Usually we have quite a few threads and posts on stats, viewing figures, attendances etc but so far I haven't seen one.

So I dug around to see if there was any summary how Week 1 went and - especially given the weather - it was a bit of a record breaking week

* The average audience for the opening televised fixture on Sky Sports 1 last Friday, Widnes Vikings v Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, was higher than any other opening weekend televised game in the Super League era and was 75 per cent up on the average weekly audience in 2011.

* In the whole of last year, only the Super League Grand Final pulled a bigger audience on Sky Sports than tuned in to see Widnes’s return to the big time

* Early indications from the BBC are that the new-look Super League Show was watched by more people on BBC1 and the iPlayer than ever before

* A total of 73,720 people attended the seven opening round fixtures, producing an average attendance of 10,531 - an increase of 12 per cent on last season’s average attendance across Super League.

Full articlehttp://www.superleaguefans.com/rugby-league/2012/02/08/stobart-super-league-opener-sets-records-tumbling.htmlrl

In the teeth of a recession and Arctic conditions I reckon that's nothing short of miraculous. Some credit must be due to someone, somewhere?

Surely not the RFL doing a good job?

Can you tone it down please, this is all far too upbeat for your average RL fan.

Agreed.

Nothing to do with Widnes, its the All New Wakey that everyone wanted to see

A more sober analysis.

Super League 2012 - Week 1 attendances = 73,720/7 = 10,531
Super League 2011 - N/A - Magic Weekend
Super League 2010 - Week 1 attendances = 78,090/7 = 11,156
Super League 2009 - Week 1 attendances = 78,141/7 = 11,163

HTH

It was already pointed out by Devils Advocate rlhererl - a few posts down.

No retractions from the naysayers yet, but I'm sure that's just an oversight.

It's certainly encouraging news for Super League (and Sky in particular) that the sport is attracting far more bums in armchairs watching the game.

If those bums start being transported, through the medium of legs, to SL stadia throughout the country, then yes, everyone's a winner.

Ive watched all the games and programmes so far and went to our game and im encouraged by the Super league product as a whole this year. The league will probably break records again this year attendance wise.

We need to build up the playoffs more and improve on them if we want the sport to really get bigger. The playoffs are supposed to be the pinnacle of the season but most stadiums are half empty at best. I will be interested to see if the playoffs attendances etc improve this year.

I'd say it's far more likely that bums shall remain in situ, through the medium of hands and thumbs, to Sky Remotes throughout the country, and yes, Sky's the winner.

Best to give up now then.

And therefore a bigger deal from Sky next time the deal comes round to being renewed then.

Everyone's a winner!

It's true, then; RLFannies just can't by and large cope with good news about the game.To the diehards pushing the envelope of spinning good news into bad, I salute you. To the relatives of those who choked to death on their Cornflakes or were struck dumb by the news, I apologise.

The average attendance will go up this year simply based on the fact Widnes have replaced Crusaders, who had a small fanbase and we have created some more local rivalries in SL. On top of that Saints, Wire, Leeds, Catalan and Salford all have bigger grounds and there is renewed optimism at Wakey and London.

To properly compare the opening weekend attendances with previous years you have to look at the actual fixtures. To me there wasnt any particularly good fixtures maybe with the exception of Hull v Wire. Also you have to take into consideration the weather, which will have affected the attendances.

I suspect an average attendance this season of over 11k. This will improve if Bradford and Hull have a good seasons, as both are teams capable of 20k+ attendances for derby matches and 14k for regular round matches if they are playing well each week. I have hope for the latter but despair for the former.

I was very surprised with the TV figures, but more people watching the game will hopefully mean more people going to games in future and subsequently more season ticket holders and more money off sky and other sponsors.