It depends on how it's sold. I'd have no trouble being able to pitch it as a better competition now worth [imore[/i money than before.

Clubs shouldn't be relying on visiting support, who will each bring just £20 once a year. They should be focusing on growing a home support that have a significantly greater lifetime value to the club.



If a club knows that it is going to have an empty "away end", that should be seen as an opportunity to appeal to a new, local audience.

Rely on them no, encourage them yes, even to the point of supplying free travel,

Really? So Leeds and St Helens should have dipped into their pocket for fans from London and Perpignan?



Alternatively, they could have done [url=http://www.therhinos.co.uk/news/20172.php#.UWmcHcoYmtgsomething like this[/url and appeal to fans who could actually turn into valuable long-term customers.



Hmmm... tough one....

As ever, pedantic posters pick on the small % of the idea least likely to actually work and not the actual point being made



Away support adds to the match experience, which in turn encourages home support, not rocket surgery as big Barrie would say, RL cannot afford to miss any opportunity to market itself

I'm not suggesting that fans shouldn't encourage visiting support, but I don't think that, in itself, is the issue. The "away support" argument most commonly falls on London, Catalans and any other expansion team.



Almost every week, there is a criticism on here that expansion teams don't bring away fans and as a result, that's why low crowds are expected. The successful clubs should, and do, see those games as an opportunity rather than an excuse to complain about the RFL / expansion / London / whoever else it's fashionable to blame. Above we have an example from Leeds and other clubs have done similar (Wigan have partnered with Heinz in the past). The clubs that are holding the league back seem to be sitting still, just hoping that they lose as little revenue as possible because they've got London or Catalans this week.

It isnt fans that should encourage away support, it is the clubs, even if it is just to target 1 match per season where the aim is to encourage a particular club to double its away following



3 seasons ago Leigh played Widnes at home on a sunday and comprehensibly beat them, we were then due to play them again at home the following thursday in the NRC , part of the sponsorship for that competition included 1,000 pounds to be spent marketing the game, Leigh used that money to provide 4 coachloads of free travel, Steve O Connor matched that spend and 400 Widnes fans came to the midweek match on free travel



Some of those fans might well have not travelled without that initiative, the attendances for both games were similar and a good atmosphere was the result , we did stuff them again

I'm not suggesting that it is the fan's responsibility. It is down to the clubs and, on the whole, I think that most clubs do that were feasible.



Initiatives like the one you describe are great, but how sustainable are they on a regular basis? I've seen clubs market to specific sections of fans for particular games in the past and on occasion, it has worked. However, pushing the boat out on marketing for people who, at best, are worth £20 to you in a year, isn't going to deliver a massive ROI.



The reality is that even the biggest clubs run on limited marketing budgets and as a result, they are pressured into delivering the biggest ROI possible. To a club like Leeds, a supporter in Leeds has a greater lifetime value than a fan of, for example, Huddersfield so it makes sense to market to the people of Leeds rather than the fans of Huddersfield.



And at the risk of repeating myself, I don't think that fixtures against Huddersfield are the biggest problem for Leeds or other clubs - the challenge comes from the London and Catalans games and in my view, it wouldn't surprise me if many clubs have the same view that is frequently expressed here - "London game = poor crowd because they don't bring any fans and there's nothing we can do about it".

The average away support being?

and to be fair the fact we haven't produced a halfback is not exactly new news, its been going on for over a decade

Paul cook?