2024 attendance thread

[Trojan Horse]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Sounds great and very exciting, even as a non Wakefield fan. I love to see clubs progress and grow like this. 

It’s good for the game. I’m not saying we are going to charge in and dominate SL but the foundations seem to be being laid so that the club can give itself a real shot of at least challenging in the top league for those play offs and challenge cup. 

The plan appears to be a 4/5 year one and the owner is very committed. We are lucky to have him. 
 

 

[Damien]

11 minutes ago, Trojan Horse said:

It’s good for the game. I’m not saying we are going to charge in and dominate SL but the foundations seem to be being laid so that the club can give itself a real shot of at least challenging in the top league for those play offs and challenge cup. 

The plan appears to be a 4/5 year one and the owner is very committed. We are lucky to have him. 

It's great for the game. The more clubs that can build like this the better it is for the game and SL as a competition. Clubs that build like this (and I appreciate there is often some good fortune along the way) equals more money in the game, more fans, bigger crowds and better players. That in turn hopefully translates to increased interest and bigger TV deals.

[soulboy]

On 03/06/2024 at 07:59, Harry Stottle said:

The average attendance is 1.1% down, pretty negligible but we have to go the full season for the proper picture, in that has there been the more attractive fixtures/ or less attractive fixtures played up to now, and also the Sky deal is £5M less per annum than previous, but has that been offset by the BBC and streaming payments? 

Payment’s by the BBC are “a riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma “.

Probably because they pay the RL buttons .

Looking forward to the “wall to wall” trailers and adverts for  Saturdays final on the dear old beeb

[Tommygilf]

Today's Betfred #ChallengeCup Final attendance is 64,845 - a largest attendance since 2017!

 

The Women's #ChallengeCup Final also celebrates a record attendance of 9,608.

[Maximus Decimus]

27 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Today's Betfred #ChallengeCup Final attendance is 64,845 - a largest attendance since 2017!

 

The Women's #ChallengeCup Final also celebrates a record attendance of 9,608.

Not sure how they got that, the lower bowl wasn't even full. That's not far off the WC semi-final from 2013 which looked like it has way more in attendance.

[ATLANTISMAN]

6 minutes ago, Maximus Decimus said:

Not sure how they got that, the lower bowl wasn't even full. That's not far off the WC semi-final from 2013 which looked like it has way more in attendance.

I am speechless 

[Anita Bath]

The largest attendance since 2017 maybe, Just under 65,000, definitely not. Maybe tickets issued, but not attending. 

And all those empty seats in the lower tiers on the half way line ….embarrassing.

[EggFace]

Nice to see Katherine Jenkins but I bet see felt a bit bad playing to a crowd like that.

RFL give yourself a uppercut again.

[PREPOSTEROUS]

To be fair I nipped to the toilet just after Wigan's seconds try and there were quite a few people on the concourses. 

[Anita Bath]

They couldnt even get the timing of the Rob Burrow minutes applause right. 

[Anita Bath]

1 minute ago, PREPOSTEROUS said:

To be fair I nipped to the toilet just after Wigan's seconds try and there were quite a few people on the concourses. 

Must have been there all game then because the gaps never filled.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

18 minutes ago, Anita Bath said:

They couldnt even get the timing of the Rob Burrow minutes applause right. 

Wondered about that, came to the conclusion that the game kicked off seven minutes earlier but the "live clock" stopped for the sun bins.

[JonM]

2 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

The largest attendance since 2017 maybe, Just under 65,000, definitely not. Maybe tickets issued, but not attending. 

And all those empty seats in the lower tiers on the half way line ….embarrassing.

Looked about 65k to me. I'm assuming you weren't there 

[Fevrover]

8 hours ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

Wondered about that, came to the conclusion that the game kicked off seven minutes earlier but the "live clock" stopped for the sun bins.

Sun bins ?

[PREPOSTEROUS]

6 hours ago, JonM said:

Looked about 65k to me. I'm assuming you weren't there 

Agreed. The obvious gaps were in the corporate, sadly right in front of the cameras, and the upper tier which must be an awful view give how high up they are, but the lower two looked and sound fine. 

In terms of how to increase the attendance,  the RFL need to do some work. Perhaps get some help from the NFL in terms of creating that event neutrals and people who are not fans of the game want to go to. How much work is done in the south to engage with them and get them invested in it? There are millions to go at and we only need a tiny percentage. 

[gingerjon]

9 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

And all those empty seats in the lower tiers on the half way line ….embarrassing.

They're like that for every sporting fixture played at Wembley as, in their wisdom, that's where the corporates and some Club Wembley sit - and they're the ones coming and going to the bars, especially notable at the start of the game and just after half time.

[Dave T]

46 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

They're like that for every sporting fixture played at Wembley as, in their wisdom, that's where the corporates and some Club Wembley sit - and they're the ones coming and going to the bars, especially notable at the start of the game and just after half time.

It's a rubbish setup Wembley. 

But we make it far worse. The triple header may sell a few tickets, but tbh I think it's made things look even worse. The lower bowl should be rammed, but you have empty sections, despite it looking sold out all week. 

I just don't think Wembley works for this match any more, on a few levels. 

[Tommygilf]

8 minutes ago, Dave T said:

It's a rubbish setup Wembley. 

But we make it far worse. The triple header may sell a few tickets, but tbh I think it's made things look even worse. The lower bowl should be rammed, but you have empty sections, despite it looking sold out all week. 

I just don't think Wembley works for this match any more, on a few levels. 

I agree that the stadium is just not very good in lots of ways for your average fan. That said, I think moving it away from Wembley, especially if the cup itself isn't reinvented in the process, will spark terminal decline.

The triple (quadruple including the schools game) header is poor, it's a worse version of magic weekend. That said, we don't own a Wembley or a Twickenham or a Murrayfield, so for the RFL it's a cost effective way of utilising the prestige of the stadium to maximum effect. 

I certainly think there's lots of simple things the game can do with Wembley as it is though, I'm absolutely shocked at how dire the ticketing experience has been for so many for example. 

Ultimately Wembley and London isn't the allure it once was for a whole host of reasons and perceptions. The sport can't rely on a small rotating cast of northerners heading down, and it's regular customer base in the south has collapsed as the presence of thr game in the region has diminished. 

[ATLANTISMAN]

4 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I agree that the stadium is just not very good in lots of ways for your average fan. That said, I think moving it away from Wembley, especially if the cup itself isn't reinvented in the process, will spark terminal decline.

The triple (quadruple including the schools game) header is poor, it's a worse version of magic weekend. That said, we don't own a Wembley or a Twickenham or a Murrayfield, so for the RFL it's a cost effective way of utilising the prestige of the stadium to maximum effect. 

I certainly think there's lots of simple things the game can do with Wembley as it is though, I'm absolutely shocked at how dire the ticketing experience has been for so many for example. 

Ultimately Wembley and London isn't the allure it once was for a whole host of reasons and perceptions. The sport can't rely on a small rotating cast of northerners heading down, and it's regular customer base in the south has collapsed as the presence of thr game in the region has diminished. 

Spot on and the only way to arrest the decline is to play ENGLAND matches in London nothing less.

[Tommygilf]

Just now, ATLANTISMAN said:

Spot on and the only way to arrest the decline is to play ENGLAND matches in London nothing less.

That's definitely one of the major solutions. The national side still has resonance that can be built upon.

[Dave T]

6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

I agree that the stadium is just not very good in lots of ways for your average fan. That said, I think moving it away from Wembley, especially if the cup itself isn't reinvented in the process, will spark terminal decline.

The triple (quadruple including the schools game) header is poor, it's a worse version of magic weekend. That said, we don't own a Wembley or a Twickenham or a Murrayfield, so for the RFL it's a cost effective way of utilising the prestige of the stadium to maximum effect. 

I certainly think there's lots of simple things the game can do with Wembley as it is though, I'm absolutely shocked at how dire the ticketing experience has been for so many for example. 

Ultimately Wembley and London isn't the allure it once was for a whole host of reasons and perceptions. The sport can't rely on a small rotating cast of northerners heading down, and it's regular customer base in the south has collapsed as the presence of thr game in the region has diminished. 

My personal preference is to rotate. Let's be frank, we don't need a 90k stadium, so we should stop paying for one. 

However, on your point of decline, that is something we need to be careful of. I think using prestigious grounds and keeping it fresh can work, but the risk is that one year we struggle for a hire and we end up at Elland Road. 

[Dave T]

4 minutes ago, ATLANTISMAN said:

Spot on and the only way to arrest the decline is to play ENGLAND matches in London nothing less.

 

2 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

That's definitely one of the major solutions. The national side still has resonance that can be built upon.

I do agree with the overall point, but we do need to remember that the Cup is still drawing in crowds bigger than our internationals do. 

But, I do think it is about appropriate grounds as much as anything, and Wembley, with its 90k seats just isn't appropriate for RL any more. 

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

My personal preference is to rotate. Let's be frank, we don't need a 90k stadium, so we should stop paying for one. 

However, on your point of decline, that is something we need to be careful of. I think using prestigious grounds and keeping it fresh can work, but the risk is that one year we struggle for a hire and we end up at Elland Road. 

I don't mind a rotation in principle, but we don't own any of these venues to fall back on and arguably we're not that big an event with enough connections to really embed ourselves. RU for all it takes the European Cup around to a whole range of grounds, always has Twickenham, Murrayfield, Cardiff and Landsdowne Road to fall back on if it had to. We do not have that luxury.

I forsee the Elland Road scenario emerging very quickly sadly.

Equally, I think for the ancillary games, Women's Cup final and the schoolboy game, disconnecting them from the mens Cup final at Wembley would see them played at Headingley and St Helens, not alternatively prestigious venues.

I agree that Wembley is becoming inappropriately large and cavernous - but there are things we can do.

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

I don't mind a rotation in principle, but we don't own any of these venues to fall back on and arguably we're not that big an event with enough connections to really embed ourselves. RU for all it takes the European Cup around to a whole range of grounds, always has Twickenham, Murrayfield, Cardiff and Landsdowne Road to fall back on if it had to. We do not have that luxury.

I forsee the Elland Road scenario emerging very quickly sadly.

Equally, I think for the ancillary games, Women's Cup final and the schoolboy game, disconnecting them from the mens Cup final at Wembley would see them played at Headingley and St Helens, not alternatively prestigious venues.

I agree that Wembley is becoming inappropriately large and cavernous - but there are things we can do.

I was broadly supportive of the Cup triple header, but I must admit, I haven't liked it this week. I understand the reasons, but I felt that it really watered down the Men's final, and in many of the emails Leeds and St Helens were the first mentioned teams. 

So whilst supportive of the women's game, I thought it got undue prominence in much of the promotion, and then got staged in a graveyard slot that meant nobody watched it. It's a weird positioning. 

[Tommygilf]

6 minutes ago, Dave T said:

 

I do agree with the overall point, but we do need to remember that the Cup is still drawing in crowds bigger than our internationals do. 

But, I do think it is about appropriate grounds as much as anything, and Wembley, with its 90k seats just isn't appropriate for RL any more. 

I think it's the best avenue for regularity in the region tbh mate.

If you're an average punter in the South East, with no particular love or prejudice towards RL, what does the sport offer you?

Well in the past 20 years your "local" side, London Broncos, has gone from a serious club to a joke that gets hardly anyone through the door. The national side has gone from looking at playing at least one game a year in the capital (not enough but hey it's something), to playing 1 game in 7 years there iirc. Oh but don't worry there's a game at Wembley in a competition that looks like nobody is interested in throughout any of the earlier rounds, if you took notice, between 2 club teams from places you either have no idea exist (which has its own negative connotations) or do know exist and have a less than positive view of (that isn't anti-RL snobbery it would be the same for Stoke vs Swansea). 

Add to that the ticketing experience is a nightmare and the event itself is lacklustre and it's not hard to see why we're struggling.

Frankly 60k plus is a near miracle!