The RFL did very little to promote the game. As of Monday this week Wigan were given "the task" of promotion.

Did the RFL do any more for the Saints game than they did the Wigan one?

I don't know, but what I stated above is fact as was told to me on Friday night just prior to the Widnes game.

That doesn't make sense though. To say they were only given the task of promoting the game on Monday would suggest that until Monday they had sat back and done nothing and assumed the RFL would do everything for them. Frankly that's ridiculous.

It's up to Wigan as much as anyone to promote their own game at their home venue. It's not something that is purely inthe hands of the RFL and then delegated to Wigan.

On every RFL promotion I have seen it's been all 3 games mentioned, not just the Saints game. However Saints have also been doing their own promotions, mail shots, flyers, advertising,etc. If Wigan haven't then more fool them.

Wigan have been promoting this game for weeks . I have received several promotions from Wigan . This match (as are the other 2) is under the RFL control and as usual they cant be bothered promoting to the level all matches deserve . As is the case under most things RFL .

Regards , EW

Don't those 2 comments contradict each other?

I heard the Warrington tickets were £45 each so not surprising they wont sell out.

Wigan always struggle to sell tickets for games like this unless its a major final / semi final.

Yea we struggle like when we promote The Big One and usually get 20,000, but then again you wouldn't know that,

Good point. Wigan are normally bang on with this type of stuff, hence why I found it strange that Rogues was suggesting they have only reacted on Monday to the RFL giving them the task!

Not strictly true what Rogues said (It was me that told him and it was Thursday but you know how age gets to people!).

They are RFL events (Just like Semi finals/Finals etc.) and as such the RFL were "Leading" on the events. That doesn't mean the Clubs involved cannot promote, just that they have to work in tandem.

As of a date "Earlier" than Last week (I dont have the exact date) Wigan decided to promote more & take a more aggressive route than the RFL.

Now I can see people are picking holes in others statments however "In General" what was said was correct.
I'm pretty sure Wigan will have a significant crowd on and it wouldn't surprise me if it was the highest of the 3 however there are many reasons for that.
I'm sure if Saints ground held more they'd have sold more, if Wigan's game was the actual important game then it DEFINATLEY WOULD sell more than the other 2.
However, as an aside, I saw on the VT the other day that Blake Solley's statment about "Selling out" X amount of games was being scrutinised.
I don't get this obsession with "Selling out" and basing success on that alone.
What's better "Selling out" 10 Smaller fixtures based on Smaller stadiums such as CAS, Wakefield, Wire (Sorry, couldn't resist) or getting bigger crowds in Bigger venues that don't sell out?



With regards to this, Wigan like the other clubs will benefit financially from this game differently than normal League games etc.
If all the money through the gate goes to the RFL then the RFL will Budget for the promotion of the game.
If Wigan get "X %" from the gate then they will Budget accordingly.
The truth lies somewhere inbetween (Not that I know the exact details of any written agreements between the clubs and the RFL) but with regards to Wigan's promotion of games, advertising and general marketting then I'm pretty sure there won't be many who would criticise our Marketting team in that area (But then again I am an Happy Clapper! )

We've sold 12,000 and expect a crowd of around 20,000 come the game.

Not great but not a bad start either for what basically is a friendly.

A friendly with little to no away fans too.

What i meant was that the club is promoting the game but the RFL is doing little as usual to promote these games as was the case when the Magic weekends were played in Edinburgh and Cardiff.


Regards , EW

Fair enough.