I think a few clubs have put prices up, knowing that attendances will fall slightly, but hope the revenue they make will increase overall. Bradford proved that its the revenue you make, not the attendance figure that pays the bills. You really need to be comparing gate receipts to see if clubs are being more or less successful than last year.

our crowd last night was a shocker and despite people claiming the England RU game and leeds v town lowered the numbers it doesn't wash with me. it is worrying that the league leaders on the back of smashing the champions again on their own ground and we still only pulled in 4800 home supporters ( 700 from hull ).
i think the increased prices and the end of season collapses have taken their toll on our supporters who jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago,we are slowly getting back down to the diehards.i admit it is a worry for us but apart from physically dragging people to the stadium i can't see what more we can do,apart from win everything this year.
but in general i think people just can't afford to go all the time now and i think the fact that the regular season has become a bit of a non event after leeds won the competition from 5th 2 years running has had an effect,although it shouldn't.
maybe if/when the weather improves more people might venture out?

I completely agree. I however believe the RFL have also played a part in the general devaluing of the sport as a whole with all of the cheap international, grand final and super league final offers. If our premium events are constantly cheapened and devalued then what chance has everything else? You always see posts from RL fans saying dont buy World Cup tickets, final tickets etc because there will be special offers which says it all. These types of events should never be discounted and if that means a couple of years of lesser attendances then so be it.

RL is currently the Poundland, Lidl, Aldi of the sporting world which, in my opinion, is reflected by the sponsors and lack of them. The whole image of RL needs a lot of work across the board to improve its general perception and increase revenue and attendances.

Pretty much spot on. While Huddersfield will get slated for their attendance, you have to remember that on the same day Huddersfield Town were playing in a meaningful football game against Leeds. Hull city were doing the same. Now if you like both, chances are you can't afford both so which are you going to pick, an RL game that at the end of the day as little significance, or a football game where your local team are fighting for their lives. If your a neutral, the tension of the football game wins everytime!

That is something the RFL have got to realise. People won't pay money just to see pretty tries, they want tension, and to get the feeling something is at stake. We don't have that, the top teams are all fighting to finish somewhere in the mid table to fight for the trophy. The bottom clubs give up in May and concentrate on the next season. How can you then expect fans to pay money on games that are nothing more than friendlies!

Bring back P&R to give the bottom clubs a kick
Up the backside and actually start fighting for the fans and give the fans a reason to go: A RELEGATION BATTLE. What's the most exciting thing in the premier league this season? Do you think the QPR Villa game would have been anywhere near as exciting if they were told you can finish bottom and stay in the PL.

Also bring back the top 6. It actually rewarded the top 2 if a shot at the GF and also made it more difficult For the ones below. Plus if a top team goes on a losing run, it make the coaches think more as they could drop out of the play offs, rather than now where they could lose 10 in a row yet still be in the play -offs!

All of what you say is correct. However I was really poking the op, who likes to pick out headlines, rather that look undesr the surface.
If the cas is that total attendancesare dropping slightly this season, its important to find out why and then offer explanation together with possible solution(s).
The end of season play offs together with the grand final do impact on regular season attendances, as does that lack of relegation (everyone remembers the sell out at Belle Vue a few seasons ago for the relegation decider.
Their are major issues at Salford and London for which there is noquick fix and then we come to Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield, all of whom have offered cheap ST deals and are now trying to raise prices to a more realistic level.
Add to this the current ecconomic climate and the decision to show SL matches on Monday evenings and it seems impossible for attendances to grow this season.
However, the weekly games in the early part of the season have certainly been unpredictable and there have been shock results a plenty.
We have a top 5/6 clubs who are nailed on to make top 8 but, the other 2/3 spots could be just about any team in the comp and this should main interest all season.

Fantastic post and I totally agree.
There is excitement in both promotion and relegation .

Agree with all of the above. The devaluing of SL in terms of cheap season tickets does the game no good whatsoever in the longer term as fans become used to getting it all on the cheap. This goes some way towards explaining why the play-off fixtures are so poorly attended. Many no longer believe the SL product provides value for money at a walk-up price of £20 or more at the turnstiles. Wigan's home attendance against Leeds in the play-off semi final last season attracted a measly 8,235 when a Grand Final appearance was the reward for the winners and end of the season for the losers... WTF? Leeds even attracted a bigger attendance at Headingley for a Boxing Day friendly against Wakefield involving a load of academy kids than they did for their play off game against Wakefield only 3 months earlier!!!

The continued devaluing of the regular season (the rewarding of mediocrity with a Top 8 play-off system) will eventually hit season ticket sales harder than it already has. I would usually attend a Leeds V Wigan game at Headingley but I didn't do so on Friday night. I couldn't justify wasting £20 on a fixture where the result mattered not a jot.

[uTotal home attendances per SL club in 2013 compared to same fixtures in 2012[/u

[uClub... Games... 2013... 2012... %loss/gain[/u
Leeds... 4... 58392... 59852... -2.44%
Wigan... 3... 43789... 48339... -9.41%
Warrington... 3... 34117...36098... -5.49%
St Helens... 4... 47593... 55580... -14.37%
Hull... 3... 33516... 35990... -6.87%
Huddersfield... 4... 26448... 33569... -21.21%
Hull KR... 3... 22557... 22226... +1.49%
Bradford... 4... 34033... 43719... -22.16%
Catalan... 3... 21420...26156... -18.11%
Wakefield... 3... 24690... 24154... +2.22%
Castleford... 4... 26911... 27547... -2.31%
Widnes... 3... 19724... 17718... +11.32%
London... 3... 6580... 6910... -4.78%
Salford... 4... 13637... 23203... -41.23%

TOTAL... 48... 413407... 461061... -10.34%

[uSL Round 7 attendances - comparison to same fixtures last year[/u

Leeds V Wigan in 2013 = 15,524
Leeds V Wigan in 2012 = 16,113
Percentage decrease in attendance = -3.66%

Salford V Warrington in 2013 = 3,932
Salford V Warrington in 2012 = 6,179
Percentage decrease in attendance = -36.37%

St Helens V Wakefield in 2013 = 12,105
St Helens V Wakefield in 2012 = 13,177
Percentage decrease in attendance = -8.14%

Catalan V Widnes in 2013 = 7,357
Catalan V Widnes in 2012 = 9,156
Percentage decrease in attendance = -19.65%

Huddersfield V Hull in 2013 = 5,536
Huddersfield V Hull in 2012 = 9,950
Percentage decrease in attendance = -44.36%

Bradford V Hull KR in 2013 = 7,843
Bradford V Hull KR in 2012 = 10,217
Percentage decrease in attendance = -23.24%

Castleford V London in 2013 = 4,751
Castleford V London in 2012 = 5,149
Percentage decrease in attendance = -7.73%

Total Attendance in SL Round 7 = 57,048
Total Attendance same fixtures last year = 69,941
Percentage drop in attendance = -18.43%

7 fixtures out of 7 in Round 7 this year have shown a decrease in attendance compared to the corresponding SL fixtures last year.

**********************

Out of 48 SL fixtures played thus far in 2013, 12 out of 48 have shown an increase in attendance compared to the corresponding SL fixture last year. 36 out of 48 fixtures have shown a decrease in attendance compared to the corresponding SL fixture last year.

[uRound 1 Fixtures (7 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 64,387 (Avg: 9,198)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 63,376 (Avg: 9,054)
% increase = +1.59%

[uRound 2 Fixtures (7 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 69,809 (Avg: 9,973)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 71,989 (Avg: 10,284)
% decrease = -3.03%

[uRound 3 Fixtures (7 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 58,711 (Avg: 8,387)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 71,246 (Avg: 10,178)
% decrease = -17.59%

[uRound 4 Fixtures (6 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 46,166 (Avg: 7,694)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 55,477 (Avg: 9,246)
% decrease = -16.78%

[uRound 5 Fixtures (7 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 50,207 (Avg: 7,172)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 57,593 (Avg: 8,228)
% decrease = -12.82%

[uRound 6 Fixtures (7 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 67,079 (Avg: 9,583)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 71,439 (Avg: 10,206)
% decrease = -6.10%

[uRound 7 Fixtures (7 in total)[/u
Total attendance in 2013 = 57,048 (Avg: 8,150)
Total attendance for same fixtures in 2012 = 69,941 (Avg: 9,992)
% decrease = -18.43%

[uRounds 1 to 7 Fixtures (48 in total)[/u
Total attendance for 48 fixtures in 2013 = 413,407 (Avg: 8,613)
Total attendance for same 48 fixtures in 2012 = 461,061 (Avg: 9,605)
% decrease = -10.34%

Championship ave, just under a 1,000 today