Looking at the crowd at Wembley yesterday I would say the stadium was only 50% to 60% full, I guess this was because Catalan were playing. What would the crowd be if Toronto play Catalan in a future final? This is where expansion will not work, the RFL must have lost a lot of revenue yesterday, they would go bankrupt if the final was between Toronto and Catalan.

I was offered free tickets for the final by the RFL, I wonder how many of the crowd at Wembley got in free yesterday?

Two possible headlines here, 1 only 50 k in Wembley.
2 underdogs win despite the odds.

I hope it’s no 2 they focus on. The CC has lost its sparkle and appeal, yesterday Catalans brought a bit of that back! It’s first final I have attended in 15 ish years.
That result will have done more for interest in the game than a wire win

I got two free tickets for yesterday from the RFL. I am sure that they were giving away all that they could.
I do not think playing the game in August is a particularly good idea, people have holidays and other commitments. Fans have only so much money.
I think that promotion of the game leaves a lot to be desired.I saw nothing in my travels to show that the event was even on.
To start knocking out cheap tickets on Groupon in the week before the final is too late. People need notice to get organized so that they can attend and take advantage of such offers.
I would like to see some new ideas regarding the CC Final, perhaps bring in someone new to run the event and restore it to its former glory.

If you don't sell it, then you need to give it away. The RFL have no idea how to sell it, so........

Poorly marketed events will soon die........but for the record, the RFL don't earn from the CC final.......they pay the rent and the clubs get the gate money......the BBC cash is the RFL's kicker.

Ahh good old Rugby League fans, a great win for an expansion club, even got mentioned on the ITV news on Saturday night but majority of RL fans just want to focus on the crowd- i wonder why half of them ever go to a game as they obviously don't like the sport -- oh i forget they don't go, just sit at home and moan. for the record i had a very enjoyable day at Wembley on Saturday and it was good to see Catalan win

It was a cracking day out, and actually Wembley was not as much of a rip off with refreshment prices as I remember. Nice to be able to take my drink to my seat as well.
Catalan win was what the cup needed, and a decent game on bbc for any neutrals to watch. The commentary team was pretty good, even though they still stick with J Davis but suppose he keeps the curious union fan interested.
Dredgie a lot of the folk that comment on the crowd numbers are quite often those that don’t actually go which I find a bit odd but hey.

Rubbish

Which bit was rubbish?
Cracking day out!
Underdogs winning?
Commentary team? Actually think Jon Wilkin is excellent, j Davis annoys me personally but hey.
Or folk that complain about attendance that don’t go themselves, used to happen a lot on here.

If you didn’t go to Wembley on Saturday, don’t criticise the attendance. To get 50,672 to London to watch Warrington and a team from 816 miles away was quite an achievement. It was 10,000 more than went to last year’s World Cup final. And it could be the sixth highest rugby league attendance in the world this year.

How do you know that somebody who comments on the crowd at Wembley does not go to games?

g

RUBBISH - cracking day out I thought the first half was boring as hell
Agree ref commentary
folk complain - I went and I have a right to an opinion, not everyone is an armchair watcher as you seem to think, however there must have been a lot of armchair watchers as there werent many in the stadium so what does that tell you.

I never said it was a classic game, I actually said a good day out, fans from wire and the French for a day fans were all having fun outside the stadium and banter inside was good.
What other sporting event can you go too have a laugh with fans of both teams, bump into players from the team you support (Api), chat to one of the commentators on the way home, chat to the match officials after the game, and have a beer with one of the halftime celebrities!
So yep cracking day out! And I am one that think the CC has lost its appeal.
As for the game agree not a classic, but tell you what I bet lot of neutrals enjoyed it, the game had a bit of everything, all the non RL fans I know that watched it said it’s one of the best games they have watched in an age.
As for the armchair critics, obviously there are a lot out there commenting on the crowd, my point was a lot that do that (note I didn’t suggest anyone in particular) comment on how poor the crowds are, turns out they were not there.
It used to happen a fair bit when commenting on london broncos crowds in the past, folk saying how poor, then you ask if they were there, turns out they were not.

Shame you didn’t enjoy the first half though, watching a team play a half with 100% set completion rate I much prefer to a game strewn with handling errors. The second half, was it better by being error strewn? That’s opinion, and in that we will all differ.

you would have two expansion clubs fighting for a major trophy but the potential crowd is what you worry about. Forget the other positives hey.

The crowd on Saturday was not the biggest yes but what did the RFL actually do to attract the population in the SE of England. You need to market these events and that is where the RFL fail miserably.

Catalan were never gonna be able to bring loads of fans due to the expense.

Neutrals in the north would have been put off by the terrible train service. Not being able to get into London direct from the NW is a major problem. Even fans on the east coast saw train prices jacked up high due to the non existent NW line through to London.

I see you have lots of positives in your post.

Think the start of this thread is interesting, expansion not going to work! So Catalan at Wembley, Toulouse and Toronto in qualifiers. Then you see Fev rovers can’t muster 17 players, expansion teams doing better than established teams