Sat 8th Jun: Betfred Challenge Cup Final: Warrington Wolves v Wigan Warriors KO 15:00 (BBC)

[Jinking Jimmy]

2 hours ago, phiggins said:

 But you’re making the assumption that everyone that attended yesterday would also attend if the final was held elsewhere.

The attendance in 2022, and the attendance at magic weekend at various venues suggests otherwise

I accept your point but Magic Weekend venues have generally involved a decent amount of travel eg Cardiff, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Tottenham is not that far from Wembley so the same problems re cost apply. I did say that “maybe the love affair with Wembley  is over for fans”. I agree its quite possible that if the final moved to a northern venue a good number of people would not attend because it’s not Wembley. Either way it’s a problem that needs addressing.

 

Edited June 9, 2024 by Jinking Jimmy

[Damien]

4 hours ago, corvusxiii said:

It so happened that I spent the last GF at Spouse's friends house. The husband is from Essex and conventionally Rah Rah. Tbf he was impressed with the match but after 15 mins he was on his phone. Thing is, so was I. 

How ever well coached and skillful, laying on effectively does reduce the spectacle. 

Yesterday I was forgetting the match whilst I was watching it. I was happy when it finished so I could pull some more weeds out of the frog pond. 

This is not about the result. It's not an attack on Wigan. Would I have posted if my preferred winner Warrington had won? Maybe, maybe not. 

My point is that below a certain ruck speed there is little 'jeopardy'. Little potential for excitement. The game is too controlled. 

At the start of this season much was made of how entertaining the games were (when there were enough players left on the pitch that is) but my attention does drift when the game becomes stultified by an over controlled ptb. 

I other words I am more entertained by a fluid match than with commendable, well coached slow rucks. If we want to attract the casual viewer then the early seasons offerings seem to be the way to go. 

Dissapointed with the game and result but well done Wigan. 

What do you think? 

I've never watched a sport where I don't feel like this at some point, usually quite often. It's perfectly normal.

[JonM]

5 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

The thing that stood out for me was the continued and relentless rise of of prices at Wembley .... It's always been expensive but it is getting extraordinary ...£4.50 for a Luke warm bottle of coke....£7.50 a pint......hilarious that people pay it

£3 for coffee - bet you'd struggle to find it for that outside the ground. 

[JonM]

7 hours ago, The Masked Poster said:

Ok, my mistake I thought it was 63k. Either way, it's not a million miles away and I was there. It was definitely not full of closed off swathes of red seats, although there was some. 

There were indeed huge expanses of closed off empty seats for that semi-final, as a few seconds on YouTube will show.

Compare yesterday's attendance with those for football play-offs, England internationals etc. We guessed around 62K-64K before the figure was announced. 

[Damien]

17 minutes ago, JonM said:

There were indeed huge expanses of closed off empty seats for that semi-final, as a few seconds on YouTube will show.

Compare yesterday's attendance with those for football play-offs, England internationals etc. We guessed around 62K-64K before the figure was announced. 

Loads of empty seats in the bottom tier too. It's hardly hugely different especially when you account for a few thousand more.

[Damien]

Viewing figures in and good to see a considerably higher average than the RU final.  No doubt the clash would have had an affect on the overall number. Nice dig at copycat journalists too :

 

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Viewing figures in and good to see a considerably higher average than the RU final.  No doubt the clash would have had an affect on the overall number. Nice dig at copycat journalists too :

 

Good results and funny comment from the account!

[northamptoncougar]

I genuinely cannot get my head around the fact that the final isn’t sold out every year.

It should be sold as an event, times are hard for some but plenty go watch the other code / boxing / football/ darts etc, if it’s worth going to people will come. 
 

Isn’t this something we’re paying IMG for, they’re in year 2 now and the CC final selling out should be a given.

 

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, northamptoncougar said:

I genuinely cannot get my head around the fact that the final isn’t sold out every year.

It should be sold as an event, times are hard for some but plenty go watch the other code / boxing / football/ darts etc, if it’s worth going to people will come. 
 

Isn’t this something we’re paying IMG for, they’re in year 2 now and the CC final selling out should be a given.

 

How often do those sports get 90k crowds?

[The Masked Poster]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

There were indeed huge expanses of closed off empty seats for that semi-final, as a few seconds on YouTube will show.

Compare yesterday's attendance with those for football play-offs, England internationals etc. We guessed around 62K-64K before the figure was announced. 

I've got several photos on an old phone, I'll try to dig them out for comparison.

Edit: but it's still not a like for like comparison anyway. Taking  RLWC semi to Wembley was a big gamble but paid off. A CC Final featuring Wigan/Warrington should not be in the same risk category. 

Edited June 9, 2024 by The Masked Poster

[unapologetic pedant]

6 hours ago, corvusxiii said:

Yesterday I was forgetting the match whilst I was watching it. I was happy when it finished so I could pull some more weeds out of the frog pond. 

Metaphor or euphemism?

[Leeds Wire]

Just got back from an utterly fantastic cup final weekend. I’ve not read this thread in full yet but I’m deliberately posting before doing so. 
I went with my son and a friend and we had a fantastic time from start to finish, obviously excepting the result on the field. We mixed with fans from all over the country and never heard a voice raised in anger all day.

People may get into a lather about the crowd, but I thought Wire fans were there in bigger numbers than I’ve seen at the 6 finals I’ve been to follow Warrington since we played Huddersfield in 2009.

Wigan as always took a huge and happy crowd. 
The tradition of going to the cup final as a neutral has clearly faded, maybe replaced by trips to Perpignan, but we should still celebrate a day yesterday that showed our sport in such a good light.

I’m still gutted about losing but the best team won and my overriding emotion is one of pride for the sport. To the best of my knowledge, we put on a great show with no obvious downsides.

Last word - keep the final on this date every year, please. Just stick with it. 

 

Edited June 9, 2024 by Leeds Wire

[ELBOWSEYE]

16 minutes ago, Leeds Wire said:

Just got back from an utterly fantastic cup final weekend. I’ve not read this thread in full yet but I’m deliberately posting before doing so. 
I went with my son and a friend and we had a fantastic time from start to finish, obviously excepting the result on the field. We mixed with fans from all over the country and never heard a voice raised in anger all day.

People may get into a lather about the crowd, but I thought Wire fans were there in bigger numbers than I’ve seen at the 6 finals I’ve been to follow Warrington since we played Huddersfield in 2009.

Wigan fans as always took a huge and happy crowd. 
The tradition of going to the cup final as a neutral has clearly faded, maybe replaced by trips to Perpignan, but we should still celebrate a day yesterday that showed our sport in such a good light.

I’m still gutted about losing but the best team won and my overriding emotion is one of pride for the sport. To the best of my knowledge, we put on a great show with no obvious downsides.

Last word - keep the final on this date every year, please. Just stick with it. 

 

Totally agree with your experience and thoughts.

[PREPOSTEROUS]

Seems to be a divide between people who were there and enjoyed it and people who watched it on TV and didn't. Would that be accurate? 

[ELBOWSEYE]

17 minutes ago, PREPOSTEROUS said:

Seems to be a divide between people who were there and enjoyed it and people who watched it on TV and didn't. Would that be accurate? 

Seems so, even though we lost I still enjoyed the day. And there was no animosity between fans.

[Futtocks]

22 minutes ago, PREPOSTEROUS said:

Seems to be a divide between people who were there and enjoyed it and people who watched it on TV and didn't. Would that be accurate? 

Don't forget the people (like me) who watched it on TV and enjoyed it. Not to mention several other subdivisions, including the people who didn't watch it and hated it (hello, Wiggy!).

Edited June 9, 2024 by Futtocks

[HawkMan]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

Viewing figures in and good to see a considerably higher average than the RU final.  No doubt the clash would have had an affect on the overall number. Nice dig at copycat journalists too :

 

If you add 12.6 and 8.8 you get 21.4, so that's the  audience share of two games on FTA , meaning 78.6% watched something else. Not really very good methinks, though perhaps I'm wrong, genuinely not sure.

[corvusxiii]

1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Metaphor or euphemism?

Neither, when my froggies are beset by greenery I leap to weedy war!

Did I mention I was disappointed with the final?

[north yorks trinity]

6 hours ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

With the richest backer in the game in charge, and seemingly a new air of ambition and optimism around the game, I think we could go far, and produce a lot of players who could form the backbone of a glorious era for the national side. 

 You could be right, if only the national side played from time to time. 

Without wanting to get into a .... measuring contest, is your backer richer than Matt Ellis at Wakey? (Don't know the answer.  Curious if anyone else does)

[north yorks trinity]

5 hours ago, Thunder Road said:

Having watched Springsteen in every outdoor venue since 1985 ,the last being Sunderland the other week I agree in that Wembley has to be packed to the rafters for it to ignite. Worst venue ever was Hampden Park..I think IMG needs to address this point..Stadiums need to be packed for the enhanced experience. Yesterday in my view did not hit the brief..Rugby league is the best sport in the world by a mile , so why not sell it as that...

Only my view...

If you want a packed stadium you can't have a double or triple header as most people only engage with one of the games. A sizeable minority of Wakefield fans didn't watch all of Wire v Wigan.

I watched the men's CCF and the 1895 final and  there was a great atmosphere at the Wakey end for their match but it was like a surreal bubble with a guesstimated 7,000 Wakey fans in an otherwise largely empty stadium.

[Damien]

6 hours ago, Thunder Road said:

Having watched Springsteen in every outdoor venue since 1985 ,the last being Sunderland the other week I agree in that Wembley has to be packed to the rafters for it to ignite. Worst venue ever was Hampden Park..I think IMG needs to address this point..Stadiums need to be packed for the enhanced experience. Yesterday in my view did not hit the brief..Rugby league is the best sport in the world by a mile , so why not sell it as that...

Only my view...

Selling it as the best sport by a mile isn't really a good sell though is it? Sure RL fans may think that but fans of every other sport also think that about their chosen sport. Let's face it RL fans saying its the greatest game etc hasn't exactly worked so far.

[Futtocks]

12 minutes ago, Damien said:

Selling it as the best sport by a mile isn't really a good sell though is it? Sure RL fans may think that but fans of every other sport also think that about their chosen sport. Let's face it RL fans saying its the greatest game etc hasn't exactly worked so far.

Judging by yesterday's figures, it certainly didn't work very well for "the game they play in Heaven".

[Mark S]

Whoever have Wigan at the weekend will be playing a ver hungover team judging by the videos on Twitter. Good on them. 

[Damien]

7 minutes ago, Mark S said:

Whoever have Wigan at the weekend will be playing a ver hungover team judging by the videos on Twitter. Good on them. 

I remember thinking the same after we beat Penrith but we somehow won the next match easily too!

[Thunder Road]

Yes Damien I agree with your reply.I didn't attend on Saturday but the wife did as she's a wire fan.We both attended last year as I am a Leigh fan.She said the fan zones were full last year and we had to queue up to gain entry.This year you could just walk in.Yes, there is no easy fix .Going back to the 80s I remember Wembley was always full...I enjoyed the game Saturday as I enjoy watching RL .I'm scratching my head how the game can be driven forward .In a few weeks i will be doing both Bruce shows at Wembley. 85k each night at £200 a ticket..People pay it and fly from all over the world.. 30 quid for a rugby ticket is brilliant value for money...Its always the add ons that get you..Hotels quadruple their prices food and drink etc.Like I said I'm scratching my head how the game can expand. I live in Cumbria now but will be watching Wire v Salford Fri as we are down there...

Not sure I explained your point but I tried.