You make comparisons to Big SL clubs that are not relevent. They play Friday nights, something that would never work for us. Our situation is unique.

Saturdays are best, regardless of the stay-aways who prefer watching soccer.

I wasnt making the comparison, POD was

Sorry, quoted wrong person

Harlequins Rugby League has about appx 1,300 supporters who attend (nearly)every home game (maybe not tonight...thus the nearly).
So, where do we find the 11,000 we need to fill the ground?
Firstly, on our own doorstep there is a population of nearly 200,000 (est figure 200icon_cool.gif, so we really shouldn't look to far afield to start with.

Our shirt sponsor states that it has 3,033 full time students with another 590 odd part timers.
Target 1: The students of St Mary's. Cost....minimal if any
There are over 4,500 16-18 yr olds studying at Richmond UT College. Do we market the games to them?
Target 2: The Students of RUTC. Cost....Minimal if any
The residents of the borough. The R&T Times has a circ of 34k, with 24k of these letterboxed. It is great that we get exposure, but it is a murmer as opposed to a shout. We need to find another route to market.
The borough themselves publish Arcadia Magazine, that is letterboxed to all 80,000 homes in the borough 6 times a year. 1 page in this publication has a book price of £1,400.......now, that would seem to be a bit of a bargain?
Target 3: Locals...cost...between £1,000 and £1,400 to reach everyone.
The Businesses in the Borough. AFAIK, Quins are members of the local Chamber of commerce.........er....HELLO!!!!!!!We will never sell boxes to the same people who have them for Union...Deutch Royal Halifax Barclays Ltd just aren't interested, but a local business may well be.
Target 4: Local Businesses........cost...free if we leverage Quins membership

So, there are 4 routes to market with little or no expense to the club giving exposure to in excess 200,000 people and most businesses in the borough......

Your ideas on marketing seem much better thought through than the ones you have on betting

But then again I don't know anything about marketing...

More than play on Sundays.


In other words it suits you, so b*gg*er anyone else. That approach isn't going to sustain the club long term.

This whole issue has been done to death since we returned to The Stoop. If it was as obvious as some people like to make out that Saturday afternoons are a no brainer we'd already be pulling as many punters as everyone else, we wouldn't have the smallest crowds in the league, and there wouldn't even be a debate.

Let’s face it; all the arguments that take place on this board over whether games should be played on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday won’t make a frigging difference to our attendances. Fulham/ Crusaders/Broncos/Quins have p*ssed off enough supporters over the years to fill the Stoop twice over! What the club has to do now is try and market the club in a sensible fashion and, amongst other things, take note of some of the ideas that spring up from time to time on this board.
Tonight, I will be attending only my second game this season. Other commitments mean that I can’t make Saturday games and for what it is worth I will add my opinion to this debate.
Other members of my family are season ticket holders but because they have been supporting their football team since before Fulham RLFC was a twinkle in Ernie Clay’s eye’s they see football as their number one priority and miss Quin’s Saturday games when their football team is at home. They have been season ticket holders for a number of years and anyone who says they are less committed than someone who turns up every home game is talking absolute rubbish.

The more I read the forum on this subject the more I think the club should really look at a dual start day. Winter Sunday until the RU/WENDYBALL season is over then Saturday afternoon's. This season Brentford are having a good Year their crowds are up and they have clashed with Our kick off times.

Its geared around an event each fortnight that sadly will not move due to Quins RL



Seriously, its not Saturdays by choice, its when it needs to happen



Fair enough, I guess I cannot argue with that but as I said its not about me. Its about the other missing thousands and we all know the problem still exists and is not being addressed.

A better crowd tonight but still pitiful

The missing thousands are not all choosing to exclude themselves, but are not aware of what we have to offer.

But Dave, there are approx 2000 missing from last season, in fairness they ARE missing as opposed to not being aware.

And I would be very surprised if any significant portion of those directly chose not to come because of the day of kick off due to the fact they prefered to watch another sport.

I wouldn't argue with that. Most of those missing are probably not watching any other sport at the times we're playing regardless of which day we play. What you lose on the swings I think you gain on the roundabouts in this respect. My personal preference is Sunday afternoons, but it's not as strong as it used to be. I've seen every home game so far this year, and expect to do so for the rest of the season.

The biggest problems as I see it are related to marketing and media apathy. I can't recall if it's on this thread or another one but Gutterfax's recent suggestions for targetting local media even if it means spending a bob or two seem sound enough to me. At the moment it just looks like not enough is being done. I also think we need to establish a regular matchday and time for a few years. Sundays would be my personal suggestion if only because so many of our Saturday afternoon fixtures tend to get shifted anyway for one reason or another. (I know some Sunday games would also move to Saturday evenings to suit Sky.) I also think it might help to play on a day when there are fewer other sporting counter-attractions. anyway, I don't think the Saturday/Sunday issue is the biggest factor attendance-wise.

I also feel the whole ticketing and pricing situation is a big negative. There simply has to be a stand or part of a stand with unallocated seating so walk-up ticket purchases can sit together without having to buy together in advance, and whilst I acknowledge the need to minimise staffing costs by closing some stands I think it's shortsighted and short-term to open less than half the seats in the ground. We're effectively sending out the message that we don't expect to get more than 4,000 turning up. The ticket pricing in recent years is another problem IMO. At Griffin Park I think there were always two basis prices - one for the seats and one for the terrace. (There may have been a small number of premium seats in the centre of the stand.) Prices didn't fluctuate, there was a difference of three or for quid between the two and they rose a bit each season. Since we've been at The Stoop the prices have gone up and down like Bill Clinton's trousers. One year existing STHs were offered a generous discount, which when not repeated left them feeling ripped off. Last year there wre ridiculously cheap tickets which were the equivalent of supermarket "value" lines and probably have the subliminal effect of making people think the product must be cheap in every way; instead of attracting newcomers this possibly just encouraged existing STHs to renew at a rock bottom price, and once again they'll have felt cheated now the prices have gone back up again. And finally there are just too many price bands with the cheapest about a third of the price of the dearest to sit in the same stand! Keep it simple - one premium price for reserved seating in the centre blocks near the halfway line and one standard price for unallocated seating in the end blocks or behind the goal.

Do you really think the ticketing has a significant impact on the size of the crowd.

If there are price options them all the better. If you ring up as a newbie and the club offer 6 price ranges that must be good. Im not sure people would think Im not going to watch RL due to this.

Christ it isnt difficult- got a ticket, got a seat, now sit down and watch the game

Disagree, first I don't know about all these price bands, it is not clear at all on the website. I bought my tickets online and from trying in the or on the sides, I had the choice between 25 and 20 quids tickets. It is a lot of money, plus the train ticket from Waterloo for those leaving outside SW London (8 quids). This was clearly an issue when I tried to convince friends to come to the match.

As an indication what do you belive is a reasonable price to pay to see a top flight 80 minute sporting event, minus the travel.

We cant reinburse or weight ticket prices on each individuals travel mode

Sure, but the whole cost is what is taken into account when making the decision to come. I think the cost for my seat on the side should be 15 quids and there should be an entry price for 10 quids, maybe behind the posts. If people want premium seats in the , fine. But the entry prices should be lower.
If the stadium was full I would not say that, but given that the club struggles to attract a large crowd, I think that the pricing should be reconsidered.

We all have our preferences on match day, on where we want to sit, on procing et al

The one things we are all 100% united on is that the number of bums on seats needs to increase. We I suspect are all concerned that nothing whatsoever is appearing to be done to address this issue. It was an issue at the end of last season and 6 months on nothing is being done.

Sadly putting on Karoake after a match is simply not the answer. There is a desperate need to do something. We are argue about what it is but deapite all this the club appear to be pretty inactive in solving it

At the end of the day the responsibility for getting people into the ground lays with the club and its time for action

The MD has come in half way through the season so I suspect this sesaon is now a write off(just a thought, not from experience)

Are there any quick wins?

why do you have the bbqs on saturdays?

Why, do you want to come.

The fundraising is geared around Speedway GP's being on the TV. The people who come are speedway fans, generally about 100 or so and these happen 10 times per year

I could of course have a chat with the FIM and see if on Quins home match days they wouldn't mind changing them

On the other hand why I have them on Saturdays is not anybody elses business

Am i right? next home game on sunday?

so Saturdays are fine for speedway?