Challenge Cup crowds and Season Tickets : Thu May 17, 2018 6:57 am
I posted this on the Saints redvee forum earlier in the week but it could work across the board really. Please excuse the Saints specific references...There's been plenty of concern in the media since the weekend about poor attendances for the Challenge Cup ties. Only our game at Cas and Toronto v Warrington managed to attract a crowd in excess 5,000. Obviously there were plenty of travelling Saints fans in the figure of 5342 so that still means that there was a very poor turn out from home fans for what was the tie of the round. The fact that only 1,800 turned up at Widnes to see their game against Leeds is beyond worrying.
So my theory is that season ticket holding supporters simply aren't turning out for matches that are not covered by their season ticket?
It's noticeable in recent years that crowds are drastically smaller for cup games and play-offs. Even at LP (not that we've had many Home knockout ties of late) the empty seats really do tell their own story.
So what do we do about it? Well, here's an idea. The maximum number of home knockout games (Challenge Cup and Play-Off semi-finals) that any Super League club can play in a year is 4. That's based on a team from the previous year’s Qualifiers having 3 home ties in the 5th & 6th rounds and quarter-final and then also finishing in the top 2 after the Super 8s to get a home semi in the play-offs. That's not overly realistic in my opinion so let's say that on average a club will get 1 or 2 home knock-out fixtures per year. Saints are charging around £20 for members to take their seats for the quarter final against Hull. Why not stick an extra £30 on the cost of season tickets and say that all knockout fixtures are covered as well?
I think that would be a fair enough deal. 10% on the cost of a season ticket to give members their seat in the ground whatever the competition would not only put a fair few extra bums on seats for cup games but it would also add 10% of revenue to the clubs accounts before the season starts to invest as they see fit. As a member who pays by direct debit it would mean shelling out an extra £3 a month. Even I can get that kind of financial arrangement past the wife without causing an argument.
From both sides there's an element of risk involved. The club may end up with no home ties and have some extra cash to go and sign a new star from the NRL. Equally it could go the other way and we have all of our knockout games at home. If that were the case though a good percentage of what the club loses on the gate receipts could come back from the added merchandise and refreshments sales that go with having a much bigger crowd. So there's an element of jeopardy involved but We currently have to roll the dice on the number of home fixtures we play anyway. Due to the Super 8s the top 4 teams get 15 home games a year while 5th-8th only get 14.
So what do you think? Worth the risk? Or is the Challenge Cup simply not relevant anymore?