Are you up for a £100 charity bet? Joining Jack? SPF? RL Benevolant Fund?

You're wrong, and won't admit it. So lets see if you've got any balls behind the bravado.

Ill say the 2013 World Cup will at least get within 40k of the hugely successful Aussie 2008 WC, even though Australia is the be all and end all of all things rugby league.

To be fair Gutterfax, a lot more tickets have been sold so far than i was expecting. You have to remember that tickets went on sale around October time (I think), thats the time people usually do their xmas shopping. Now we are at the point where no one has any money as it is after xmas.

A lot of fans won't be buying them until much later in the year (myself included) I think the point fans are making is that ticket sales are looking resonably healthy considering they haven't been on sale long and there is still plenty of time to buy tickets.

Disregarding this bizarre statement, if you aren't satisfied then what would you class as good ticket sales for an event 8 months away, with kick-off times yet to be confirmed? Were you expecting the tournament to be sold out by now? How many tickets had the RU World Cup final sold 9 months in advance?

Firstly...neither of us is right or wrong......we are expressing our opinions which happen to differ. Next, I don't feel the need to wave cash around to add weight to my standpoint that a minimum of 80% of the tickets to the tournament are still unsold....you plucked 65,000 at Old trafford out of the air....I quoted the RFL's figure of 35,000......no need to go near my wallet.
RLWC 2008 attracted 293,000 to 18 games.....your assertion that RLWC 2013 will attract 250,000 to 28 games is pathetic........Millenium stadium, Wembley and Old Trafford hold 240,000 on their own......this is the pinnacle of our sport FFS.

I repeat....I hope they do sell well, but the press release is flawed and points to a slowdown in sales.....which might have something to do with the lack of a TV deal or a naming sponsor......Lincoln paid a million quid in 2000.......what odds on that being repeated?

Didn't think you'd back your argument up.

You're wrong and know you are, that's why you're getting all rangy like a baby. And Starbug getting on your side speaks volumes.

Any number of people coming over from a nation like PNG to watch their national sport is superb, and the opportunity of a life time for people who have probably never left the country before. Soon as I have a number I will let you know.

Jonny's offer is a very reasonable one, time to put your money where your mouth is...

The ' telling ' point for me was the extension of the ' early bird ' offer , that always seems very strange , to me if sales of it have gone well , I wouldn't extend it , normally it gets extended when sales are slow

Just my opinion of course , it doesn't really bother me either way , I hope it goes well and England win it , I attended the final in 2000 , but it was the semi final that broke my heart , I was 10 minutes late getting into the Reebok , by the time I sat down , the game was over

Not really no , I hope it is a success , moreso that somehow England can win it

Ah it does not take long for the negatives to come on and push an agenda. Speaking personally I know very few people who have got tickets for the World Cup.

The fact they have sold over 20% (I'm assuming no one is arguing that figure as a conservative estimate) bodes well.

Come summer if 50% are not sold then they may start to worry, but lets face it we can't change attitudes over night and league fans are used to being able to turn up when ever they feel like it and get in.

Whether that be months in advance or on the day. If that is the usual experience, then why would they change behaviour.

Me and my family are exactly the same and will buy our tickets towards the end of the season as usual. The best thing for RL will be if regulars cannot get to the games they want to get to, because we where too slow to get off our backsides and we are left complaining about a lack of tickets.

Back up my argument? are you 5yrs old?
You wanted me to take a wager that the RLWC would get maybe 50,000 less fans that 2008....with 10 more games. Nobody in their right mind would take that bet.....8,928 a game is nearly half the average from 2008 (16,331).
457,268 fans are needed to match RLWC 2008.........if you really fancy a flutter,I'll give you 2/1 on that....and BTW.....I don't bet for charity.



Good lad...you do that. I am keen to see how big this BIG GROUP is. No it's not...he's backing the RLWC 2013 to have an average of 8,928.....it's a loaded offer and one I have shown to carry no credible weight.

Dream on guys.......and make sure you secure your tickets for Cardiff before it's too late

I simply responded to the fawning over a press release that points to a slow down on sales. The negativity comes from the kids who didn't like the fact that if you re-read the press release, it's not all rosey in the RLWC 2013 garden...they even started waving their wallets at me offering me insane bets because I burst their bubble

The slowdown in ticket sales could directly have an impact on the marketability of the sponsorship rights as well as the broadcast deal.....it may not, but it could and therefore, my point is valid as well as pretty accurate.

Just think how much higher tv viewing figures would be if no one actually went.