England bid for 2021 World Cup

[jim_57]

http:// http://www.rugby-league.com/article/37870/england-to-bid-for--rugby-league-world-cup

#RLWC2021

Record one million spectators targeted to attend 31 games across the country
Bid to include plans to host ‘Festival of Rugby League’ including Women’s and Wheelchair competitions
Government commit £15 million to support the bid to host the 2021 competition
A further £10m committed by Government for Rugby League Infrastructure in the North of England

The RFL has today confirmed that it will bid for England to host the Rugby League World Cup in 2021.

Following what was widely regarded as the most successful Rugby League World Cup ever in 2013, the RFL revealed their ambition to make 2021 the biggest and most watched tournament in the sports history targeting one million spectators, double the number achieved in 2013.

If the bid is successful, twelve stadiums across the country will be selected from a shortlist which will include a variety of Rugby League stadiums and a number of other iconic sporting venues such as Old Trafford, Etihad Stadium, St James’ Park and Wembley.

- See more at: http://www.rugby-league.com/article...eague-world-cup#sthash.oP0hk3K5.TEMFZh0k.dpuf

 

[jim_57]

Some very ambitious goals, which is great to see. Also a big of a surprise it looks like they're going it alone, although they could leave games open to tender for France, Wales etc.

Video includes Wembley, Olympic Stadium (both London), Old Trafford, Etihad (both Manchester), Anfield (Liverpool), St James' Park (Newcastle). If they intend on using all of these we could be in for a World Cup that could break all the shackles of International RL.

 

[adamkungl]

Interested to see who else bids before we bounce it straight back to England. I'm glad they're going it alone, not a huge fan of joint bids tbh.

I'm guessing a lot of people here would be pro-France/USA/somewhere ridiculous like Japan or China or Dubai that doesn't even have a team

 

[Evil Homer]

Interested to see who else bids before we bounce it straight back to England. I'm glad they're going it alone, not a huge fan of joint bids tbh.

I'm guessing a lot of people here would be pro-France/USA/somewhere ridiculous like Japan or China or Dubai that doesn't even have a team

Dubai (or rather UAE) did bid for 2021 but I guess it was shut down when RL was subjugated there.

 

[jim_57]

Interested to see who else bids before we bounce it straight back to England. I'm glad they're going it alone, not a huge fan of joint bids tbh.

I'm guessing a lot of people here would be pro-France/USA/somewhere ridiculous like Japan or China or Dubai that doesn't even have a team

Can't really go past England for 2021 IMO, we really need to build the tournament in to a massive brand before we look at branching out. If this WC achieves those goals though maybe in 2025 we could look to take it to a non-traditional area. In the meantime use the Intercontinental Cup & RLIF 9's to try build interest in new & existing markets. The key is getting guarantees on the table that the tournament will make a profit before a ball is kicked.

 

[adamkungl]

I'd like to see what France can come up with. Hopefully they put a bid in.

 

[morningstar]

15 Venues under consideration to be reduced to 12....

https://twitter.com/AaronBower/status/748492867690242048

Wembley, London - 90,000
Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,700
Olympic Park, London - 60,045
Etihad, Manchester - 60,000
St James' Park, Newcastle - 52,405
Anfield, Liverpool - 45,000
Brammal Lane, Sheffield - 32,600
Ricoh Arena, Coventry - 32,609
KC Stadium, Hull - 25,586
John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield - 24,500
DW Stadium, Wigan - 25,138
Langtree Park, St Helens - 18,000
Headingley, Leeds - 20,500
Halliwell Jones, Warrington - 15,000
Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster - 15,000

Not as much of a geographic spread as 2013, but if they can get 1M spectators through the gates it will be hard to complain.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

If there's no games in wales and France it's a massive step backwards.

 

[jim_57]

If there's no games in wales and France it's a massive step backwards.

Hopefully with the Intercontinental cup, RLIF 9's and making a bigger deal of World Cup Qualifiers a lot more countries from 2017 onwards will get a taste of big RL events so we don't have to spread World Cups too thin. In return hopefully these events can generate interest for genuine competition for World Cups beside the usual suspects.

I would prefer France and Wales to play at home but if they can get 1m through the gates I'm not too fussed what the venues are.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

They'll have more games if there's 16 teams but the million is still pie in the sky unless RL somehow becomes popular between now and then.

But that aside, it shouldn't just be about getting a million or any other arbitrary number. I'd rather have 500k with half new to the game and spread across places like wales and Scotland than 600k with 90% coming from the heartlands and attending multiple games, meaning less individuals actually attend. This is what most people don't get. Having the same people go to more games is not real growth. It's like morons who say it's better to have 50k in Brisbane than 40k in Perth, say, for something like origin. The Brisbane crowd is the same 50k that went last year and the year before and the year before.

 

[paulmac]

One thing I loved about the 2013 RLWC was the atmosphere generated by the intimate grounds.NZ v Samoa at Warrington,Tonga v Cook Is at Leigh & Ireland v Fiji at Rochdale were amazing.Dont know whether putting say PNG v Scotland in a massive stadium will work.Also I would hope France gets to host their pool games,was planning on making trip over & catching a game of RL in France is on my bucket list.

 

[jim_57]

They'll have more games if there's 16 teams but the million is still pie in the sky unless RL somehow becomes popular between now and then.

But that aside, it shouldn't just be about getting a million or any other arbitrary number. I'd rather have 500k with half new to the game and spread across places like wales and Scotland than 600k with 90% coming from the heartlands and attending multiple games, meaning less individuals actually attend. This is what most people don't get. Having the same people go to more games is not real growth. It's like morons who say it's better to have 50k in Brisbane than 40k in Perth, say, for something like origin. The Brisbane crowd is the same 50k that went last year and the year before and the year before.

I think they'll get closer to 1million than 500k at the least, with the right marketing & preperation. Nothing wrong with aiming high though, they have 5 years to give it their best.

For the record I would have preferred them leave it open to Wales & France, but if they want an exclusive World Cup and have the means/resources to make it huge than I can live with it. But I'd still hold out hope they'd be open to offers of moving games, 12 venues seems very few for 31 games.

Also there is plenty of potential growth in England as well, Newcastle, Liverpool, London, Coventry, Sheffield etc are not RL cities, any big crowd at these ground we should be targetting a high number of locals. Cross promotion with the Soccer club's games would be a help.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

I'd like to see what France can come up with. Hopefully they put a bid in.

It's an interesting thought and I would love for it to happen, but I doubt they could come up with much.

They would do well to get 20k+ to any French and English games, let alone the other games. French media would more or less ignore the whole thing, the union media would criticise the whole thing from pillar to post - the French team would probably perform ordinarily as usual, giving them much ammunition. It wouldn't get FTA games but most certainly would be covered by Bein.

You would want a French team capable of giving the big 4 or 5 a run, beating England 1 every 4 times before thinking about a world cup here.

 

[Scubby]

France would benefit from hosting something like the new 8-team Confed Cup. Less games (probably 15) and less expectations than hosting a World Cup.

 

[jim_57]

It's an interesting thought and I would love for it to happen, but I doubt they could come up with much.

They would do well to get 20k+ to any French and English games, let alone the other games. French media would more or less ignore the whole thing, the union media would criticise the whole thing from pillar to post - the French team would probably perform ordinarily as usual, giving them much ammunition. It wouldn't get FTA games but most certainly would be covered by Bein.

You would want a French team capable of giving the big 4 or 5 a run, beating England 1 every 4 times before thinking about a world cup here.

Agree that Confed Cup & maybe an RLIF 9's would be a start. I think aiming for 2033 primarily hosted by France to celebrate 100 years would be worth aiming for.

 

[Last Week]

Agree that Confed Cup & maybe an RLIF 9's would be a start. I think aiming for 2033 primarily hosted by France to celebrate 100 years would be worth aiming for.

That seems reasonable.

 

[Foreign Legion]

love the logo looks very cool

 

[langpark]

Interested to see who else bids before we bounce it straight back to England. I'm glad they're going it alone, not a huge fan of joint bids tbh.

I'm guessing a lot of people here would be pro-France/USA/somewhere ridiculous like Japan or China or Dubai that doesn't even have a team

Well South Africa did bid for WC 2017, but was never gonna happen.

I'm really looking forward to the 16-team format. I hope France do host their matches and am certain they will draw big crowds and contribute towards the 1m target.

 

[The Partisan]

Having attended the game in Bristol (USA V Cook Islands) and seeing the number of people from the southern part of England in attendance ( basing this on the team names i saw on jackets / beanies etc...so a guess only that they were from those places)....i hope they return to that part of the world or even somewhere further south like Southhampton or Portsmouth.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

love the logo looks very cool

looks good, like most of these type of things they would have found a way for the bill to come up with it to be something astronomical