I'm not sure they all are pretty much a sellout. Leeds V Wigan in particular in 2011... there were huge swathes of empty seats, particularly at the Leeds end and in the corners (upper decks above Club Wembley... or the ring of indifference as I like to call it).

well,the new Wembley holds 90,000 i believe so 10,000 more than the old one at the end of its days.



We still get 75 to 85,000 which matches the old crowds and in my view is pretty much a sell out.Thats not to say alot of the older finals could not have been sold out twice over as the cup clearly meant so much more back then.



The Final itself, although it should always be a complete sell out IMO, is not the biggest problem facing the CC these days.

These are very good points that WE makes - the same has happened in soccer whereby the FA Cup is a second class competition to the PL which is qualifying comp for the Champions league. The romance of the competition is gone as there is no chance of team outside of the top 8 SL sides getting to the final. All concerned and I include the players/coaches see it as a hinderance in pursuit of the bigger prize - quite correctly - the GF.



It is a great day the final and it gives the sport much needed national TV coverage - that aside I am not sure what value it has anymore.

It's a huge factor. A better gauge of the popularity of the sport is to look at the attendances at games which really count - like knockout CC games and SL playoffs - attendances for these CC games and Semi Finals are embarrassingly poor these days. Moreover, attendances at SL play-offs have also nosedived sharply, particularly since the introduction of the Top 8 play-off system.



If the SL product was as fantastic as Sky, the RFL and the SL clubs claim it is, season tickets wouldn't have to be sold so cheaply. The SL clubs know the product and the structure of the regular season is not good enough to attract enough people for 13 games unless you give them a ticket for each game at a discounted rate.



Same applies to the CC Final too... it's flogged at a discount and hugely so in some cases... from free seat upgrades to the next category up to the "Wembley Wednesday" CC Final offers. I took advantage of that one in 2010 for the Leeds V Warrington final... the ticket cost just £10. Granted, it was a nosebleed seat on the top tier close to the back of the stand but it was still almost on the half way line. Prices like that create a culture where today's supporters are not used to paying on the day (due to cheap season ticket) or they expect a heavily discounted offer on ticket prices for one-off games.



As I alluded to earlier, the RFL and SL clubs marketing created this culture. If those who govern the sport and the clubs consistently devalue the sport with their cheapo discounts, they have to expect supporters to value the sport likewise.





I agree that lack of credible teams capable of winning these days is definitely another huge factor in the decline of the CC - I place it under the umbrella of "Super League to blame - killing off the CC slowly but surely" which has caused supporter apathy in the competition these days.

Realistically how do you revive the CC? Ever cheaper tickets are not the answer and just serve to further devalue it IMO.



I would start by moving it back so we play the early rounds in winter and the final in May.

If it's not on tv I tend to go to our games, especially if it's somewhere new or a team we don't usually play. Cost has to be an issue these days for many fans so any discount is to be welcomed.

I will repeat what I've posted elsewhere & agree with Bullseye, bring the cup forward & I'd go further to say replace the magic weekend with the cup final.

That would be a very good start, too long between rounds and too little between the final and GF imo



The CC as a competition doesn't seem to pick up momentum like it used too, it's too stop start with 6-8 weeks between rounds, when was the old final? was it this month?

The Magic Weekend is a Johnny Come Lately half baked idea that's hardly got the crowds flocking in. I've never had to pay for a ticket to go.



Replace it with the CC Final.



We agreed to move the CC in order that the BBC gave us better quality increased TV coverage. Have they kept their side of the bargain? If not there is even more reason to move back.



I go the SCC rounds anyway but other migh be more likely early on in the season when everyone's hungry for rugby to go to.

Used to be early May. Semi-finals were around this sort of time, maybe a week or so earlier.



IIRC didn't it get shunted back to late May for the first few seasons of the summer era, before finally getting moved back even further to August Bank Holiday?

Quick look on wikipedia (if its correct) shows most finals being played on the last weekend in april

Do you have any data to support the assertion that a larger percentage of attendees in the Super League era are season ticket holders than they were before 1996 or is that made up?



Those who have said the GF replacing the CC as the showpiece final are right, IMO. That is not necessarily a bad thing. I usually go to both each year and the GF night is a far better experience IMO.

I usually prefer the CC final as an experience as it's during the day and played at a time of year when the weather's better. It's not in Manchester so it's not guaranteed to rain.



Going to the challenge cup in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London makes it more of an event than Manchester which is just down the road.