You're still including a trip and travel expenses to London or Newcastle and potentially buying tickets for an England International all at the same time.

Give yourself 2 weeks instead of 1 week to sell Leeds vs Warrington at the start of the Super 8's, but at the same time the people buying are

- buying tickets/travel/accommodation to a Magic Weekend away AND an England Interantional in back to back weeks.

Would probably see a bigger drop in reality than we got this year.

5 Weeks into the 888's and:
1. We know the top 4 in SL with 2 weeks to spare. Actually, we knew the top 3 at the start of the 888's and it was all about 4th spot.
2. We know that Wakefield will be playing a championship side in the million pound game. We knew this at Easter.......
3. The Top 4 teams in the middle 8's are the SL sides. Given the difference in cap, this isn't a shock to anyone either.
4. The top 3 in the bottom 8 were known at the start of the 888's and the top 4 were known with 2 weeks to spare.
5. Every moment hasn't counted for the fans. Attendances for the regular season were slightly down on 2014 (1.6%) and attendances in the 888's are 11% down against regular season averages and 10% against comparable regular season games where available.
6. 331,154 fans have attended 64 games so far. The statistics point to these fans being the same fans as attended games last year, with little re-engagement or returning fans.
7. We have not had to date, the 10 'sell outs" targeted/wanted by the RFL.


No doubt this first year will be "spun" as a success, but the reality is that more fans will watch more games than the number of fans who watched fewer games in 2014. These fans are the same fans that attended in 2014, just slightly poorer as they've paid more for the extra games.

Brilliant. Sell package deals to people. Buy an international ticket and get a fiver or a tenner off Magic Weekend tickets.
It's better than the playoff series we used to have where people would have to pay out potentially for 4 games in a row.

So if you buy a ticket for an International you get to go to the Magic weekend cheaper......how does that attract more fans to the first week of the Super 8's?

Super 8 games will always suffer attendances whether it's 1 week or 2 weeks, just like playoff games.

It's hardly rocket science, short turnarounds to selling games will lead to decreased attendances. An extra week might see a slight increase but not if you're putting an attractive alternative inbetween like an International or Magic week instead.

Leeds....a good year and attendances up. Regular season average 15,921, so surely the visits of fierce rivals, included on the season ticket will see crowds up in the 8's?

Game v Wire in the regular season delivered 17,430. The game in the 888's delivered 13,118. 18% down against the average and 25% down against the comparable game.
Game v Wigan in the regular season delivered 18,350. The game in the 888's delivered 15,026. 6% down against the average and 18% down against the comparable game.
Game v St Helens in the regular season delivered 18,514. The game in the 888's delivered 16,142. 1% UP against the average but 13% down against the comparable game.

3 Games in and 10,008 FEWER fans attended the games when compared to the regular seasons fixtures. Next up, Castleford who's season is already over so I doubt many will be there in Amber and Black......will the Season Ticket holders bother or will they "tune in"?

Leeds get 60,000 fans over 4 games to replace the 37,000 they had for games v London, Bradford and the 1 play off game v catalans last year or the 41,000 the season before for London, Bradford and 1 play-off game. The "extra" fans are just existing fans paying more.........

You do understand what REGULAR SEASON means don't you?

Also note the discussion above about the difficulty on selling as many tickets on short notice....especially a club who had its fans saving for Wembley and who went down in larger numbers this year than the 2014 Cup Final.

I know you want to be negative but don't do it at the expense of forgetting all common sense.

It doesn't. It wasn't about that. You suggested people couldn't afford 2 weeks of paying out in a row. I replied by suggesting you can sell package deals to people.


Not really. Playoff games suffer because you only know who you're playing and where and when a week beforehand. But also because they're all pay games. The Super 8's aren't all pay, they're season ticket games.
If you can alleviate the issue of the short turn around, by making the turn around longer, you alleviate the reduction in crowds.


Why? Do regular season games suffer from poor attendances after a Magic Weekend, Cup Final or international? Generally not. It's the short turnaround that's the issue.

Despite being a working class game, I'd suggest most RL fans can actually afford tickets to non season ticket games like internationals. It's just we generally don't give them enough of an incentive or a push to do so and they, understandably, decide to spend their money somewhere else.
If we said watch England v France at Salford for say £15/20 and you get money off watching your own club at the Magic Weekend it's providing a little extra nudge to watch both. Plus it gives clubs an extra week to organise their first Super 8 or Qualifier game and crucially get those hospitality spaces filled.
If we went with a set system whereby 1st plays 3rd in Week 1 etc it'd give clubs nearly 3 weeks as a minimum to get things organised. As the fixtures would be known immediately after the final regular season game.

If they feel the structure needs tweaking a bit then go for it but for goodness sake dont change it for the sake of it.
This has been the most exciting season for most clubs for donkeys years,so many mixed emotions all over these forums and on twitter, instead of the normal 'god im bored,im not getting a ST next season cos theres nothing to play for guff that we endured under licencing.

I have no desire to be negative.....just accurate.

Blake Solly was interviewed on Radio 4 (yes....that's BBC radio 4) a few days back and he declared that he expected the regular season attendances to be static compared to 2014. How does this compare to his bravado at the start of the yearwe want to sell out 10 Super League matches over 2015 and we want to see all our sponsors who are on board this year back again for 2016. We want to see bigger TV audiences on Sky and the BBC and we want to ensure our fans have the best season they’ve ever had.”
rlhttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/01/super-league-revolutionary-look-blake-sollyrl

The two bits I've bolded are of interest, given TV figures for SKY are down on 2014 and we've had 1 full house that I can recall (Wigan on good Friday). The BBC semi-final figures were released as quickly as the actual CC Final ones weren't and retaining foxy bingo and big soup is hardly a 'target"

On the last bit, regarding fans having the best season ever......average attendances are down. Having more games to get more people through the gates isn't a master stroke, it's milking what you've got and fans will eventually pick and choose when and where they spend their money.

Isn't that the whole point of the Super 8's and every minute matters, because every single point you make earlier in the season affects your chances at the end. If you reset the points, very few of the minutes matter, and none matter at all once you're mathematically-certain of making the eight.

The play-offs might be a better way. At least it's competitive then.

Exactly, at the time no one would've blinked too much of an eye when Widnes winning by 2 points over Warrington concede a try with 30 secs left. But if they hadn't have done they wouldn't have found themselves in the Middle 8's.

Leeds vs Salford, people focus on how poor Salford were. That Leeds put on 70 on them instead of 30/40 could yet be the difference in terms of the LLS if it comes down to points difference.

7/12 of this weeks fixtures are dead rubbers. 3 of the "live games" are sorting out home advantage in the semi-finals whilst all the real excitement is in the middle 8's.......Blake Solly will crap his pants if Bradford go up, because it would decimate the 2016 Championship crowds

Wire v Catalans
Sheffield v HKR (if you think Sheffield stand a chance of going up you're nuts)
Haven v Doncaster
Widnes v Salford
Batley v Hunslet
Dewsbury v Workington
Fev v London
...all dead games.

If Leeds and Wigan win this week, then 6 from 8 will be dead rubbers. If Bradford beat leigh this weekend it'll be 8/8...If I am wrong and Leeds, Wigan and Bradford lose this week then it's 4/8 next week

That's 55%, 65%or possibly 75% of the fixtures in the next 2 weeks having no impact on the 3 comps.....every moment doesn't count...no matter what way it's spun!

.......what about the 10 sold out Super League games? Was that just a tag-line? Or the "increased" SKY viewing figures?
They expected fireworks and got a damp matchstick......the system is flawed in that Wakefield have been preparing for this and picking their games since Easter. The same team that got hammered at the weekend will now win 3 on the trot against lower ranked teams........Halifax, Sheffield and another championship side. They don't care about losing to HKR, Widnes and Salford.........the know exactly what they have to do! How is that system not flawed?

The top 3 of the bottom 8 were known before the last 7 games started......the home semi-finalists with 4 weeks to go....how is that not flawed?