Thursday night fixtures

[StandOffHalf]

On 10/12/2024 at 17:53, Dunbar said:

I was just about at the end of typing a long post on this and an ad popped up.... when I closed it all my text was gone.

I'm not typing it again.  An awful user experience. 

Yes, that happened to me earlier.

An ad I could understand, but when it clears the text from one's post, that's too much.

[whatmichaelsays]

11 hours ago, ColD said:

I don’t believe Mr Beaumont had any input or influence on the dates/times of Leigh’s fixtures

Clubs make representations as to what times they prefer, as well as dates and times where their venues are unavailable (clashes with football, for example). 

The fixture planners take that into consideration, but they ultimately have the final say. One of the issues is that most clubs have a preference for Friday nights, but RL Commercial is keen to try and spread out fixtures to suit TV. 

[Harry Stottle]

9 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

But I bet he does.

Why would he do that re Thursday nights, he has dedicated a section of the ground to family seating, and given 'special pricing' for season tickets and 'walk ups', we all know that playing on a night prior to a school day and getting home quite late may cause some parents to re consider attending.

And I suspect Thursday night away games which Leigh have 4, will put a lot off especially cross Pennine fixtures with work/school next day.

[Harry Stottle]

44 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Clubs make representations as to what times they prefer, as well as dates and times where their venues are unavailable (clashes with football, for example). 

The fixture planners take that into consideration, but they ultimately have the final say. One of the issues is that most clubs have a preference for Friday nights, but RL Commercial is keen to try and spread out fixtures to suit TV. 

Yes I understand that, but surely it could have been spread about more evenly.

[Tommygilf]

16 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Why would he do that re Thursday nights, he has dedicated a section of the ground to family seating, and given 'special pricing' for season tickets and 'walk ups', we all know that playing on a night prior to a school day and getting home quite late may cause some parents to re consider attending.

And I suspect Thursday night away games which Leigh have 4, will put a lot off especially cross Pennine fixtures with work/school next day.

In terms of the away games, I don't think clubs get a choice? Most will want to play as long beforehand though, ie not Sunday if they are playing any games on a Thursday. 

[sweaty craiq]

Back on topic - this is either a let’s see if we can get the next contract up to a reasonable figure or clubs will be compensated for the financial disaster of Thursday games. It should have been roughly 1 home and 1 away game per club plus Easter and opener

[M j M]

Clubs have not been "compensated" for Thursdays before and I doubt they will be going forward.

The compensation is the Sky money.

However I don't believe we should be moving games to Thursdays if they are not part of Sky's two main picks. I don't believe we are obliged to do that and undermining the clubs and their at-game support and revenue potential I think is just dumb.

[whatmichaelsays]

18 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

Back on topic - this is either a let’s see if we can get the next contract up to a reasonable figure or clubs will be compensated for the financial disaster of Thursday games. It should have been roughly 1 home and 1 away game per club plus Easter and opener

Clubs are compensated for Thursday games - Sky provide a large chunk of central funding and in exchange for that, have an opportunity to influence the scheduling. 

The whole excuse around Thursdays needs to end. Without checking, I think we have had Thursday night games for the best part of decade - that is more than enough time for a club to have worked out how to appeal to audiences that can and are willing to attend on Thursday evenings. I know people roll their eyes at comparisons with football, but weeknight games are common across all levels of the pyramid and that sport places a far greater travel burden on supporters than RL does. 

Yes, there is a fair argument that Thursday games should be more fairly distributed amongst clubs, but that's sometimes the nature of fixture planning. But Thursday nights should not be an excuse - the clubs have had long enough to work out how to make them work. 

 

Edited December 12, 2024 by whatmichaelsays

[Harry Stottle]

18 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

In terms of the away games, I don't think clubs get a choice? Most will want to play as long beforehand though, ie not Sunday if they are playing any games on a Thursday. 

Yes but surely, with the computer systems we have today and even allowing for amendments/adjustments submitted by clubs whose ground is unavailable for certain dates i.e. sharing with football clubs, there should be a much more simple and fairer method of sharing out the Thursday Night fixtures.

[sweaty craiq]

My understanding is that the current pittance does not require Thursday games as there weren’t any last season. So why have them this coming season and absorb the financial hit unless there is an end goal? I am sure some understand this?

[Harry Stottle]

3 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

My understanding is that the current pittance does not require Thursday games as there weren’t any last season. So why have them this coming season and absorb the financial hit unless there is an end goal? I am sure some understand this?

Then if there is no obligation to play on Thursday's and not part of the contract with Sky, tell them to whistle or at least compensate for lost revenues.

[gingerjon]

22 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

My understanding is that the current pittance does not require Thursday games as there weren’t any last season. So why have them this coming season and absorb the financial hit unless there is an end goal? I am sure some understand this?

Yes. The need not to clash games has been explained multiple times. This helps to sell SL+.

The need also to have proof of concept in place for different slots across the season has also been explained. This is for selling the next deal or deals.

I don’t know what the Disney Corporation’s view is on this so maybe when you bump into them in hospitality you can ask?

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

Yes but surely, with the computer systems we have today and even allowing for amendments/adjustments submitted by clubs whose ground is unavailable for certain dates i.e. sharing with football clubs, there should be a much more simple and fairer method of sharing out the Thursday Night fixtures.

Leeds have had loads of Thursday home games in previous seasons, it's swings and roundabouts.

Teams having between 1 and 3 home Thursday games a year is fine to me. It keeps interest in the round of fixtures extended another day and means we have less clashes.

The away games I don't think is something anyone can complain about really.

[sweaty craiq]

55 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Yes. The need not to clash games has been explained multiple times. This helps to sell SL+.

The need also to have proof of concept in place for different slots across the season has also been explained. This is for selling the next deal or deals.

I don’t know what the Disney Corporation’s view is on this so maybe when you bump into them in hospitality you can ask?

So the potential benefit is SL+ income is the driver to speculate - there has to be something.
I understand the main interest is in 8pm kick offs sat and sun to show at good times live on East and west coast

[sweaty craiq]

57 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Leeds have had loads of Thursday home games in previous seasons, it's swings and roundabouts.

Teams having between 1 and 3 home Thursday games a year is fine to me. It keeps interest in the round of fixtures extended another day and means we have less clashes.

The away games I don't think is something anyone can complain about really.

Depends if you have one or three if you are a paying fan or sponsor 

[RigbyLuger]

2 hours ago, whatmichaelsays said:

Clubs are compensated for Thursday games - Sky provide a large chunk of central funding and in exchange for that, have an opportunity to influence the scheduling. 

The whole excuse around Thursdays needs to end. Without checking, I think we have had Thursday night games for the best part of decade - that is more than enough time for a club to have worked out how to appeal to audiences that can and are willing to attend on Thursday evenings. I know people roll their eyes at comparisons with football, but weeknight games are common across all levels of the pyramid and that sport places a far greater travel burden on supporters than RL does. 

Yes, there is a fair argument that Thursday games should be more fairly distributed amongst clubs, but that's sometimes the nature of fixture planning. But Thursday nights should not be an excuse - the clubs have had long enough to work out how to make them work. 

 

When football clubs are traveling much further on every day and time of the week, it does feel a hollow arguement some make, almost as if they need an excuse not to go.

[JohnM]

It seems like an argument some need, in order to promote dissatisfaction with the current regime of RFL, RFL Commercial, Sky and IMG.  

Ultimate Rugby League

Edited December 12, 2024 by JohnM

[whatmichaelsays]

1 hour ago, RigbyLuger said:

When football clubs are traveling much further on every day and time of the week, it does feel a hollow arguement some make, almost as if they need an excuse not to go.

There's a fair argument that we should be making it easy for people to go to games - it's not as if midweek games in the EFL are universally popular and, as a Leeds United fan, the Leigh fans on here know nothing about getting a raw deal from TV companies and fixture planners. 

But they are here and they have been here for a while, so the idea of Thursdays being an excuse for poor crowds gets weaker with every passing year. We know Thursday nights are a thing, the clubs have plenty of experience of them and they've had more than enough time to do their research, to identify an audience and to sell an experience on Thursday nights. It's not as if other leisure venues are deserted on mid-week nights because "the kids have school in the morning" or because "the traffic is bad". 

Edited December 12, 2024 by whatmichaelsays

[sweaty craiq]

1 hour ago, RigbyLuger said:

When football clubs are traveling much further on every day and time of the week, it does feel a hollow arguement some make, almost as if they need an excuse not to go.

I'll take 20% of Prem soccer and play monday 2pm

[Click]

2 hours ago, sweaty craiq said:

So the potential benefit is SL+ income is the driver to speculate - there has to be something.
I understand the main interest is in 8pm kick offs sat and sun to show at good times live on East and west coast

What?

[sweaty craiq]

37 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

There's a fair argument that we should be making it easy for people to go to games - it's not as if midweek games in the EFL are universally popular and, as a Leeds United fan, the Leigh fans on here no nothing about getting a raw deal from TV companies and fixture planners. 

But they are here and they have been here for a while, so the idea of Thursdays being an excuse for poor crowds gets weaker with every passing year. We know Thursday nights are a thing, the clubs have plenty of experience of them and they've had more than enough time to do their research, to identify an audience and to sell an experience on Thursday nights. It's not as if other leisure venues are deserted on mid-week nights because "the kids have school in the morning" or because "the traffic is bad". 

isnt Leeds parachute about £100m over 3 years ie greater than the entire SL deal

[whatmichaelsays]

6 minutes ago, sweaty craiq said:

isnt Leeds parachute about £100m over 3 years ie greater than the entire SL deal

That's not really relevant to the point I'm making. 

When fans being asked to go to Plymouth for a 12:30 kick-off, or forced to throw away advance train tickets at short notice to accommodate Sky missing the fixture-change deadline (a deadline they missed every single time season), it makes no difference how much the club is getting from Sky. 

The point here is that RL gets a pretty good deal when it comes to obligations to play mid-week and the level of effort required to meet those obligations. The clubs have had long enough to work out how to make Thursday nights work. 

[sweaty craiq]

9 minutes ago, whatmichaelsays said:

That's not really relevant to the point I'm making. 

When fans being asked to go to Plymouth for a 12:30 kick-off, or forced to throw away advance train tickets at short notice to accommodate Sky missing the fixture-change deadline (a deadline they missed every single time season), it makes no difference how much the club is getting from Sky. 

The point here is that RL gets a pretty good deal when it comes to obligations to play mid-week and the level of effort required to meet those obligations. The clubs have had long enough to work out how to make Thursday nights work. 

If my club was given £100m over the next 10 years they could change whatever they wanted as they have truly paid for the right

[JohnM]

I think  that TV games come over better when there's a decent crowd to provide atmosphere but can anyone provide a  best guess/estimate/ hard fact monetary  loss of ticket revenue to the home club from having a game on a Thursday night compared with a Friday night?

[sweaty craiq]

1 minute ago, JohnM said:

I think  that TV games come over better when there's a decent crowd to provide atmosphere but can anyone provide a  best guess/estimate/ hard fact monetary  loss of ticket revenue to the home club from having a game on a Thursday night compared with a Friday night?

Depends on the game and time of year. At Leigh my guess would be £40k a game, gate and sponsors plus God knows how much at bars etc