SL attendances have risen to a new record of 1.62 million, averaging 10,000 a match, up 15,000 on the previous high of 2008. 9% increase on last season.
Wigans average over 17,000
And what has happened to championship attendances I wonder
One in the eye for everyone who keeps saying SL is dead, same people have been saying it for a long time. With the likes of Bradford and Widnes that would increase.
@prisoner Why do you think Bradford or Widnes would up an average of 10k? When was the last time Widnes got 10,000 for 1 game, never mind a season?
@torn-sock-1 Simple really we would double both Huddersfield and Salford attendances plus take a hell of alot more away than them, same applies to Bradford.
@torn-sock-1 Simple really we would double both Huddersfield and Salford attendances plus take a hell of alot more away than them, same applies to Bradford.
Perhaps another statistic not given the same publicity have been the losses posted by SL Clubs, with St Helens posting a loss of £2.2m, Wigan & Warrington £1.7m and Leeds £1.5m. Only Leigh and Huddersfield managed to stay in the black, whether by commercial success or creative accounting, I am not sure.
Could we compete with Wigan and Leeds in attendances, No, but if we were able to field a competitive team, what's to say that we could not match Leigh and Wakefield and exceed Huddersfield, Castleford, Salford and potential SL Clubs at Bradford, York and London.
@torn-sock-1 Salford averaged 4,000 this season and Huddersfield 4,200, so if Widnes got into SL and averaged 6-7,000, then the average attendance for SL clubs would be more than this season.
@farnworth-viking (& Sinbad/Prisoner) Yes thank you for explaining how averages work. Pretty sure I'm very familiar with the concept...
A few points.
Super League is expanding. None of the 'extra' clubs (Whichever ones you pick) will be getting anywhere near 10k, so the average will drop.
Even the club(s) being removed I'm not sure the clubs going up will do much better than those attendances, especially after the drubbings started happening.
Wasn't 6-7k the magic number S.O'C mentioned back in the day and Widnes never managed it?
Widnes clearly wouldn't double Salford/Hudds attendances.
Absolute pie in the sky & whilst it would be great for Widnes to get to S.L, be successful & have good crowds the reality is that it's a millions years from happening despite the fantasy optimism in all of your posts above.
Widnes would get much better attendances than London, York and Toulouse. And we would also put £25k+ into the coffers of Leigh, Saints, Wire, Wigan etc. whenever we played at their grounds; those other teams won't.
Steve O'connor wanted 7000 stronghold members which was pure fantasy.Widnes have never had that many season ticket holders in the history of the club,maybe not even half that number.Widnes did manage an average of 6500 once when in SL but of course that number would include the thousands of away fans from Wigan,Saints,Hull,Warrington.
You only have to look at Leigh to see what a bit of success and a lot of promotion can do for attendance figures .............. and I know that their success has come on the back of Derek Beaumont bankrolling the Club.
Steve O'Connor did say that he wanted the Club to be financially sustainable and his aim was for average crowds of 7,000 (or maybe season ticket holders). He was right and we eventually went bust because we never achieved this and also because of the mismanagement of the Club. Just like a number SL Clubs and aspiring SL clubs will find themselves, the way the game is going today.
The game has been mis-managed since the inception of Super League.
Rugby League had never been so rich, so why is it now so poor having to rely on a (dwindling) number of wealthy individuals?
The rush by Clubs to get their hands on the cash without there being a proper plan or structure in place means that the chickens will continue to come home to roost.
The amount of money handed out to overseas players and coaches, aimless expansion and the hiring of expensive stadiums to host 'big' games must be absolutely eye watering. All this at the same time as casting established clubs into the wilderness and ignoring the amateur game who are the bread and butter of the sport.
And of course, now, it is all too late. Ignored for a generation means there is no going back for those clubs or spectators who have long since found other things to do.
Super League is a failed experiment and a perfect example of how not to do things without a proper long-term plan in place, and no amount of tinkering at the edges will fix it.