We had a top weekend - city centre hotel, rugby on call (didn't sit in the stadium for every game but saw Wire V Hudds, OURS, bit of Wakey, Leeds V Bradford and Hull V Hull KR) we had a great time and lets be honest 60,000 over the weekend is not bad at all for an 'away' trip, nothing on offer to win and i the freezing cold.

Get yourself down for a weekend rather than a really really long and knackering day trip and enjoy. Cardiff is a great city and I for one much prefer it to Edinburgh, its clean - everything is close together, nice little bars, loads of good places to eat. I could go on and on and on.

THANKS RFL!!! (and I don't say that very often!!!)

2 tickets £26.50
Coach Travel £45.00
Pack lunch x 2 (Grub cost £9.50 from asda)
Few Beers for me £20
Soft drinks for my lad, Free in engage lounge !

Total spent £101

If i drove down there it would cost me £104.40 in Fuel alone !

As has already been said it is what you make, i cant compare to previous magic events as this was my first, but thoroughly enjoyed it as did my son

Pretty pointless having it in the northwest IMO opinion, if there is anything else that can be done try offering London and Welsh amateur clubs tickets to get across to the stadium as these are extremely strong amateur areas.

The challenge cup is not different at all. The point I am making is that in 1930 the RFL made the innovative move to hold the CC final at Wembley which was attended by 43000 i.e. less than a half full stadium and this was the case for the first 10 years of the final in London. The first GF at Old Trafford was attended by 43000 and it has taken 10 years for it to become the must attend fixture it is today. It takes time for people's habits to change and catch on to an innovative event. The Magic weekend has always attracted attendances higher than both the examples I have described which have now become must attend events.

The 'day out' has always been a part of the CC final event. There is no other reason for taking the game to London. If it is just about the rugby league then it would be better held away from London.

The SL is also for a Trophy!

If you don't think the challenge cup is different you have no idea.

There has never been 43000 over two days for MM in the stadium at the same time and never will be. MM is a round of "away" league games and that explains why the attendance never matches an equivalent league round. Comparing aggregate attendance of all the games at MM to a challenge cup final is daft.

There is nothing at stake except 2 league points and so it will never match the CC or the GF.



Clearly it wouldn't be because it works in London from an attendance and PR point of view whereas from either point of view point of view MM doesn't.

Keep MM it's an alright day out
Keep the GF (united permitting) at OT
Keep the CC final at Wembley

Plus look into maybe a CC Quarter Final 4 games in one stadium, i reckon you'd fill a stadium no problem with that.
5-8 thousand from each team (worst case 40k best 64k) plus a few neutrals.

Maybe a double header for the CC semi too

The draw done at the end of the Quarter final straight after final whistle of last game

So why are people expecting there to be a huge crowd? Why are people not happy with 60k? I think it is pretty reasonable. The RFL make a load of money and RL fans have a great time.

Because it's nowhere near 60K? That's like counting a normal crowd at half time and again at full time, and adding the two together.

Not exactly, if people stayed for both days then they paid for both days. Many other people pay for the first day and then a whole new bunch of people pay for the second day. Not the same really is it.

I take your point but its not like most of the people who went stayed for the weekend is it?

These are the ideas the RFL should be looking at. Keep the magic weekend as it is for a few years now and let it have a chance to grow in Cardiff as its better than Edinburgh by far.

If you actually believe any of this rubbish then you are seriously deluded! So you reckon if the magic weekend is still in its current format in 5 years time there will be a full stadium? The Wembley final is for a trophy that is highly regarded and every player wants to win it. The Magic weekend is an added fixture tacked on to the regular SL season, surely you can see the difference!?

The Challenge Cup final is held at Wembley because it is the best stadium in the country and is required because it nearly sells out. Millennium/Murrayfield dont anywhere near sell out so the event doesnt need to be in such a large venue, which was my original point. My other point was that I thought it would work better as a summer event, which is why I suggested football stadia as it would be off-season.

It is just a cumulative total that is given though not a breakdown of actual tickets sold so it is misleading.

the final is

I suggest that you read my post more carefully before suggesting I am deluded. I have quoted facts. Which fact is rubbish? I know very well that the CC final sells out now but it didn't when it first moved there in 1930 when the stadium was less than half full. I am not suggesting that the Magic weekend will ever fill the stadium but with 60,000 attending it is more successful than people are making out. It is a festival event and should be treated accordingly. The GF only had 43000 attending in 1998 (fact) and the popularity has since grown. I believe that the 60k attending the Magic has the potential to grow to say 70k overall within a few years and that figure makes it worthwhile. There aren't that many more people watch RL in total every week so realistically it isn't going to grow much more. Only 60k attended the CC final in 1998 at Wembley! The same figure attended MM this year. FACT. If you find facts delusional then I am wasting my time trying to have sensible debate.

60000 didnt attend, a lot of people would have been there for both days. Also thats over the entire day and a lot of people went home after their game but were still counted as they entered the ground initially FACT!. 1998 Wembley was when Sheffield brought about 200 fans FACT!

60k is the total number of people in the stadium over 2 days, including those that bought weekend tickets so would be counted twice. As has been mentioned previously a lot of people only went for their own teams game so what was the actual maximum attendance at one point, I bet it isnt much over 20k. There was definitely never 60 thousand individual rugby league fans in Cardiff, nor has there ever been at any of the other four magic weekends, whereas there are 70k fans at old trafford and 80k at wembley. FACT

Still counts as 60k paying customers though doesn't it? Making money for the RFL.

Simple FACT still stands, for the people who go it's a great day out, anyone who doesn't is missing out. It's a class event and if RL fans were willing to support it then it would be the best and most unique event in british sport.

The FACT is that 60,000 is the lowest round 1 attendance since 2003 (which only had 6 games).

Another FACT is that 60,000 is less than the normal average weekly attendance for a good number of years.

Yep lets celebrate what a wonderful successful MM is given those FACTS, especially when sponsors and others we want to attract to the game see some our biggest derbies being played out in a stadium a quarter full. Sends out a great message about the sport doesn't it?

You say it like MM needs to pass those figures to be a success. I don't believe it does. It is not a home game for any teams so obviously a normal first round set of games would bring a higher crowd because 6 or 7 teams are at home. Thats not the point of the event, it is to spread the game (which it does) and also to make money (which it must do, the RFL would not carry on if it didn't).

Is it a FACT that you were one of the 60k?

Well seeing as less people go to the games than normal, even given how "special" we keep being told it is, it's pretty obvious it isn't working. If the RFL are happy with a few hundred thousand at the expense of how it makes the sport look to those people the event is meant to attract - it tells you everything you need to know about those at the RFL. The fact they still haven't killed this off in it's current form after 5 years of embarrassing PR, tells you that Nigel Wood shouldn't be running a bath, never mind a sporting body.

If people want to see how these types of events should be done - just look at how rah rah stage and market special club games.

Not that it matters, no. But seeing I've been to three of the other four I reckon I should be ok to have an opinion even by those s who think you need to be there to be able to comment.

True but that doesn't kill the concept, it is a fantastic one which I believe they should stick at to make a true success.

I'm all for doing something innovative, but in it's current form it just doesn't work for me. I cringe when I see the matches on TV and how empty the stadium looks for Wigan v Stains, Leeds v Bradford, Hull v Hull KR. 5 years of doing the same thing without having an kind of bounce in terms of PR or attendances shows it's time for a change.

Some have said that the reason to keep it going is how much people have enjoyed it who were there - I've enjoyed it when I was there, but I also enjoy when we go to Quins and there's 5,000 on.

Here lies the difference, all this debating if pointless. I believe it should be carried on for a few more years to try and make it a success. You don't. I can't see anything changing that unless it gets alot worse or alot better in the next few years.