It's doomed!

No, he needs to move somewhere they don't have internet access, do us all a favour.

Mr Eve is absolutely correct in both his posts on ticket prices, its a nice surprise to see a realistic view given to the marketing of what [ishould[/i be a great game of RL but it still remains a surprise and a one-off - as he points out, what happens in the next round, and the next, will prices go back up to circa £20 and if so then why ?

Truth is that to balance the books the crowd for this game will have to be two and a half times what it would have been if "normal" SL prices had been levied, just to get back to where they would have been - we shall see.

Is it really devaluing a sport to reduce ticket prices? I thought sport was SUPPOSED to be about the fans, not the money?

I agree that having to slash ticket prices to get fans to go to matches doesn't say the greatest things about the interest in early rounds of the cup, but surely this thread is about two clubs responding to that problem? It isn't solely theirs to fix at its cause.

Could we not, just for once, applaud people at least trying to get bums on seats for a televised cup game to try to create a spectacle that casts the game in a better light than the swathes of empty blue and red plastic we'd have otherwise?

So they might make less cash out of it. Aren't people always criticising them for milking the fans to the detriment of the sport?

This isn't a thread about the decline of the cup, or the sport in general. This is about what I think is a very sensible initiative that for once has at least half an eye on the image of the sport rather than just the day's balance sheet.

*sits in corner with arms folded looking sulky yet slightly self-important*

That depends on if the additional numbers through the gates spend money on programmes, snacks, club shop etc.
The sort of Ryanair model of RL.

You're not helping.

Thats always the theory and of course it all depends on who owns and operates the stadium as to whether all of that expenditure makes it all the way back into the rugby club's cash box, in theory its a good move for everyone who wants to go, in reality it sets a precedent now, a challenge cup round is now worth £8 and no more, a challenge cup round is worth just 40% of a SL round.

I look forward to the semi final and Wembley final ticket prices being slashed to 40%.

It appears we've come a long way from the time Alf Davies was able to increase ground admission by 20% for a Challenge Cup Quarter-Final tie with Widnes and still sell Headingley out to the comparatively sorry state of affairs we see today.

Generally speaking back in the day the Challenge Cup was viewed as the bigger game with more riding on the outcome and liable to attract the bigger audience when compared to the equivalent League encounter and understandably so.

It's probably to the game's credit that the League has advanced - albeit it's sad to see the Challenge Cup has suffered along the way.

This may be slightly off on a tangent, but in terms of value for money I think RL has come down a bit, ignoring whats happeneing on the field.

When I started going as a junior in 1998/9 it was £5 for a junior and £10 for an adult. In 15 years that price has more than doubled, whilst the salary cap has come in and reduced the major outgoings of the clubs significantly. Its not just at Leeds either, as most clubs have gone up in price too, though I think the gap between the cheapest venue and the most expensive is quite significant.

The question is, are we seeing a weakening of the brand when prices are cut? Or is it that the prices are just being re-adjusted after a period of over inflation.

Obviously, the £8 entry is designed to get people through the door, and falls outside of this. However, the challenge cup suffers more than most games due to the reality of how much it actually costs to go to game. Most people's mental arithmatic is rubbish, and they don't bother to work out how much their season ticket is. They accept that its the best deal, and get a season of benefit. Often they are bought as presents at Xmas, so the cost is hidden. When its a cup game, or a play off game the cost is there in black and white. The fixture is arranged at relatively short notice so people stay away. At £8 the deal is good, and I would hope that the fans of both clubs embrace the match, and show that if a game is priced reasonably then more people will attend. It would then be up to the clubs to decide where the sweet spot is for them when taking into account programmes, burgers and beers.

If only 5,000 turn out at £8 then I guess the nail is really starting to be hammered into the Challenge Cup, and is also indicative that some games just don't excite people no matter how much you discount them

For the game, surely the real value of the Cup is that it's big showpiece final happens on live terrestrial TV, in front of 70k or so at Wembley.

It isn't the only competition in the world that really only generates a lot of excitement at its business end.

I don't really agree with the worry over the precedent set. The precedent set is that the value of something (in economic terms) is what people are prepared to pay for it. If you generate more interest, the price can go up.

The sale of season tickets is bad for cup attendances, but good for business stability and planning. C'est la vie. If that means you have to charge less for cup matches, and that doesn't end up making them loss-making, where's the harm? Even if it is setting a precedent, is it such a bad one?

For the same bottom line profit, would you rather have a small crowd at a higher unit price (and I include increased overheads in the aforementioned bottom line) or a large crowd at a lower price? One harms perception of the business wich has the potential to damage it, one could create a bit of 'buzz' around your business. Benefits of that may be pretty marginal, but if they cost next to nothing then hey, why not?

To be fair about half of that increase is due to inflation. And I think clubs have suffered in the last 10-15 years from a lack of investment in stadia/facilities 15-30 years ago requiring either large sums for investment in new stands/stadia/facilities or higher maintenance costs on often unsightly grounds. Plus a large increase in spending on off-field things such as conditioners, sports science, training grounds etc that in the past was probably spent on players wages