European Attendances : 2010-2014

This was a period of licencing, where teams had to qualify to be part of the elite Super League based on financial footing, stadium quality and the like. It did improve stadia as clubs had the guarantee of SL money for years to come. They could invest, knowing they could afford what they would spent, along with a salary cap that prevented all the finances supporting player wages.

With attendances averaging nearly 9,400 for the previous 5 year period, two extra sides would affect the figure adversely. How would that pan out? The 2010-14 average was about 8,700, with 2012 the high at 9,600 and 2014 the low at 8,200. A ceiling had been reached but what were some mitigating factors?

Two extra sides were a negative as mentioned. London was unable to settle in one location and long suffering supporters dwindled. The Crusaders move to Wrexham, North Wales gave the game impetus in that area but the reasonable crowds were still below the average. The well supported Bradford Bulls got into financial straits and the attendees to games fell away.

In other news, the Crusaders decided to pull out of Super League for the 2012 season. The Widnes Vikings were granted a licence in their place, which did lift gate numbers slightly on the Crusaders. Bradford and London were relegated at the end of 2014.

So while the licencing system did much good, the lack of variety through change could have affected attendance numbers as well. For 2015, the number of teams would be reduced to 12 and playoffs held for promotion / relegation. What difference would that make? We will see in the final article in the series, which can be seen by clicking here. To see part one and progress through the series in sequence: simply click here.

SL Attendances 2010-14
Rk	Team	AVG	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
1	Wigan	15376	14102	14885	16043	16125	15723
2	Leeds	15133	15068	15197	14948	15099	15355
3	Hull FC	12071	11072	11643	11885	12022	13731
4	St Helens	11239	12113	10804	14222	7867	11191
5	Warrington	10726	9870	10555	11435	11057	10714
6	Bradford	9766	6891	8563	11761	13352	8261
7	Catalan	8080	7667	8143	9383	8400	6806
8	Hull KR	7937	7848	7495	7786	8321	8234
9	Huddersfield	6995	6335	6454	7709	7091	7386
10	Castleford	6756	7068	6306	6633	7156	6616
11	Wakefield	6561	4278	7821	8172	6551	5983
12	Widnes	6020	5635	6448	5977	-	-
13	Salford	4478	4738	3230	5503	4754	4166
14	Crusaders	3997	-	-	-	3377	4616
15	London	2559	1294	2182	2808	3131	3379
	TOT AVG	8770	8181	8552	9572	8868	8678
	TOTAL	1587293	1546273	1616328	1809146	1676139	1640149