What! Are you suggesting Saints are deliberately engaged in fraud?

I think that we have established that around 4,000 ST holders wont attend, even if the price is slashed to pretty much nothing, and around 7,000 will attend, whatever the cost. As all 4 home clubs averaged roughly the same crowds regular season, and the crowds last weekend were approx. the same, this seems to be a trend across all clubs and not just Wigan.

However, little appears to be done to attract those who don't hold a ST, and this is where the RFL need to step in, making dirt cheap tickets available for everyone, not just those who can afford to stump up £250+ for a ST.

All play-off tickets should be £10 adults and £5 kids/OAPs next season, and if that doesn't get full houses, then they might as well give up and accept that the crowds will be low.

The argument there is you are then devaluing what should be the biggest games of the season just to get bums on seats. Too many RL fans won't attend games unless there are discounts involved. Many of last year's WC games were discounted and you always see CCF and GF tickets on Groupon/Wowcher for as little as £10. Prfetty much every ticket to get in every SL ground is under £25, and most are under £20. The structure of the competition, not the pricing of the tickets is where the problem lies IMO.

Season ticket holders at Wigan this year didn't really gain any incentives over the people who paid £3 for a Loyal 18 membership (or even got it free with tickets for the first game). Loyal 18 members got the half priced MW ticket and have received a £2 discount for every game this season, including playoffs. I've no problem with ST holders' loyalty being rewarded and them receiving perks that non-ST holders don't get, otherwise there's little point getting one.

Then you must have no problem in 7,000 crowds for playoff games, as borne out over the past 5-6 years.

I do, personally, and I've made that clear in several posts. I hate this structure, which is what I think is the main reason for the low crowds. Next season we'll have a one-off knock game as the the only playoff game that doesn't count on a ST. The crowds should be much better. The RFL have stuck with this format with few discounted tickets for 6 seasons now and the attedances have been appalling across the board. But they obviously feel that they would rather earn the revenue of 7/8/9k tickets at full price than they would 15k at a discounted price. I don't agree with it, but it's the way it has been.

Hope not, the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford is a great event and not something we should even consider getting rid of IMO. Plus I'd rather than league be decided by a battle between the two best teams not just a measure of who managed not to slip up in the weekly rounds.

Cheap tickets don't bring in more fans, see last Thursday as a case in point.

Unless I'm mistaken, the only people who were offered £7 discount were ST holders. What about all those who, for various reasons, do not purchase a ST?

Or are they a second class species?

Do you not think their should be at least some reward and incentive for the fans that purchase STs? I'm not saying this as a ST holder btw, I didn't get one this year because I thought I'd miss a few due to work commitments (think I've done 10/13 home weekly rounds plus last week's PO). Our ST numbers have dropped over the last few seasons and I've heard a lot of people giving begrudged opinions about not receiving enough benefits with one. There was uproar on twitter when the big one was announced and everyone thought it was going to be cheap tickets. I personally think 1/3rd off full price for ST holders is fair enough.

As has already been posted the playoffs belong to the RFL who decide on pricing, not the club. The £7 discount I understand runs across the board at all playoff games.

its because it means nothing, like the league, its why I stopped getting a ST see which Wigan team decided to turn up. Can spank Wire and Leeds but lose to Bradford...

Do they deserve a discount?

(I don't have a season ticket)

Maybe the reward should come in the form of a discount on the regular cost of the entry during the season and priority to purchase cup game tickets? Oh, wait that's what people get and knowingly pay for when they purchase the ticket, why give away more revenue for the club?

If a discount was added to the season ticket what happens if you don't qualify for the cup games? Expecting to get £100 saving over the year becomes £75 for example? Wouldn't you then be frustrated that you got less benefit than you hoped for, or event worst, what happened if the games in the season had less of a discount as a result?

And it continues with only 6k for the Cas/Wire game.

And it continues with £7 discounts for ST holders only for the wire game.

Shame - a reduction for everyone would have made for a bigger crowd and a great atmosphere.

I doubt it. RL crowds don't seem to be very responsive to changes in price

We got 14,600 against Leeds at the same stage last year. No reason why we can't acheive something similar against Wire. It is the biggest game of this season. Adult ticket prices range from £21-25 depending on where you sit, it's really not that bad. Plus a lot of fans without STs will have Loyal 18 memberships which gets you £2 off. I understood the apathy towards the Huddersfield game but this is an absolute not to miss game IMO.

I have loved the play off series for a long time. The GF can be a superb occasion.

I must admit though that my interest is waning and IMO the league rounds are suffering because of a lopsided competition.

I could understand and perhaps even tolerate lower intensity (which i believe we are seeing now ) so long as things really ramp up toward the back end of the year.

Problem is, that they are not.

Crowds are suffering and its a real shame.

Top 8 does not work, Top 5 still rewards some amount of mediocrity. All systems are difficult to understand to non fans and fans alike.

Honestly i think the format needs a kick up the bottom. I love the GF and want to see it remain in place.

Top 3?

League winner goes straight into the final. 2nd v 3rd for the second spot. Simple and really puts emphasis on finishing as high as possible.

Yes there are less play off games for Sky to flog like a dead horse, but i am not having that people are watching in there droves. Its simply become boring.

I never, ever thought i would say that

The NRL semi finals attendances were 52,000 and 46,000.

I think what you mean is "50% of ST Holders begrudge paying £15 and upwards to see any game not covered by their ST". As for those who dont have a ST or membership - nobody knows because they never get offered a discount.

Its a very insular view by the RFL to not make these events attractive to the casual fan. No doubt come magic weekend the only discounts on offer will be to ST holders, and there'll be very few geordie voices heard around the Sports Direct Arena.

Why would cheap tickets see thousands of geordies clamouring to get seats?

Best way to get Geordies in would be to get a team playing in black and white stripes!!!

Isnt the idea to try to move the game more than 10 miles from the M62?

I think we might see a continuos drop off in attendances across all competitions if the game continues with slow mo wrestle mania low intensity games. Hopefully the 3 x 8 format might change things, if it doesn't then attendances might fall due to sporting boredom.

No. It's to provide a big day out for the RL community, especially the no-mark teams that would never normally get near a "final" type situation.

Why would cheap tickets see geordies attending in droves?