Well aren't you a wit. Well half of one anyway.

Probably not as i'm on a tight budget and don't have much disposable income, i've often wanted to go as a neutral but never had the chance or finances to allow it, and i wasn't on about individual neutrals most of the ones i saw were in families or large groups.

From as early as I can remember I went every year on the coach trip from my local working mens club no matter who was playing but by my reckoning it's about 12 year ago since they last did one. My group of friends (anywhere between about 10-20 of us) who've regularly attended RL events are mainly in our early to mid 30's now with families/kids so we prioritize the Grand Final now purely on the basis of when they are played.

The RFL sent our club 6 free CC Final tickets, less than 2 weeks before the final.

Unfortunately, this didn't give us enough time to raffle/give as prizes at a club event, and many people who were offered the tickets had to turn down due to other commitments/travel issues etc.

Compare this to the Magic Weekend, where we sell two coach loads for the day. Tickets are cheaper so more people fancy it, there are incentives financially to the club by organising it, and there's plenty of time to plan it.

I know of no other clubs near us that ran trips to the CCF.

The decline and closure of pubs and clubs obviously doesn't help, as does the lack of school trips. As a kid they were run every year and you were looking at decent numbers there. They can't happen so easily for a number of reasons beyond the most obvious one of it being in the middle of the summer holidays. I doubt the health & safety aspects and insurance costs of moving a group of 50-100 children are economically feasible. Anyway moving it back to May and binning (or moving) the Magic weekend would help. At present its too close to the Grand Final and at a time when many are away on hols.

See, this is the sort of stuff that frustrates me. This sort of promotion for 2018 should be starting today - the first working day after the last final.

Offer clubs a period where they can sell tickets (even offer a discount on face value to club members) and allow the club to pocket a commission. That way, they have a whole calendar of events, fixtures etc to push their tickets and raise funds. I'm sure that some of our bigger amateur clubs - your Stanningley's, St Pats/Judes and Siddalls of this world have enough members to easily fill a bus at the very least if it's promoted right.

Seem to recall an interview with either Wood or Rimmer where they claim the CC final to be 3rd ranked occasion behind SL final and Magic Weekend. Seems like promotion for CC final is more of an afterthought.

There are of course other issues affecting the CCF attendance, but engaging community clubs is certainly a trick they're missing.

As I said in my previous post, we take plenty to the MW, and we make a bit of money for the club in doing so. If similar offers/timescales were available for the CCF, we'd certainly do the same.

We're not a huge club, we have c90-100 juniors and an open age. Plus parents & other family members, if priced accordingly we could easily do two coaches.

The problem is that Newcastle is way more attractive at the moment (to people at our club as neutrals). It's less travel time, cheaper, you generally get a better view, and you see 3 games.

It doesn't include the empty club Wembley seats, first time it's been open for public sale

Regards

Lord Byron

I'm not sure if this applies because it's a different beast now it's in August but I went to every CC final with my amateur club for a number of years and you had to get in there early to get a place on the coach with your mates. Obviously it was in may and there was no magic but at the very least that's one amateur club who used to run at least one coach a year down to Wembley.

I have been to Wembley 27 times most for the challenge cup about 18 the rest Great Britain or England and most times on coach or car the best times was may for me

I reckon so

Are the rfl looking to move the final away from Wembley? Just completed a survey for them and one asked which venue you would like to see the cup final played at. With more promotion I wouldn't mind it being kept at Wembley, if not Cardiff would be my second choice...a lot better pre and post match around the ground /city centre and we would come close to selling it out most years based on previous years crowds...

Cardiff hosted their Pride weekend over the August Bank Holiday, so the city was pretty busy already, and transport links weren't good either with no trains running between Newport & Cardiff, so M4 was pretty choked.

Hence, just be careful what you wish for.

I think the RFL have an agreement the final will be played there until a certain date. The stadium is 10 years old so if it was a 10 year deal that may now be up?

That would be the crucial thing, the RFL has a habit of being a bit sloppy on the details. I like Cardiff, I've done RL there as a day trip and a weekend away, but bring the CCF forward to early July and it could be a winner. Probably get a more interest from the locals as the RU and football will be out of season too.

Can someone please explain how an event staged over two days that attracts a 60k crowd for 6 matches is bigger than an event that draws almost 70k for one match? Only thing that I can think of is that Magic is bigger financially for the RFL whist the CC is still the more lucrative event of the 3 events for the clubs involved in the final.

I think the deal is to have one game a year (doesn't have to be the Challenge Cup Final) a year there, unsure on its length.

I still don't feel moving from Wembley is the right thing to do. The stadium is a draw for fans due to its history and a big event for the players to play there too.

It just needs better marketing, I went to to the 2013 World Cup semi there and I have never heard so many southern accents at an RL game, because the RFL had employed a marketing agency. While of course England and a World Cup game is a different product for neutrals, even of we got a fraction of those neutral fans in for a CC Final we'd be heading back in the right direction.

Another option to look at is unreseved seating in one section, this is popular at the Magic Weekend and would entice people who want to go but arent sure who else from their family and friends are going and who they will sit with.

Had an email from the RFL saying tickets for next year won't be on sale til October as their ticket website is getting upgraded. About time too, that 'colour in the stadium map' thing they do is very outdated.

We should have moved away from Wembley before Hull won there!

Selling tickets to Southerners for an England game is easy. Selling tickets for Wigan v Hull isn't. That's why more England games should be in London, the cup final can be played anywhere (with a 60,000+ stadium).

IMO the Final unfortunately just isn't a big enough occasion anymore for Wembley, and the RFL have only got themselves to blame. Magic has been part of the death, as well as Catalans inclusion in SL perhaps (how much money exactly do the RFL think the average fan has?!), as well as the increased importance and emphasis over the years of the Grand Final, which easily feels like a bigger and more important match these days.
Finally the timing is ridiculous; imagine being (for example) a Leeds fan in Sept 2015 having to find the money for Old Trafford a matter of weeks after likely shelling out tens if not hundreds for Wembley. The two games are just too close.
Principality Stadium in April or May, that's what I'd do. Last week's attendance in that 74,500 stadium would have looked miles better.

Never mind looked miles better I think it would have been better

Go back to playing early in the season without massive gaps between games. So that the excitement can build for supporters.

Think that's more important than the location.

I remember people at the time calling for the CC Final to be moved from May as early rounds were pretty much beimg treated as preseason warm up games by the full time clubs,and folk said that winning a trophy in May was pointless as it meant nothing come the end of the season. Plus it was competing for TV space with the 6 Nations and football.

So unless those issues are to be addressed somehow, putting it earlier in the calendar is unlikely to improve much.