We certainly have!

4008 at Belle Vue tonight.

6000 for a 2nd and 3rd place play off is disgusting.

Our declining team has attracted more fans than that when we're .
Both sets of supporters should be ashamed.

Is this a sign that the play offs are losing their appeal? Or is the fact that the game didn't count for much more than a week off and home advantage in week 3 the problem?

Not sure. I reckon there'd have been more had it been a team other than Huddersfield. Theyve never had good support and when they are asked to pay full whack instead of bargain bucket prices on offer in Huddersfield they just don't want to know.

Next week is now Hudds Vs Catalan, a real test for the marketing peeps at Hudds.

Lower than season average attendances across the board so far, TBH I'm not too surprised at that trend, but some of the numbers are lower than I was expecting, and wont make good reading for the RFL.

Yes these figures an indication of whats to come.
The general trend is even worse reading and this is something that should concern all RL fans,
Despite carping between fans as to who has the better attendance, the truth is that most club's attendance -10 out of 12 (I discount salford and Celtic who don't have comparative figures) have taken a dip this year -2009. Some slight and some surprisingly large in context.
Those with large dips will have grave concerns for the future and even those with a slight dip when expenses are rising with cost of living this will make clubs think about whether their fan attendance will dip even further next year as the credit cruch manifests itself. and so consider financial restraint to their planning of 2010 budgets.
My spreadsheet based on reasonable parameters of 1 weekly supporter lost = £15 x 23 home matches/ 2009 attendances/2008 attendances/subsequent loss or gain of income
I appreciate that there are other paramemeters such as free tiickets. corporate stuff and junior tickets but the following is reasonable.
Shows that Saints were up by £113,000 and Catalans by £166,000
Worrying overall that every other club was down
Leeds down by £247,00 in the year even though they were the most successfull.
Bulls by £118,000 as expected, but Wakefield by £180,000 is surprising in what has been one of their best seasons.
Quin down by £66,000 from an already low base . I fear for their future.

Overall SL weekly attendances have dropped comparitively 2008/2009 by 2,725 discounting the two new member clubs. It has dropped by 3,581 per week in England, discounting Les Catalan's increase.

We are 14 rowers in the same boat competing on the river of media against some pretty good opposition.
If those at the front of the boat think that the boat cant sink, they are wrong.
If those at the back stop paddling and bail out then the boat is F@cked. err.. sinking. and those the front will descend into murky waters

I don't suppose it helps that each SL club now has 3 home matches were they can expect almost no away supporters.

It may be controversial but I don't really see what Celtic bring to SL and would much rather have seen Widnes or Halifax given a shot. I think the Welsh team were rushed in before they were ready and the RFL built and bent the rules to suit their own agenda for Wales. They should have been refused for 09 and told to go away and build some solid foundations for the next application process.

It is a poblem. Where is Rugby League going to be in 10/20 years from now? And this a question that must be asked without fear or favour to current preferences.

Still parochial in the "heartlands" of two counties in a distant area of England. RFL putting funds itno that.
OR
RL Funds put into spreading the game geographically gaining a wider club/player/supporter/viewers

What ever we, the supporters, think the entire financing of our game and it's only seriuos representation in the media is with SKY

Celtic are there because SL desperately needs an equivalent to Origin, to increase our international chances and our media coverage.

The Roses didn't cut it, a truly competitive Eng vs Wales vs France just might. To have that, we need a SL presence in all those countries. But it was never going to happen overnight.

How long do you reckon it will take?

Does anyone have the figure for the London clubs (all of them Broncos, Crusaders etc) best season average crowd? Has it ever got close to 5 figures?

It's not very big though London is it? There is never going to be the fan base down there is there?

8,689 at Wigan (approx 62% of their average attendance)

Quins are now starting to provide bona fide local products. And given that's partially because of national advances in RL, I don't think you'll have to wait thirty years for Crusaders to start bringing through good Welsh players (watch out for some coming out of student RL like Brian Carney did for example, I understand the Welsh sides have traditionally been very strong).

Crowds? Well, we've all got our problems with those. Quins do have travelling support of a sort now, no mean feat when you consider the distances involved for every away game. Great potential there, but they need the right people in the front office to bring it out.