Cup Final Viewing Figures

[Tommygilf]

...

[Spidey]

That looks a bit down to me? Not that I have any figures to hand mind

edit. Am I getting mixed up with England games on BBC ?

Edited August 13, 2023 by Spidey

[Tommygilf]

Just now, Spidey said:

That looks a bit down to me? Not that I have any figures to hand mind

I have to say, whilst it is the largest TV audience we'll probably get this year (England maybe will get more), it isn't massive is it really?

[Dunbar]

If accurate, a fair bit down on last year that averaged 1.1 million and peaked at 1.5 million.

As I have said many times.  Just as an FA Cup final with a Manchester United, a Liverpool or an Arsenal will be watched more than a match with a Bournemouth or a Crystal Palace then a Rugby League game with a Wigan or Leeds or Saints will be watched by more people than Leigh or HKR.

Yesterday was a great Rugby League occasion, recognised as a real success story for both teams - moreso Leigh because of the win - but it wasn't something to attract the casual sports viewers who are attracted to the bigger names in each sport.

[Dave T]

It instinctively feels like a really bad date for a cup final. 

But I would add, this kind of thing does sort of show that maybe people aren't as bothered about Variety and everyone being a winner as we've convinced ourselves they are. 

[JM2010]

I just think the timing was bad with it coinciding with the start of the PL season. I bet there are plenty of casual RL fans who were watching the football yesterday

[Damien]

I think there are always a lot of variables from one year to the next, such as date and what the final is up against, and it makes comparison practically impossible.

[The 4 of Us]

At risk of this being merged with the move the final thread, I’d suspect that there a number of other events that impact on attendance, school summer holidays being just one of the non-sporting ones. 
 

That being said, the final had as many as 76,000 as recent as 2017 and we know that a number since then have been impacted by the lower gate for Catalan Dragons getting there in 2018 when in dropped to 50,000. The worst crowd for me was the following year when less than 63,000 attended for Warrington and St Helens. 
 

And after then we’ve had the disruption of Covid and the game at Tottnham last year.

 

The competion needs some restructuring and with an early June final (would prefer a last Bank Holiday in May to give a longer weekend) there should be room (in March/April) for a last 16 round Robin (champion league style) of say 4 groups of 4 which could make up for loss of SL loop fixtures, from which I’d take the winner of each group to go straight into the semi’s to make sure that each of the games mean something and keep up the momentum. 
 

We need a focus to the first half of the season and the CC with a Wembley final can be it. The game doesn’t need a revolution, just a little bit of thought and patience. 

[gingerjon]

The positive is the women's viewing figures are still credible despite running at the same time as England v Colombia in the women's football.

[EggFace]

22 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

At risk of this being merged with the move the final thread, I’d suspect that there a number of other events that impact on attendance, school summer holidays being just one of the non-sporting ones. 
 

That being said, the final had as many as 76,000 as recent as 2017 and we know that a number since then have been impacted by the lower gate for Catalan Dragons getting there in 2018 when in dropped to 50,000. The worst crowd for me was the following year when less than 63,000 attended for Warrington and St Helens. 
 

And after then we’ve had the disruption of Covid and the game at Tottnham last year.

 

The competion needs some restructuring and with an early June final (would prefer a last Bank Holiday in May to give a longer weekend) there should be room (in March/April) for a last 16 round Robin (champion league style) of say 4 groups of 4 which could make up for loss of SL loop fixtures, from which I’d take the winner of each group to go straight into the semi’s to make sure that each of the games mean something and keep up the momentum. 
 

We need a focus to the first half of the season and the CC with a Wembley final can be it. The game doesn’t need a revolution, just a little bit of thought and patience. 

Aside from the Football England was Playing at Twickers.

[Tre Cool]

August's a terrible time for a final. School holidays, festival season.  Saying that there were 60k for a soccer game in north london on the same day so we definitely could do better. 

[Futtocks]

48 minutes ago, Tre Cool said:

August's a terrible time for a final. School holidays, festival season.  Saying that there were 60k for a soccer game in north london on the same day so we definitely could do better. 

The CC Final will revert to June next year (the 8th to be precise), thus sparking a whole different set of complaints.

[kev p]

whatever date is picked for the final, a certain a number will say wrong date! august school holidays, ideal time to take the kids to wembley! may bank holiday again long weekend, not suitable for many, but monday off would suit many to go! competing against other sports should not be a problem, if you want to go you will. dont keep making excuses. 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, kev p said:

whatever date is picked for the final, a certain a number will say wrong date! august school holidays, ideal time to take the kids to wembley! may bank holiday again long weekend, not suitable for many, but monday off would suit many to go! competing against other sports should not be a problem, if you want to go you will. dont keep making excuses. 

Of course. 

The problem is there isn't enough people going (or watching).

[Eddie]

I think that’s decent, who’s sat on their backside watching tv on a warm summer afternoon. Only people who specifically wanted to watch the final would have tuned in, if it was raining it would have been higher. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I wouldn't read too much into it being a bit down. It was the same weekend as the start of the Premier League so I imagine a lot of people will have been watching football coverage. I'll admit I didn't watch the women's cup final cos I was watching England women's football instead. As we know, nothing can compete with football in this country. 

[Griff]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

The positive is the women's viewing figures are still credible despite running at the same time as England v Colombia in the women's football.

Has that not finished yet ?

[Spidey]

13 minutes ago, Griff said:

Has that not finished yet ?

No as there’s more than 10 teams competing

[redjonn]

3 hours ago, Dave T said:

It instinctively feels like a really bad date for a cup final. 

But I would add, this kind of thing does sort of show that maybe people aren't as bothered about Variety and everyone being a winner as we've convinced ourselves they are. 

I've never believed variety of finalists or winners mattered in the bigger scheme for the sport to make a break through Look at the bigger sports here and although soccer isn't always one to compare with but in this instance the fact you have had first a top 2, top 4, now say top 6 it hasn't impacted on its attraction. If anything its attracted a bigger profile through those few top clubs.  Especially when a lower team is playing one of the top say 4 it attracts great interest from the lower team fans, etc.

Personally and maybe I'm not a good one to look at... we attend a rugby league game most weeks but we didn't watch the final as we had a family day... we switched on to see the cup presented and happened coincided with the golden point start and watched till the winning drop goal and switched off.   Yet none of us bothered to watch the game sadly.  

Having said that my missus is currently watching the game on iplayer.

So a question is what would have got us to have set it as a priority to watch over our other arrangements.... I'm pleased for Leigh and also would have been for Hull KR.  

I guess we are the type of regular fan of watching the sport but not passionate enthusiasts that the sport would find easier to excite and attract as a not to be missed event/occasion, even harder for a attracting a fan of interested in other sports. 

I don't attend football games nowadays and only take a media interest in the top clubs, whether here or across Europe. Otherwise it passes me by. So nope I don't think variety is a big help.

[ATLANTISMAN]

It is what it is would have been a very older lower demographic that don't have Sky half asleep after 3 hours in the pub.

Give me 250000 sky viewers anytime those that pay for it are into it.

 

P

[Dunbar]

20 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

would have been a very older lower demographic that don't have Sky half asleep after 3 hours in the pub.

Just an FYI.

You are coming across very badly in these posts.

[gingerjon]

49 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

It is what it is would have been a very older lower demographic that don't have Sky half asleep after 3 hours in the pub.

Give me 250000 sky viewers anytime those that pay for it are into it.

 

P

Remind me how old you are

[north yorks trinity]

17 hours ago, Dave T said:

But I would add, this kind of thing does sort of show that maybe people aren't as bothered about Variety and everyone being a winner as we've convinced ourselves they are. 

It seems you might be right but there are other intangibles that are maybe even harder to evaluate. Like myself, I suspect a lot of die-hard RL fans did appreciate the variety and it is just as important to stop these fans drifting away as it is to engage new ones.

[JohnM]

13 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Remind me how old you are

They say memory declines with increasing age.....

[Man of Kent]

Common sense tells you that merely by being on June 8 next year's final will get better TV figures than August 12, even if it's Catalans vs Huddersfield.