Magic Weekend 2024 To Be At Elland Road There was shock, and a fair helping on consternation, as Elland Road in Leeds was today announced as the venue for the Magic Weekend in 2024. While there was confirmation over a month ago that the jamboree would be going ahead again after it was initially suggested that it would be dropped from the calendar in the IMG shake-up, it was widely expected to return to Newcastle and St James´s Park after the success it had in hosting the weekend earlier in 2023. Six Super League games will take place over the weekend of the 17th and 18th August with a stadium steeped in rugby league history hosting all the matches staggered over the Saturday and Sunday afternoons. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Magic Weekend 2024 To Be At Elland Road There was shock, and a fair helping on consternation, as Elland Road in Leeds was today announced as the venue for the Magic Weekend in 2024. While there was confirmation over a month ago that the jamboree would be going ahead again after it was initially suggested that it would be dropped from the calendar in the IMG shake-up, it was widely expected to return to Newcastle and St James´s Park after the success it had in hosting the weekend earlier in 2023. Six Super League games will take place over the weekend of the 17th and 18th August with a stadium steeped in rugby league history hosting all the matches staggered over the Saturday and Sunday afternoons. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

IMG don't want the event so the easiest way is to kill it by sending it to a venue noone likes or wants to go to..thumbs up IMG

Takes away half the point of the event. Wigan likely to be on the Sunday so will just travel over for that.

Edit: Just seen we're on the Saturday. That's me not going

Never been to a Magic Weekend and never will.

Would have been there in Newcastle, now won't be there in Leeds. Suspect that's the same for a lot of fans.

Same for me. I was going to make a point of going up to Newcastle in 24 as I had to miss this year. I won't bother now tho. Pointless, Yorkshire bias decision.

That makes two of us

Hard to get excited about it, if come the time of the game top spot was up for grabs I'd probably want to go but at the minute it seems a bit "meh".
Good Friday on the other hand I can't wait for

What a poor choice, count me out as well.

They tried to get it at Newcastle and they couldn’t offer a date in August and this might have been the case for other venues, I don’t personally have an issue with Elland Road, yes it’s a bit old and out of the centre but not many grounds are too close to the town/city centre and I think being in a mix of pubs promotes fans to just stay in the pub until their team play so it might improve the amount of neutral watchers, Leeds is also a great City to be in before/after the matches. I don’t have a huge issue with it being in the heartlands, it has been in the past and having it in Newcastle has hardly worked wonders for Newcastle Thunder. The City Ground in Nottingham would have been a good one for a City out of the heartlands.

Magic is about generating new interest in the game, spreading the word in non league areas, Elland Road hardly does that. You are right about Thunder however, it did kick start junior rugby league in the area.

Honestly I don't believe anything they say about the staging of the event this is all about killing it something more than one press report seems to have picked up on so not my cynical view sad as I do love the event but won't be going to this one which let's be fair about it will be the last one.

Is it massively different than it being staged at the Etihad or Anfield?

Its just going to be an away game for us. We will travel Saturday morning, watch the game and come home. We did have plans for a full weekend in Newcastle etc, but this just isn't attractive enough to warrant that (too far out of the centre etc etc)

In fairness to the RFL, it sounds like Newcastle and the Saudi owners simply didn't want to do it this year. Whether there were any other options considered I'm not sure.