A different situation. The empty seats in such a big stadium like John Smiths detracts from the atmosphere and is of financial concern when it's an average crowd across a season.
A one-off game like a semi-final is more about how it appears on TV. There were enough there so it didnt appear empty and if the game had been close and competitive people watching on TV wouldn't notice the empty seats.
A more than half full LSV in a one off televised game is different to a quarter full John Smiths week-in week-out.

No I think we had the ''protest ' against Wigan in the league - agree with the poster who suggested the club should refund the travelling fans costs

Funny how memories are twisted by time! At the moment London are the worst team in the league & got torn a new one by one of the best, so what? The team at the top of the table was only a few seasons ago the worst team & Wigan were in dire straits staring at relegation things go in cycles & things can change but not if they are not given the oportunity to do so & we have had teams go whole seasons without a win no one was screaming to dump them. They have not gone bust or cheated on the cap which can't be said of others in the league just get off their backs & support your own team.

London Losses in order of how heavy

+72
+71 (CC)
+58
+36
+34
+30
+28 (Three times)
+26
+24
+20
+16
+14
+6

Wins
+34 v Salford
+19 v Sheffield (CC)
+14 v Castleford
+12 v Featherstone (CC)
+9 v Bradford
+7 v St Helens

Draws
Hull FC
Castleford

So what the only people that concerns is the suporters & owners of London. In 18 years of super league they have finished as high as second & had a challenge cup final place. More succsess than the team I support & Salford, Wakefield & Castleford. Some team has to be bottom at the moment its their turn just be glad its not your team.

Should they, shouldn't they??? Boot them out, keep them in.

Settle down folks, the SL chairmen have taken steps to sort this all out for you by bringing back P&R

London fans will be comforted by their history of woodenspoonophobia. What's the betting that next year they'll finish mid table and two other more worthy clubs will be sacrificed? If I had to choose 2 clubs to come down to tumbleweed town it would be Castleford & Wakefield. What a massive boost to our league that would be. The colossal battle between the three Wakey clubs would be awesome and would bring a massive shot in the arm to The Championships.

So please London. We need you in SL. Come on you Broncos! ! ! !

I'm pretty sure Mr Hughes is none to pleased either. Lets face it, he is bank rolling this club year in year out as the fans whilst contributing are never going to bear the full weight of this club.

London's survival is down to a benefactor, like the vast majority of SL clubs, but the London rich man does seem to have to dig deeper than most to support his club. The big question is how long his patience and pockets can last and is there another money man ready to lose a substantial amount of money yearly, for this kind of performance.

Whilst the fans deserve better, the players seem to forget who is employing them and keeping them in position where they play for a living rather than work.

A lot of people have said the result is more embarrassing than the crowd, but, whilst you'd hate to see lots of results like that, freak games ( or freak teams making the semi finals ) do happen, and we all know that League very dramatically amplifies difference in performance into huge differences in scores, especially in fast summer conditions.

No, the crowd is far more of a problem, as is the fact that French and Davies* are the best the BBC can be bothered to wheel out on this one-of-few days we get to spread the game to the wider public. If you're an optimist, or even Smokey, and convinced we're in safe hands with Nigel and his mates, then maybe you don't go as far as saying the game is in trouble, but only the hopelessly bewildered wouldn't at least recognise that our cup competition is.

(* and by the way, they both deserve credit in a huge number of ways for what they've put into the game - far more than any of us ever have - its nothing personal, but its just a weak combination as a commentary team which does nothing good for our profile )

I would never say never.

I do think people jump to extremes. Going from we need London or SKY and all sponsors will pull out of RL and the sport will collapse in on itself.

To RL just does not work in the capital.

It's neither. The issue is that the Broncos have not worked in the capital since the overseas quota was brought into line. The loyal supporters will have more of an idea why this is, but from the outside, it's difficult to understand how you can spend at cap and be so poor.

I'm not advocating saying the Broncos should stay in SL, but also neither should they be thrown out as they are not flavour of the month.

People wanting them out at all costs, sits as badly with me as the RFL wanting them in at all costs. If they are going to die then that's down to the owner and fans. But RL can exsist in the capital, it may not be as a top flight SL club in 2013.

But certainly the skolars are pulling their own weight.

I think part of the reaction to London, is that London have had advantages with quotas and the licencing system set up with London and other expansion areas in mind that they could never be at risk. People feel now is a chance to get the knife in.

I do wish London where doing better, but if they are in the bottom 2 next year there should be no special measure to save them. However if they survive, there should be no special measure to relegate them. I just want an even system, it's then down to the clubs where they end up.

Long term - Gillingham looks a better bet for RL, but they need to either adopt a franchise or set up their own club to progress through the ranks. Whether that will be the Broncos again comes back to the owner and fans.

If London can replace Gus with someone who actually knows what they're doing instead of just getting jobs for old mates, then they could survive.

It doesn,t take rocket science to understand that the biggest problem with the London club is one of identity and stability.
The very nomadic nature of the clubs existence does not give any sustainable fan base that the big name deserves.
I don,t know how much influence the RFL have had in ensuring the team is called London XXX to prove to the sporting world our sport has expanded beyond the North.
The introduction to Superleague was a short term calculated risk that was allowed to degenerate into the state it is today giving our sport a very negative outlook.
Maybe a drop down into the Championship 1 and the ascension of the Skolars into Championship 1 could be better for a renewed progression, or maybe its too late as the vultures circle overhead waiting for some of the better players.

A clearout of the RFL would be a good start, so that instead of excuses and self-justification, we could have a bunch of new people, untarnished by the past who could start with an honest assessment, which is "great sport, struggling, (proper) strategic plan needed."

The BBC could have done worse than to blackout the screen at half time and put up a message along the lines of ''We are experiencing technical difficulties and will return as soon as we can''. Then return as they were presenting the MOTM.

London in the capital could work, but it needs to be on the back of solid grassroots development of the game. You can't drop an SL team into a town and immediately get it to fly, even one as big as London.

Skolars are doing good work in Wood Green, Broncos need to establish a base and stay there, dropping into Championship 1 if necessary. Given the game is more likely to take in areas we aren't competing with existing RU clubs, I'd say that East London (look at sharing Brisbane Road with Leyton Orient) is probably a better bet than anywhere else. Encouraging Hemel to develop as a club, along with the amateur game in Medway would be a good way forward.

If we want to spread the game in the Capital in the meantime, the best way of doing that is promoting the Challenge Cup Final, playing England internationals in London, moving the Magic Weekend to London or even the Grand Final.

I don't doubt that the endgame for the RFL should be to have anywhere between 2 and 4 clubs in Greater London. But right now it isn't working, and we need to go back to basics and develop the amateur game. When development does happen, it will need to involve names already familiar to the southern public, and we should be looking to bring in RU players who could make it in RL - Manu Tuilagi, Billy Twelvetrees and Matt Banahan spring to mind. But a whipping-boy team full of ancient Aussies is something no-one in the North, let alone in London, would want to watch.