The difference is the Super 8s count on a season ticket, whereas the old top 8 games didn't.

I think as big a factor as any that hits attendances is when fans have already watched the visiting team at home once already in the same season.

Perhaps the attendances had something to do with the fixtures only being promulgated on 29 July, 8 days before they took place.

If the remaining 6 are all down (Millwall excepted), then there's an issue, but I think the lower crowds were more down to the short-notice of who is playing who when.

I was slammed on here for criticising the new format but as expected I for one have not seen any difference irrespective of what sky pundits and others say. Biggest game in 10 years for Leigh according to sky with a team of a generation and they still cant pull 4k If it wasn't for the fact that I want my sons to continue to support the game I loved I would stop going after nearly 40years.

You do know a lot of people are on holiday, right?

Attendances are always down in August compared to May.

didn't affect premiership attendances?

why not take a break until September and begin the 8's comp then?

Too early to tell.

Wigan down 1,000 for a short notice Thurs v Fri sounds a decent effort.

Wire travelling support well down for a Friday night game arranged at short notice during summer holidays the week after a demoralising defeat, with their opposition saving up for Wembley and anticipating a comfortable win.

Hull = season over and the game was screened on Sky Sports Xtra (was the corresponding game on Sky?)

All of the elitists on here who couldn't care less about smaller clubs gave me stick when I suggested that no one would be interested in watching the same old teams week in and week out.

We go to Leeds on Friday for the fourth meeting in about five months with every possibility of more to come at the end of the season. Sky are killing the sport with too many games against the same opposition. The top three is already decided and all that remains to be decided is for the whipping boys in fourth place.

Quite simply people are bored with the whole competition. And the crowds prove it.

What on earth does it have to do with Sky? An RFL report identified the new structure and the clubs voted for it. Sky had to OK it as they are the game's largest commercial partner but they hardly initiated it.

I can accept that for the Wigan game particularly it being the Thursday game, but both the Leeds and Cas attendances were down by around 25%

Looking at just our own situation in isolation, our attendances have been on the slide consistently since 2012, so it's difficult to say how much the new structure is or isn't being bought into. I think a lot of fans were disillusioned by how we had a such a consistent season then two dodgy semi final performances meant we ended up with nothing. The new structure is definitely better than what we had 2009-14 but it was never going to improve attendances over night.

I agree with the poster who said playing the same team too many times in a season gets monotonous, we could easily end up playing Leeds 5 times this season and it could've been 6 if we'd stayed in the cup. Changing the format of the Magic Weekend goes along way to solving that IMO, it either needs to become a neutral fixture within the Super 8's or overhauling completely into something like a standalone 9's tournament; either way it definitely shouldn't be an additional fixture during the pre-split part of the league.

Thursdays definitely haven't helped either, most obvious example of this is the Wire fixture. It had 20k+ on for 4 consecutive seasons between 2010-13 and the last two seasons have been 16k and 14k when it's been played on a Thursday.

There are other factors as well, e.g. the downfall of the "Brigantes" and (rightly or wrongly) the attitude of some fans that we're selling all of our best players and feeling like they're buying in to an inferior product.

I do think IL has shot himself in the foot with this London game idea. It seems no one wants it apart from him. We desperately needed a "glamour" home tie against Wire, Saints or Leeds during the Super 8's to boost the average. The fact arguably the biggest home game we have got during this stage (Hudds, 3rd v 4th) attracted 11k says to me that the club should be concentrating on getting bums on seats at the DW rather than pushing this pointless trip to Millwall.

Winter Rugby is the only solution

Quote: The Mustard Tiger "Winter Rugby is the only solution'" It's been proved to you that it doesn't/didn't work. wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=489

Quote: The Mustard Tiger "Winter Rugby is the only solution'" It's been proved to you that it doesn't/didn't work. wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/in ... age_id=489