RLWC Attendance-O-Meter

[Big Picture]

43 minutes ago, Spidey said:

 

That puts the total over the hundred thousand mark at 105,519 and the average is 11,724.

[Chrispmartha]

1 minute ago, Archie Gordon said:

My view of the attendance, obviously.

Im not bothered by it, the crowd figure has been announced, just seems odd to think you know better by counting seats on TV.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

My view of the attendance, obviously.

Im not bothered by it, the crowd figure has been announced, just seems odd to think you know better by counting seats on TV.

[Chrispmartha]

6 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

My view of the attendance, obviously.

Not sure what’s going on but…. Duplicate post

Edited October 21, 2022 by Chrispmartha

[Chrispmartha]

6 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

My view of the attendance, obviously.

Duplicate post

Edited October 21, 2022 by Chrispmartha

[Chrispmartha]

6 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

My view of the attendance, obviously.

Duplicate post

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Chrispmartha

[Archie Gordon]

Just now, Chrispmartha said:

Im not bothered by it, the crowd figure has been announced, just seems odd to think you know better by counting seats on TV.

Ah, OK. Odd to comment on attendances on an attendance thread. Fair enough.

[Tex Evans Thigh]

That attendance in itself isn’t too bad for that fixture but again the stadium choice and pricing has to be called into question. If you’re going to have it there price it appropriately, if not pick a right sized stadium so it doesn’t look pathetic on TV. Floating voters will notice the crowds and empty seats.

[Damien]

Bar England games I don't think we've ever had a crowd over 20k for a World Cup group game. That in itself shows that stadiums like Coventry and Middlesbrough should be out if they are not to be used for England games.

For me there are probably 3 categories of group game and games should be allocated as such. The unattractive games that are a real hard sell should be played in sub 10k grounds such as York. Then you have the more attractive 10-15k games that suit the likes of Leigh and Warrington. For the bigger games then go for the sub 20k grounds like Headingley and Saints. For England games you can obviously go big with the Newcastle, Bolton and Coventrys of this world.

Then go for 20k+ stadiums for the quarter finals onwards and sell them as marquee big events.

[Londonbornirishbred]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

 

I'm on record (in this thread) of being "not bothered" by the small crowds so far, but there's not a chance in hell that there were 10k in that stadium today.. As others have said, 1/3rd fill means an empty seat either side of each attendee and I've just watched the replay. Not a chance there were any more than 5k there.
I'll repeat it. I'm not bothered by the low crowds, but obviously the murmurs on social media are impacting the organisers who feel the need to 'fudge' figures and it's not a good look.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Just now, Londonbornirishbred said:

I'm on record (in this thread) of being "not bothered" by the small crowds so far, but there's not a chance in hell that there were 10k in that stadium today.. As others have said, 1/3rd fill means an empty seat either side of each attendee and I've just watched the replay. Not a chance there were any more than 5k there.
I'll repeat it. I'm not bothered by the low crowds, but obviously the murmurs on social media are impacting the organisers who feel the need to 'fudge' figures and it's not a good look.

People that were there said there were around that number there, so I think you can relax for now. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

I was looking again at the figures for 2013, and I was surprised by how many so so crowds there were. Looking at Australia’s like for likes, there wasn’t much difference between the 2 Fiji games. I went to Limerick for their game against Ireland, which got half tonight’s crowd (and most of them were bemused and unmoved by the experience as I recall). They got 5k odd for their quarter final, and are certain to get a lot more this time around. 

If the reported figures for the quarters are as strong as they say, and England get a big crowd to Sheffield, beating 2013 seems eminently achievable to me (especially as we have 2 semis as opposed to the double header). 

It’s funny how unreliable memory can be sometimes. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Exiled Wiganer

[Hello]

35 minutes ago, Tex Evans Thigh said:

That attendance in itself isn’t too bad for that fixture but again the stadium choice and pricing has to be called into question. If you’re going to have it there price it appropriately, if not pick a right sized stadium so it doesn’t look pathetic on TV. Floating voters will notice the crowds and empty seats.

I think, more to the point, if you're going to have games outside the heartlands, which you should, then choose games that are not going to be obvious one sided blow outs.

[Chrispmartha]

14 minutes ago, Londonbornirishbred said:

I'm on record (in this thread) of being "not bothered" by the small crowds so far, but there's not a chance in hell that there were 10k in that stadium today.. As others have said, 1/3rd fill means an empty seat either side of each attendee and I've just watched the replay. Not a chance there were any more than 5k there.
I'll repeat it. I'm not bothered by the low crowds, but obviously the murmurs on social media are impacting the organisers who feel the need to 'fudge' figures and it's not a good look.

How on earth can you tell by watching on tv.

the 1/3rd full = an empty seat either side  of a full one is nonsense.

you could have a 1/3rd full stadium with 2/3rds of empty seats with nobody sat next to each other.

[pahars]

7 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

I was looking again at the figures for 2013, and I was surprised by how many so so crowds there were. Looking at Australia’s like for likes, there wasn’t much difference between the 2 Fiji games. I went to Limerick for their game against Ireland, which got half tonight’s crowd (and most of them were bemused and unmoved by the experience as I recall). They got 5k odd for their quarter final, and are certain to get a lot more this time around. 

If the reported figures for the quarters are strong and England get a big crowd to Sheffield, beating 2013 seems eminently achievable to me (especially as we have 2 semis as opposed to the double header). 

It’s funny how unreliable memory can be sometimes. 

Yes I think you’re right. I can remember at this stage of 2013 there was a feeling of it could go one way or the other on the forum. Then things just seemed to click together and the poor crowds got lost in the memory. 
 

I think also it’s about expectation. 2013 was obviously the first since 2000 and there was a slightly nervous feeling, now obviously we expect to substantially build on 2013. 7k in Bristol seemed amazing in 2013, 10k in Coventry doesn’t in 2022. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

57 minutes ago, Damien said:

Bar England games I don't think we've ever had a crowd over 20k for a World Cup group game. That in itself shows that stadiums like Coventry and Middlesbrough should be out if they are not to be used for England games.

For me there are probably 3 categories of group game and games should be allocated as such. The unattractive games that are a real hard sell should be played in sub 10k grounds such as York. Then you have the more attractive 10-15k games that suit the likes of Leigh and Warrington. For the bigger games then go for the sub 20k grounds like Headingley and Saints. For England games you can obviously go big with the Newcastle, Bolton and Coventrys of this world.

Then go for 20k+ stadiums for the quarter finals onwards and sell them as marquee big events.

I agree with this, but to be fair to the organisers I was positive about the originally planned stadiums for RLWC 2021.

I don’t think I was alone in the feeling it gave me confidence then and I liked what I saw and heard about the plan.

They did receive praise from me and others for thinking big and avoiding smaller venues.

There were skeptics who’ve been proven correct of course.

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Gerrumonside ref

[Tex Evans Thigh]

58 minutes ago, Hello said:

I think, more to the point, if you're going to have games outside the heartlands, which you should, then choose games that are not going to be obvious one sided blow outs.

The crowd in this case suggests that’s not really the problem. Closer games on paper and on grass in the heartlands have had lower crowds. There are problems throughout the strategy that has been employed.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

2 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

To assume 10k, you would have to look at that crowd and say there were only 2 empty seats for every 1 taken. In most parts of the ground it was 6 or 7 to 1. 

So you didn’t count. That’s all you had to say. 

[Mickybooboo]

 

I am one of those people who have for a long time (near on a decade) read these forums without commenting on them. I need to comment because I’m disappointed with A COUPLE of the crowds, but I know there’s more to this.

 

Im an Australian writing from a lifetime’s love of the game of rugby league where I have lived within and without of heartland areas. I grew up in the Riverina in nsw which is a straight 50/50 split between league and Australian rules. I also lived in Sheffield, South Yorkshire for 2 years (what a wonderful place) and Melbourne for 12 years.

 

Please, please understand the positive impact this World Cup is having on the international game. For the first time that I can remember in Australia, the World Cup is beyond being taken seriously. After the opener in Newcastle, all the talk has been about deficiencies in the coaching of Samoa, not the legitimacy of the tournament. People are in tipping comps and talking about tight finishes in the Tonga v png game or Wales v the Cook Islands.

At work today kids I teach were talking about the part time nature of the wales team and how they’re going to watch their next game. This has NEVER happened before.

 

This is the first time ever where a World Cup would have been better served to be stage in Aus or NZ than in England. PNG, Tonga, samoa, Fiji would have drawn big crowds THIS time around. I know we’ve fluffed the comps before but there is a genuine engagement here and it is this side of the world where the growth of the game is real. I hope Greece and Scotland and Ireland kick on, but even teams like Lebanon would draw big numbers here.

 

What I am getting at is that this comp, even if  it is poorly attended, will be the launching pad of our great game. I’ve felt the disappointment of being an RL fan in the uk, but it will have long term benefits. If it only breaks even, and France only breaks even, but we have more competitive teams the next time it comes back (which I know might be 12 years away - I reckon a combined NZ/PNG comp should be after France) it will mean a sustainable, long term version of the WC that will be a huge event every 4 years.

 

My two cents - hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful footy!

[Mickybooboo]

Sorry about formatting - no idea what happened there.

[Sitona]

Crowds are unlikely to be reported as higher than they actually are as the tax returns are likely to be audited at some point as £15 million of public money has been provided.

[ghost crayfish]

21 hours ago, Dave T said:

If this tournament doesn't provide money for international development then it is no more than.a vanity project. 

If this loses money, then we are back to 2000 territory. 

'No more than a vanity project'... I think that's a bit over the top. You don't think offering smaller nations exposure in a high profile, fully televised international tournament is helpful to the game's growth? What about the new sponsors, fans and broadcasters being introduced to the sport? Even the simple act of giving players a top tier international platform to perform on - the chance to travel overseas, stay in good hotels and represent their nation? This stuff is all vital to the credibility, appeal and growth of a sport.

Of course a profit for reinvestment in the game's growth would be good, but it's not everything a world cup is about.

I'd argue a break-even tournament with an England win (if capitalised on by the game's administration) would prove about 100 times more beneficial for the game than what happened in 2013 (ie. profitable tournament, but easy Kangaroos win and England not making the final).

Edited October 22, 2022 by ghost crayfish

[IM2]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

Bar England games I don't think we've ever had a crowd over 20k for a World Cup group game. That in itself shows that stadiums like Coventry and Middlesbrough should be out if they are not to be used for England games.

For me there are probably 3 categories of group game and games should be allocated as such. The unattractive games that are a real hard sell should be played in sub 10k grounds such as York. Then you have the more attractive 10-15k games that suit the likes of Leigh and Warrington. For the bigger games then go for the sub 20k grounds like Headingley and Saints. For England games you can obviously go big with the Newcastle, Bolton and Coventrys of this world.

Then go for 20k+ stadiums for the quarter finals onwards and sell them as marquee big events.

depends on what deals they got to go to those stadiums. its not just about the attendance. im going to Mboro and bringing 4 of my mates who arent league fans but are from close by. 2 of them top business men

[Tommygilf]

10k in Coventry doesn't sound spectacular, but I bet its more than we'd have got in several M62 locations for this game.

[The One]

Sheffield crowd will be interesting. It’s not a game that I would go to, so I’m interested to see if other rl fans are interested and how many non rl fans are motivated to go.