The last season ticket I bought (or, more accurately, the old man bought for me) cost £4.

Since then I've always picked and chosen and, barring the occasional disaster, haven't really felt ripped off. And only rarely have I felt as if there was something I'd rather have been doing.

No one gives a flying f-ck if you're buying a ST or not. Go moan to someone who cares.

Are you saying that those who buy season tickets are moaning or those that are not are moaning?

It'll be interesting to see how season tickets in general go. I have a feeling that the trend across the board will be down.

There is so much uncertainty over the last seven games (who do you play, when do you play, how does it fit in with holidays etc) As a Wigan fan I've took a chance and will miss the last two weeks due to holidays, but if I were in say a family of four I doubt whether I'd take that risk.

i for one cant wait for February with the new league formula and to see cuthbertson and jps last season giving his all(injuries permitting) sinfield and burrows full preseason and with some great talent being a chance to break through. The end of season run in should through up a few surprises. cant see why all the negativity off season blues

I think, commercially speaking, it might not be a bad idea for clubs to reassess the benefits of a season ticket. Last time I bought one, it didn't make brilliant savings, given that I would inevitably miss a game or two in the summer months. I got one because it made sense at the time to get the outlay done in one go and not pay anything else for home games. I'm not sure how well that rationale works on the market as a whole.

Like you say, the sales will tell us whether the offer is still appealing enough to the customers.

The unfortunate thing for RL teams is that the supply (ie. how many stadiums hold) outstrips demand (ie. people with / considering having season tickets). At the football, there was little question of whether or not I renewed my season ticket - if I did not, my seat was then going to be taken up with someone else and I'd then have to sit somewhere else if / when I decided to go back. Thus I spent 2 years going back and forth between Leeds and Newcastle every other weekend when I was at university here. I stopped going when I spent a year abroad as part of my course - when I came back my seat was naturally no longer available and I then decided to 'pick and choose' from that point.

With the Rhinos, if I don't get a season ticket I know that I can still get a ticket for any game I want and stand in my usual place in the SS. Similarly, if Leeds get to a final I can get a ticket for the event without having to be a season-ticket holder as these won't sell out on season ticket holders / members only as they take place in stadiums far bigger than the usual ones. When I went to the football, part of the reason I renewed those two years where it was inconvenient and expensive looking back - was on the off-chance that if we made any progress in the cups, the only way I would be able to get tickets to those events was through having had a season ticket and accrued 'loyalty points' through attending Cup, European Cup and away games.

If I could have not gotten a season ticket and known I could still get my seat for games as I picked and chose them, I probably would have done so. Tuesday and Wednesday evening round trips in winter to and from Leeds were not ideal so potentially had I been able to somehow not get a season ticket and been able to go when it suited me, it'd have helped. However at the football it was probably more of a discount getting a season ticket - I think I maybe got 19 home games for the price of about 15 had I bought game tickets on an individual basis. Similarly, had we ever done anything in the cups and got to a final, I'd have had no chance ever getting a ticket without my season ticket and going to extra games. There would have been probably like 50,000 or 60,000+ wanting tickets and only about 35,000 available to be sold. I got to see an FA Cup semi-final (thumping) at Cardiff thanks to having perservered with my commutes between Leeds and the north-east that I wouldn't have had I not renewed that year. However, had we made the final and I had not gone to that semi-final or the earlier rounds my chances of getting a final ticket would have been much slimmer as I hadn't 'proved' my loyalty in the earlier cup games.

RL fans can be much more demanding / flaky / able to pick and choose because they actually have a stronger bargaining position than (say) individual football fans - individual football fans (at the top level at least) will much quicker be replaced and forgotten than their RL counterparts.

I always got one so I could have my regular seat

Regarding the 'obligation' on getting tops too, whether or not you actually like them. I have been there and done it. Generally I got them regardless of whether I actually liked them when I was younger - I only didn't get the tops each year if I totally detested them. Generally that rule still applies - I got the 2013 rhinos home top as it was my first year going properly but did not get the pink away one as was not mad keen on it. Last year I got both as I liked them both - I was representing the Rhinos at the NFL game in the away top yesterday - but anytime you are paying good money for something you don't actually like or particularly want you have to ask yourself if you are doing the right thing.

Ok, with some things like a boiler repair, a washing machine or car insurance you don't really have a choice but with a £50 item of clothing that within a year will no longer be 'current' or 'in fashion' you do. With my football tops I went from buying every single one in a ten year period to only getting the home tops, to then only getting the shirts I like to not getting any at all - though this is currently a more political decision on my part.

Instead I have stocked up on a couple of 'retro' shirts from like 15-20 years ago that are already so far out of date so can't then particularly go 'old' after a season after the current ones will.

A reoccurring theme with the guys who say they're questioning/won't buy a ST anymore is that nearly all point out that they've been attending since the 70's/80's and that their own personal group who they would attend with has decreased with friends and family deciding not to attend for several reasons.

I have a friend who only attended her first match two years ago. The several friends she attends with couldn't wait to buy ST for next year and still find the experience of going enjoyable. I have another who attended in the early 00's but hadn't attended a match for around 8 years until this year and they wanted to get back into going so have bought a ST for next year also.

Does strike me that whilst the team has played some frustrating rugby on the pitch the last few years, a decent chunk of the reason why people don't want attend anymore is one born out of just getting old and the repartition of going (just like a long marriage) has lost its spark. Granted a solution to that is for the games to be exciting you more but I dare say if you've been following for so long then there's been quite a few seasons which will have failed to impress. I think when you see reasons such as the shirt design and the price of the Boxing Day friendly been added to the weight of the reasons not to buy a ST I think it shows a mindset where the person has started to look and nitpick for reasons not to go, and in that instance you'd have to say that whilst the team may not be at its strongest at present it also (without trying to offend anyone) shows IMO just a clear cut sign of just getting old and bored.

The friends I mentioned earlier who are buying ST next year, both in their 20's. Some of you on here who started watching in the 80's, whilst it wasn't the best period for Leeds you still talk of it fondly in many ways and the enjoyment of attending. However I bet there was guys back then who had attended for 20/30 years previously and witness some success who started to stop going. It's transition, just because something once meant more or held your interest more doesn't mean it'll have that hold on you forever.

If you didn't care you wouldn't make the effort to comment. So thanks for that.

That's me alright. First game 1978. I think your point is very valid.

I'd made a similar point on another thread somewhere - a lot of people who have said they are not renewing have commented how they used to have a group of people they went with and that their group of people has decreased. This suggests part of going is not the rugby per se - it is the whole thing of routine of a Friday night / Sun afternoon spent meeting friends for some food and drinks for several hours; a couple of it spent watching a game of rugby.

There is obviously nothing at all wrong with that but does your group decreasing / the change in circumstances hasten the decision to stop going yourself? Do extra pressures and obligations (depending upon your age; partners, houses, kids, cars, kids at uni, grandkids, etc) make it feel more arduous in some way to pay up - ie. the money could be better spent elsewhere?

I feel a bit of an oxymoron being in my 20s and with no obligations (expect paying my bills) yet conversely attending alone so on the one hand I am free to get a season ticket without having as many outside factors to bear in mind when deciding to get one. On the other hand as it isn't a particularly social activity for me (I go up, get there, maybe chat a little to people stood around me as things happen in the game, then go home again after) my question on whether to renew or not is mainly based on the 'product on offer' and 'value for money'.

If I went up with a load of other people who were similarly free of obligations in life and we were able to 'make a night of it' each time Leeds played, I would spend a lot less time thinking about whether to review - it would be fairly automatic to do so because doing so would mean I could continue being a part of that social group / event.

Is it in some way more about a person's 'own stuff' (ie. obligations and smaller group than previously) that makes them less inclined to get a season ticket or is it predominantly down to the team on the pitch specifically? It sounds more like the former in many cases - which is fine and not a critique - but as others have said, you have probably seen worse Leeds teams in the past yet signed up for season tickets automatically.

As I have been going a couple of years only, I should be more in the group who signs up enthusiastically each year as the examples above outline - but then those examples mention it being more a social / group activity.

I wonder if the quality of the team on the pitch is actually quite low down on the priority list when you have less financial obligations and more friends?