‘Doubters proved wrong’ – Magic Weekend hailed a success despite second-lowest-ever attendance

Despite recording the second-lowest-ever attendance in the event’s history, the 2024 Super League Magic Weekend has been declared as a success by Rugby League Commercial chief Rhodri Jones.

Jones made the claims when speaking on Sky Sports after the conclusion of the sixth and final game of the event at Elland Road, even claiming that it had “proved some of the fans or doubters wrong” after immense criticism was aimed at the RFL for selecting Leeds United’s ground as a venue.

In total, 53,103 fans attended over the two days with the day two total of just 22,293 confirmed to be the lowest-ever single-day figure, whilst only the 2010 Magic Weekend in Edinburgh had a lower combined attendance.

The 53,103 fans through the gate marked a drop of over 10,000 from the 2023 event in Newcastle, however, Jones was clear with the message that the event was successful.

He told Sky Sports’ Jenna Brooks:  “We’ve had a successful weekend. We’ve had over 50,000 people here. We had 30,000 in here yesterday. We had 20,000 in for the first game, which we think is a record for the first game of the weekend, so we’ve certainly hit metrics in terms of attendance.”

Pushed on what was the target attendance, Jones confirmed: “For us, over 50,000 was going to be a positive.”

Was Magic Weekend 2024 a success?

Fans could be forgiven for coming away from the event disappointed given that no game truly delivered a competitive battle with five of the six games won by three converted tries or more.

That was something that Jones accepted as he continued to declare the event a success, even claiming that fans and doubters had been proven wrong.

He stated: “We hope we’ve given the Sky Sports viewers entertainment across the six games. Perhaps on the field, they haven’t been as competitive as history has given us but nevertheless we’ve offered up six games of Super League this weekend.

“I think we’ve proved some of the fans or the doubters wrong by the fact that we’ve got over 50,000 here over the weekend. I know when we announced Elland Road it was not seen to be the right venue. I appreciate it’s not a destination venue, which we know our fans like. Nevertheless, we’ve had 50,000 people there over the weekend.”

Jones would also go on to tease five possible destinations for the 2025 version of the event, something he confirmed is in the calendar, as he named both Dublin and Paris as avenues to be explored.

Does commercial success outweigh fan experience?

The consensus among fans does tend to remain that Magic Weekend was anti-climactic, something that is of course affected by the outcome i.e. the results, which the RFL and RL Commercial have no control over.

However, for those parties, they’ve deemed the event a major success with the event revealed to have turned a profit, whilst Jones also noted the inclusion of the Learning Disability Super League.

“We’ve done well commercially, ticket revenue-wise, hospitality sales, we’ve done well. And lastly, the Learning Disability Super League as well that we held here on both days at half-time of the second game. And it probably got the biggest round of applause across the weekend, which is great to see as well.”

Asked how they had judged the success of the event, Jones explained:  “I guess we look across various metrics. Clearly, there’s a commercial element to it. So, is the weekend profitable? The answer is yes to that. Do we service our broadcast contract? Yes. Do we service our commercial partners? Yes. Do we have the ability to commercialize the weekend more, absolutely, and that’s something that’s missing at this moment in time.

“But we’re realistic about it, that’s something that we’ve got to keep working hard at. Do we provide the players with a platform to play in front of big crowds? In terms of that, that’s why I’m saying it’s a success.”