 16,993 and 15,428 in Sydney and Adelaide, respectively. But there is much more limited-overs cricket without context to come.

Cricket 2022: Devil’s bargain behind record low ODI Australian cricket crowds (smh.com.au)

What I would say, keeping it relevant to RL, is that it shows that there is significantly more interest when matches have meaning, even if that meaning is a bit artificial. World Cups, continental championships, even Federation Shields have an immediate meaning that anyone can grasp and a straightforward narrative to sell.

[Damien]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

What I would say, keeping it relevant to RL, is that it shows that there is significantly more interest when matches have meaning, even if that meaning is a bit artificial. World Cups, continental championships, even Federation Shields have an immediate meaning that anyone can grasp and a straightforward narrative to sell.

I think you are right and that is part of the issue with sporadic one-off matches, such as the upcoming game with France. Let's face it adding a game v Wales would only add an extra match to the schedule, which is a much additional international game anyway, but at least you can build it into a Tri-Nations and commit to it being a yearly event. It gives a much greater meaning and something much easier to sell.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

21 minutes ago, Damien said:

I think you are right and that is part of the issue with sporadic one-off matches, such as the upcoming game with France. Let's face it adding a game v Wales would only add an extra match to the schedule, which is a much additional international game anyway, but at least you can build it into a Tri-Nations and commit to it being a yearly event. It gives a much greater meaning and something much easier to sell.

Agreed. We need to productise more things, and commit to a minimum period e.g. 3 years at the very least. All these sporadic things don't give the opportunity to create stories, and it's stories that sell anything - especially sport. 

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

I think you are right and that is part of the issue with sporadic one-off matches, such as the upcoming game with France. Let's face it adding a game v Wales would only add an extra match to the schedule, which is a much additional international game anyway, but at least you can build it into a Tri-Nations and commit to it being a yearly event. It gives a much greater meaning and something much easier to sell.

It's one of the reasons why I'd be keen to give each game an annual named trophy.

(And that's each individual game - not a collective across a men/women/wheelchair/PDRL series, although we can do that as well).

[Dave T]

https://www.rlwc2021.com/article/1003/rugby-league-world-cup-2021-delivers-on-its-promise-to-be-biggest,-best-and-most-inclusive-in-rugby-league-history-

No surprise, pretty loose on attendance numbers. 

[Man of Kent]

22 minutes ago, Dave T said:

https://www.rlwc2021.com/article/1003/rugby-league-world-cup-2021-delivers-on-its-promise-to-be-biggest,-best-and-most-inclusive-in-rugby-league-history-

No surprise, pretty loose on attendance numbers. 

Can’t argue with 62% higher gate receipts for the final.

I’d say RLWC21 was a qualified success.

As an national advert for the sport of rugby league, it was a success - the TV/wider BBC coverage across three comps in particular, and the social media figures seem strong - despite being let down by the England men’s team, which flopped big time. 

As a commercial success, we don’t really know.

I know you think prices were too high but with blanket TV coverage even the cheapest seats are a tough sell for foregone conclusions in the savvy heartlands. And if it wasn’t in the heartlands, no levelling-up money. 

[Dave T]

29 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Can’t argue with 62% higher gate receipts for the final.

I’d say RLWC21 was a qualified success.

As an national advert for the sport of rugby league, it was a success - the TV/wider BBC coverage across three comps in particular, and the social media figures seem strong - despite being let down by the England men’s team, which flopped big time. 

As a commercial success, we don’t really know.

I know you think prices were too high but with blanket TV coverage even the cheapest seats are a tough sell for foregone conclusions in the savvy heartlands. And if it wasn’t in the heartlands, no levelling-up money. 

I think qualified success is a fair description. 

One thing I would say on the funding - the government do provide funds for tournaments outside of the Northern Powerhouse thing - we weren't unique. 

We could have made the play for funds taht wasn't packaged in this way. I expect we presented a Northern WC to them, particularly considering we exceeded the minimum commitment. 

Ultimately, NP wasn't even mentioned during the tournament. The main funding mentions came under the DCMS and National Lottery banners. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Dave T