As Phipps has touched on Wales union international day in Wales is a big thing.

Thousands will decend on the capital to literally have a few drinks, watch Scotland-Wales at 5pm and continue drinking afterwards. Most of these people will come in to the centre on the train.

If the RFL have an ounce of sense they will get some kind of advertising, promotional activity smack bang in front of central station to target these fans as they come out of the station. Not a lot has been done down here with regard to advertising to date but this could more than work.

Don't get me wrong most will want to watch the union games and stay in the pub, some will ignore the advert/promotion completely but if we make it clear that you can go in and pass out at any point (key point to emphasise being they can get back to the pub to watch the Scotland-Wales game at 5pm) then I think we could shift a lot more tickets to South Wales fans and even more importantly new fans to the sport.

I think the benefits of a large electronic advert or even women in catsuits with a banner and leaflets stood directly outside the station where the thousands of fans are bottle necked would far outweigh the cost. It's not as if these fans will be watching live sport that day and will in the main spend it in the pub. Most are 5 minutes away from the stadium so offering the chance to watch live rugby, billing the Saints-Wigan game as the big one, for as little as £17.50 would see quite a few taking up the option in my opinion.

What do others think?

I think you're spot on with this. When I lived in Cardiff, I remember wondering down to the shops, realising Wales were playing that day, due to all the people milling about and stumping up a fiver to get in. There'll be plenty of people who won't have a clue that Millennium Magic is on, who would be happy to spend the day watching a few RL games. Same for Sunday.

Totally agree...you emailed the rfl?

According to The Sun there's only been 24,000 tickets sold for the event, and one UK based club has sold less than 100 tickets. I know its The Sun but still.....

There's so much that could be done to generate interest or increase the gate. With Magic weekend, Wales RU match and it Valentines weekend, Cardiff is going to be heaving. Personally, I'd have thought a campaign tying Magic with Valentines Day would be good as a sub-promotion. You've got all the derbies going on, so you've got a Romeo and Juliet, House of Montague and Capulet vibe there. You could have a 'Big screen' outside central station showing a 30 second ad, which has a narrator reading the prologue of the play with dramatic images of two 'star-crossed lovers' falling in love against the wishes of their fans and clips of a derby game. Bit of dramatic orchestral music, that sort of thing.

But, considering the top tier and North Stand won't be open, reducing the capacity to around 25k, I doubt the RFL will be doing anything extravagent.

As opposed to what at the equivalent time last year? I haven't bought mine yet but then i live in cardiff so i'm assuming i can pop to the ticket office.

You make some good points. Either way there will b some good banter with the union fans as always!

Not sure how you've worked out 25k capacity though. It's a 74k stadium and most of two tiers are open. There is no way that the top tier and the north stand count for nearly 50k seats.

I think from what I know from my time living in South Wales rugby union is the only game that matters down there and that will always be the case.

South Walians had a chance to follow RL when the Celtic Crusaders were in Bridgend. Bridgend was very well situated to attract Rugby supporters from not just the Cardiff Blues catchment areas but also from the Ospreys and Scarlets. Even Newport (home of the Newport Gwent Dragons) is not that far away.

Yet as we know the rugby supporting public of South Wales weren't in the slightest bit interested.

Rugby is almost a religion in South Wales. In days gone by it was said that the only way to get a job out of the mines was to either play rugby or sing in a male voice choir. The Welsh love their rugby union. A campaign in Cardiff to get them to be interested in RL would be about as effective as Sale sharks advertising outside Old Trafford on Grand final day.






There is really only a bottleneck at Cardiff Central when you are trying to leave Cardiff. Lanes are set up to correspond with the particular train services (Rhondda, Cynon Valley, Newport, London, Merthyr, Manchester, Swansea) and BTP usually make you line up outside in your correct row to avoid hundreds of drunken people all piling onto the platforms at once. It's very well managed too although having to line up outside can be annoying if it's raining...and 99% of the time in Wales it IS.

Arriving in Cardiff you generally just exit the station immediately and are just across the road in Greggs buying a steak slice within 5 mins of your train arriving at Caerdydd Canolog (bit of Welsh for you there) so your 'women in catsuits hanging around outside the station' idea is a bit of a waste of time.

Unless they are forced to wear tight fitting white T shirts of course. It WILL be cold and it WILL be raining in Cardiff. As always.

Phipps,

They are rugby fans first and foremost with the international team playing hundreds of miles away along with the local regional team that weekend.

You say that Cardiff Central train leavers do not bottle neck. I move through the same ticket barriers every day along with thousands of others and have been approached by dancing noses handing out tissues, tiger tiger staff handing out leaflets weekly and various other weird and wacky ideas aimed at the 'non bottlenecked' punters.



The picture shows 4 sets of doors, three of which are dead central ahead of the main ticket barriers. There are two to the left but the outer doors are used very little and are sometimes locked. Anyway my point is most come through these doors and if we target this area which people must walk across to get to restaurants, work and various pubs and clubs we will benefit. If anybody that lives and works in Cardiff can verify this to be the case that would be appreciated.

Fans going home will not be as important as they will have already missed a days rugby and if they haven't taken up the offer on day one to take the going home option they probably won't return so it's better to target new fans with a straight head (at the time) and full wallets.

If the RFL move quickly they will be able to appeal to 70,000 plus watching Wales-England in the city this coming Friday. I'd go as far as getting leaflets advertising the event and pointing them to ticketline on Westgate Street that will be selling the tickets.

Come on RFL, do this one thing and you will reap the rewards.

It doesn't have to be anything expensive just a couple of said women/men holding up a large banners that people leaving the station need to pass by or even under.

Get the message out to people. If they are already out and about they are looking for a good day anyway and this would basically be giving them the option.

Have to disagree with you about the 'Rugby Fans first and foremost' bit crucru.

In my opinion (although I don't live in Wales anymore and I'm not Welsh) from what I've seen in the area regarding Rugby its Union or nothing in South Wales. By all means if they want to try advertising MM then good luck to them but I honestly can't see anything coming from it, well certainly no big interest anyway.

I havent left Cardiff Central station during the rush hour (which maybe you are referring to) so maybe things are different then.

And on a Saturday most people get off at Queen Street anyway.

I disagree. For matches the nearest station to the pubs and more importantly the ground is central and will be the more busy of the two.

Well yes but on Saturday most people tend to use Queen St.

And another important fact is that trains from places such as the Rhondda, the Cynon Valley, Pontypridd and Merthyr (which if I dare say it will be carrying a lot of your potential target audience) go through Queen St before they arrive at Central. I would suggest most of the passengers on Saturday will get off there.

No reason why a simple leaflet handing/banner/electronic advert board could not be used at both.

As I say I think it could work.

You are assuming that people that are travelling down on the Arriva Trains service from the 'Vaaa-Leeees' can read. Or even want to read.

All that will be important to them will be the following (in order)

1. Getting off the train for a P*ss. ASAP. It will have been just under an hour since they got on, they will have been on the cans since Troedyrhiw or Aberdare (not including the cans they had in the pub before they left) and will be busting for the toilet.

2 Getting off at Queen St means avoiding the Police that will be on duty at central seeing as a lot of them will probably be wanted on warrant for something.

3. They may have some fake tanned covered, dyed haired, muffin topped young ladies with them (who all seem to wear Welsh RU jerseys 3 times too small for them) whose sole aim will also to get off the train for a p*ss, to avoid the Police at Central and then to go to Primark before heading for the Walkabout or the Prince of Wales (via McDonalds) The girls will be hungry as it will have been just over an hour since they had a Peters steak and kidney pie and large chips.

They will all just want to drink, put on a glittery Welsh cowboy hat and then watch the Welsh RU team play a game that they dont really understand whilst getting bladdered. Followed by a fight, a kebab and then throw it all back up in the gutter at midnight before catching a train home...unless they spend the night in hospital or in the custody suite at Canton cop shop.


Tidy rugby day day Init butt.