wiganermike wrote:
In a far off location almost all people that go will prefer to stay overnight (or at least in the eyes of a tourist board there is a greater likelihood). So close to home people will just go to the games and go home. Hotels in Manchester will not make money as ones in Edinburgh do and I don't think that any of the alternatives such as caravan parks and camping sites that persuade some people to stay around Edinburgh and Cardiff exist near Manchester. That decreases the tourism value for the city massively.
There is no evidence that people would attend in numbers much greater than they have at Cardiff and Edinburgh so that is just conjecture.
Families going along because it is cheaper are going to find it even cheaper to watch the games and drive home than to fork out for accommodation an hour away from home so they would go home.
The event is unlikely to make much more for Manchester than a single home game for United or City does as they would have attendances of 76k and just over 40k with one happening each week for every week of the football season. Given this and the fact that the city already hosts one large event (that it can base expected earnings on) I don't expect that Manchester will bid to host it. They will certainly not stand to earn as much from tourism as other cities so will not be willing to pay as much. Payment from a host city is guaranteed income for the RFL, a hoped for increased attendance is not guaranteed and I can only see them going for the guaranteed money from the host city's tourist board.
The event left Cardiff for reasons unknown. The deal at Edinburgh is unknown, but ticket sales have dropped by 10,000 from 2008.
How many fans day tripped to Edinburgh and how many stayed over? The Scots gave the event plenty of promotion but given the drop in numbers, it appears to not have worked.
I personally think that a night on the beer in Manchester plus all the rugby will appeal to an awful lot of people. People who wouldn't normally have a night in Manchester.
What you may lose on overnights would, in my view, easily be made up on day trip spend. If you don't think an event sold as 'Magic Comes Home' or something along those lines, and the right mix of games would bring fans flocking in record numbers, I think you are kidding yourself.
As I said earlier, Saints are at Widnes next season, they could get 20,000 alone for the Wigan game at COM.
If , as you suggets the RFL would only go for guaranteed money, well that's not about developing the game is it? The AGMA region has a 2m catchment area, vastly untapped by rugby league.
Superb stadium, dead easy to get to, give the fans a break from the expense and build the event up again before looking at taking it elsewhere.
So the RFL may not make as much money, but the non financial benefits would easily balance that up.
Using the tourist angle alone, in it's current format the event really has nowhere else to go does it? Where else can it go that will get a bid you would deem enough and get the fans to go in sufficient numbers? The two avenues open have been tried and the crowds have dropped year on year.
Time to pay the heartlands some attention I think, even if it means earning less money from the event.
