Maybe it's called, "not being able to afford it".

So nearly every single Season ticket holder who has paid and can afford over £200 quid for a season ticket can't afford a one off £15 to watch a game?

Marketing, in the wide sense, is the biggest issue. Crowds for most CC ties have been pretty miserable and on the wane for years. You can say what you kie but bottom line is that for ANY event if you market it so that people find it an attractive proposition then they will come, and won't even be that bothered by the price.

Whereas if the event is not interesting then people will not come even if the admission is free.

This is not an issue of price. It is an issue of perception. The early rounds are largely viewed as a waste of time and people would rather take the week off to go to B&Q or dig the garden or catch up on stuff.

Interest in the Cup has not been lost, although certanly screwing about with it and moving the traditional fixtre times has damaged it but you still get a near full house for the Final which could easily be between two teams who had they played in the QF would have attracted only a meagre crowd. So this proves it is not the sport, and not the teams, but the event. The aura of a big Final down the smoke is viewed by 90K as well worth taking the day out for, and spending a LOT of money, EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW IT IS LIVE ON TELLY.

It's not my job to find or state the marketing methods to revive it. I just know it could be done. I do think though that it would involve a complete reconsideration of what we want from the Cup. It was of course screwed over deliberately so that the GF was pre-eminently THE big kahuna of the game, and I sort of get that given the Sky sponsorship, but it is a shame the RFL agreed to this, as taking the view that there could be only one major comp is rather insulting to RL.

One big thing that would need to change apart from the fixture timings, is the attitude of the SL clubs. If they came into the hat 2 rounds earlier then that itself would instantly restore some of the magic of the Cup, and you would certainly get decent crowds for potential giant-killing fixtures. But I fear the SL chairmen would never agree as they seem to be heading down the route of limiting numbers of fixtures, rather than increasing them. One part-solution to that of course would be to roll back the ridiculous playoffs system where soon every tem in the Sl will be involved. Say top 4 play off. But then the same SL chairmen will bleat that this will likely deprive them of a couple of games in the playoffs!

That's what i said.

If that's genuinely there issue (and I accept that everyone has their own financial pressures), then why are we creating events to sell when our target audience can't buy them?

You don't see Waitrose putting supermarkets in council estates for that very reason.

I think cost is only part of the issue, and perusing that as the easy answer is only going to devalue the sport further.

It all comes down to the "event."

The event (whichever of the earlier rounds) doesn't seem that big. To go out in the sixth round is no big deal because you're not in the competition long enough to invest much bother. You're often against teams you're familiar with, have played before, or are of a really low standard, so interest there wanes too.

I think a rugby league festival style event, like Magic, for each round would be brilliant and revive the cup personally. I love Magic as a concept, but it's an artificial extra round to be fair. Moving it to the CC would free up a fixture, reduce costs for hosting clubs, provide rugby league in a new area and probably not event affect the combined attendance in the process.

Yes,my apologies,that's what i meant. What part (amount) we'll never know.

You don't see rugby league clubs in posh areas either.

Draw a 20 minute travel radius around most RL clubs and you'll cover plenty of affluent areas - North Yorks, parts of Cheshire, parts of Leeds and parts of Manchester. Unfortunately, the clubs are largely useless at promoting themselves to those audiences (and it is the clubs, rather than the RFL to blame).

But you're right, the game isn't played in enough economically strong areas and it's the biggest barrier we have to finding sponsors. Unfortunately, the solution to that problem isn't universally popular on these forums (and is another discussion for another thread).

If all season ticket holders could see any cc cup game...not just their local team...gates would become bumper and the club's could work on reclaiming lost gate monies on large catering/beverages services and merchandise....following already greater season ticket sales because fans will see the free cc as a value bonus.

These same fans who can't afford a discounted cup tie then magically find the money to attend the final if their team get there?

The problem is everyone has the mentality of 'well I've paid for a season pass why should I be expected to pay for any extra games'.

No, that's not the problem. Some folk can genuinely not afford it.
Actually, rubber duckie makes a good point.

my view on this is the following.


each round to be every 3rd week then 4 weeks from semis to final, play the final spring bank holiday, or maybe end of June it then does not clash with other sporting events so much. that way we built up consistent steady growing interest, and everybody know when every round is to be played.

get rid of the seeding system, go back to first 2 rounds qualifiers (amateurs etr) first round proper league 1 and championship clubs come in, round 2 all super league clubs.
i just think we need to simplify the comp more and have a set structure, plus the draw should be made after last tv game on Sunday every round.

I agree with this, allows a feeling of momentum to be built among the fan base as you know it is never too long until the next step towards the final. Would see a return of the possibility of smaller clubs getting to play the big clubs (I doubt they care too much that they will get well beaten 9 times out of ten) and varies the fixture list a bit rather than just what we get now (Wigan are likely to play Warrington at least 5 times this season). I would say first week in June would be the latest we could play the final though, otherwise we will run into Wimbledon, Soccer World Cups and Euros that are on tv round the clock (the reason we have the two month gap we get now between QF and SF). Either that or we start the cup much later in the season to have the final roughly where it is now but still avoid those big events for the televised rounds.

Re cup games and season tickets I would not have them given free to ST holders as not all clubs get to keep food + drink revenue, and if it is free then people won't care if they don't make use of the ticket as it cost them nothing anyway, but would suggest that for any home cup draw (and semi final appearance) that ST holders are automatically debited for a ticket which is then posted to them with that being a condition of the ST purchase (I would do the same for a home play-off semi final). People will be more likely to turn up if they have paid for the ticket.

Another northerner unable to see past his own garden wall The average house price in Sale Way, a street on which Leigh play their homes games is £131,200.....The current average price for a House on Vallis Way in Ealing, the road at which the London Broncos play at the end of is £851,500.

I think cost is a big part of it, I mean, I don't live in Hull so I would have to go into Hull to get my discounted ticket on my season pass. So the discounted ticket is suddenly £25. I would also have to find time at some point to go buy the ticket and I work shifts so am pretty busy all the time. Don't get me wrong, this does not bother me, I do go to all cup games, but it might be an inconvenience for others. Selling tickets for £5 each would obviously get people into the ground but when you 1000s of season pass holders you shouldn't have to do that.

Competitiveness has to be considered a factor as well because if the factors I just mentioned are an issue then you're certainly not going to be spending that money on a tie against Swinton or Oldham or a team like that for instance because it is pretty obvious that the super league team will slaughter them. I know that ties like that have to exist in a cup competition but if they were earlier in the competition then I would reckon that people wouldn't see smaller crowds as an issue. 2,000 against a league 1 or championship team in round 2 say would be seen as fine I think in comparison to 2,000 in the 5th or 6th round against the same team.

I guess what I'm saying is one way of improving it would be for super league teams to enter in an earlier round along with league 1 and championship. A longer cup run would be more exciting I think, while I love the challenge cup, the fact that my team only has to play 3 games to get to wembley and might not even get a home tie (didn't this year) certainly takes away some of the magic and doesn't engage the fans the same. I would certainly be more excited if there were a few homes ties and I felt that I was investing in a real journey, a 'challenge' as it were and be part of it with my team.