Fantastic support from the Salford fans tonight. Without them the atmosphere in the stadium would have been next to non existent.

The west stand was empty, south stand barely half full and the east stand (which I was in) felt like it was rammed. I said to my mate on the way home that I don’t see why play off games aren’t part of the ST. That game should have drawn 12k+.

Funnily enough I was sat in the centre of the South. West & East stands were much less attended than our usual home games. The South 'felt' pretty full but you're saying less than half full.

Atmosphere was good tonight. Salford following was very good, will be interesting to see if they show up in numbers at home against Cas.

That’s what it looked like to me but you’re also saying that the East stand wasn’t as well attended as usual which was the opposite to what I felt. Semantics I suppose!

I guess its because you can't guarantee playoff rugby.

How do you charge people for a game that may/may not happen? A perfect example is - was that our last home game of 2019? No one knows, as you don't know what will happen next week.

I know. It’s not an easy fix but the attendances last night and tonight were horrific for two play off games. It needs sorting.

Without a shadow of a doubt.

I don't want to belittle Salford, but if that was Vs either Leeds or Warrington tonight you probably would have seen an extra 2K on the gate. Salford deserve tonight, but more casual Wigan fans would have come for Wigan vs Leeds or Wigan Vs Wire imo.

That's why it's key that the top tier teams perform. The top tier rivalries is what makes our sport. If you don't have that then the crowds plummet.

Well I went and it was worth every penny. Not really sure what the fuss is about paying tbh. Why do people expect things to be free? I just don't get the thinking. I bet half the people complaining wouldn't think twice about buying 20 fags, half a dozen pints of beer or paying for concert tickets or similar. Why is rugby expected to be discounted all the time?

Great atmosphere at the ground tonight and kudos to Salford who brought a sizable and vocal crowd. I can guarantee that it was better to be at the ground tonight than watching on TV.

Isn't that point only relevant if you support a top team. To the other thirty odd teams that play RL, but only see one of 3 or 4 teams in with a chance of getting to Old Trafford ,the play offs are completely irrelevant & their supporters probably couldn't give a toss. As with the CC.

I thought that playoff games were a RFL event, where prices were set by the RFL and clubs had no say. That would explain why both Warrington and Wigan ST holders received the same £5 discounts - did Cas & Salford ST holders also receive a discount? The clubs' hands are tied when pricing these fixtures.

That said, which looks better on TV? 9000 in a 25,000 seat stadium generating £X or 18,000 in a 25,000 seat stadium also generating the same revenue because ticket prices are halved? The RFL need to speculate to accumulate, otherwise you will continue to get 33% full stadiums for these supposedly "massive" games.

Credit that amazing Salford support I really don’t know what the attendance would have been without them,lots of empty spaces around me in the east stand,such as shame it was a hell of a game

About 7100
As they brought 2113

It's an RFL event

Correct in the 1st part, it is an RFL event

The size of the stadium is almost irrelevant
I dont get peoples obsession with full stadium I.e. they'd rather see 10k in a 10k stadium than 17k in a 25k stadium. I wouldn't
37% full stadium is only slightly down in regular season 40% full stadium.
What's changed in 15 years when Wigan v wakey attracted 14/15k?

Giving free tickets, reducing tickets by half isnt the answer.
Improving the quality, improving the experience and marketting it better IS part of the answer (along with other things I've mentioned before also).

One question I would have linked to ticketing.
Why cant they "Acticate my seasib ticket Card" if I pay online or ring up and pay.

I guess that ita something to do with the outdated card reader systems on the turnstiles.
But if it knows I've bought that card for the season, then it could be set up so anyone who "opts in" for play off games or rings up/pays online e could have their card activated for play off games?

Anyway, I thought it was a real good effort from Salford, a decent effort from Wigan.
We/RFL just need to focus in making games more attractive in general.

Just stumbled on this from the Leeds forum.

"As a senior citizen (coffin dodger) I've got the best seat in the stadium in the north stand. I go to most away games so also get the benefit of a free travel which is now £15/16 . I get to watch at the best stadium in rugby league, with the best pre match entertainment and the best food choice in the game. 
This costs me £320 per season. So, if I take off the £15 travel voucher a net cost of £305. For 14 home games the cost per game comes to £21.78. Fabulous value in this day and less than, say, 2 packs of fags."


Last year I was getting a lecture from Leeds fans saying £30/35 per ticket was the way to go.
Now even though I've argued that we shouldn't be reducing ticket prices en masse we shouldn't also be going to high the other way

£315 at Leeds sidelines for an OAP
£155 in East stand at Wigan for an OAP

I'm a Full Adult and mine is £230ish
Its 320 in the wings and 400 for centre at Leeds!

Outstanding value at Wigan!!! And told IFL so on Monday.
(PS) the guy who was complaining about south stand prices for college age kids was talking rubbish.
You dont go from 25 to full price
My lad sits in east and is at college and his is still 35 until hes 18 and then gets student.
It reduced to 35 for u18s 2 years ago and is another example of Wigan reducing tickets to encourage youngsters and should be applauded.

No freebies at Leeds for u8s
Juniors u12 pay £50 to stand up and between 100 and 180 to sit down!
12-16 is 60 to stand and 120 to 180 to sit

At Wigan there nearly all 35 up to 18 I think and theres a Student from 18-21 which is cheaper than nearly all u12s seat tickets at Leeds !!!!
I did a similar check against saints 18 months ago before the 2018 season and saints were cheaper than Leeds, but Wigan were still cheaper.
People should be telling all their friends and family about this, telling them how good value they are and promoting the club.

It looked far more than that frankly.

I thought that guys claims didn’t make sense, you’d have thought somebody from the club would’ve corrected him though.

If we don’t get 10,000+ season ticket holders with free season tickets for u8’s next year then we’re not doing enough as a club. I didn’t get chance to ask on Monday what the club do with the amateur rugby clubs to get the youngsters in. There should be no reason why players at u8’s and below shouldn’t have a season ticket. If they’re free give every club in the borough enough to cover those age groups and offer reduced rates for parents/club volunteers to bring groups down.

I thought it looked about that (first 10/15 rows cordowns off with flags take 1000 plus seats it the equation before you start).
That number is as guaranteed as can be, straight from the horses mouth so to speak.

I wish every team brought that on average.

I spoke to both the ticket office manager and our commercial guy after and both of them said it wasnt correct.
But they cant get involved to such detail in front of everyone as it just escalates, so they explained everything after direct to him.

I get what your saying about giving tickets away, but if they did how could they guarantee there would be space.
If theres 2k season ticket holders already and they give 3k away to junior clubs etc what do they do for walk up speccies? The family that come along with them?
They could be turning people away and then left with 2.5k seats left inside.

I wouldn't also give reduced tickets away to parents etc. Who come along with them.
Say you give them away at £15 a ticket.
Why would I buy a season ticket? I'd just get someone to get me a cheaper ticket off the back of the free season ticket for the junior who then doesn't go anyway.

I'm not against targeting a club per game.
I.e. this week its shevi sharks and they get 50 free kids tickets with 50 at a tenner each.
But it has to be controlled.

This is about growing revenue not reducing it and it's a fine balancing act.

From a quick chat with the main man afterwards it basically equates 1000 speccies to around 200k +
We need to focus on getting 2k more speccies at the prices were paying now, not reducing them any further.
Free u8s
Cheaper kids tickets in East stand to align with south stand prices
Kids proces extended to 18
18-21 student prices not increased or even reduced for 3to5 years.

I dont think the club can do much more proce wise as all the above will come off our revenue BEFORE we talk about increasing revenue.

We need to focus less on cost being the issue.

Because if cost is an issue, and I appreciate it can be, and we tailor our business to that level then we are going to lose more from our existing fan base than we bring in from any new recruits

We’ve plenty of space to fill but you’re right, the strategy is probably wrong. The point stands that we should be pushing hard via amateur teams IMO. There’s dozens of kids in each club who have a big interest in the game and the Wigan players should be their idols. A guy like Hastings has been brilliant in the community at Salford and the likes of he, George Burgess, Morgan Smithies and co should be wheeled around amateur clubs and schools for that matter to push the message and get the kids interested.

I do feel a buzz about next year that’s not been there for a while. I’ve commented enough on here about wanting to see Lenagan back us or look to sell the club and he’s done that in a big way and that’s brilliant. I’ve not had a season ticket for a good few years because I tend to miss 3 or 4 games a year due to holidays and work but I’m getting one next year as I feel obliged to back the investment. My father is also getting his first one in years and we’ll get season tickets for my 7 year daughter and nephew. I’m sure there’s plenty more in that boat but the big wins will be the stay aways. I’ve got mates who used to go regularly but now spend their money in the pub instead. I hope guys like those feel motivated to get down to a few games.

You can definitely feel a buzz of excitement coming and his seasons not even finished yet.

The new signings.
The newly renovated arena.
The new breed of youth coming though.

My youngest lad (fifteen) used to be a season ticket holder but his interest died off about five years ago. My eldest lad (seventeen) has started going home and away. I've told my youngest he's getting a season ticket next year spend some quality time with his brother ha!

Personally I can't wait for next season. To still be in comp this season is a bonus for me. I'm just really chuffed how well the young guys have done this season and I love the tempo and aggression that they bring to the team.

New quality signings and the younger guys getting another pre season training.
The club marketing team really need to push ST sales and if we need to recruit to improve the marketing team hopefully it is already in IL's budget for next year.

Things seem to be turning for the better and long may it continue.

If you overlook the loss of £1.4 million and the part where the auditors expressed 'material uncertainty' about the ability of the company to continue then yes

This years losses expected to be around £250k and the club feel an average attendance increase of 1,000 or so will help them break even, so as he said things seem to be turning. We’ll get that number on our average attendance and some next year IMO.

Imagine next weeks attendance at the DW! It’ll be comical

Great turnout tonight lads, huge swathes of red. Unfortunately most were seats.