5 reasons to watch the challenge cup final

[Walter sobchak]

Wembley is the traditional home of the cup final, however August Bank Holiday weekend has been a disaster for it as there's always going to be works done on the Railways over the weekend, meaning that it's very impractical to reach from the Northwest by public transport. This in addition to being at the same time as 2 major festivals + the Ashes this year has knackered it.

The final is moving to July from next year, which should hopefully boost attendances as it'll be further away from the Grand Final as well as being the only major sporting event happening at that time, as I believe it will be just after the Euros but before the Olympics.

Wembley has lost its spark as has the challenge cup. The sport just doesn’t have the pull of 30,000 people in the south to supplement the 50k who travel down from the north.

 

[Warriors Fever]

It was 50,672 last year. Maybe a good idea to move it around keep it fresh. Cardiff, Edinburgh, Wembley, old Trafford Newcastle etc. play the balls were fine lol I see no problem with them

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

Murrayfield and Cardiff are good shouts until stadiums like Anfield and st James Park are expanded to 60+k

i see round balls being kicked around inside them.

 

[Walter sobchak]

i see round balls being kicked around inside them.

Inside where? Murrayfield and Cardiff?

 

[TDD91]

Inside where? Murrayfield and Cardiff?

Cardiff, yes.
Murrayfield, no.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Cardiff, yes.
Murrayfield, no.

All immaterial apparently as the RFL are locked into a 10 year deal with Wembley.

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

Inside where? Murrayfield and Cardiff?

Anfield and St James'. It's all about watering the grass, should not be done except in extreme situations, obviously.

These agreements can be gotten around, i'm sure there's a get out clause in the agreement somewhere, okay might have to pay something for it, but that should be the last ever RL match at Wembley, except possibly an Ashes Test match, and if NSW want to bring an Origin to Europe.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Anfield and St James'. It's all about watering the grass, should not be done except in extreme situations, obviously.

These agreements can be gotten around, i'm sure there's a get out clause in the agreement somewhere, okay might have to pay something for it, but that should be the last ever RL match at Wembley, except possibly an Ashes Test match, and if NSW want to bring an Origin to Europe.

Not sure of the point you are making about Anfield and st James Park??

My point is that the challenge cup should be played at murrayfield and Cardiff until Anfield is expanded to 60k+ which is apparently going to happen in the next couple of years while st James Park is a bit more complicated due to its location.

Everton fc new stadium looks amazing but is a little on the small side for a final at 52k. Would also be great to see elland road get redeveloped as a city the size of Leeds deserves a huge brand spanking new stadium but there’s little chance of that for now unfortunately.

 

[Walter sobchak]

My ideal scenario would see for the following events :—

Magic weekend held at st James Park Newcastle.

Challenge cup semi-finals double header held at Anfield and Everton fc on a rotating basis Liverpool.

Challenge cup final held at millennium stadium Cardiff and murrayfield Edinburgh on a rotating basis.

Super league Grand final held at old Trafford Manchester.

On a side note if ever the cities of Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield see new 60k+ stadiums being built then these too should be considered for the challenge cup final.

 

[adamkungl]

While it may be down from its highest, I don't see why 60k+ is considered poor. It's still a higher crowd than would be possible anywhere else other than Old Trafford, and it is crucially important that the sport holds big events in the capital.

Fix the scheduling issues and work on marketing to the London crowd instead of just rusted on fans who live 4 hrs drive away.

 

[Walter sobchak]

While it may be down from its highest, I don't see why 60k+ is considered poor. It's still a higher crowd than would be possible anywhere else other than Old Trafford, and it is crucially important that the sport holds big events in the capital.

Fix the scheduling issues and work on marketing to the London crowd instead of just rusted on fans who live 4 hrs drive away.

It takes 4 hours to drive from Lancashire and Yorkshire to London. Add another hour and a half for Cumbria.

Seeing 30k+ empty seats is a bad look for a major RL final/event. Also what has holding the final in the capital for the last 90 years done for exposing and help grow RL in London/the south and for greater media exposure??

 

[adamkungl]

It takes 4 hours to drive from Lancashire and Yorkshire to London. Add another hour and a half for Cumbria.

Seeing 30k+ empty seats is a bad look for a major RL final/event. Also what has holding the final in the capital for the last 90 years done for exposing and help grow RL in London/the south and for greater media exposure??

That's a failure on the RFL's ability to capitalise, not a failure of the event.

Holding a successful event is half the task. Backing it up with good marketing and more opportunities for engagement is the other half, and where the RFL/most RL bodies fail time and time again.

Another example which i constantly bring up is the NZRL's failure to follow up big wins by the Kiwi test team with home games over the last 10-12 years.

 

[Walter sobchak]

That's a failure on the RFL's ability to capitalise, not a failure of the event.

Holding a successful event is half the task. Backing it up with good marketing and more opportunities for engagement is the other half, and where the RFL/most RL bodies fail time and time again.

Another example which i constantly bring up is the NZRL's failure to follow up big wins by the Kiwi test team with home games over the last 10-12 years.

The RFL have literally no money for marketing any event be it the challenge cup final, magic weekend or test matches.

I agree with you about the kiwis. Some unbelievable talent at their disposal and the NZ public hardly ever get to see them.

 

[adamkungl]

The questions that need to be asked after this kind of event

Of the 62,000 that attended

How many were club-fans, club-neutrals, Londoners, expats?

Which of the above categories are underperforming? - eg. id be concerned if of 62,000 people at a London event, barely any of the ticket sales were actually to people from London. Even the RFL should have this information pretty easily on hand. Whether the expat Aussie population is being engaged is slightly more difficult to determine.

How can the RFL increase exposure to under performing markets?

And most importantly, for Londoners and people new to the game in attendance, what opportunities are there for them to take that hopefully positive experience and engage with Rugby League again?
Even something as simple as promotion or selling tickets to London Broncos!
Does every London-based attendee even know London Broncos exists, or the Skolars or the local leagues?
Promoting London and Southern rugby league should be the absolute cornerstone of this event.

 

[Walter sobchak]

The questions that need to be asked after this kind of event

Of the 62,000 that attended

How many were club-fans, club-neutrals, Londoners, expats?

Which of the above categories are underperforming? - eg. id be concerned if of 62,000 people at a London event, barely any of the ticket sales were actually to people from London. Even the RFL should have this information pretty easily on hand. Whether the expat Aussie population is being engaged is slightly more difficult to determine.

How can the RFL increase exposure to under performing markets?

And most importantly, for Londoners and people new to the game in attendance, what opportunities are there for them to take that hopefully positive experience and engage with Rugby League again?
Even something as simple as promotion or selling tickets to London Broncos!
Does every London-based attendee even know London Broncos exists, or the Skolars or the local leagues?
Promoting London and Southern rugby league should be the absolute cornerstone of this event.

Regarding the challenge cup final being played at Wembley and the lack of money readily available for marketing/promotion to the RFL and little to no media exposure my long term solution would be an aggressive grassroots strategy. I’d try and set up and create as many new amateur clubs in the London/Greater London/south east area which run men’s open age teams and junior teams from say u16’s down to u8’s and maybe even girls teams and adult women’s teams and target them with club deals and group tickets to attend the final.

A classic example of how successful this can be was with the relatively new cramlington amateur RL club in the north east of England about 45 minutes drive north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne who took around 200+ kids and parents from different age groups to st James Park for the magic weekend.

Just think how many more would attend both the magic weekend in Newcastle and challenge cup final at Wembley if you extrapolated the example of the cramlington rockets to say 30,40, 50 clubs??

 

[deluded pom?]

A classic example of how successful this can be was with the relatively new cramlington amateur RL club in the north east of England about 45 minutes drive north of Newcastle-upon- Tyne.

I’d book your car into the garage if I were you Walter. Cramlington is only about twelve miles away from Newcastle.

 

[Walter sobchak]

I’d book your car into the garage if I were you Walter. Cramlington is only about twelve miles away from Newcastle.

Haha!!! So it is. I must have had a daft half hour or something as I mixed cramlington up with Alnwick who I read were starting up a team.

 

[deluded pom?]

Haha!!! So it is. I must have had a daft half hour or something as I mixed cramlington up with Alnwick who I read were starting up a team.

Alnwick started a junior team a few years ago. The Alnwick Bears.

https://www.alnwickbears.co.uk/

 

[JFK Files]

No ones mentioned Daryl Clark yet, that was one of the great cup performances ever. 80 minutes in that heat and his work rate was phenomenal.
Scored a try, saved a try.

 

[Walter sobchak]

Alnwick started a junior team a few years ago. The Alnwick Bears.

https://www.alnwickbears.co.uk/

Great stuff. This is literally the future of our game.

Northumberland and County Durham is ripe for grassroots expansion. Especially with the Newcastle thunder going from strength to strength each year both on and off the pitch.