Rugby Premiership average crowds

SmallTown

SmallTown

Well-known member
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Still a very very Niche sport compared to football. Crazy that one of the best sides in the country averages 7 and a half thousand. No wonder teams struggle financially. I know newcastle aren't doing well but it really isn't a northern game is it? Literally no one goes to Newcastle or Sale. I can see why there was talk of merging them.

I do love the fact Harlequins have a capacity of 14800 and and average way above that! (They played 2 games at Twickenham stadium this year and got 75000 and 60000 at them)
 
Talking to one of the Billingham rugby lads last week he said they pulled in over 1,000 for the last match of the season. That's way more than the football club would get for a league game, though the town's football team did manage over 1300 for a play off game the season before.
 
I’ve been to Exeter Chiefs ground, very nice.
How would RU survive if the likes of Diageo didn’t pump millions into it though.
 
SCG said:
I’ve been to Exeter Chiefs ground, very nice.
How would RU survive if the likes of Diageo didn’t pump millions into it though.
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It would survive, it's a long time since Webb Ellis picked the ball up.

Football survives across the country without television money. There's just not as many snouts in the trough when sponsorship isn't there. The game goes on, so would rugby.
 
We go to Falcons quite often and I'd say that even an average of 6,000 is drastically pulled up by the bigger games such as the Friday Finale against Bath a couple of weeks ago. There are days (although often Friday nights) at Kingston where there must be barely 3,500-4,000 fans in the place. You can easily walk around and choose your own seats or standing area. We often go into the South Stand as its much more protected from the elements although it was a pleasure to go into the North against Bath with a beer in the warm evening sun watching Finn Russell throw darts everywhere.

The product at Newcastle is wafer thin at the moment - which is disappointing given they have one of the most entertaining wingers in the league, but he just rarely gets on the ball as they spend most of the match defending for their lives.

I would like to get to more away grounds with the Falcons, go visit the Stoop, the Rec and Welford Road for alternative fan experiences other than dreary Geordies! :ROFLMAO:
 
SCG said:
I’ve been to Exeter Chiefs ground, very nice.
How would RU survive if the likes of Diageo didn’t pump millions into it though.
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Agreed, I was there last week. I like it a lot. Atmosphere was stunning too. I'm actually surprised they don't sell out more. Also cos they own the stadium outright helps them be self sufficient. Properly well ran club
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
It would survive, it's a long time since Webb Ellis picked the ball up.

Football survives across the country without television money. There's just not as many snouts in the trough when sponsorship isn't there. The game goes on, so would rugby.
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Going off the top flight teams that have gone under over the years, particularly those in the South. Worcester was the biggest surprise, largest sporting club in the City and they fold.

Leicester have fans all over the midlands and have become a bit of a “brand”… some Tigers fans I know felt they concentrate on the latter more than the results when they fell from the top of the perch
Oh, and Leicester City’s rise of course…
 
FatFrank said:
We go to Falcons quite often and I'd say that even an average of 6,000 is drastically pulled up by the bigger games such as the Friday Finale against Bath a couple of weeks ago. There are days (although often Friday nights) at Kingston where there must be barely 3,500-4,000 fans in the place. You can easily walk around and choose your own seats or standing area. We often go into the South Stand as its much more protected from the elements although it was a pleasure to go into the North against Bath with a beer in the warm evening sun watching Finn Russell throw darts everywhere.

The product at Newcastle is wafer thin at the moment - which is disappointing given they have one of the most entertaining wingers in the league, but he just rarely gets on the ball as they spend most of the match defending for their lives.

I would like to get to more away grounds with the Falcons, go visit the Stoop, the Rec and Welford Road for alternative fan experiences other than dreary Geordies! :ROFLMAO:
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I think you;re right, if they can get the performances right they'll probably attract a bigger crowd. It's been dire this season though. That being said I was up there for the quins game a couple of years ago and was surprised we didn't pull in a bigger crowd.

The rec is a great place to go for a match, terrible half permanent structure but still a good place for a rugby day out
 
There is a Salary Cap in the English Premiership of £5,000,000 for every club that's why they can survive with small crowds.

Exeter chiefs crowds have dropped in the last couple of years , I think it's a combination of the upward curve they had been for nearly 15 years coming to an end and home defeats becoming more regular, and it is expensive to attend home matches but probably still cheaper than Boro.
I go occasionally it's usually the knockout stages of the European cup, I don't think I have been to any premiership games.
 
exeterboro said:
There is a Salary Cap in the English Premiership of £5,000,000 for every club that's why they can survive with small crowds.

Exeter chiefs crowds have dropped in the last couple of years , I think it's a combination of the upward curve they had been for nearly 15 years coming to an end and home defeats becoming more regular, and it is expensive to attend home matches but probably still cheaper than Boro.
I go occasionally it's usually the knockout stages of the European cup, I don't think I have been to any premiership games.
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You beat me to it! I was about to post that the salaries are a fraction of those in football.

On ticket prices, they can be a bit steep for one off matches but the lower cost season tickets at most clubs are significantly less than a Prem football season ticket
 
I always assumed attendances would be higher in Rugby Union. They aren't much higher than Rugby League (https://www.totalrl.com/average-super-league-attendances-during-the-2024-season-so-far/) which I thought was more niche than Union but they appear to be quite similar. Union gets a lot more interest for the national team than league does.

Looking at football as a comparison and they are both equivalent to somewhere between L1 and L2.
 
Nano said:
I always assumed attendances would be higher in Rugby Union. They aren't much higher than Rugby League (https://www.totalrl.com/average-super-league-attendances-during-the-2024-season-so-far/) which I thought was more niche than Union but they appear to be quite similar. Union gets a lot more interest for the national team than league does.

Looking at football as a comparison and they are both equivalent to somewhere between L1 and L2.
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I think Rugby Union gets more attention then league due to internationals. Simply more teams play it at a top tier international level. Club rugby is still very niche.
 
SmallTown said:
I think you;re right, if they can get the performances right they'll probably attract a bigger crowd. It's been dire this season though. That being said I was up there for the quins game a couple of years ago and was surprised we didn't pull in a bigger crowd.

The rec is a great place to go for a match, terrible half permanent structure but still a good place for a rugby day out
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Newcastle’s ground is too far out. They need somewhere in the city really to make it easier/more attractive to get to on a shittty winter evening /afternoon. The waste land near the arena would be ideal but not sure what that would cost to buy and build on. I don’t think the club own their current ground or surrounding land either so not like they could sell it for housing to generate money.

It’s another of those ‘if I win £150m on the lottery….’ Scenarios.
 
Rugby Union in Gloucester is still a religon - despite them having been fairly naff for an extended period. I remember in the late 90s when money started to appear for club union sides and they went mad signing big players like Farrell, Henry and Saint Andre but it didn't really work out for them.

I was amazed how early people get to the games just to get into the shed. Did see them put a few past West Hartlepool and Adrian Turton one of their old players was my landlord for a year.
 
junos_boots said:
Rugby Union in Gloucester is still a religon - despite them having been fairly naff for an extended period. I remember in the late 90s when money started to appear for club union sides and they went mad signing big players like Farrell, Henry and Saint Andre but it didn't really work out for them.

I was amazed how early people get to the games just to get into the shed. Did see them put a few past West Hartlepool and Adrian Turton one of their old players was my landlord for a year.
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The Shed is something else! It's the closest an English rugby crowd will get to a football crowd. Another of the grounds I've been to. Apparently. A lady called Old Rosie had the better of me that day
 
Billingham have a self imposed salary cap of £0, it's amazing that they managed to stay in the division they're in when all other teams field full time or part time professionals (so I'm told).
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Billingham have a self imposed salary cap of £0, it's amazing that they managed to stay in the division they're in when all other teams field full time or part time professionals (so I'm told).
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Is that right? Why is that? I guess they want to remain truly amateur but I wonder if there is more to it?
 
This is interesting, if you take the Twickenham and Tottenham games out of it, it looks far less rosy for the two London clubs. Quins at least sell out pretty much every game, I think only Newcastle and Bath we didn't but for a team as strong and dominant as Sarries that average crowd is shocking. And I'm still surprised that Bristol and Bath get more than Quins. Bristol are doing OK, but then again they have to pay to use a football stadium and that's what killed off Irish

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Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Billingham have a self imposed salary cap of £0, it's amazing that they managed to stay in the division they're in when all other teams field full time or part time professionals (so I'm told).
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I think the Championship are the only league to have full time and even they have two or three teams part time. I think Billingham are in National 2 which did have a couple of big hitters but I'd be surprised if they had the budget for full time. As for Billingham not paying , if that's right they have done very well to survive.
 
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