Leigh Leopards • Poor crowd
However, the attendance figures aren't reflecting the team's success on the pitch and the entertainment that is being put on. 6-7000 average is all you will get now at Leigh no matter what you do. 5400 crowd against Cas is poor.
There are a number of factors.
1. The years out of SL has seen the younger supporters lost to Wiggin, Saints, Wire. 2. Friday night games. 3. Pricing.
Good concessions for the younger supporters is bringing the young 'uns back. However, the pricing for away supporters in the Friday night game will deter many from travelling over the M62. I doubt many would attend anyway even if they were Sat/Sun KOs. Yes, you will get good crowds for the local derbies but the Yorkshire fans will think twice. As for myself, the senior concession is way too high at £25 to stand in North Stand and after decades of supporting Leigh through thick and thin, I'm now lost to the game as, I suppose others will be in these tough financial times.
Putting entertainment on is excellent idea, but it doesn't appear to be getting a lot of new supporters in and, I imagine, the extra costs incurred may have been added onto the admission price.
The fact is you can get the kids in, some of whom will bring a parent, but it is going to be very difficult for Leigh to attract many new adult supporters who will follow them every week. We will be stuck at the 6-7000 average and I don't think this will be good enough, some years from now, when IMG will be wanting clubs in SL with 15000+ crowds. That's when IMG will be pushing for mergers and franchises.
I think the teams who IMG will be wanting are:
Wiggin, Saints, Hull, Leeds, Bradford, Catalans, Toulouse, London, Newcastle and then there will be a choice of mergers or be consigned to life outside of SL.
I can even imagine League and Union merging back as one hybrid game in the future to make it a National game. Wiggin v Saracens, Leicester v Leeds, Northampton Saints v St. Helens. It makes sense to me and it will makes sense to IMG and any TV Broadcaster, and I should imagine that will be their goal.
Statistics: Posted by WYSIWYG2 — Sat May 06, 2023 10:25 pm