Covid doesn't seem to be affecting football crowds, my football team Hartlepool United are getting their best home attendances for years, nearly 6K each game.

Brentford, my local club when I lived in London, have played 3 home games in the Premiership this year.....the stadium holds 17,250 fans and has been 96% full for all three games.
Another ex-Landlord of the Broncos, Harlequins Rugby Union have played 2 Gallagher Premiership games and both games have been at 98% capacity.

Hey. I get it. Covid is a scary beast and it is very much still around, but it only seems to be hitting Rugby League Crowd. No doubt, once the 2022 season starts attendances will bounce, but if they don't, what excuse other than the game is in strife will you come up with? Catalan and Toulouse ate my homework?

What we need is more pit village sides and less of this expansion malarkey. Featherstone v Bradford is what the public want to see....not some French Team with a higher average attendance than Featherstone and Bradford combined.....

Maybe the ageing RL fan base is the reason for it effecting RL matches. The sport needs younger fans.

101%!
Rugby League as a sport needs to spend 10 times on Marketing itself in 2022 to just "tread water"....people have had 2 years to find something else to do and we need to get the Fans back....

I see "event" marketing a being Key in the next few years....

Blimey Izmir? You said on TRL "[iAs I run and coach an amateur club and small League I fully understand the importance of the local game[/i". Are you also a self declared marketing expert as well?? Is there no end to your talents??

Quote: orangeman "'" Quote: orangeman "101%! Rugby League as a sport needs to spend 10 times on Marketing itself in 2022 to just "tread water"....people have had 2 years to find something else to do and we need to get the Fans back.... I see "event" marketing a being Key in the next few years....'" So what are the key areas that will guarantee a return on investment ? Many other sports have had 'events' which attract a good one off number, but doesn't turn into sustainable growth (e.g. Saracens RU games at Wembley). What should Wigan or Saints be doing to encourage growth outside their dormitory areas - if these two can't get 15k crowds week in week out then there's little hope for the rest. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... gby-league

Quote: orangeman "'" Quote: orangeman "101%! Rugby League as a sport needs to spend 10 times on Marketing itself in 2022 to just "tread water"....people have had 2 years to find something else to do and we need to get the Fans back.... I see "event" marketing a being Key in the next few years....'" So what are the key areas that will guarantee a return on investment ? Many other sports have had 'events' which attract a good one off number, but doesn't turn into sustainable growth (e.g. Saracens RU games at Wembley). What should Wigan or Saints be doing to encourage growth outside their dormitory areas - if these two can't get 15k crowds week in week out then there's little hope for the rest. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... gby-league

Covid fear must only be in RL fans then. Football stadiums are sold out, boxing events sold out. Darts events sold out. Cricket events sold out. Even the NFL games in London are sold out.

Using Covid as an excuse is laughable.

And all them sports have a bigger younger demographic going to live events. I am not saying that's the sole reason for poor live gates in Super League but it cannot be ignored. The sport desperately needs to attract younger fans.

Covid hesitancy is an issue, and not just for Rugby League. Plenty of the events that are selling out have an audience that is far bigger than their stadium capacities. They are selling out, but they are doing so slower than normal. I've been to every Premier League game at Anfield this season, and they've obviously all been sold out, but tickets have been far easier to come by than they usually are. There was a handful still available for Man City at home - the biggest fixture of recent seasons - on the club website on the morning of the game last Sunday. In normal circumstances that is unheard of. I follow the PDC on Twitter and they were promoting "tickets for tonight still available" throughout the World Grand Prix over the last week. They would normally be sold weeks ago. I've been told by a union fan that the RFU have put tickets for England V Australia and South Africa on general sale, when they could normally fill Twickenham twice over for those games selling to members only. I'm sure the NFL in London will be sold out today, but again, those games always sell out and it may well have been easier than normal to get tickets. I realise the NFL signed a deal with Spurs long before Covid, but it is still worth pointing out that the capacity is over 20,000 less than Wembley where the games have always been before.

Those things all still sell out eventually because for every regular atendee who chooses not to, there's someone else waiting in the wings to pick up the remaining tickets. Rugby League obviously doesn't have that so the attendances drop. Given the situation and the teams playing - one who would obviously bring few fans, and another whose fans have seen it won plenty of times before - I actually thought 45,000 was decent. I expected less than 40,000. If it had been Wires V Hull for example, with decent sized fan bases who have yet to see a Grand Final win, you could add 20,000 to that as an absolute minimum and there's nothing to worry about.