Cup Final Viewing Figures

[HawkMan]

12 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

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.  

I wouldn't be too sure of that.

Euros 2024 start following weekend,  England last warm up match against as yet unknown opponent on June 8th.....on Ch4

Edited August 14, 2023 by HawkMan

[The Rocket]

18 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. 

In that case call it an investment in maintaining and growing the supporter base of those two clubs. I`m always struck by the number of twenty somethings who formed an allegiance to West Tigers off the back of one GF and a couple of good years in the mid-2000`s.

[Tommygilf]

4 hours ago, north yorks trinity said:

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.

I get what you are saying but its a bit chicken and egg in terms of growing a fanbase. The reason St Helens and Wigan have bigger fanbases to call on than Leigh and Wakey for example is partly because they have been more successful more recently. However for Leigh and Wakey to get to those growth levels then the finals would have to risk taking a hit due to not having those big well followed clubs present.

Our problem is that there is a big drop off after those very big clubs to the next level, as Saturday showed - and it is not helped by the situation the Cup and wider sport has found itself in.

I think it is important for clubs to reach finals/semi finals to engage with and grow their wider fanbase. These aren't your diehards, but they are the broader group of people the club can engage with on social media etc and sell to sponsors as their audience. Magic Weekend does this to a certain extent, but not nearly enough imo. 

In an ideal world, i think the RFL would have a big team losing to a smaller team at the cup final each year. 1 to guarantee a big following and interest, and the other to provide a growth opportunity for that club.

[Tommygilf]

3 hours ago, The Rocket said:

In that case call it an investment in maintaining and growing the supporter base of those two clubs. I`m always struck by the number of twenty somethings who formed an allegiance to West Tigers off the back of one GF and a couple of good years in the mid-2000`s.

And Benji Marshall.

Success breeds success, but you need the starting point to build from. Those 20 somethings will probably have been involved in or been fans of the game anyway, they just ended up with the Tigers due to circumstances. Our issue in England is that the equivalent people aren't necessarily going to be engaged with the sport without that success to follow.

[JM2010]

Big events like the GF, CC final, WCC, Magic Weekend and Internationals need to be built upon. If RL can pack the crowds in to these and get a lot of extra media coverage then RL in general can grow off the back of it. 
If the wider public see big occasions in RL with a lot of hype (and usually the product on the field lives up to it) then they can market and develop the sport around these events. Any extra interest generated needs to be capitalised on though, which is something RL has a bad track record in
 

[Harry Stottle]

4 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

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.  

Are you sure about that MoK

[Tommygilf]

4 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Are you sure about that MoK

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/no-helmets-required/2018/dec/11/rugby-league-power-free-to-air-tv-bbc-england-team

According to this article, Catalans vs Warrington on 25th August 2018 drew an audience of 1.3 million. And a June date is more likely to get better figures.

That said I think the increase will be minimal anyway, the core underlying problem won't have changed.

[Dave T]

8 hours ago, north yorks trinity said:

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.

yep, I agree it's tough to analyse these things - but people often do make bold statements to back up their view, and then crowds and viewing figures broadly fall in line with every other year.

I think it was a horrible date for a final, I think kids not being at school is a huge flaw tbh.

[Eddie]

7 hours ago, HawkMan said:

I wouldn't be too sure of that.

Euros 2024 start following weekend,  England last warm up match against as yet unknown opponent on June 8th.....on Ch4

Not that many people watch England friendlies, they’re awful. 

[N2022]

3 hours ago, JM2010 said:

Big events like the GF, CC final, WCC, Magic Weekend and Internationals need to be built upon. If RL can pack the crowds in to these and get a lot of extra media coverage then RL in general can grow off the back of it. 
If the wider public see big occasions in RL with a lot of hype (and usually the product on the field lives up to it) then they can market and develop the sport around these events. Any extra interest generated needs to be capitalised on though, which is something RL has a bad track record in
 

As I've said elsewhere, I just think it's really hard to get any real momentum beyond core fans through club games and without a high profile international calendar. The other main team sports in England just have such different working models and media support.