Cup Double Header - by Alan

After this week’s announcement of the Challenge Cup semi-final double header at the Macron Stadium in Bolton on 5th August, you could argue some of the ideas we have discussed on the show are actually being put into action.  Not that we would claim any credit of course, it just seems like the argument to develop more ‘big event’ experiences around our major games have gained some traction with those in the corridors of power.

My first reaction was this is a positive move - there is always a fair amount of debate about where and when each semi-final will be and this generally isn’t confirmed until after the quarter finals.  Fans can now plan ahead and importantly get tickets now! The RFL are clearly pushing membership of their ‘Our League’ scheme and a ticket for both games for £21 for members seems like good value to me. The marketing push has started in the right way and we should be aiming to fill all 28,000 seats and gain some longer term benefits too:

• How about you can get £5 entry to any championship or league 1 game until end of the season with a ticket stub for the semi finals?
• Are we thinking about a women’s super league game at the same venue, or a masters or PDRL demo? Because we should have all of the above if we can!
• Could you bundle the semi double header ticket with one to the final?

The aggregated attendance for the semis last year was around 25,000.  One question I have is whether fans will be prepared to pay a bit more for two games, rather than just the usual one with their team in like before. I would hope we will be targeting the quarter final winners will good deals straight way. That’s emails ready to go to either Huddersfield and Catalan fans at 10pm tonight (as I write this!) and after each fixture over the weekend.

Let’s make this fixture a success and considerably better than my last experience at the Reebok, as it was then, when I saw England pounded in the rain by New Zealand in the World Cup semi in 2000.

Alan Cale
SLP