Why Bradford's crowd was so low

[gpartin]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A27156972

Pathetic, short of money, kids back at school blah blah blah.

[GeoffN]

These comments:

"Bradford will continue to haemorrhage support"
and
"bradford bulls crowds are on the slide"

don't really tally with the fact that their average crowds are up by 7% this year.

[the grinch]

the r.f.l have increased the amount of derby games between wigan and stains,leeds and bradford,hull and hull kr. then announce the gates are up and pat each other on the backs. im not sure the game as a whole is any more popular today as it was last season?. bradfords crowds can be blamed on a number of things apathy,weather,the way the club is being run,the state of the stadium, or maybe a bit of everything. one thing is for sure if a top club like bradford is struggling for crowds it is not just there problem its super leagues problem.

[GeoffN]

the grinch posted:
the r.f.l have increased the amount of derby games between wigan and stains,leeds and bradford,hull and hull kr. then announce the gates are up and pat each other on the backs.

one thing is for sure if a top club like bradford is struggling for crowds it is not just there problem its super leagues problem.

But, as I've said, they aren't struggling for crowds, they're averaging over 12k!

OK, they played Leeds at Odsal twice, which would up the average, but they've also played Catalans there twice which compensates.
The other "extra" derbies were at Cardiff, which isn't counted in club's averages.
The only clubs whose support is dropping are Saints and Quins (although Wire haven't increased theirs significantly).

[Fraggle]

GeoffN posted:
These comments:

"Bradford will continue to haemorrhage support"
and
"bradford bulls crowds are on the slide"

don't really tally with the fact that their average crowds are up by 7% this year.

But where were they when there was one of the biggest games of the season? 9000 for a sudden-death play-off game is an embarrassment for a club like Bradford. We've not had a crowd that small for even a league game this season, and even Hull/Huddersfield drew a bigger crowd. They can't blame the Wigan fans, we were certainly there in the usual numbers for an away game, but I've never seen a Bulls support as low as last night.

[GeoffN]

Fraggle posted:

GeoffN posted:
These comments:

"Bradford will continue to haemorrhage support"
and
"bradford bulls crowds are on the slide"

don't really tally with the fact that their average crowds are up by 7% this year.

But where were they when there was one of the biggest games of the season? 9000 for a sudden-death play-off game is an embarrassment for a club like Bradford. We've not had a crowd that small for even a league game this season, and even Hull/Huddersfield drew a bigger crowd. They can't blame the Wigan fans, we were certainly there in the usual numbers for an away game, but I've never seen a Bulls support as low as last night.

Agreed, for that one game; I don't know what happened to them. Saving up for the trip to Old Trafford, maybe...?


It'll be interesting to see what happens to their crowds for next season, after one of their poorest seasons for years.

[cpwigan]

Let's be honest the fixture gerry mandering was bound to increase average attendances. We also have far more generous season ticket offers at most clubs these days. So when asked to pay in full for one offs, there seems to be a marked fall in attendances. I thought the Bulls made some great offers for the game too.

I do wonder if the return to Odsal is good or bad? :conf:

[GeoffN]

cpwigan posted:
Let's be honest the fixture gerry mandering was bound to increase average attendances.

But the only difference this year was the Cardiff weekend; the other "extra" fixtures were the same as they have been for years.

Both Wigan's and total SL attendances have been steadily increasing since the start of SL.

[cpwigan]

Not sure that is correct Geoff. As I recall BUT cannot check (too lazy) we had more derbys than the norm. So we had 4 in some cases.

[GeoffN]

cpwigan posted:
Not sure that is correct Geoff. As I recall BUT cannot check (too lazy) we had more derbys than the norm. So we had 4 in some cases.

Yeah, but that's just the way last year's league table worked out. Odd finishers played evens, as usual.
For example, we got Saints because we were 8th, they were 1st; Bradford got Leeds because they were 4th & 3rd respectively.