England v Australia 2025 - coming to the UK!

[Winstonswhite]

There’s very little benefit in buying the tickets for Wembley this far out. I’m waiting until early October before deciding. 

[turn it in]

25 minutes ago, Winstonswhite said:

There’s very little benefit in buying the tickets for Wembley this far out. I’m waiting until early October before deciding. 

Discounts?

[The Hallucinating Goose]

3 hours ago, Odsal Outlaw said:

I think selling a total of around 100k tickets already for this series has to be unprecedented for the RFL. A rare success, but a welcome one.

I think about that figure in terms of the average for the series as well with us already looking at an average of 33-34,000 this far out from the series. 

And as others have said, a lot of fans who will certainly be going won't have bothered buying tickets yet knowing that they're not gonna completely sell out, so feeling no pressure to buy tickets this early.

[Click]

15 hours ago, Winstonswhite said:

There’s very little benefit in buying the tickets for Wembley this far out. I’m waiting until early October before deciding. 

That would be different for the individuals involved, if you live in London then perhaps forward planning may not be needed. If you're coming from out of London, especially involving transport that isn't a car then some forward planning could come in handy.

[FearTheVee]

16 hours ago, Winstonswhite said:

There’s very little benefit in buying the tickets for Wembley this far out. I’m waiting until early October before deciding. 

The benefit is getting the best tickets for the price

[Dave T]

29 minutes ago, FearTheVee said:

The benefit is getting the best tickets for the price

I think this is where Wembley sometimes works against you with its size. It's massive and we can see that there are still 60k or so left. No rush. 

I do think if this was in a 50k ground in London, based on the rush created by scarcity in the North we'd have seen it sold out in London too imo. 

That's not to say we should have gone to a 50k ground, just trying to put some reasoning round why Wembley seems to be a slow burner.  

[Hopie]

17 hours ago, Winstonswhite said:

There’s very little benefit in buying the tickets for Wembley this far out. I’m waiting until early October before deciding. 

Bought mine already but waiting for advance rail tickets to appear before booking travel, might be another target date for boosting sales.

[M j M]

34 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think this is where Wembley sometimes works against you with its size. It's massive and we can see that there are still 60k or so left. No rush. 

I do think if this was in a 50k ground in London, based on the rush created by scarcity in the North we'd have seen it sold out in London too imo. 

That's not to say we should have gone to a 50k ground, just trying to put some reasoning round why Wembley seems to be a slow burner.  

It's also not a great stadium in lots of ways. Maybe it's because it's rarely full for Rugby League but after all these years it still hasn't captured the imagination of fans of our sport in the way the old one did.

[Mr Plow]

44 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think this is where Wembley sometimes works against you with its size. It's massive and we can see that there are still 60k or so left. No rush. 

I do think if this was in a 50k ground in London, based on the rush created by scarcity in the North we'd have seen it sold out in London too imo. 

That's not to say we should have gone to a 50k ground, just trying to put some reasoning round why Wembley seems to be a slow burner.  

It was always going to be a long shot to sell Wembley out. There’s the novelty of Everton’s stadium being new that will have contributed to it selling out.

Maybe Spurs or the Emirates should have been chosen with them being smaller stadiums and not somewhere the games played every year.

[WN83]

Without knowing the costs associated with each London ground, it's tough to say where you should go but Wembley just feels too big for us at the minute. In fairness though, getting any of the other grounds must be really tricky, with the football season being in full swing in October/November and many of the clubs whose grounds we'd probably like to use (Arsenal/Spurs/Chelsea) expecting to be involved in European competitions (well maybe Spurs weren't but you don't look a gift horse like Man Utd in the mouth). 

[Just Browny]

23 minutes ago, M j M said:

It's also not a great stadium in lots of ways. Maybe it's because it's rarely full for Rugby League but after all these years it still hasn't captured the imagination of fans of our sport in the way the old one did.

And as far as I know that's true of football too. It's an impressive and comfortable stadium, but the atmosphere can often feel flat and the surroundings are more 'functional retail park' than evocative or uplifting. And from the back of those top tiers you feel very far from the action.

[Dave T]

22 minutes ago, M j M said:

It's also not a great stadium in lots of ways. Maybe it's because it's rarely full for Rugby League but after all these years it still hasn't captured the imagination of fans of our sport in the way the old one did.

I agree. I don't like Wembley for many reasons. I've had some amazing days down there, but I think it's too vast, not a great location and poorly designed in many parts. 

[Damien]

27 minutes ago, M j M said:

It's also not a great stadium in lots of ways. Maybe it's because it's rarely full for Rugby League but after all these years it still hasn't captured the imagination of fans of our sport in the way the old one did.

I don't even think that is the capacity of it or just a Rugby League thing, it's just all so spread out and spacious. I remember thinking when I first went that it was nothing like any other ground Id been to, indeed when it was being built the selling point was every seat has more room than the old Royal box. That's great, and obviously you dont want to be cramped in like sardines either, but I do think it affects the feel of the place.

Edited May 22 by Damien

[Shaggy]

12 minutes ago, Damien said:

I don't even think that is the capacity of it or just a Rugby League thing, it's just all so spread out and spacious. I remember thinking when I first went that it was nothing like any other ground Id been to, indeed when it was being built the selling point was every seat has more room than the old Royal box. That's great, and obviously you dont want to be cramped in like sardines either, but I do think it affects the feel of the place.

I agree. Went to the first CC final back there and have never returned. Just seemed to lack a certain something.

[17 stone giant]

I disagree with the criticisms about Wembley as a stadium. If it seems big and spacious, that's because it is. 90000 compared to 60-62000 at Arsenal and Spurs, for example.

I loved the romanticism of the old Wembley and went many times, but the reality was that the stadium was run down and the surrounding area was a dump. Plus you were a long way from the pitch in certain seats, especially behind the goals/posts.

People won't put up with now what they would have done in the 1980s. Expectations have moved on.

Whether it's right for an England v Australia rugby league match or a Challenge Cup final, is a different question. But that's not the stadium's fault. That's a case of rugby league not being able to fill it, and perhaps therefore being better off using a smaller stadium.

The last time I went to the new Wembley was for the Leeds v Southampton football play off final. When it's full like that, it's immense. Look at what the Crystal Palace fans did with it at the FA Cup final.

The location is fine too. You can have a day in London and get to it in 30 mins or whatever.

[Josef K]

I apologise if this has been mentioned before but do they have standing sections at Wembley now, if not do you think they would consider bringing it back. 

[Josef K]

My niece now works in London as a doctor she is marrying another doctor who is of Indian descent. His first love is cricket, then football (Liverpool), he doesn’t know the first thing about RL, but i have told my niece to take him to Wembley as he will love the whole event. She said “if they’re not working that day they will definitely go”. 
I did tell Vish “the next time they’re up in Sint Tellins i’ll take him a Saints match”, but i have changed my mind as i don’t want him to be put off the game of RL forever. 

[Father Gascoigne]

2 hours ago, M j M said:

It's also not a great stadium in lots of ways. Maybe it's because it's rarely full for Rugby League but after all these years it still hasn't captured the imagination of fans of our sport in the way the old one did.

The first decade at Wembley didn't have a crowd under 76,000. That suggests the issue is twofold: the stadium is too far away from the clubs typically involved (obviously true), and the novelty of a daytrip in London has worn off. 

I say London, not Wembley, because Wigan-Huddersfield in 2022 had 51k at Tottenham, but the next year Leigh-Hull KR had 58k at Wembley. The Robins hadn't been to a final in almost a decade and Leigh never had at the new Wembley. For those two fanbases--unlike Wigan who are regulars--the novelty factor was very much still there. 

Many of those great crowds in that first decade also featured Leeds. I suspect the next time Leeds make the final it will hit over 80,000, as it will have been at least a decade since they got to a final played in front of a crowd. 

1 hour ago, Mr Plow said:

It was always going to be a long shot to sell Wembley out. There’s the novelty of Everton’s stadium being new that will have contributed to it selling out.

Maybe Spurs or the Emirates should have been chosen with them being smaller stadiums and not somewhere the games played every year.

I think the example of the 2022 crowds versus 2023 suggests the stadium in London isn't so much the issue as London itself. 

1 hour ago, WN83 said:

Without knowing the costs associated with each London ground, it's tough to say where you should go but Wembley just feels too big for us at the minute. In fairness though, getting any of the other grounds must be really tricky, with the football season being in full swing in October/November and many of the clubs whose grounds we'd probably like to use (Arsenal/Spurs/Chelsea) expecting to be involved in European competitions (well maybe Spurs weren't but you don't look a gift horse like Man Utd in the mouth). 

RFL was able to book Hill Dickinson, which has the same issue as those clubs. The PL fixture list doesn't come out until June, so if you get a foot in the door early as the RFL did with Everton, it should be easier to book. Keep in mind to that there's an international break in September, October and November, so there are lots of things going in favour of booking such stadiums at that time of the year. 

[M j M]

5 minutes ago, Father Gascoigne said:

The first decade at Wembley didn't have a crowd under 76,000. That suggests the issue is twofold: the stadium is too far away from the clubs typically involved (obviously true), and the novelty of a daytrip in London has worn off. 

As has been discussed on here many times for the first decade Club Wembley ticket holders were included in the declared attendance whether they came to the game or not so taking those figures and comparing them to subsequent ones is particularly misleading.

[Father Gascoigne]

Just now, M j M said:

As has been discussed on here many times for the first decade Club Wembley ticket holders were included in the declared attendance whether they came to the game or not so taking those figures and comparing them to subsequent ones is particularly misleading.

Fair enough. But Club Wembley makes up what, 5k seats tops? It can't just be that. 

[Gerrumonside ref]

Would playing at a smaller but full stadium with more expensive tickets in some areas cover the cost of not playing at Wembley potentially? 

[Click]

9 minutes ago, Father Gascoigne said:

Fair enough. But Club Wembley makes up what, 5k seats tops? It can't just be that. 

Wasn't it initially 15k seats?

[M j M]

9 minutes ago, Click said:

Wasn't it initially 15k seats?

Yes 15,000.

[Father Gascoigne]

20 minutes ago, Click said:

Wasn't it initially 15k seats?

I'm struggling to find anything definitive, but I did come across this Guardian article from 2000. I'm not sure if it changed in the time the stadium was built, but it suggests 7k of 14k was club seating, with the rest being other forms of executive seating. 

Quote

Almost 14,000 seats in the new Wembley stadium, which will have a capacity of 90,000, are to be set aside for corporate guests and wealthy fans in a move that has angered supporters' groups who claim it is a further sign of the game pricing out traditional followers.

One of the most controversial aspects of the new seating arrangements is the plan to have 7,000 club seats which will allow those who buy them a guaranteed seat for every event at Wembley, including FA and Worthington Cup finals, all play-off matches, England internationals and rugby league finals.

The seats, which will be padded and slightly larger than those in the rest of the stadium, will cost £2,000 per season. Given that some who buy club seats may not wish to attend all events, certain matches could take place before rows of empty seats with fans of the teams involved unable to secure a ticket.

Wembley officials have said that owners of club seats will not be allowed to sell their tickets for events they do not wish to attend, in a move designed to prevent touts from buying them and selling them on a match-by-match basis.

Apart from the 7,000 club seats, another 4,000 are to be made available for corporate guests, where the ticket price will include a meal before the game. Around 1,000 seats are to be made available for sponsors and another 1,800 wealthy fans will be accommodated in executive boxes around the stadium.

 

Edited May 22 by Father Gascoigne

[DoubleD]

1 hour ago, Josef K said:

My niece now works in London as a doctor she is marrying another doctor who is of Indian descent. His first love is cricket, then football (Liverpool), he doesn’t know the first thing about RL, but i have told my niece to take him to Wembley as he will love the whole event. She said “if they’re not working that day they will definitely go”. 
I did tell Vish “the next time they’re up in Sint Tellins i’ll take him a Saints match”, but i have changed my mind as i don’t want him to be put off the game of RL forever. 

Good call, a game of rugby league surrounded by Saints fans would be a sure fire way to put someone off