The retrenchment to small/medium-sized venues for internationals and cup semis was/has been a failure. Let's hope that not only do we start getting Wembley test matches again but that we also turn cup semis into events once more.

The size of venue must be priced accordingly to fill it. Man utd are wondering why they have only sold 15000 tickets for Portugal v Argentina next week. £40 a pop might have a bearing on it.

I think you need to be realisitc, there is a massive difference between a RLWC semi final and three test series against NZ. Maybe an Ashes tour where England actually had a chance of beating Australia you woyld get 40k to each game bt against NZ anything over 20k is good, as facts show. Ide4ally we'd be aiming for 30k stadiums with some decent priced tickets for jnrs and RL registered players to fill it. I'd be very happy if each of the three games draws 20k+

You'd be happy with a 10k average and a 3-0 series win.......crowds only matter if you lose!

You'd be happy with a 10k average and a 3-0 series win.......crowds only matter if you lose!

A win tomorrow for NZ would be a big boost for this series.

I agree.

However the 2015 series will be telecast by the BBC, so it is very important that the audience for the first game sees a nearly full Wembley stadium on the TV screen.
That way some of the better off fans from outside the impoverished M-62 corridor will make the trip to Manchester to see the second game at Etihad.

The RFL also needs to spend a lot of money promoting the game in the newspapers and a little promoting it on TV (the BBC will be doing some TV promotion of its own).
But for this to happen someone needs to talk to the stingy accountant from Halifax, and explain to him how in a business you have to spend money in order to make money.

Oh, goodness gracious me .... I am dreaming again.

Bingo! Those three would be my choice too.

Obviously, the RFL need to step up their marketing efforts.

They should do a lot more to get the clubs involved too. They do it in RU - the RFU give each professional club an allocation of tickets to sell, with the club taking a certain % of the take. They get the tickets TWO YEARS in advance of the game (it'd help if we actually had an international calendar/the forward planning in order to do this), two years to sell their allocation and make a bit of money. If they don't sell them all, it works by your allocation being reduced and a club more successful at selling tickets getting a higher allocation next time.

We have potentially 30 professional clubs to use as ticket outlets for internationals.

I know we do similar for amateur clubs, where they can get a money back for their clubs, but this is under-utilised too. Where I live, only one of the seven clubs around me take advantage of this for the Grand Final each year.

The idea of two million British TV viewers seeing the brilliance of Shaun Johnson on the BBC could do wonders for the growth of our game, esp. if he plays at Wembley. But I wonder if the tunnel vision crowd at Red Hall have the brains and imagination to exploit Shaun Johnson's exhilarating displays.

Well for one RL is alive and kicking in Hull, England v Fiji (a group match) attracted a SELL OUT 25,114
England v Ireland at the John Smith stadium attracted 24k a SELL OUT, England v France at DW 22k.

That said I agree to an extent but having the 3rd test at a big stadium plus the first two at regional stadiums like the KC and say Langtree Park would be the best way to go IMO.

Wembley, Etihad and Elland Rd?

<Extremely Loud GUFFAW>

Hudds, Wigan and Leigh SV would struggle to sell out unless tickets were Sally Bolton cheap.

SL era Moonies do talk a lot of tripe.

Got to admit a few weeks ago I thought we should play it safe and go for Hudds, Wigan & Hull as venues, especially as the games will clash with the RU world cup.

but after a great 4Nations series and a superb game today I have totally changed my tune and think we should go big! Play at Wembley & the Etihad or Old Trafford. Sell the bottom tiers first, Groupon it, employ the people who did the World Cup promo, sell tickets via the clubs (with the clubs getting a cut as an incentive) bill it as revenge for the Semi final heartbreak in 2013!

Anfield (market the kop for the wall of white)
Elland road
KC
Etihad.

Any 3 from those 4 for me.

The problem with this bit is that as Test matches are generally played on a Saturday - most RL registered players will have a game for their winter amateur teams. I've always thought it's silly to have them mid-afternoon on a Saturday when a large proportion of the fans will be busy with their local clubs.

One of RL's biggest failings is that it doesn't promote it's games at the biggest and best rugby league stadiums.

Time to invest in a new stadium where the revenue streams go back to the game.