Fridays or Sundays?

[Mike]

As Wigan have re-opened the debate about kick-off days, I thought it would be good to do so on this website too.

They recently changed the ko for the Halifax home match to a Sunday and now they have started a fans email vote on the official website (see the related story to link to the vote).

I've setup a similar vote on this site - so we can see the results of the poll as they accumulate - and see if the club reacts to the outcome.

Personally, I'm a Sunday voter - I would like not to have to rush on Friday evenings to get even to the home games - but I would go either way.

What do you think....

[Dorsey]

I'm like you Mike and would go to Timbuctoo on a wet Wednesday to watch the guys but whilst it doesn't matter a great deal to me personally I've voted for Sunday because I think we would get much better crowds and an even better atmosphere, its not so bad if we are playing a local team but nobody in their right mind is going to try and get down the M62/M6 nightmare from Yorkshire after finishing work or whatever on Friday nights and just like us this coming weekend with the London fixture - there would have been loads more making the trip if it had been either Saturday or Sunday.
Sunday afternoon matches just have that feelgood factor to them somehow.

[wolftown warrior]

well, i don`t think the m6 situ can get any worse!! last 3 games have been a night mare!!!! road works!!!!!
but like u say, u do what u have to do!
personally i voted fridays.. i enjoy the night game atmos, & also it kicks off the weekend nicley if we win or i have time to simmer down if we lose!
sundays would be nice traffic wise, but going to work on a monday would be terrible if we lost!! LOL

honestly i`m not to bothered, i`ll go with the general majority.. as long as i can get there i`m gonna be there!!
lol

[100% Warrior]

How about Saturday's at a time like 6pm.

As a low amount of away support turns up for the matches at JJB on Friday, at least the game on Saturday it would allow these people to make arrangements for travelling and a majority would not be affected by work commitments.

Also, if the match was played at 6pm it would be over by 8pm allowing those who like a good drink after the game time to pour a jar or seven down their necks.

Another good aspect would be that not many home matches would be affected with SKY.

The only drawback would be that we groundshare with Latics but if the two clubs liaised with each other I'm sure they'd find a solution.

[Grego]

I'm with 100% warrior on this, saturday evenings would be by far the best time for all concerned (apart from latics but who cares about them!!).

Given the option of either friday night or sunday afternoon though i would go for friday night every time. It's just not the same when you are at the match and think "It's work tomorrow............BUGGER!!!!!!", much better to have sufficient recovery time the next day after getting slaughtered.

[Dorsey]

".......much better to have sufficient recovery time the next day after getting slaughtered"

Aah, so you're a Saints fan are you?

[DaveO]

Mike posted:
Personally, I'm a Sunday voter - I would like not to have to rush on Friday evenings to get even to the home games - but I would go either way.

What do you think....

I am for Friday. I live in Chester but work in Runcorn so I am half way there on a Friday night.

Sunday's in summer are a real problem because it woould take so much time out of a summer Sunday for me to attend games.

If it were winter, no ptoblem but in summer watching a game on Friday leaves the weekend free to take the kids where-ever.

I think this is a key point. In winter Sunday's had few call on them. In summer for the family no matter how dedicated a fan they wil have other pressures on them to go to the seaside and so on.

I don't thin crowds would increase that much if at all.

How many people work in the retail trade? Sunday's are normal working days for many in the reatail trade these days. Didn't used to be when RL was played in winter.

Add to that assuming RL will negotiate a new deal with Sky a great deal of our games would get switched from Sunday anyway so that is no good. Add to that the fixture list is then worthless and you can't plan your visists to the JJB, which is an important consideration for season ticket holfers.

Dave

Dave

[MrsLam]

Although sundays would possibly give us bigger crowds, I prefer Friday night games, I live about 5 minutes away from the jjb so it wouoldnt really bother me if they changed games to sunday afternoon, however i do think friday night has a very different atmosphere.
I also think that a few sat night games would be a good idea if that was possible (8 oclock ko instead of 6) Think that would bring in a few more fans from both teams.

[Ellie from the Block!]

Personally, I like Friday matches because it's a good chance to chill out at the end of the week, but from a business point of view maybe Sunday's are better.

It would be a good idea to have matches on Sunday afternoons as this will encourage families to have a day out at the rugby rather than dropping the kids off on a Friday night whilst the parents go to the pub and relying on Wigan RL babysitting club to kick in (as at many matches I've seen 11 year olds taking their 5 year old brother or sister along and between them they create mayhem!!!!

Matches on Fridays may have a lower gate because people just want to be in the pub on Friday night, not at a game and by the time I get back home from a match, last orders has been and gone.

I can't see Sky being interested in Sunday games and therefore we may lose coverage...which is exactly opposite to the RL's intentions.

I'll vote with Sunday's, but going back to what 100% Warrior said...how about a few more Saturday matches???? We don't seem to get many in a season and I think these would be a "crowd puller!"

[Fraggle]

Myself, I voted Fridays. It's no contest really, as I never work Friday night but do have to work some weekends. I've not been able to get to as many games this season as usual even on Fridays, and with the Halifax game being moved that's another I lose, but if we played Sundays then I would have to reconsider buying a season ticket even if it means losing what I consider is a great seat.

I'm not totally convinced moving to Sundays would affect attendances anyway. The people voting will go on either day and when matches have been moved to Sundays in the past there has been no noticeable increase in attendances (and I suspect the crowds have dropped in some cases).

Saturdays would be fine but I would prefer 8pm, or even 7pm, rather than 6. Again it helps people who work, as few people finishing work at 5 can get to a game for 6.