We dont need to draw it just from Cas, we can draw it from pretty much all clubs. Where comparable attendances exist, they were by and large down in the super 8s.

Look at Leeds, 4 games we had at home in the super 8s. all 4 were down on the regular season. 3 of them very substantially, 4k from the wire gate, 3k from the saints and Wigan gates.

again my point isnt that the concepts are rubbish (they are) or that the structure should be changed (though it should) my point is on the idea that if we say this game means this, or this games means that and give every team 'something to play for' attendances will rise. If nothing else this season should have have proven that was rubbish.

Put simply, 1k people who went to watch Cas v Saints mid season, chose not to when Cas's season was on the line. 4k fans who went to watch Leeds v Warrington chose not to go to that same game in the super 8s. This straight correlation between 'importance' of the game and attendance simply doesnt exist. So im asking what else can be done, and what else is being done.

How did the 8s attendances compare with ones against Bradford, London and the early play off rounds of 2014? After all, those were the fixtures that were effectively scrapped to make way for the new system, hence the ones with which any logical comparison should be made.

You arent looking at a problem from several aspects, you were making excuses and i explained why. Which is why you only responded to one line rather than your usual line by line. Because you couldnt respond to the rest. So you wanted to change the argument.
thats just absolute nonsense. The true judge of any systems success is whether or not the games are maximising their attendance and providing a stable and economic environment for clubs to grow and fulfil their potential, around 300k fewer fans watched SL last year than 2012.

If the super 8s have lower attendances because of the CC semi and Final, and the short notice nature of the format, then implementing a format which gives short notice for fixture around the CC semi and Final was a pretty stupid idea. For you its excuse for poor performance.

But my argument here isnt scrap the super 8s (even though we should) its a question as to what we are doing as a sport to reverse that because all the evidence we have available tells us the context under a game is played in relation to the competition has very little effect on attendances. Your answer it seems, is nothing, there is no need, this silver bullet of a new system will get everyone watching despite all evidence that the system itself is a secondary factor (at best)

Why? is that our benchmark? The answer, sadly, is about the same. 16k for bradford, 12.5k london v 15k Cas and 13k Wire. (the other game was 15k v Wigan on a season ticket v 8k all ticket v Les Catalans) (we would also need to take in to account the attendances at Bradford and London which have cratered)

Surely the logical benchmark for what we can get is what we have got for those matches, and not games against other sides in a format nobody wanted?

I agree that Thursday night games are a bad idea because it is an inconvenience for people to get down there but it is another game on tv so there is a positive there and seen as there isn't much other sport happening on Thursday then our game will be in the spotlight at least a little more.

I don't agree that the attendance for the million pound game was a negative. It was approximately 7,200 which was up there as one of the highest for either of the two teams last season. I think that is even more positive when it was just hosted at wakefield's ground. It would have been different if it was made more significant with it being hosted at a neutral ground with an air of a cup final around it. Then if there was only that many and maybe a half empty ground we could be concerned but I thought it looked pretty good on tv.

If you aren't satisfied with the system then just stick it out for 3 more years. This is the RFL we are talking about so it will be changed soon.

Why are you asking "what are we going to do?"....whose we? We aren't the guys in charge of the clubs or the competition. You should be asking them IF you REALLY want answers. Any answer given on here is redundant really because we aren't the people in charge and thus you can just shoot down because in reality you aren't really interested in the answers, you just want to knock the system again.

Message the RFL, message Castleford, message Leeds.....ask them what they're going to do address your concerns IF you REALLY want answers.

the stakeholders of rugby league. On a message board to discuss rugby league. Did you mistake this, or us, for something else? Or did you run out of rabbit holes to chase yourself down and wanted an out with a little dignity? Its ok, you got it, no one noticed

So the Super 8's game vs Saints and the playoff game vs Saints both at Headingley don't convientley count?

No I asked because you're putting up a pretence that you are actually open to hearing peoples ideas on the subject when we all know you aren't and just want to AGAIN rip into this system (for about the seventh time this year).

The comment you made in a previous post about a system "maximising their attendances" can't be taken seriously because you wanted to keep the old system which showed a continued slide in attendances (not just based on a single year) so it's really obvious to see through that mask of pretend concern.

we played 2 more home games in 2015 than 2014 sweetpea

It may be a new experience for you, but if an idea ever does stumble in to your head, I have conveniently created a thread for you to voice it.

Between 2009 to 2012 attendance rose. Over 1.9m people watched SL in 2012, before the end of the 2013 season franchising had been dumped. 2013 had superior attendances to both 2014 (a system nobody wanted) and 2015. Close to 1.5m people watched SL in 2015. The RFL themselves do not expect to reach 2012 levels until 2021. So your premise here is entirely wrong.

On the systems performance this year

SL's own not particularly ambitious targets for this year were 10 sell outs (we got 4) increased TV figures (we got worse) to sell out internationals (we sold out 1) We are expected to grow 5% a year from 2015. Did we even reach our 2015 baseline figure?

already they have rowed back the target from 15 sell outs next year to 10.

You are continuing Blake Solly's mistake, and how he set himself up for a fall. The system was never going to produce 10 sell outs, it was never going to produce an attendance rise. It was never going to do anything because systems dont produce good bad or indifferent attendances. Systems are not primary factors in attendances. Marketing produces sell outs, smart thinking produces good attendances, investment produces growth, and that is the question i asked. What are clubs doing differently? what marketing are they doing to produce 10 sell outs next year? or what should they be doing? What investments are they making that will see growth? or what should they be investing in? Have you seen smart thinking from a club that will produce good attendances, do you have any ideas yourself?

Or are clubs like you, waiting for the hoards to come watch our super, smashing, great, new system.

The difference being this says Cas lost money, not Super 8s lost money like the title says.