Changing your brand from one instantly recognizable to NRL loving Aussies (i.e. London Broncos) to one which is renowned as the quintessential middle/upper class, rah rah, city brand probably wasn't the best move in that regard, though it was clearly done to save the club.

Have a look at some of the Broncos attendances in the past, in particular when they played in the WCC. They've had sporadic 8k, 9k, 10k attendances (against Wigan too) but nothing consistent.

Quins have only managed 8k+ twice, once in their first game as Quins v Saints (intrigue) and once against Wigan (first game of 2008, half the crowd got in for free)

Seriously, how many Aussies in London can really take the Harlequins brand seriously.....foot.....shot.....

On a general level - some great marketing & PR minds have failed to make it work in London, Branson included.

I'd say a 4,263 attendance at the Galpharm for a play off fixture in the town where the sport began, in a county with 100+ times the number of participants is more embarassing than any of the Quins attendances personally....

Dont give them ideas

Read the thread...

Of course they'll put it in their catchment area. I live in N London & my nearest SL club is Quins so I dont see why I shouldnt be included in their catchment area. What the RFL have to do when analysing what that means is recognise that in a place like Castleford or St Helens or Hull there will be a different proportion of the catchment area that are likely to go through the club's turnstiles than in a city like London.

Sadly I fear that the task of marketing SL in London might be too big in the long run given all the hurdles they've got to overcome like the long journeys (mine is about 90 minutes), other competing events, limited media exposure in the catchment area, & the (for quite a lot of this season at least) not very great atmosphere when you do make the effort to get there.

That being said, I do think Quins could put a lot more effort into the marketing of the club. I got a cheapo ticket to one of their games this season in exchange for giving them my name & address. But they've not made any use of that. I've not received a single bit of marketing through my letter box to try to get me to go again. Mr Blanchard (?) said when he joined the club the priority was to get bums on seats. I agree, but it would be good to see some evidence that there's an effort going into getting that.

1h30 from my place too (Kilburn), hardly a quick trip. After the great Tube (provided it does work which is not granted) you have to walk 15-20min to get there. Great connection to the Tube indeed.

Clearly, the Stoop is not easy to access for most Londoners. Given the average hourly wage in London and the fact that every body is always running, an overall trip of 3h for a rugby match will only motivate the core fans...

As it has been said, don't look for RL coverage in daily local newspapers, it is quasi inexistant.