Stand to be corrected, but don't the RFL set the prices
I'm gutted I cannot attend as we are on holiday in Rome. Booked it months ago

only dissapointed in a sense that cc crowds are down across the board , hull were charging £15 and only got a 5k crowd , even if it was a weekend fixture i don`t think there would have been many more .£15 would have been a fair price , you can say whats £3 but ive had to come out of work to look after my mrs who recently had a stroke , lot to me now and others who may have to scrimp by

I don’t agree with the like it or lump it attitude from some on here. Challenge Cup games are over and above the cost of your season ticket, I think it is unreasonable for the club to expect season ticket holders (who remember have stumped up considerable amounts for season tickets already) to pay the same as the general public.

Not everyone is living off considerable pensions, earn average income or have just themselves to pay for.

I would have liked to have seen a discount applied for season ticket holders not only out of loyalty but also to incentivise them to come along. As it stands, we’ll be lucky to break the 3,500 barrier and that’s with a decent Widnes following.

Don't both clubs involved have to agree any reduction as they are shared gates?

Just to clarify, do we have thousands of people who can't/won't pay an extra few quid more than they expect to, or thousands who aren't interested in cup games before the semis?

Being pragmatic, I'd imagine that if a home cup game against a local superleague team in a season in which we have our best chance of reaching a final for 16 years appeals to you, then you'd probably go regardless of whether it was £15 or £18. What the sport needs to somehow do is make these games appeal to the type of fan who seems to see a season ticket to home league games as the be-all and end-all.

I totally understand what you're saying Iain and as I only have myself to pay for, the £3 difference wouldnt matter to me. I am however conscious that for families it is an added expense, over and above the cost they may still pay for season tickets per month.

I dont think it is a case of whether the game appeals or not, but as a priority can the majority of our season ticket holders justify an extra £18 (£50 for a family of 4?) of expense. I dont know, but I am sure the attendance will tell us.

A simple solution would be 20% discount for season ticket holders on the ticket price, with a quick letter/advert sent out to all season ticket holders on the data base.

My gripe was with the vip experince to be honest.

I expect to pay £20.00 for a game, but agree that a family of 4 is £50.00 plus food and drinks and parking you talking £80.00, which I know a lot of families haven't got spare.

No fault of the club it is just the way it is at the moment, every club is going through this.

Also think if people are tight with money, I think making people think they have a bargain (i.e 20% off) people are more inclined to buy.

I honestly don't think a 20% discount for season holders would make a jot of difference as I think most season ticket holders will go to the game anyway. Children get in free if they have a season ticket as well, so for a Family of 4 all season ticket holders it's £36 - I'm not sure how you can make it much cheaper than that?

I think it’s a perception thing. Fans see the Challenge Cup as an added expense and question whether it’s worth it. Offering them a special discount and those who were thinking about it, would be tempt them.

How many season ticket holders do we think we have? I would have thought between 3k-3.5k, I can’t see the total attendance being this let alone the number of ST holders turning up.

I hope I’m wrong, but if there’s more than 3k Salford fans in total (not ST holders) at the game we’ll have done well.

I'd imagine it's no where near that, the club were making a lot of noise about season ticket sale at the start of the season, but I’d imagine we have between 1500-2000 season ticket holders.

This is my point. There becomes a point where you're simply lowering the gate receipts rather than increasing the crowd. We had a cup game a few years go, I think it was against Warrington Wizards (but stand to be corrected) and the prices were heavily discounted (about a fiver), but barely a thousand turned up. I'd wager the ones who turned up would have still done so if that game was a tenner.




And that's what I think needs tackling. We (fans, clubs, RFL) need to promote the games as something the club has earned the right to play in (OK, that's tricky for the first round) and that are an exciting addition to the season, as opposed to being an added expense. If we have more fans that are interested in attending a mid-table mid-season league game than a knock out game against fairly evenly matched opposition then it's a concern. Coming back to your family of 4 example that would seemingly cost £36 admission - if the game appealed to them would they be that much more likely to turn up of it was £6 cheaper?

It’s difficult to say, £6 to me isn’t a lot but to others it could be. BUT in all fairness to even the most hard up supporters, £36 sounds like excellent value and I suppose it’s getting that message across. It’s not difficult to knock up a leaflet and get it sent out to all existing ST holders, especially those with multiple ST’s at any one address. Break it down, £9 each for a family of four or kids come free however works best but get the message out there. It took them long enough to even announce a date.

Challenge Cup attendances generally halve from the typical Super League attendance, I would imagine we are therefore looking at a crowd of 3k or worryingly even less.

Kids season ticket holders are free, so it would cost £36.
Granted, still a lot if you don't have it, but when I didn't have any spare money, I used to take the kids drinks in with me, in fact I still don't buy anything inside the stadium.

We're playing in the Ashes?