WILL 2024 be the year the Magic Weekend loses its magic?
I really do fear it will be after the powers that be moved the event to Elland Road from Newcastle’s St James’ Park.
Part of the appeal for this weekend of non-stop rugby action has always been, for me anyway, the chance to travel somewhere different, see a new ground and mix with supporters from all different clubs, who like me, were making a bit of a mini-break of it.
That social interaction was always helped when there were numerous bars and pubs within easy reach of the stadium. That’s why Newcastle worked so well, and Cardiff before that in the earliest days of the concept, and why it wasn’t so well received at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, Murrayfield, or Anfield in Liverpool – but even then attendances didn’t drop off massively.
Fans mingling in the city centres of Newcastle and Cardiff before and after the days’ games also meant an interaction with the locals, many of whom then took an interest in the event and rugby league. Therefore they were positive locations too when it came to the commercial aspect of the event.
We always talk about rugby league’s need to sell itself more, and showing new places and new people not only how good the sport is, but also championing its family-friendly nature, was surely a winning combination.
That’s why the decision to move the event to Leeds, a city already steeped in the game seems, to me, bizarre to say the least.
Add to that, the fact that there isn’t much to do socially around the Elland Road stadium, the centre of Leeds being around a 50-minute walk away, and previous complaints and grumbles from supporters about the lack of legroom at the venue – it doesn’t exactly scream out ‘come and watch six games on the bounce here’. I am only five foot tall and even I struggle to sit comfortably in the seats at Elland Road, so I can sympathise with that argument.
I know the official reasoning was that the RFL wanted to keep the game’s major events spread out across the season, and with the Challenge Cup Final being brought forward to June, Magic makes the switch to an August time slot.
The governing body claimed that St James’ Park was unavailable at that time of the year due to the Premier League football season being underway, but Leeds United are in the same position, yet Elland Road is available, meaning this is the first time in 16 years that the event will take place in the rugby league heartlands.
Sadly the fixture list for the weekend probably isn’t inspiring enough for fans to put their indifference to the stadium to one side and go regardless.
Since 2019 the fixtures for Magic Weekend have been worked out by seeding teams into three groups of four based on the previous season’s finishing positions. On that basis, it sees only a second Magic meeting between Wigan and St Helens since 2012. No matter who you support, that is always a blockbuster game, that even neutral spectators would be enthralled by.
So why then, is this being played as the middle game on the first day? Surely this would be the climax to build up to and end on the highest of highs. As it is, it doesn’t even conclude the first day of action.
That honour goes to Warrington v Leeds, yes another potentially big game, but is it big enough to keep the crowds in? Who knows. Hull FC and newly promoted London Broncos kick off day one, while Leigh v Salford, Catalans v Hull KR and Huddersfield v Castleford make up day two’s fixtures.
It’s hard to see many more, other than those clubs’ usual band of supporters, in attendance on the Sunday.
A recent Readers’ Poll held by our sister publication Rugby League Express saw just 5.35 per cent of voters say they will attend both days and watch all six matches, with a further 9.6 percent saying they would attend one day and watch all three games. Perhaps most worryingly 49.6 per cent said they would not be attending either day, despite having been to previous events in Newcastle.
Whether that translates to a 50 per cent drop in the overall attendance that has never been below 60,000, remains to be seen, but if it does, it could well be the final nail in the coffin for Magic Weekend.
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 492 (January 2024)
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