The Challenge Cup final could be moving away from Wembley. While change is never popular the grand final is staged in Manchester and always attracts big crowds. I think it sounds like Wembley is a very expensive ground to rent, which is probably why ticket prices are also so high. Personally I wouldn't have an issue if the Cup final was moved to another large stadium around the country, but would like to see England playing more games at Wembley. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... ey-stadium

The Challenge Cup final could be moving away from Wembley. While change is never popular the grand final is staged in Manchester and always attracts big crowds. I think it sounds like Wembley is a very expensive ground to rent, which is probably why ticket prices are also so high. Personally I wouldn't have an issue if the Cup final was moved to another large stadium around the country, but would like to see England playing more games at Wembley. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theg ... ey-stadium

Cardiff for me, better pre game atmosphere due to the ground being right in the city centre, better atmosphere than Wembley and no empty club Wembley seats in the middle tier making it look naff on tv.

We need a Wembley Cup Final to attract the thousands of southern English fans who never go to a game otherwise.

It is utterly daft to move it to Cardiff, Wales. The Welsh people are not interested.

Also we need to have international matches played at Wembley for the same reason

Draper is correct in saying that Magic has affected CC Final attendances. Moving it to Cardiff isn't the solution though. It also doesn't help that it's right at the start of the football season so we couldn't use the Emirates or Tottenhams new ground for example.

It could be moved to any Saturday throughout the summer, there's no reason it has to be the last weekend in August, if anything it's too close to the play offs.

Could the drop in cup attendences also be down to how spaced out the games are? Once a month or however long it is between games stops any momentum and reduces interest in the competition due to the gap between fixtures in comparison to when it was fortnightly at the start of the season with the final being in May.

Although I preferred the 'Old Wembley', getting to the cup final at Wembley still has that magical feel about it. I don't know if that could be replicated with any other stadium. What the answer is for the challenge cup I don't know, but it certainly has lost something in recent years.

I think that is the big problem with the cup put it back how it was and the final in may lots better then

Could always do the Cup Final in Cardiff and Magic at Wembley?

Challenge Cup needs to be earlier in the season. As it is now you probably get some teams taking the cup off to concentrate more on the league. That isn't going to happen if the final is in April or May. The huge decline in attendances isn't helping the image of it being a dying competition.

As for final venues...Much preferred Cardiff to Wembley.

how about this....Please bear in mind this is just an idea

Scrap the magic weekends as it is in its current form. It creates an imbalance in the number of games played rather then being a straight forward home / away format.

Have the quarter finals all played at one venue on the same day (large northern stadium eg Etihad / Anfield / St James Park) - this to effectively replace the magic weekend.

Possibly play the semi finals at the same venue, This could be done at a moderate sized stadium in the north (Elland Road / Hillsborough etc).

Final to be played at the end of June.

Venue for the final should not be set in stone, Wembley has lost its appeal, this is clearly evident from the blocks of empty seats. Another factor is the cost involved. not for the match ticket, I have no issues with paying a premium for a cup final, but with the short period between the semi finals and the final (sometimes less than 3 weeks), train prices are already very high, accomodation is expensive...

In days gone by, many would go to the final every yer irrespective of who was player, planning their trip over the space of a long time, making it more cost effective. Back in the day, there was limited opportunity to watch live RL on TV. Now its a min of twice a week plus internet highlights.

Or, how about this....Use Old Trafford for the CC final and Wembley for the GF?

I like what you say and yes I have been to Wembley 28 times most of them for challenge cup final no matter who is their (even hull fc ) the rest was England and Great Britain games and loved them all but I still think it should be put back some one should find out if the people that go would like to put it back to were it was

And you was doing so well until you mentioned moving the CCup away from Wembley.

THe drop in attendances for the final is because we have the play off's and the Grand Final is the last domestic fixture of the season.
Back in the day, the Challenge Cup final brought the curtain down on the season.
Quite simply, it has been massively overshadowed as RL's "star" event.

As for moving it, it wasn't a massive problem while the New Wembley was being built and I agree with other posters that, having all the empty club wembley seat's does nothing for the event's image and the sport may be better served moving the Final.

The Olympic stadium would be the obvious choice but, it's an awful venue, Cardiff would be better.
Of course, The RFL are usually keen to have events in London so, Cardiff may not suit that agenda.

Playing the Grand Final at Wembley would be a massive logistical challenge given there are seven days to sell tickets and for fans who are most likely based in the north of England to arrange travel. Old Trafford is just a more logical place to play that game and has built its own history.

Ideas like playing all the quarters at the same place get floated occasionally but you need to factor in the broadcasters. When all four games are televised, Sky getting the lower ranked pair, you are forcing them to televise games at a very undesirable time, in fact it would probably need the tv deal renegotiating to achieve. The BBC are probably more pliable but would need to be on board to switch from their preferred days.

But I think that trying to move the cup final or come up with Sadler-like schemes to fundamentally change it are misguided. Lower (but not disastrous) cup final attendances are a symptom of the struggles of many cup competitions in lots of sports and it's not entirely related to holding it at Wembley. Moreover Rugby League can ill afford to throw away years of history on a whim. It's a sport which occasionally lapses into inauthenticity and gimmicky in its quest to continue its progressive tradition. Would leaving Wembley behind lead to larger final crowds? I think it's highly unlikely so it's not something I would like to see happen just so the R L community can scratch an itch.