[uPress Release[/u

Wigan Warriors are today delighted to reveal the fixture details for THE BIG ONE 3, which in 2011 will see Wigan Warriors clash with Huddersfield Giants at the DW Stadium on Friday 24th June.

The Big One is a concept developed by the Warriors to create a massive crowd around a key Engage Super League fixture during the regular season. The inaugural Big One game took place in 2009 when Leeds Rhinos visited the Warriors, a game that attracted a record 20,295 crowd and saw the Warriors run out 28-10 winners, whilst in 2010 The Big One 2 saw Warrington Wolves clinch a 23-16 victory in front of 22,701 spectators.

The Big One has attracted unprecedented coverage and cemented itself as a ‘must-see' event in the Warriors Fixture List.

Warriors Rugby General Manager Kris Radlinski commented:

"We are delighted to unveil the match details for the Big One 3 and look forward to welcoming Huddersfield to this unique experience.

"Both the Wigan and Huddersfield clubs have developed rapidly over recent seasons, on and off the field, and find themselves battling it out at the top of the Engage Super League table.

"The first two Big One events have been massive successes and I still hear people talking fondly about the games against Leeds and Warrington. Last year the Warriors also made history by promoting the game on TV for the first time, which demonstrates the scale of this game."

"This event has been in the planning for many months and we have a number of new and innovative ideas on how to make the Big One 3 even better!"

With the aim of attracting the first ever 20,000 crowd for a Warriors-Giants regular season game, the Club are offering the first 6,000 fans the opportunity to buy tickets at only £10 for adults, £7 for concessions and £5 for juniors.

These discounted tickets will be limited to 1,500 in each stand at the DW Stadium and initially will be available exclusively to current season ticket holders so they can take friends, family members, neighbours and work colleagues to the much-anticipated game.

Radlinski continued "We have already recorded three 20,000 plus crowds this year and we are confident that this could be our fourth, which would be another new attendance milestone for us.

"I would urge every single one of our loyal band of supporters to ‘spread the word' and try to bring at least one person to the game with them. I am passionate about growing this sport and for anyone who has been fortunate enough to attend one of the Big One games or the Good Friday victory, I'm sure they'll agree that there is nothing to compare with a Warriors matchday at the DW Stadium."

Tickets are now on sale to season ticket holders who have until Friday 20th May to buy tickets at the discounted rate; however, these will be sold on a first come, first served basis, and once sold out all remaining match tickets will be priced at the normal match admission rates.

Furthermore, the first 1,500 season ticket holders to purchase tickets to the game will receive a free, limited edition, Big One 3 collectors pin badge.

Tickets are available for the Big One 3: Wigan Warriors versus Huddersfield Giants from the DW Stadium Ticket Office, Ticket Hotline on 0871 66-33-552 or on official website

So thats all the Hudds fans gettting in for a tenner then. How many do people think they'll bring? I can't see over a thousand on a Friday night.

How do the Huddersfield fans get hold of the discounted tickets if its only open to season ticket holders for the next few weeks ??

Huddersfield will be sent an allocation of tickets for them to sell from the Galpharm at the reduced price.

hope I am wrong, but cant see it. will end up with loads of wigan fans and still no Hudds fans.

It's an interesting test for Huddersfield - an ideal opportunity for them to prove that they actually are capable of producing a decent sized away following. Friday night's not ideal for that, but the price is good.

If they being 1500+ then it will be a thousand more than we are used to, this should then attract a 20k+ crowd.

By giving the Wigan Season Ticket holders priority of the £10 tickets, the majority will be given to friends and family (possibly those who don't go as much), compared to those who pay on gate and would have paid £18 anyway.

By giving Hudds the Big One (which should see our 4th 20K crowd), the club will need to push the marketing for Leeds game a little harder to attract the same.....five league matches of 20K+ (plus the sixth - WCC) in one season would be marvellous and would no doubt see our attendance average increase significantly.

It's only t'other side of Oldham.

Our average gate v Huddersfield over the last four years has been around 12,500. anything over 18,000 would be a very good effort.

I'd agree with that. Just can't see 20,000 for this.

What is the capacity of the three "home" stands? A £10 per ticket offer to Huddersfield fans won't make a difference - they're use to their season tickets not being much more than that.

I believe that around 19k is what is available to Wigan fans.

We have over 10k season ticket holders.
We normally have 2-3k Wigan fans who pay on the gate.
4,500 tickets available at £10 for Wigan fans, season ticket holders given priority to distribute.
1,500 Hudds fans at £10.

I'd like to think we will get 20k from all that.

OMG ! its coming to something when we have a "big" game against a team who've not won the league for 50 years, and not even won the cup for 59 years. Whatever next ? a big one4 against Cas.

Give or take it the fact we can't fully fill the south stand for health & safety reasons it's about 19,000. I reckon the potential return of Gareth Hock will get Wigan fans out. The fact a lot of Wigan fans will miss out on Saints (A) this year could boost this crowd as well.

I think they're trying something different with this and I applaud them for it. Saints and Wire sell themselves so it would seem logical to go for another 'top' team of which, on league position, Huddersfield are one.

It's called Marketing. Our current average is 18,398

With big crowds to come at home against Hudds & Leeds plus hopefully increases seen across the board for all remaing home games we are on target to achieve 17,500+ average by the end of the year.

True but the phrase "Big One" is just a marketing tool. It was either this or Leeds match and I think Hudds is a bigger game on paper this year so far.

I guess they think the Leeds game can market itself to a good crowd anyway so seems a sensible idea to put effort into Huddersfield than the Leeds game.

I don't expect it but a crowd of 15,361 v Quins next Friday was see us have a bigger total attendance than second highest average Leeds having played a game less!

£10 for giants season ticket?! i wish! £175 for mine this season.

i always go to wigan and hopefully few more giants fans will for this one.

away following is on the up..ticket office recorded recent pre-buy ticket sales for the away games at leeds and crusaders

I don't think the name of Hudds will help draw 20k. Poor idea IMO, by all means try and market this game but the BIG ONE should have been Leeds.

When the first on was announced in 2009 I was looking forward to it because it was Leeds, the champions. We have had many classic games with them down the years.

Then Warrington, one of our local rivals, loads of away support.

Having around 18-19k on for this game with only a few away fans will make fun of the name IMO.

However, it will improve the average because the Leeds game will pull 17k without any marketing.

It's all about our averages though. If the Hudds game gets an extra 4/5,000 on from last year then thats a massive success. We've probably only increased the crowd by 4/5,000 for the 'big ones' in the past.

Correct. Last season's Wigan v Hudds crowd was 13,619

Anything over 18k will be seen as a success, but I'm sure the club will be aiming for 20k+

Wow! Hudds fans bought tickets before game day. Just how low was Hudds' following previously?

What is also interesting is what effect the 'big one' events could be having on corresponding matches the year after (when all attendees pay full price):


Leeds (H)

2008 - 14,911
2009 - 20,295 (The Big One)
2010 - 17,883
2011 - ?

Wire (H)

2008 - 15,537
2009 - 13,452
2010 - 22,701 (The Big One)
2011 - 21,056


Obviously the reality that Wigan (and Wire) are much better teams than in 2008 will show some improvement in attendances, but it can't be ignored that The Big One events seem to help the same fixture a year later.

Will be interesting to see how next years Wigan v Hudds attendance pans out, somewhere in the middle (c17k) would be tremendous.