Will this be pay on the gate for us?

No. Sell out expected.

More of a money maker than games against Batley, Leigh etc

If we played Leigh at home in middle 8s that would get a good crowd imo, they would bring a fair few with the prospect of promotion. Same as the Bulls who we haven't met for a couple of years. plus we would be playing 3 other current SL teams who drop down, two likely being Hudds and Wakey right now, both games that would draw a crowd.Granted, crowds may be down a bit and we would lose some money but not the doomsday scenario some on here are making out.

Middle 8 fixtures (if they were to become a reality) are included in the season ticket aren't they? Therefore they've already been paid for even if some season-ticketed success bandwagoners discover they can't cope and don't bother attending.

Therefore any loss of revenue will be due to less walk-ups paying at the turnstiles or who purchase tickets beforehand in order to save a couple of quid.

I think the most likely impact of a Middle 8 appearance on revenue would be a reduction in season ticket sales and attendances next season.

Correct, but all it takes is for us to steam roll a few local foes in say the likes of Bradford and Hudds, Wakey or whoever in the middle 8s and finishing on a positive note, a big name signing or two and suddenly things don't appear too bad going into the off season.I'm sure as you well know GH will use his mouth piece Peter Smith at the evening post to emphasise our adversity at the start of the year with SPOTY, Floods,injuries etc... to keep fans on board also, finishing 7th or 8th taking beatings from the top teams to end the year could also have an effect on ticket sales next season.Its possibly going to be a bit of a leap into the dark really for the club regards fan retention after many years of challenging now, we may see some bandwagoners walk away regardless.

True, also extras like shirt sales, merchandise such as season review DVDs such as the treble one last year would've sold well. Would imagine shirt sales were very high going into the season off the back of 2015. Not seen no charity/Magic shirt announced yet? Perhaps they realise fans won't be as interested in buying an extra shirt when results are so poor and it'll be enough of a struggle to get them to splash cash on tickets from here until seasons end.

In terms of actual games at the end of this year it depends on how the fixtures land. Finish 7th or 8th and have 3 home games (one potentially vs Catalans with zero away support) or 4 home games in the middle 8's (one potentially vs Bradford who'll bring a lot). Plus finish 7th/8th with no chance of top 4 then probably not on Sky much during that period. In the middle 8's then probably the Saturday game on a number of occasions.

Leeds are averaging 15k+? they have <10k season ticket holders - so a third of the crowd is walk up if you think Featherstone, Batley, London are going to bring anything like the crowd Hull, Wigan, Saints etc will I suggest you are wrong

You ignore the corporate sponsorship revenue too - easy to charge top dollar for Wigan, Saints etc not so easy to sell Featherstone, London to professional bodies in Leeds.

And then there is the touchy subject of 2017 and the corporate revenues and ST sales - that could be tough one for Rob Oates if Leeds were in the Championship - only joking

A massive weekend ahead now..

Huddersfield v Leeds
Salford v Hull KR
Widnes v Wakefield

Jeff you are entitled to your view - I just don't agree with it.

Leeds in the middle 8 will simply be a succession of large victories, that is the reality. Three of the games will be against teams they have already played twice this season - if that is what floats your boat great. The games will be even more meaningless than a place in the top 8 - at least you will get to see the best players in the competition.

I agree about the standard of SL its terrible and has been for a few years - not sure how Leeds being in the middle 8 will help that?

As a opposed to 7 teams they have already played twice (3 times in the case of wigan) in the Super 8s?

But teams that are filled with the best players in the league, teams with significantly better away support - Look at the home crowds for the likes of Featherstone/Batley/London, they make the likes of Wakey and Salford look positively stellar.

I will ask you a question - do you think it would easier to sell a corporate package for a game against Warrington or a game against London? which of these two games would you rather go and watch?

The assumption there is that people who buy corporate packages go to watch the game. They don't. I've been to sporting events on corporate invites, and spending time watching the game is entirely secondary.

Come on, we will likely only have 3 home games and it won't be all against those 3 teams you mention for maximum doomsday effect. Yes if London or Batley are one of the home games then the corporate packages would be a difficult sell but that comes with the territory of a bad season. That said it could easily be Bradford, Huddersfield,Wakey and Leigh at home, all of which would pull a healthy crowd in games where something is at least at stake as William rightly pointed out.

Anyway, as said the biggest downer from middle 8s would be selling season tickets and packages for 2017 and retaining the fair weather brigade.