Challenge Cup Attendances: Only two games confirmed to have reached 5,000

The Challenge Cup is the oldest and most prestigious competition in the sport and this week Super League clubs entered the competition with the road to Wembley heating up.

It was a terrific round of fixtures but perhaps didn’t receive the focus it deserved despite a massive fixture to kick things off in the shape of Leeds Rhinos vs St Helens.

The first half saw Leeds Rhinos withstand pressure before a Harry Newman intercept try gave them the lead but in the end tries of Daryl Clark, Jon Bennison and Alex Walmsley gave the Saints the win.

Elsewhere on Friday night, Wigan Warriors claimed the win against Sheffield Eagles in a repeat of the famous 1998 final which Sheffield won. This time they led just before the break but after going in level, Wigan Warriors stormed to victory after a hat-trick from Bevan French.

In the only other Friday game, Hull KR defeated Salford Red Devils comprehensively as they hear up for a huge derby against Hull FC next week.

The Black and Whites were on the wrong end of a big scoreline themselves as they were dumped out of the Challenge Cup losing to Huddersfield Giants.

Also on Saturday, Castleford Tigers and Leigh Leopards defeated valiant Championship sides Batley Bulldogs and Featherstone Rovers.

The valiant Championship sides kept coming as Halifax Panthers took on Catalans Dragons on Sunday in a game that was won by the French club.

A great round of fixtures but did the attendances reflect that?

Challenge Cup attendances

Sadly not but it is not the fault of the clubs. The first confirmed attendances of the weekend came from Wigan Warriors notching 5,733 and Leigh Leopards notching 4,287.

Both these attendances are below the averages the two clubs notch. Wigan’s attendance tends to be approaching 15,000 and not just over 5,000. They notched a sell out earlier this season whilst Leigh Leopards are usually closer to 10,000 than they are 5,000.

Meanwhile, Warrington Wolves were below their usual with five figure crowd with only 3,416 whilst Huddersfield Giants vs Hull FC and Halifax Panthers vs Catalans Dragons were unable to crack 2,000.

Halifax did see a 200 person jump in attendance when compared to their last Challenge Cup game.

Leeds Rhinos recorded the best attendance of the round with 7,108. Even this was a big decline from 15,000 for the same two teams the week prior.

Across of a lot of fixtures there were more empty seats than usual which is a sad state of affairs but is certainly not the fault of teams.

It is more of a problem for the Challenge Cup as a competition which these days lacks the magic it once did.

The cost of living crisis of course doesn’t help with season ticket holders having to buy tickets for these games.

Attendances:

Wigan Warriors vs Sheffield Eagles – 5,733
Leeds Rhinos vs St Helens – 7,108
Hull KR vs Salford Red Devils – Undisclosed
Leigh Leopards vs Featherstone Rovers – 4,287
Huddersfield Giants vs Hull FC – 1,673
Batley Bulldogs vs Castleford Tigers – TBC
Warrington Wolves vs London Broncos – 3,416
Halifax Panthers vs Catalans Dragons – 1,811

It is important to note that Hull KR do not disclose attendance figures but rather provide quarterly averages.

Attendance Information from Rugby League Project