Let's!


Firstly, let's cover the context issue. Whether anyone gives a toss about the FA cup games is neither here nor there in the context of the quotes used above.
Starbug observed the banks of empty seats and The Printer followed up with an opinion regarding peoples attitudes to the FA cup. These observations are connected as one leads into the other and given the first one was in regards to actual attendances, then the attendance at the City v Chelsea game is valid. Because it doesn't suit your agenda doesn't make it any less so. Hope that clears the context issue up for you.
Now you've introduced "ticket offers" to the mix. Are you saying that cheap tickets offer no long term benefits to those who offer them? Are you saying that to offer them indicates a struggling sport?
I'd suggest you forward your concerns to Red Hall and mark them for the attention of Miss S. Bolton

The FACT is that 47,013 people did give a toss....another 60k in London cared and even 30k in Everton could be d....the comparison is flawed because the RL clubs also made offers, but less people gave a toss, cared or could be d.....by a massive amount!

And they said Richard Lewis wasn't operated on at Roswell.

Liars.

Could it simply be that the figures the RFL have provided have come directly from Sky, which are much more likely to be more accurate than BARB, hence the figure about peak viewers?

Isn't BARB based on a select panel of household calculated up to make a figure for what people watch?

As BT Sport is available on the Sky platform, they will be able to provide statistics for their share of how many people watched BT?

I said when using Man City vs Chelsea is that no one is really fussed by the result. Not that they would get a low attendance.
You've already highlighted something, games at the likes of Arsenal, Man City, also Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd will still get near a sell-out just based on their massive fan bases.
Funnily enough before becoming a big player at the top of the table Man City were struggling to hit the 30,000 mark for some home FA Cup games.
You'd only have to read the paper and sports pages online to see the talk was mainly about how the game would effect the Premiership, not the actual competition in question.
In your almost constant need to be on the other side of the fence regarding RL issues I don't think trying to side with the FA Cup is a great idea. Even the Aston Villa manager said this year "many Premier League clubs could do without the distraction of the FA Cup if they were being honest".....they consequently ended up getting knocked on at home by a team 2 divisions below them. Most Premiership teams put out lines-up that they would never put out in the league, goalkeepers are often 'rested' and 2nd choices are picked.

OOOOHHHH...an insult that is neither cutting nor warranted. Aren't you all grown up.

Nope.
Starbug made an observation regarding the attendance at and The Printer followed up with his agreement, before going on to discuss supposed levels of interest in the City v Chelsea game. The initial issue here is the attendance at Sunderland and the backing up of this observation by the second poster....this is the area that I was commenting on.

Here....have ANOTHER LOOK.


In fact....in the above 2 posts, no mention was made of special offers or fascist type demands of clubs that fans MUST buy tickets to cup games......

The important bits fro above are...



No amount of you wriggling about is going to
a/ change the fact that the first part of the exchange between SB and TP was about attendances in the FA cup followed by a mention of the Challenge Cup....
b/ make any mention of offers/discounts/3 line whips or any other form of ticket promotion appear.


Lastly....you add


Why say that? I am perfectly aware that the comparison of FA cup and Challenge Cup matches is totally misplaced, regardless of if you're talking about attendances or attitudes.

What I maybe don't fully understand is why you are continuing with the side alley distraction of sales techniques used to get fans into stadiums....specifically in a thread where the main basis of your irrelevant distraction, namely United, aren't even in the comp?

Is it so hard to accept that you are wrong? It's not like its' a shooting offence when you get something wrong on here....I mean to say, I was 100k out on the RLWC attendance predictions I made.....I'm still here. I accepted I was wrong and embraced the fact that I am fallible. Is it so hard for you to accept that no amount of harping on about ticket sales tactics and the like will change the FACT that 47,013 people did give a toss, did care and did bother turning up at the not as glamorous but just as bankable FA cup match...regardless of what was said about:



47,364 people turned up in the more important Premiership a "few weeks back"......hang your hat on those 351 fans if you must. Maybe they were more fussed than the FA cup crowd.

Yes note the GOING ON bit, I'd moved on to highlight another problem with the FA Cup, I even talked about it with mention of the pre-match build up between managers in the press.




Well we'll remember that. How often have people on these boards said they've actually attended games but not been bother by the result at the end (because of the top 8 format). Did the 9,000+ that turned up at the Leeds Boxing Day game CARE about the result, did the 3,000+ at Bailey's testimonial really CARE if we beat London?

Everyone who attends a football match cares apparently, yet we hear constantly that when RL fans attend games they do so only because they're sheep and go out of force of habit.

It's just being hypocritical, if football fans turn up its because they're fussed and care, if RL fans do it's because of X amounts of downplayed reasons.

Crowds may not show it but if you follow both sports closely in this country I think RL fans are far more interested in the events of the CC than football fans are in the events of the FA Cup.

Seriously....47,013 people did give a toss, , tuppenybit or a flying about the game......351 les than gave a hoot a few weeks before and that is the point I was making.
No amount of blitzkrieg posting the same convoluted garbage about opinions and water-cooler moments will change this fact...saying that the FA cup is suffering from the same or even a similar decline to that we are experiencing in the CC smacks of insecurity and insanity in equal measure.

BTW I have no interest in anyone who says they attend any sporting match and say they "don't care who wins"......NEUTRAL is a gear I don't do!

The #1 difference being cited over here in regards to the Auckland 9's and the Wellington 7's is THE RUGBY! At the 9's, everyone had a team. There were fans of all the NRL teams there and at least 30% of the crowd actually watched the games.....at Wellington, nobody gives a toss about anyone except New Zealand....and other than the Final/Semi-finals, nobody...and I mean NOBODY watches the games.

That lot over at League Express appear to have rediscovered their enthusiasm for reporting on SL attendances AND viewing figures which were conspicuous by their season long absence last year.... well... apart from that [i"Toulouse for SL attendance in Toulouse"[/i

I eagerly await BARB's officially announced figures next week for comparison purposes

What is wrong with you?
Why can't you understand a simple point that football fans care less for the FA Cup than they do for the Premier League?
It's very well understood here. That was the point being made by both Printer and Starbug. On 2 different aspects of the same issue.

A comparison in the right context between the FA Cup and the CC isn't totally misplaced. They're both the major domestic cup competition. Both with significant history. There, a valid comparison. Of course the attendances aren't comparable. NOBODY has done that. Only you seem intent on doing so. What can be compared is a similar decrease in interest for the 2 cups in preference for the domestic league comp. In both sports they used to be of at least equal (or very close to) value compared to the league. Now that is not so.
Again, NOBODY, is saying they are worthless.

What are you on about "side alley distraction" of sales techniques? That's the whole point, these sales techniques didn't used to exist and aren't necessary for the Premier League games. They are now necessary in order to keep attendances up for the cup games.

This is the whole point. These techniques aren't needed for Premier League games. The comp is highly valued by both fans and clubs. If the Cup was equally valued and attendances would be equally as high, why would these techniques be used?

I'll try once again and see if you'll answer a simple question -
If the Cup hasn't declined in interest, why do Man Utd now force season ticket holders to buy tickets to it?


I'm not sure why Man Utd being beaten in this years cup has any relevance? Can you tell me?

You can continue to push the notion that the FA Cup is just as important to clubs and fans if you want, you'll just look very silly and as though you jumped into a discussion about a sport you know little about.

Remember NOBODY is saying that the cup is worthless, just that it has declined in interest from what it used to be. To most people that would seem a reasonable statement.

But then that would rob you of another opportunity to pretend to know the solution to every problem within rugby league.

Can you answer the question I posed? I've asked it several times now.

No chance, you'll just get a load of totally unrelated "facts" and made up stats before he moves on to something completely different (after insulting you once or twice of course) to try and divert you from the fact that he's ****** up yet again.