Attendances

[yakstorm]

44,418 so far for this round with four games to go. England v France was possibly the most disappointing crowd, thought we'd get closer to the 28K capacity.

 

[Gobsmacked]

44,418 so far for this round with four games to go. England v France was possibly the most disappointing crowd, thought we'd get closer to the 28K capacity.

You set yourself up for disappointment though. Rugby league crowds are very fickle. I thought the crowd looked good. There was terrible sound from the broadcast though where they had the crowd volume down so you could barely even hear the referee.
If we can get a big crowd for the final and decent crowds for the finals, it's a massive win.
Funny thing about crowds at any game is people want to go because everyone else will go and get that atmosphere we crave.
Looks like we'll achieve that to a degree though the finals.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

I’m hoping the games that matter coming up will draw good crowds , because the games deserve it, like Ireland vs Lebanon, or France vs samoa, maybe even PNG vs Cook Islands.

 

[yakstorm]

You set yourself up for disappointment though. Rugby league crowds are very fickle.

Agree that the crowd looked good and I would have been fine with the crowd if it wasn't announced before the tournament kicked off that less than 5,000 seats remained by John Dutton or during the week there had been such strong sales that limited visibility seats had been put on sale.

Unlike some of the other matches, the organisers had been very specific around sales for this one, which of course raised my expectations.

 

[morningstar]

It’s so deflating seeing all the empty seats/terraces when the coverage starts. Had high hopes going in this was going to be the tournament we went to the next level but RL admin strikes again. All talk and no action.

They’ve failed to engage the existing RL community or the fabled “event goer” to attend games and have no plan B to rectify it.

 

[LeagueXIII]

It looked even worse

Should broadcast from the other side so we see the main stand.

 

[LeagueXIII]

It’s so deflating seeing all the empty seats/terraces when the coverage starts. Had high hopes going in this was going to be the tournament we went to the next level but RL admin strikes again. All talk and no action.

They’ve failed to engage the existing RL community or the fabled “event goer” to attend games and have no plan B to rectify it.

We will go to another level financially

 

[morningstar]

We will go to another level financially

According to who? All the talk out of Dutton this week is they are “struggling to break even”

World Cup organisers defend ticket prices - BBC Sport

Rugby League World Cup chief executive Jon Dutton defends the tournament's ticket pricing policy and says it is struggling to break even.

www.bbc.com

 

[yakstorm]

6,057 - Ireland v Lebanon @ Leigh

Anyone know the crowd at Doncaster?

 

[kiwileaguefan]

6,057 - Ireland v Lebanon @ Leigh

Anyone know the crowd at Doncaster?

4412

 

[Perth Red]

It’s so deflating seeing all the empty seats/terraces when the coverage starts. Had high hopes going in this was going to be the tournament we went to the next level but RL admin strikes again. All talk and no action.

They’ve failed to engage the existing RL community or the fabled “event goer” to attend games and have no plan B to rectify it.

Or maybe there just isnt enough interest? The marketing has been spot on and far better than any I've ever seen before. Every RL fan knows there's a RLWC on, where the games are and how to buy a ticket. Apparently around 30% of tickets sold for the opening game where to people from the area so that would show marketing locally has been very effective.

What we suffer from is two things 1. Apathetic RL fans who'd rather sit at home and moan about crowds than go along and support the game and 2. Our game isnt well known to the wider population so a WC in our sport doesn't generate the general public attendance that other more widely known sports do.

I mean look at the Hull attendance. There are 18-20k regular RL game going fans in Hull. That only a third of them could be arsed to go along and support the game that they have the privilege of being played in their own backyard is pathetic effort by HFC and HKR fans, imo.

 

[Perth Red]

According to who? All the talk out of Dutton this week is they are “struggling to break even”

World Cup organisers defend ticket prices - BBC Sport

Rugby League World Cup chief executive Jon Dutton defends the tournament's ticket pricing policy and says it is struggling to break even.

www.bbc.com

Interesting that they would use that as the opening bolded headline when no where in that article does he mention breaking even or even revenue concerns? Seems a very biased take on what he said which was that it wouldnt be fair to discount tickets now when people have already paid full price.

 

[wain]

Or maybe there just isnt enough interest? The marketing has been spot on and far better than any I've ever seen before. Every RL fan knows there's a RLWC on, where the games are and how to buy a ticket. Apparently around 30% of tickets sold for the opening game where to people from the area so that would show marketing locally has been very effective.

What we suffer from is two things 1. Apathetic RL fans who'd rather sit at home and moan about crowds than go along and support the game and 2. Our game isnt well known to the wider population so a WC in our sport doesn't generate the general public attendance that other more widely known sports do.

I mean look at the Hull attendance. There are 18-20k regular RL game going fans in Hull. That only a third of them could be arsed to go along and support the game that they have the privilege of being played in their own backyard is pathetic effort by HFC and HKR fans, imo.

agreed.

or reason 3. People don't see it as a legit world cup.
That's unfortunately still a huge part in the Aussie landscape, even amongst League fans...let alone non-league fans.

But every succesful world cup and game goes part the way to rectifying that belief...so im glad we arent hiding any more and cancelling world cups as that has the opposite effect.

 

[Perth Red]

agreed.

or reason 3. People don't see it as a legit world cup.
That's unfortunately still a huge part in the Aussie landscape, even amongst League fans...let alone non-league fans.

But every succesful world cup and game goes part the way to rectifying that belief...so im glad we arent hiding any more and cancelling world cups as that has the opposite effect.

yeh it feels like we are finally building, 2017 was a bit of a glitch but this one seems to be more back on track.

 

[Billythekid]

yeh it feels like we are finally building, 2017 was a bit of a glitch but this one seems to be more back on track.

It's also hard to build when we don't bother with internationals much at all outside of the world cup. If you want to make it seem like a legitimate international sport lets actually have some international competition.

 

[Perth Red]

It's also hard to build when we don't bother with internationals much at all outside of the world cup. If you want to make it seem like a legitimate international sport lets actually have some international competition.

Yeh that is true also. Theyve been fluffing around with an international calendar for decades! Just lock in a 5 year program and stop being half arsed about it! Doesnt help when you have the NRl paying lip service to how important Int Rl is then not really giving a sht about it. IRL is doing a cracking job with the developing nations coming through but the big players need to step up to the party.

 

[morningstar]

Interesting that they would use that as the opening bolded headline when no where in that article does he mention breaking even or even revenue concerns? Seems a very biased take on what he said which was that it wouldnt be fair to discount tickets now when people have already paid full price.

It’s not an isolated article and he has been saying the same thing on twitter…

RLWC chief Dutton admits to mistakes

Rugby League World Cup chief executive Jon Dutton has defended the tournament's ticket pricing policy and revealed it...

www.canberratimes.com.au

 

[Perth Red]

It’s not an isolated article and he has been saying the same thing on twitter…

RLWC chief Dutton admits to mistakes

Rugby League World Cup chief executive Jon Dutton has defended the tournament's ticket pricing policy and revealed it...

www.canberratimes.com.au

Again there is nothing in that article that suggests they are 'struggling to break even'! What they are saying is they may have not got the ticket pricing right to attract larger crowds. That's a very different thing. Don't know where the hand wringing is coming from, they will sell more tickets at a higher price than the 2013 RLWC, int that a good thing? Considering RL fan apathy they are doing ok I'd say.

In fact they have said that the have record corporate sales and ticket sales have already financially matched the total for the 2013 RLWC. Doesn't sound like a tournament struggling to break even does it?

 

[morningstar]

Or maybe there just isnt enough interest? The marketing has been spot on and far better than any I've ever seen before. Every RL fan knows there's a RLWC on, where the games are and how to buy a ticket. Apparently around 30% of tickets sold for the opening game where to people from the area so that would show marketing locally has been very effective.

What we suffer from is two things 1. Apathetic RL fans who'd rather sit at home and moan about crowds than go along and support the game and 2. Our game isnt well known to the wider population so a WC in our sport doesn't generate the general public attendance that other more widely known sports do.

I mean look at the Hull attendance. There are 18-20k regular RL game going fans in Hull. That only a third of them could be arsed to go along and support the game that they have the privilege of being played in their own backyard is pathetic effort by HFC and HKR fans, imo.

A bad salesman blames the customer.

2013 had higher crowds with a smaller operating budget. So what has changed in 9 years?

 

[Perth Red]

And on the pricing (which is just another excuse for RL fans to whinge) do you honesty believe the crowds would be double if we charged half as much? Not one game has had the cheapest tickets sell out, that would suggest its not price keeping people from attending wouldn't it? It would seem fans would rather see a few more thousand at the game and the tournament make less money for investing back in the international game. Weird lot.