Sport Today

by **Paul Dinsda** » Thu, 29 Aug 1996 04:00:00

Below are the average attendances for all clubs in the inaugural 1996
summer Super League season. Compared with the previous (Centenary) season
there was an overall 17% increase in average attendances.

NB The 6,708 attendance at the Sheffield Eagles vs St. Helens game played
at Cardiff has also been allocated to the South Wales vs Carlisle game
played as a curtain raiser. If this figure is ignored, the avarage
attendance for South Wales would be 793.

1996
avge 1994/95
Club att. Div. Avge. Diff. As %

1 Bradford Bulls 10,346 SL 4,484 +5,862 +131%
2 St Helens 10,221 SL 7,156 +3,065 + 43%
3 Wigan 10,168 SL 12,081 -1,913 - 16%
4 Leeds 8,581 SL 11,601 -3,020 - 26%
5 Paris St Germain 8,092 SL - - -
6 London Broncos 5,418 SL 2,387 +3,031 +127%
7 Warrington 5,157 SL 4,850 + 307 + 6%
8 Halifax Blue Sox 5,080 SL 4,675 + 405 + 9%
9 Castleford Tigers 5,012 SL 4,073 + 939 + 23%
10 Keighley Cougars 4,871 1 3,790 +1,081 + 29%
11 Sheffield Eagles 4,534 SL 3,522 +1,012 + 29%
12 Oldham Bears 3,629 SL 3,188 + 441 + 14%
13 Salford Reds 3,495 1 2,647 + 848 + 32%
14 Huddersfield Giants 3,344 1 2,429 + 915 + 38%
15 Hull 3,008 1 2,928 + 80 + 3%
16 Widnes 2,528 1 2,907 - 379 - 13%
17 Workington Town 2,322 SL 3,210 - 888 - 28%
18 Wakefield Trinity 2,109 1 2,078 + 31 + 1%
19 Featherstone Rovers 1,988 1 2,128 - 140 - 7%
20 Hull Kingston Rovers 1,699 2 1,637 + 62 + 4%
21 Swinton Lions 1,506 2 796 + 710 + 89%
22 Dewsbury 1,402 1 1,285 + 117 + 9%
23 Batley Bulldogs 1,358 1 1,305 + 53 + 4%
24 South Wales 1,331 2 - - -
25 Rochdale Hornets 1,271 1 1,294 - 23 - 2%
26 Leigh Centurions 1,142 2 1,189 - 47 - 4%
27 Hunslet Hawks 1,099 2 871 + 228 + 26%
28 Whitehaven Warriors 1,081 1 1,151 - 70 - 6%
29 Doncaster Dragons 966 2 1,039 - 73 - 7%
30 York 669 2 643 + 26 + 4%
31 Barrow Braves 630 2 666 - 36 - 5%
32 Carlisle Raiders 620 2 498 + 122 + 24%
33 Bramley 497 2 535 - 38 - 7%
34 Prescot Panthers 428 2 346 + 82 + 24%
35 Chorley Magpies 416 2 512 - 96 - 19%

Overall average 3,315 2,845 + 470 + 17%

Five most improved attendances in 1996

1 Bradford Bulls +131%
2 London Broncos +127%
3 Swinton Lions + 89%
4 St Helens + 43%
5 Huddersfield Giants + 38%

Five biggest decreases in attendance in 1996

1 Workington Town - 28%
2 Leeds - 26%
3 Chorley Magpies - 19%
4 Wigan - 16%
5 Widnes - 13%

--
Paul Dinsdale

by **Paul Dinsda** » Fri, 30 Aug 1996 04:00:00

Below are the average attendances for all clubs in the inaugural 1996
summer Super League season. Compared with the previous (Centenary) season
there was an overall 17% increase in average attendances.

NB The 6,708 attendance at the Sheffield Eagles vs St. Helens game played
at Cardiff has also been allocated to the South Wales vs Carlisle game
played as a curtain raiser. If this figure is ignored, the avarage
attendance for South Wales would be 793.

1996
avge 1995/96
Club att. Div. Avge. Diff. As %

1 Bradford Bulls 10,346 SL 4,484 +5,862 +131%
2 St Helens 10,221 SL 7,156 +3,065 + 43%
3 Wigan 10,168 SL 12,081 -1,913 - 16%
4 Leeds 8,581 SL 11,601 -3,020 - 26%
5 Paris St Germain 8,092 SL - - -
6 London Broncos 5,418 SL 2,387 +3,031 +127%
7 Warrington 5,157 SL 4,850 + 307 + 6%
8 Halifax Blue Sox 5,080 SL 4,675 + 405 + 9%
9 Castleford Tigers 5,012 SL 4,073 + 939 + 23%
10 Keighley Cougars 4,871 1 3,790 +1,081 + 29%
11 Sheffield Eagles 4,534 SL 3,522 +1,012 + 29%
12 Oldham Bears 3,629 SL 3,188 + 441 + 14%
13 Salford Reds 3,495 1 2,647 + 848 + 32%
14 Huddersfield Giants 3,344 1 2,429 + 915 + 38%
15 Hull 3,008 1 2,928 + 80 + 3%
16 Widnes 2,528 1 2,907 - 379 - 13%
17 Workington Town 2,322 SL 3,210 - 888 - 28%
18 Wakefield Trinity 2,109 1 2,078 + 31 + 1%
19 Featherstone Rovers 1,988 1 2,128 - 140 - 7%
20 Hull Kingston Rovers 1,699 2 1,637 + 62 + 4%
21 Swinton Lions 1,506 2 796 + 710 + 89%
22 Dewsbury 1,402 1 1,285 + 117 + 9%
23 Batley Bulldogs 1,358 1 1,305 + 53 + 4%
24 South Wales 1,331 2 - - -
25 Rochdale Hornets 1,271 1 1,294 - 23 - 2%
26 Leigh Centurions 1,142 2 1,189 - 47 - 4%
27 Hunslet Hawks 1,099 2 871 + 228 + 26%
28 Whitehaven Warriors 1,081 1 1,151 - 70 - 6%
29 Doncaster Dragons 966 2 1,039 - 73 - 7%
30 York 669 2 643 + 26 + 4%
31 Barrow Braves 630 2 666 - 36 - 5%
32 Carlisle Raiders 620 2 498 + 122 + 24%
33 Bramley 497 2 535 - 38 - 7%
34 Prescot Panthers 428 2 346 + 82 + 24%
35 Chorley Magpies 416 2 512 - 96 - 19%

Overall average 3,315 2,845 + 470 + 17%

Five most improved attendances in 1996

1 Bradford Bulls +131%
2 London Broncos +127%
3 Swinton Lions + 89%
4 St Helens + 43%
5 Huddersfield Giants + 38%

Five biggest decreases in attendance in 1996

1 Workington Town - 28%
2 Leeds - 26%
3 Chorley Magpies - 19%
4 Wigan - 16%
5 Widnes - 13%

Corrects earlier posting

--
Paul Dinsdale

by **Dr J.S. Marsla** » Sat, 31 Aug 1996 04:00:00

Thanks Paul.

Bit of a curates egg all round. Six clubs are on a ten year high
(Bradford, Saints, London, Keighley, Sheffield and Huddersfield) but
seven are on a ten year low (Wigan, Leeds, Widnes, Leigh, Doncaster,
Barrow and Bramley). It's also the worst for Featherstone since 87/8,
for Whitehaven since 91/2 and Workington Town since 92/3. Set against
that it's the best attendance for Hunslet since 87/8, for Swinton
since 91/2 and for Carlisle since 92/3.

Of course things look much worse when compared with the 94/5 season
e.g. Wigan have lost 4000 speccies, 44000 over the season or more than
quarter of a million revenue - no wonder they are worried. Of the clubs
showing an improvement over last season, twelve have actually lost fans
when compared to the season before including Warrington, Halifax, Oldham
and Castleford. Discounting the Centenary season four more clubs are on
a ten year low (Hull, Hull KR, Wakefield and York).

: Below are the average attendances for all clubs in the inaugural 1996
: summer Super League season. Compared with the previous (Centenary) season
: there was an overall 17% increase in average attendances.

But it's still a decrease since 94/95 season - hopefully next year
without unpopular k.o. times and no competition from Olympics and
Euro' 96 attendance will be up again.

: NB The 6,708 attendance at the Sheffield Eagles vs St. Helens game played
: at Cardiff has also been allocated to the South Wales vs Carlisle game
: played as a curtain raiser. If this figure is ignored, the avarage
: attendance for South Wales would be 793.

It's still better than some established clubs like Barrow and York.
Next season should show a marked improvement - 4000 maybe?

: 1996
: avge 1994/95
^
should be 1995/96

: Club att. Div. Avge. Diff. As %

: 8 Halifax Blue Sox 5,080 SL 4,675 + 405 + 9%
^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^
If it wasn't for this ^ then this ^ would be more like 5500 or 6000.

All the best
--
John
The Yorkshire motto updated: Hear all, see all, say nowt;
Eat all, sup all, pay nowt; Read all, lurk all, post nowt;
And if tha'ever do's owt for nowt allus do it for thi'sen.

by **WiganRLf** » Mon, 02 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

Marsland) writes:
>But it's still a decrease since 94/95 season - hopefully next year
>without unpopular k.o. times and no competition from Olympics and
>Euro' 96 attendance will be up again.

I agree the 94/95 season is the one to compare it with. Having said that
we have just had about 15 months non stop RL so the gap before next season
may also cure those who feel overdosed with RL (if thats possible) as
well.

However are we saying that every time the Olympics comes around we are
going to have a bad year?

If so, then what about when the soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Games,
World Athletics championships etc come around?

Summer does seem to have more showpiece events that tend to overshadow all
other sports than winter. I can't remember, is there anything major next
"season"?

Sensible kick off time will help me get to more games, but as I have said
elsewhere, there are other summer activities that compete for my time that
are not there in winter. I am sure that others will continue to have the
same problem.

I'm no statistition (thank God) but I guess that means that for everyone
whose attendance to RL games is down due to the switch to summer, it means
you have to attract two newbies to get the overall attendance up, which is
quite a lot of newbies over the 94/95 season.

Dave

Wigan RLFC - Simply the Best

by **Dr J.S. Marsla** » Thu, 05 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

: Marsland) writes:

: >But it's still a decrease since 94/95 season - hopefully next year
: >without unpopular k.o. times and no competition from Olympics and
: >Euro' 96 attendance will be up again.
: >
: I agree the 94/95 season is the one to compare it with. Having said that
: we have just had about 15 months non stop RL so the gap before next season
: may also cure those who feel overdosed with RL (if thats possible) as
: well.

True - I am sure that is a real effect.

: However are we saying that every time the Olympics comes around we are
: going to have a bad year?

No I don't think so - what I think we are saying is that it is a very
bad year in which to launch a 'new product'. Take a look at the
sports pages of the average newspaper this summer - one page minimum
for cricket, one page minimum for the horses, two, three or more
pages for Euro' 96 or the Olympics - doesn't leave much room for
anything else. Likewise the sports bulletins at the end of the TV or
radio news - Rugby League has had a pitifully low media profile
this summer. (The *** theorist in me says this is due to the
BBC getting it's own back for Rugby League signing up with Sky.)

Any way I've been messing with these figures some more and have
reached some more positive conclusions. An interesting exercise
is to compare the average attendance for Superleague clubs only
with similar figures for previous years for the top division.

The Superleague average is 6,547 which is a 19% increase on the
Centenary and a 18% increase on the 94/95 First Division average.
Indeed it's better than any First Division average in the past
ten seasons except for 88/89 - notably the last time Wigan didn't
win the Championship.

This leads to another conclusion - there is an in-built increase
for next year because (i) Salford Reds are better supported than
Workington Town and (ii) each club in the Superleague will have
one extra game and each club in Division Two one game less.

Taking those two facts into account and assuming a modest 4000
home crowd for South Wales total attendance for all three
divisions should increase by 8% next year.

The real problem then is not for Superleague but for the lower
divisions where static attendance and only 10 home games per
season could force some clubs to fold e.g. Bramley.

All the best
--
John
The Yorkshire motto updated: Hear all, see all, say nowt;
Eat all, sup all, pay nowt; Read all, lurk all, post nowt;
And if tha'ever do's owt for nowt allus do it for thi'sen.

by **Vibrating Bum-Faced Goa** » Wed, 11 Sep 1996 04:00:00

heat:

Quote:

>: Marsland) writes:
>: >But it's still a decrease since 94/95 season - hopefully next year
>: >without unpopular k.o. times and no competition from Olympics and
>: >Euro' 96 attendance will be up again.
>: >
>: I agree the 94/95 season is the one to compare it with. Having said that
>: we have just had about 15 months non stop RL so the gap before next season
>: may also cure those who feel overdosed with RL (if thats possible) as
>: well.
>True - I am sure that is a real effect.

I'm convinced it is.

Quote:

>: However are we saying that every time the Olympics comes around we are
>: going to have a bad year?
>No I don't think so - what I think we are saying is that it is a very
>bad year in which to launch a 'new product'. Take a look at the
>sports pages of the average newspaper this summer - one page minimum
>for cricket, one page minimum for the horses, two, three or more
>pages for Euro' 96 or the Olympics - doesn't leave much room for
>anything else. Likewise the sports bulletins at the end of the TV or
>radio news - Rugby League has had a pitifully low media profile
>this summer. (The *** theorist in me says this is due to the
>BBC getting it's own back for Rugby League signing up with Sky.)

However, the BBC have been the most prolific proponents of the game
outside News International this summer through excellent coverage on
Radio 5.

They didn't lose anything through the extension to the contract that
came with Super League and they didn't lose anything when the RFL
signed up with Sky at the kick off.

I'm not defending the BBC, their television coverage even in the
Yorkshire region, and I'm sure Lancashire region too, has been
absoutlutely dire. They have given us a fairer crack of the whip on a
medium targeted at the generation the RFL are similarly trying to
target though. Radio 5 really pushed Super League this year and IMO
did a good job. It's a damned sight better than listening to some
parochial old toss pot on Radio Leeds moaning (still) about squad
numbers anyway.

Quote:

>The real problem then is not for Superleague but for the lower
>divisions where static attendance and only 10 home games per
>season could force some clubs to fold e.g. Bramley.

Those clubs that don't get an ARL franchise in Wagga Wagga
that is. :)

by **ossma** » Thu, 12 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

> However, the BBC have been the most prolific proponents of the game
> outside News International this summer through excellent coverage on
> Radio 5.

Did anyone listen to the Radio 5 coverage of the final on Sunday night?
One would have thought they would cover a major British sporting event
such as this - but no. Instead we were given coverage of the US Open
tennis Women's final which involved no British players (what a shocker),
including details of how Steffi was wearing her hair, and Monica's
outfit. The final was mentioned every 15 minutes or so - very briefly.

That's real commitment to SL.

Also, why is Peter Fox so pro-Wigan?

Adam.

by **Huw Morr** » Thu, 12 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

> Did anyone listen to the Radio 5 coverage of the final on Sunday night?
> One would have thought they would cover a major British sporting event
> such as this - but no. Instead we were given coverage of the US Open
> tennis Women's final which involved no British players (what a shocker),
> including details of how Steffi was wearing her hair, and Monica's
> outfit. The final was mentioned every 15 minutes or so - very briefly.

Yeah, I was driving down the M40 at the time, and I was ***y furious.

Huw

--
"I want to be young and wild. Then

And then I want to be old and annoy
people by pretending I'm deaf." -= BOING BOING!! =-

by **WiganRLf** » Thu, 12 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>I'm not defending the BBC, their television coverage even in the
>Yorkshire region, and I'm sure Lancashire region too, has been
>absoutlutely dire. They have given us a fairer crack of the whip on a
>medium targeted at the generation the RFL are similarly trying to
>target though. Radio 5 really pushed Super League this year and IMO
>did a good job. It's a damned sight better than listening to some
>parochial old toss pot on Radio Leeds moaning (still) about squad
>numbers anyway.

The coverage on weekday GMR Radio is now shite. RL used to get a mention
virtually every day, but last season a change of staff of the station has
meant it has almost disappeared.

What has really pissed me off about it though is that now the RU season
has started there is a special slot about 17:50 on Friday (I think)
specially for RU. Its not that I don't think RU should have a slot, more
why the hell is there not one for RL?

After all, when you consider the GMR region RL must be the biggest
professional spectator sport going. Bigger than RU, cricket and all the
other sports that also get similar slots.

They have one for speedway, one for athletics and now one for the
Manchester Storm Ice Hockey team! BUT NO RL :(.

I mean between the SL and 1st division the region GMR covers has won just
about every trophy going.

Dave

Wigan RLFC - Simply the Best

by **Lloyd Barkha** » Thu, 12 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>From: Huw Morris
>Subject: Re: Attendances 1996

>> Did anyone listen to the Radio 5 coverage of the final on Sunday night?
>> One would have thought they would cover a major British sporting event
>> such as this - but no. Instead we were given coverage of the US Open
>> tennis Women's final which involved no British players (what a shocker),
>> including details of how Steffi was wearing her hair, and Monica's
>> outfit. The final was mentioned every 15 minutes or so - very briefly.
>Yeah, I was driving down the M40 at the time, and I was ***y furious.

I was working at the time, ***y shame.

Lloyd

Huw

--
"I want to be young and wild. Then

And then I want to be old and annoy
people by pretending I'm deaf." -= BOING BOING!! =-

by **Lloyd Barkha** » Thu, 12 Sep 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>From: Vibrating Bum-Faced Goats
>To: rec.sport.rugby.league
>Subject: Re: Attendances 1996
>Date: 11 September 1996 10:13

>>heat:

>>: Marsland) writes:

Quote:

>However, the BBC have been the most prolific proponents of the game
>outside News International this summer through excellent coverage on
>Radio 5.

But what happened to the coverage on SUNDAY night. I was working
and was hoping that I could listen to the match. At the end of the day it was the Premiership Final.

Quote:

>Radio 5 really pushed Super League this year and IMO
>did a good job. It's a damned sight better than listening to some
>parochial old toss pot on Radio Leeds moaning (still) about squad
>numbers anyway.

Apart from loudmouth Fox :-)

Lloyd