Have Your Say: Should more Super League games be played on a weekend?
Following Hull FC’s success on and off the pitch on Saturday, defeating Castleford Tigers in front of over 14,000 fans, we would like to know if there should be more games scheduled for the weekend.
With the more-recent Thursday night Super League concept, Super League games have been taken away from the weekend. But there’s no doubting how successful the sport could be if more fixtures were pinned for the weekend.
The KCOM Stadium played host to 14,623 FC and Tigers fans, whilst Wakefield Trinity also saw a healthy crowd of 5,331 attend their fixture against Hull KR on Sunday at Belle Vue.
Compare that to Hull’s last Thursday night fixture (against Leeds Rhinos, round 12), the weekend saw an extra 3,000 fans attend, creating a lively and enjoyable atmosphere.
Combined, the two weekend fixtures from the last Super League round saw just under 20,000 fans enjoy rugby league in the sun (19,954) with plenty of appraisal on social media.
It may not work for all teams, but why not promote it for the teams that it clearly does work for. Hull KR played hosts to Leeds Rhinos in round 13 on a Sunday, with almost 10,000 fans attending. Their previous weekday clash before that saw an attendance of 7,724 against St Helens. Another team, another weekend success.
Rugby League is a sport that sells itself as a family sport, so having an increased number of fixtures on the weekend could be a major success. The idea of travelling down the M6 on a sunny Saturday afternoon to see your team play away is undoubtedly more attractive than a Thursday night.
So far in 2018, the season has seen 50 games played on a weekday, and only 26 games played on a weekend. But on reflection, fixtures can clearly be more successful on the weekend.
Understandably, for some teams who share with their football partners, it’s almost-impossible to host weekend fixtures. But once the round-balled season is over, why not move more games to the weekend?
With summer just around the corner, should Super League host more weekend fixtures in the future? Have your say and let us know in the comments below.
