Not just Hull but MOST clubs in SL seem to have got lower crowds this year and last! Hull used to get 12,500-13,000 per home game and now get 10,000 Wigan used to get 15-16,000 per game and have gone down to 12,500. The only clubs to see an increase is Cas who get about 8,000 per game compered to 5-6,000 this last few seasons. I think the modern game is well below what we saw in the early 00's e.g. better players and not as much stoppages in games and refs that dont have a clue if a blatant TRY OR NO TRY! we have touch judges who cant see a forward pass even if they went to spec savers and games keep getting moved due to t.v. the salary cap has ruined the game

aren't our gates up on last year? Have to agree on the officiating putting people off, a mate who's a firm football fan but watches rugby when there's nowt else on sky always texts me asking what the refs are doing.

I think a lot of regular fans walking away from the game is down to belt tightening too, real terms wages are down on ten years ago and prices up, and our sport is centred in areas that tend to feel the brunt of such matters disproportionately.

Hull's average increased (albeit slightly) in both 2015 and 2016. Having said that 2014 was our lowest average since 2006.

This year in terms of like for like games with last season (ignoring the Leigh game) we are up around 1,200 per fixture.

There are many reasons for the general fall in attendances. Not least the declining standard of rugby league and lack of big name players.

It's a shame because as the Warrington play off game showed last year the potential is there to pull in big crowds.

our gates would be higher,if the ludicrous situation of people not being able to buy tickets on the day was scrapped by the muppets in charge.

Agreed although to be more precise I think you can buy tickets on the day but you can't pay on the gate. That is the problem.

Know a couple of elderly gents who at times have said they would go if they could pay on the gate but can't be bothered with messing about having to find the ticket office/booth to first buy a ticket then queue to get in.

This is one problem but also think the RFL are ruining the game with their crazy decisions which affects the players and ultimately the final product.

Plus referees continue to ruin the game and spoil matches.

The final product isn't a patch on the NRL and until it is we will continue to struggle to tempt more fans to attend.

Sitting on their bums watching R/L on TV.

Leeds are around 900 down on last seasons average ATM however we still have Saints, Cas and Hull to come will bump that up. Also I'm not sure what our ST sales were like they must have taken a hit after how last season went compared to the 12 months prior when the success of the treble will have helped sales. Some of the bigger teams struggling in the league this year is probably hitting the number of away fans too.

I know people who have been pass holders in the past who cant go now because of working Thursday and Friday nights, I think more weekend games would certainly help, I know football clashes and takes priority for half of the season but could play weekends after that. I have to skip out of work early on weekday games to make it.

In terms of what other people have said, I agree that the inability to buy tickets on the gate has affected it. Mates who don't particularly follow the game used to come with me sometimes after deciding to like an hour before but cant do that now and seen as I don't live in hull I cant just go down to the ground a week before to get a ticket in advance.

Some good points already made, personally I think the squeeze on peoples finances and the change in demographic of many RL towns (most towns have had an influx of Eastern European migrants who don't know what RL is) have had a big impact.

The game has become more exciting in one sense because it is more competitive than ever, but I feel the quality has gone down and there are fewer big name players. Signing a big name Aussie/Kiwi for the next season was pretty much the Hetheringtons marketing policy for the club for a decade, now you usually have to google who the overseas signing is.

Game time/day is a factor, but there isnt really a clear winner between Fridays and Sundays and people work more varied shifts these days. I do think the club could look at playing teams who can bring a decent away following on a Sunday though, the Cas game the other week had a miles better atmosphere and crowd than it would have done on a Friday, last weeks Saturday teatime slot wasnt bad either.

I do think buying tickets at the KCOM isnt the easiest though but of course realise that isnt the clubs fault. The ground itself is now surrounded by fences and bollards, you can drive in like you did when it opened, and not being able to pay on the turnstyles for a half empty ground is ridiculous. Buying your passholder seat for a cup game shouldent be so hard either, should be as simple as just logging in to an app or a website and paying.

This was stated as a massive issue in the Rugby leaguer in the early 80s, funny how most clubs have increased their attendances massively since then, apart from one club...

The amount of damage done by false promises and false dawns that has seen the fans dwindle away cannot really be estimated.

However I thought it was really telling that Pearson thought he needed to give tickets away for £5 for the first home game to encourage fans of the challenge cup holders to turn up in numbers. smacked of desperation and it backfired massively.

We are now at a point where fans are expecting a big reduction on cup match or play-off games, some even complaining at paying full price or stating they aren't paying it so won't/can't come.

I know for some money is tight but I see it that in those couple of years after Pearson took over and nothing really changed, the dissapointment at Wembley in 2013 and finally culminating in Radford's first two seasons which were an unmitigated disaster that many fans who were non season ticket holders simply found better things to spend their hard earned on and with kids actually cheaper overall.
You also have the friday night situation which for quite a few is a bind.
it would need a few seasons of continued success to start the numbers increasing significantly IMHO but I fear that other factors away from the actual rugby itself have now taken affect to hinder that growth.

I personally don't think it's the outright cost because a season ticket is what, £5 a week, a child season ticket is another £1 on top. It's that some (& atm that's a significant number) just would rather spend that elsewhere.