Is there an option to take 5 Hull KR games in a season on a tour? Around Newcastle, Middlesbrough, into Cumbria, etc? No, so why do it for London?

London's transient existence over the last 10-20 years has stopped them developing as a club, as they've built up a base it has been smashed as they've moved over an hour or so travelling distance away. And people wonder why they've never built up crowds.

The fact we average around 8000 supporters per home game and your last attendance was beaten by Championship sides shows that having a base is not working either! Do you really think Rovers would increase their supporter base by moving to these places? Do you think Quins could do any worse by moving a few games a season to other loacations around the city?

The people that may go to RL games in London is not the Rugby Union heartland. Said it before, just because they use a similar shaped ball doesnt mean they like both codes. The Australian and antipodean areas of London are quite far away from any RL in the capital so why not give them a chance to go see a live game once or twice a season?

No...you're right. It's all done by guess work.

P&G spend a billion a year on advertising and sponsorship based purely on the tides, the suns activity and the gut feeling of their CEO

I work in the marketing world..I don't agree with the methods used to measure potential "reach" of a campaign, but believe me, if RL reverted back to being an M62 hobby, the income from TV would drop to such an extent that maybe Leeds, Wigan and FC could possibly stay full time...the rest would be buggered.

SKY find it easier to get more revenue selling a NATIONAL sport.......return to being a hobby and the advertising revenue would drop for SKY........ergo, their investment would be reduced as well.


As for taking games "on the road'......I repeat..................The average fans for the London RL franchise, apart from maybe season 1 and half of 2 have been pretty static. Regardless of where they play, what they are called and what jerseys they wear....the problem is the same...LACK OF MARKETING!

Let's say, for example, they played a game at West Ham.....and got 5,000.......how many of these 5,000 would traipse across town to the next game at say.....Fulham? Then, there's always the issue of the stadiums...as proven by Charlton and Brentford......they don't like egg chasers on their hallowed turf
The Stoop is one of the only purpose built Rugby Stadiums in the South East. The other "London" clubs play on soccer pitches and one by one, they are being moved on......only London Irish seem to have a good relationship with their soccer buddies....maybe because London Irish are the best at MARKETING themselves and get decent crowds.

The London RL Franchise for the next 4 years will be Harlequins RL. The one and only thing the club need to focus on is getting more fans in......everything else is in far better shape now than it has been since SL began.

Hate to pop your balloon but griffin park to the stoop by bicycle is 15 minutes or 20 minutes by bus. So this will be year 10 in west london with 2 grounds less than 4 miles apart. Average gate in that time is about 3500.............
One more time......just for you....
M A R K E T I N G is the issue.........nothing else.

So you don't want HKR crowds to get bigger?

Just marketing? Really?

If Rovers would benefit from taking fixtures on the road I would happily travel to see a few games at different grounds from time to time.

If the Humber Bridge were to not have the toll charge or even a £1 toll I'd be keen to take a game or so to the south of the Humber. There are untapped resources down there that could give them some top flight sport to take advantage of. Even if they don't attend all home games even just a couple a season would be fantastic plus the merchandise we could sell at these locations.

Not only then would I hope a club south of the Humber be accepted into the semi-pro game but one day have a franchise of their very own.

So yes I want the game to grow, I want Craven Park to be sold out every game, I want the Stoop to be sold out every game too but it seems you are quite happy just accepting low crowds because you are getting more people interested in playing the game and are producing a very good standard of player down in the capital.

Gutterfax I agree marketing is a tool clubs often don't feel the need to spend big money on and think a winning team will do the job for them. I have long wondered why a Safari park like Knowsley can advertise on TV during peak times yet a Rugby League clubs have never taken to this method of advertising.

The amazing rise in crowds since HKR got promoted is quite something but we have been limited to what more we can do due to the size of the stadium, kind of a catch 22 situation, advertise and welcome people into a stand or two that are poor facilities to say the least or try and get the money in on lower attendances to build a bigger stadium. Luckily we have worked very hard to get the stadium on its way to being a top facility but once it is finished I'd hope the club have initiatives to market the club correctly and to a wider audience.