Snowball Rugby & Attendance at Headingley

Snowball rugby???
By APB
July 8 2002

Following on from 15UP's discussion of the potential problems awaiting the RFU and English Rugby Ltd with the increased attendance figures at club matches, I wondered why the Tykes are so far down the league table.

Attendance at Headingley

With an average gate of 4,143 per game, we've a long way to go before we reach the heady heights of Leicester Tigers' 15,000 supporters, but wouldn't it be nice to be part of a packed Headingley stadium, singing the lads to victory? Ensuring high-class rugby union in Yorkshire for years to come?

It’s easy...

On the face of it, it should be easy. West Yorkshire is a huge constituency for rugby. Of the twelve Super League teams, 5 are stationed in West Yorkshire (Rhinos, Bulls, Tigers, Blue Sox, Wildcats). If you consider that, between them, the totalaverage gate is 40,803, then there is a vast opportunity for the Leeds Tykes to attract an appreciative audience. And it would pretty much be all for the Leeds Tykes, because, unless you're a dedicated rugby nut like Oopnorth, you aren't likely to travel the whole weekend in order to watch 80+ minutes of rugby, no matter how scintillating the spectacle. So West Yorkshire Rugby spectators are likely to stay in the county to see it.

"Me? Watch a LEEDS team?!"

But once again, there are a couple of spanners in the works. Firstly, this may be one of the points where the dual code nature of Leeds Rugby REALLY hurts it. After all, how many Bulls fans (apart from Mally), would want to go to a Leeds game where its quite possible that some of their gate money will go to help the arch-rival Rhinos? How about Blue Sox supporters? No, to be honest, I can't see there being many non-Rhinos who would countenance that. It has really to be accepted that in any meaningful way, any new Tykes intake will have to come from Rhinos fans or non-rugby fans.

"Me? Watch a UNION team?!"

And this is the second spanner. Its the old problem of never the twain shall meet. As mentioned in the Dual Code article, there are very few fans who would admit to being a fan of both codes; if you watch the Tykes, the chances are you think that Rugby League is tackle-stop-tackle-stop-pause-for-ad-break-and-rest. If you watch the Rhinos (or the Bulls, or the Cas Tigers etc etc), then "Rugby Yawnion" is a kick-and-clap game. Neither of these is true, but how to prove it?

Education Education Education

The point is that people who enjoy fast, expansive, high-quality rugby can get this in either code, they just don't know it yet. I think it has to be down to those of us who love the 15-man game to spread the gospel, and get more League fans in to see a Union game. After all, you can't really expect someone who has supported League all their life to show up at a Tykes game and understand what’s going on - the rules are complicated, and need to be explained as incidents occur. I regularly end up giving a running commentary on the game for the benefit of my 6 1/2 year old son, and hopefully as time goes by, he'll understand the whole thing by osmosis. RL fans need to be helped in a similar way.

Gentle Introduction

So expecting league fans to have first read the rule book, chapter and verse (including all those strange referee's gesticulations) before ever showing up to a match, is a way to ensure they never do. League fans need to be taken to the game and shown how good it can be - by knowledgeable Tykes who can help them in their learning curve. And the club itself could do a lot in order to help. Here's how:

Snowball Dance

At my wedding do, the DJ had a fantastic way of getting everybody to lose their inhibitions and start dancing. The newly married couple were called onto the dance floor, and started the dance off while everybody else looked on in a slightly drunken haze. At an agreed signal, the two split up and grabbed a new partner from the cowering masses at table. At the next signal it would happen again, and sure enough, after about ten minutes the dance floor was packed. And when the ten minutes was up the number of grannies pogo'ing to "Smash It Up" by The Damned had to be seen to be believed!

I'm sure this technique could be made to work for rugby matches! (No, go on, hear me out...).

Snowball Rugby

How about this? The club offers a "Bring a Rhino for Free" day, where Tykes season ticket holders can bring a Rhino ticket holder absolutely gratis. Furthermore, that Rhino would get a voucher for a "buy-one-get-one-free" deal at the next match he goes to. Before you know it, you've doubled the attendance. Now, like the wedding dancing, not everyone would become loyal followers. But it’s surprising just how many stay on to the smoochy numbers at the end...

So what do you think would APB's "Snowball Rugby" work? How do you think Tykes can increase it's attendance figures?