5k minimum capacity.



2k seats for Super League clubs.



[url=http://www.rugby-league.com/operational-rules-2018/#p=425Operational Orders Page 425[/url

Isn't the whole point the game needs t attract and retain new supporters. Has research ever been conducted as to why it fails to do this? New people go to games but often don't return - why? Are they bored or is it for other reasons?

My football supporting friends have said one of the reasons is the sport messes around with the structure of the league on almost an annual basis. Top 5/Top 8 playoffs, now we have middle eights, million pound game. Too confusing and too much chopping and changing for those with a mild passing interest to even think about getting into it.

I have heard this many times but then I think back to when I first went to a game as a ten year old never having seen team sport played live or on TV (well over 50 years ago) I had no idea what a league was, the rules of the game or who Hull KR were? I am not even sure I knew it was rugby of any kind. What I do remember was the excitement when a break occurred a try was scored ar a big hit made, I was hooked for life. Maybe life was simpler then but I had no idea where my team was in the league if they were a good side or not just that from then on they were my team. What we should be doing is getting as many people through the gates as we can especially young kids to feel as I did back then. As a quick thought I remember three or four of the lads from school I went with & I don’t think many went again much so I would like to know what percentage of first timers are hooked & what kept them coming back that might help the game understand what it needs to do.

double

Oh Buddy......how long have you got?

It's only useless in your eyes because it paints them in a better light than League, but the reality is they have gone from an average of 5k in 1998, to an average close to 3 times that in 2 decades whilst in the same period we've gone from 7k to 8.5k...but yeah, it's a useless statistic



...here's another useless statistic.....Harlequins RU v Northampton Saints, December 30th 2017 attendance 77,825......that's more fans for a regular season fixture than attended 11 home games at either Salford, Leigh, Wakefield, Huddersfield or Widnes ALL SEASON in 2017.....useless stats eh....aren't they just terrible at underlining how poor we are at marketing ourselves....here, try this one for size....the first Heineken Cup final in Union saw 21,800 people watch a French and Welsh team play in wales...the 19th and last one saw a French and English side play in Cardiff with 67,500 watching.....bloody useless these stats.

Union may well be as sick a puppy as we are in terms of finance, but everywhere else they are at least relevant on the UK and European sporting stage...

Other reasons...regardless of the romantic ideal of some, RL fans are rough and gruff and working class folk.......not a bad thing essentially, but not aspirational middle class Britain that we all believe we've become. £90 a ticket to watch Chelsea screams "I am worth having".....£10 a ticket to the CC Final screams we are cheap and nasty.

Quite simply, it's an attitude thing.



The point game up here last week or so that Michael Carter said that the short notice of the Super Eights makes it "impossible" to sell the event, yet between the S8 fixtures being announced and Wakefield's first home game, there were 16 days. Sorry, but it is not "impossible" to sell an event in 16 days, it is just laziness. One of the posters in that thread said that, even though they often buy tickets online, they hardly see any email communications from the club. That's just one example of a poor attitude that's rife across the game.



In those 16 days, Wakefield (or any other club for that matter) could have really gone to town with the marketing and messaging - this is the business end of the season, they had a chance to upset the champions-elect, and one of the game's biggest talents was coming to town. They could have really pushed the boat out to enhance the matchday experience, to put on an event (hell, maybe even run a beer festival or something to appeal to people who maybe don't know much about the game) and make that game the place to be on a Thursday/Friday night, or a Sunday afternoon. They had 16 days to hammer the email database, 16 days to go through their CRM system and find those customers who could be tempted back, 16 days to run some targeted social media ads and sponsored content, 16 days to get players visiting schools, 16 days to hammer workplaces and 16 days to hit the amateur clubs. None of this is expensive, none of this needs Eddie Hearn and none of this needs the RFL to do it for them.



But no, despite the fact that part-time clubs like London Broncos managed to do it, apparently that's all "too short notice".

Ageing fan base... I go the the HJ to watch Wire and there are loads of young people in attendance, LOADS! And we won’t be the only club where that’s the case.



Decrepit stadia... Headingly, KCom, Langtree, HJ, DW, John Smiths, AJ Bell, Gilbert Brutus are all fine stadiums and with a bit of work so would Craven Park be... Cas have an old stadium but it’s always full so it looks good anyway



Half empty stadia... this is where we fall down. But we look better than every NRL game in that giant 90000 stadium in Sydney with 12000 fans in there every week. But compared to RU we do look empty. (It would help at Warrington if the cameras looked AT the standing stand as that is always full)

Spot on........... What Carter doesn't like is the chance of finishing 9th but being relegated....... The way Wakefield celebrate 8th spot is an embarrassment to the sport..... Survival should not be seen as succrss

Tell that to every Premier League, Championship, Lg1, Lg2, ANY football competition in the world when a team secures safety from relegation...

We are not a wealthy sport. Giving 1.8 million to teams to survive is not a luxury we can afford...... And it's not just wakey..... Salford and Widnes are in there along with Huddersfield......