There's realists who can see the long term damage to the game and then there's the sheep

The game is being slowly strangled to death due to the backslapping incompetence of those who run the sport. The CC and the game in general has to sell tickets at bargain basement "poundland" prices in order to attract fans, whilst the RFL and their cohorts doff their caps to Sky and flush the credibility of the sport further down the toilet. Yet another nail hammered into the coffin which is accommodation to the CC these days. Good luck to whichever club progresses through to the next round as they'll have a job flogging tickets from now on unless they are priced at around £8.

Was that your successful chat-up line to Dolly?

William Eve is correct

However, I see this as a cheap day out taking my lad to watch a game.
Train to Hudds & back, plus tickets for £16.30 is good enough for me.

I bet Mr Eve attends too. I'll be on the look out

You're not supposed to agree with me on anything. You're supposed to think the sport is currently fantastic, is administered by the very best in the business and it's fantastic news for the game that the price of tickets are £8 or less. Then hurl a bit of inane abuse in my direction instead of discussing the issues at hand and it's a job well done No I won't... I'll be in NZ or Australia

Might attend the Challenge Cup Final. I expect the RFL will still be devaluing the Cup Final by offering Wembley Wednesday tickets at just £10 each again

Its weird that you call your mum by her first name

5th Round Average Attendances

1994/95....Final year before Super League
4,471

2004....Final year before move to August Final
4,963

2011
4,437

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.