https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/49745356

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/49745356

I'm down for that. Will be interesting which stadium they use, both rugby grounds in Perpignan not big enough imo. Would it be Montpellier?

Sun, Booze, and RL fans = not the best combination.

it would be a disgrace

Apart from the visit of the Wire fans a few weeks ago, the sun, sand, booze & RL usually works just fine.

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Indeed, been to Perpignan a few times for the game (FC), never any problems to speak of.

Lets go the whole hog,first game of the season in Spain close to a beach resort with lots of spare accomodation. Take over a town. What about Mallorcas ground? If France what about Toulose?

Good idea. May revitalise the Magic Weekend.

Shall I pre-empt the "Vegas Baby" calls... (what a s41t hole that place is!)

It's quite a walk to the beach.

The two parts of the response were not meant to be linked. I am not sure how warm Southern French beach resorts are in late Feb or early March so I went for a nice city instead.

No issues in Barcelona either.

Mille may be a touch big if you're looking for French stadia, but Bordeaux could have potential.

Toulouse might fit the bill. The Union ground is quite large. Plenty of flights and Hotels. To be fair it is a bit of a walk to the beach.

Could effectively be a home game for TO, depending how the play offs go!

Are there any stadiums that are right next to the beach?
Can you imagine being able to come out between games and chill in the sands or play a bit of beach Rugby? The visuals would be brilliant. Not too mention the after party!

A few issues here:

Getting 50,000+ people to France, accommodation costs etc. The price of flights and hotels rockets for a Catalans home game, let alone a weekend of it.

It's a nice idea, but it isn't viable

Quote ="Wellsy13"Are there any stadiums that are right next to the beach? Can you imagine being able to come out between games and chill in the sands or play a bit of beach Rugby? The visuals would be brilliant. Not too mention the after party!'" https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums.php?id=139 We could chill here Wellsy13.

Quote ="Wellsy13"Are there any stadiums that are right next to the beach? Can you imagine being able to come out between games and chill in the sands or play a bit of beach Rugby? The visuals would be brilliant. Not too mention the after party!'" https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums.php?id=139 We could chill here Wellsy13.

Transport is of course an issue, but if you pitch at at a ground about 30k not the usual 50k then surely it can still look full.

Would also stage a Toulouse game and a French league game as warm up games for each day to attract more locals in. The aim would be to boost the game in France, not get tens of thousands of Brits across the Channel.

appears the Toulouse RU ground fits 33k so that could be a choice.

In Catalonia the Nou Camp is too big, but Espanyol's 40k ground an option, though I believe it is very much on the outskirts of Barcelona.

It will be anfield again

Nobody has put a timeframe on it, of course it's Anfield next year, they have said as much.

Actually the Central Coast stadium near Gosford is much nicer. Have you seen the televised NRL matches played there? Palm trees and the beach across the street from the stadium.

If you are talking about only 30,000, let alone 50,000 British tourists being accommodated, then Perpignan is a very bad choice. Too small a town for accommodations, even with surrounding townsbeing used. But more important, the 11,000 capacity stadium is much too small.

Toulouse, a medium sized city, is a much better venue choice for accommodations, and the Stadium de Toulouse, with 33,150 capacity, would probably be just good enough.

It’s a ridiculous idea. At least 10 of the 12 clubs will be from northern England. It’s an event designed to make money and/or help expand the game.
Holding this in France would do neither.
If you want to expand Catalans support or the game in France then you can do that with targeted Catalans or Toulouse games.
The aim for the game in France should be getting Catalans avg attendance up to 10,000 and Toulouse up to the 8,000 generally seen as needed to break even in SL.

It concerns me that this idea is even contemplated by Catalans and SL. It would be a bizarre waste of resources from the sport.

like buying Odsal?
giving away SL branding to Stobart?
The RFL are not renowned for shrewd business are they.

If this were to happen if would be the end of magic weekend. No way it would make money. Expand sl to 14 in 2021 with London one side that comes up then guarantee it will be held in London for a few years to promote the game there. Maybe bring cc final up north to compensate