Five thousand and change? : Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:17 pm  

Wigan Warriors.....possibly the BIGGEST name in the Game.......welcomed 5,555 fans to a SL game.......this is the lowest SL attendance for the club in 26 seasons of Superleague. Now, I get that there's a few folk keen to stay alert, but I thought fans would be chomping at the bit to get to games?

Re: Five thousand and change? : Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:34 pm  

It's undoubtedly impacted massively by covid. A) because of the criminal scaremongering the press have done over the last two years. They have genuinely convinced a lot of people that going about normal life is akin to spraying an uzi at a bunch of children. B) because people are now so used to not going that actually going to the games will be difficult to adjust back to. C) because the massive overreaction to covid has left a lot of businesses on the scrapheap or having to cut back so a lot are reeling financially. It was always going to decimate crowds.

BUT, the clubs have added to it with their attitude to games. Those clubs who have cancelled games at a drop of a hat to suit their schedule (And it's blatanatly obvious that some have done this) have chipped away at the image of the sport. A sport already suffering from years of neglect and a lack of investment and promotion. Public perception of rugby league has never, ever been lower. 'It's a joke' has become the new buzzphrase.

Re: Five thousand and change? : Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:12 pm  

Covid factor but more important the Super League product on display isn't great.

The decline in quality isn't stopping anytime soon.

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 12:42 am  

At Hull FC only members (season pass) holders are allowed in, given that fans had no idea what was going to transpire so didn't renew their season membership plus the insanity of 25% capacity rule, the whole hassle of gaining entry into the stadium, muzzle wearing and so on it's not surprising that supporter numbers are going to be a fraction of those from previous seasons.

Wigan had a slump in fans with their foray into the 2nd division with a home game low of just over 4,000 fans, in their return to 1st divison they had 11 home games with fewer than 5,555 fans, lowest was 3.5k for Whitehaven league game, their biggest league home game was 8k for the visit of Leigh. in the CC however they had a huge high of 17k for the Widnes 2nd rnd match, the fact it was only around 6k for the home league game both at CP and Naughton park shows how imporant the CC was back then.

Honestly I'm not surprised, and the reasons given [reviously are valid, fans have fallen out with the sport, gotten out the habit of going and with the way the sport has been going in how its played has been losing fans on that basis as well. Six again and the vague interpretation of that, no scrums all have an influence as a part of the turn off.

I really want to go to the FCv KR game in late August and take my son and mum when we travel up for her birthday, but it's likely that there won't be a game or worse the game is on but medical apartheid for entry.

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:03 am  

BumpyMcbump wrote:

At Hull FC only members (season pass) holders are allowed in, given that fans had no idea what was going to transpire so didn't renew their season membership plus the insanity of 25% capacity rule, the whole hassle of gaining entry into the stadium, muzzle wearing and so on it's not surprising that supporter numbers are going to be a fraction of those from previous seasons.

Not unusual for you, but that is not true.

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:34 am  

6 again and the salary cap have ruined professional rugby league in this country

Its now a joke of a game

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:26 am  

At some point, the clubs and the players will realise that, if they keep postponing half of the weekly fixtures, people will make plans to do other things.
We ware killing our broadcasters and killing the game.
There is a bit of an irony here too, in that some people will have stayed away, not wanting to be in a big crowd.

However, the real issue is that clubs cant survive on less than half of their regular attendance

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:57 am  

You wont see people staying away from the premier league in a month - only in RL would they say the fans are scared.

The game is in a mess - it needs leadership and Rimmer isn't the man to do that, neither are a small group of championship chairman who seem to think they know best.

Get a quality individual in and give them the authority to change the sport

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:22 am  

There doesn't seem to be any hesitancy in cricket attendances, and it'll be the same with football next month.

I think the postponements are hitting the sport hard. It's very hard to get excited about games right now. There is also next to no marketing of games at the moment.

I don't like hyperbolic statements such "the game's dead" but it does seem like we're at a low ebb right now.

Re: Five thousand and change? : Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:57 am  

Zoo Zoo Boom wrote:

You wont see people staying away from the premier league in a month - only in RL would they say the fans are scared.

The game is in a mess - it needs leadership and Rimmer isn't the man to do that, neither are a small group of championship chairman who seem to think they know best.

Get a quality individual in and give them the authority to change the sport

If the cricket or football were postponing half of their weekly fixtures on a regular basis, they too would have some issues regarding attendance.
It seems clear that, the strategy of "allowing" postponements due to covid contacts is hurting the game and NOBODY is doing a bloody thing to try and change the situation.
We are sleepwalking into oblivion.
The "product" on the field has become one dimensional. Yeah, we've made the game quicker but, it's like having a sentence without punctuation.
There needs to be a change and some positivity in the game and quick.