Excellent post.

Is this idea gathering momentum? Which clubs support the idea of 10 clubs?

I thought we were likely to be moving back to 14 clubs, which would be the right thing to do IMO.

Classic RL fan apathy!

Out of interest which of these towns/cities/hamlets listed above boast a powerhouse Football club or 2 on their doorstep? (that's soccer to some of you lot) And which of the teams on the list are from a rugby stronghold area? I'd argue that only 4 or 5 of these teams are from football dominated areas and all bar 1 have a big enough fan base/catchment area (and silverware) to cope with the competition on their doorstep.

It's great crowing about how well supported your team are when in all honesty your ty little towns and villages have s0d all to do except rugby league and your club is the heartbeat of your community and is passed down through generations.

Salford doesn't have that, bar a few hardcore supporters who'll be there through think and thin (or thin and thin in reality!

). Throw in the fact that the RFL seem hell bent on shafting us at every opportunity with ridiculous fixture scheduling (Saints on Thu night in a fortnight being another prime example) and it's no wonder our already small crowds are dwindling.

Now I'm aware that the majority creaming themselves over this thread are trolls and I really shouldn't rise to it but just thought I'd put a few of you straight with some facts.

Leeds and Hull’s soccer teams are both well supported, yet the rugby league sides still get respectable sustainable attendances.

hull city were well supported until the Allams alienated themselves from the fans

some suspicious looking attendances announced that dont look right on tv screens and photos on social media

Hmm...FACTS you say eh?

Leicester Tigers.......one of the best supported clubs of either code in the UK share their city with a Premiership Winning soccer team.
Saracens and Harlequins share an audience with Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, QPR, Brentford, Charlton, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Millwall in the top 2 tiers of football and they all attract better gates than most of SL sides, whilst Quins and Sarries are 20k gate clubs.
Wasps. Coventry city average about 9k in the 3rd tier.....with Wolves and Birmingham on their doorstep...Wasps are a 20k club...and Coventry got 28k to an 'EVENT" game this year.
Bristol City attract 20k gates in the 2nd tier....only 14k in Rugby.....placing them only behind Leeds Rhinos........
Newcastle.....er....yep
Sale....er same stadium as Salford, same issues......more fans........and no local derbies against sides a bus ride away Like Wire, Widnes, Wigan or Saints......
I think Worcester, Bath, Gloucester and Northampton are the only clubs in the Aviva that don't compete with football/soccer clubs.......

In terms of best averages for a full season, it reads Leicester, Saracens, Quins, Bath Wasps LEEDS, WIGAN, London Irish, Northampton, Gloucester, HULL FC, Exeter, SAINTS, WIRE, Newcastle, CASTLEFORD, CATALANS, Worcester, LEIGH, Sale, HUDDS, WAKEY, WIDNES, SALFORD.........

24 TOP teams across both codes and League has 3 in the top 12.........all those League clubs with MAJOR soccer sides in them...which kind of makes your FACT pointless......Leeds United, Wigan Athletic and HULL City all attract bigger gates but the RL clubs do very well....Wakefield on the other hand have 325,000 people within 4 miles of their stadium.......and can't attract more than 1.5% of them to games.

The top 6 SL clubs in 2017 delivered 680,000 fans, the other 7 sides 510,000.......the clubs like Wigan, Hull, Leeds, Saints and Wire are the ones driving the competition.......Salford, Wakey, Huddersfield and Widnes are the ones holding us back in COMMERCIAL TERMS.......not historical or culturally......but for the game to grow and attracts fans and sponsors, we need to shed some of the deadweight.........

Wow, torrential rain in Wigan all day!

Wigan. The 5th best supported team in sl. If you listen to their fans they claim that ever kids first words are that god awful chant of “wi-gun, wi-gun”. Their average attendance is embarassing

Regards

King James

All the attendances this year SO FAR are a worry......less than an 8k average as of the start of April.....remove Leeds, Wire, Hull Saints and Wigan and it is 5,500



...that is truly awful!

So without Leeds, Wire, Hull, Saints and Wigan, the Super League average attendance is lower than Toronto’s average in League 1.

8750 is pretty decent for KR I believe, especially with a Catalans home game already thrown into that.

With the challenge for the Leeds game for next week going well with over 10k sold that average should rise further.