“I wish I knew their formula!” – Huddersfield Giants chairman on growing their fanbase and comparing to Super League’s top sides

Huddersfield Giants have a ton of issues both on and off the pitch currently, with their decreasing crowds being a major talking point in 2025.

Their last Super League home game (at the John Smith’s Stadium) against Leigh Leopards attracted a crowd of just 3,458, and whilst loyal fans will keep turning up, it’s harder to attract new ones with a lack of atmosphere.

That’s why chairman Ken Davy is trying to move the Giants into their own smaller stadium, but there are a ton of roadblocks in his way.

Speaking to Jenna Brooks and Jon Wilkin on the Bench podcast, he shared that he and his team have put in offers for four separate sites across Huddersfield, and those bids have all been rejected, spending six figures altogether.

He also shared that the state of financial play across the league right now is at an all-time low, with most clubs relying on their owners to bankroll them.

He said: “There are probably ten or eleven clubs in the game at the moment that couldn’t survive without contributions from their owners, and significant seven-figure contributions.

“The game right now is entirely dependent on Sky and the owners.”

At Huddersfield Giants, he shared that he’s been advised by his accountant to walk away on numerous occasions, too.

He added: “In fact, I can tell you that it was probably four or five years ago, it was pointed out to me by my accountant, that I could’ve given everybody that came through the gate to every game a £20 note, and I’d have been better off.”

Huddersfield Giants chairman on the struggles of growing the club’s fanbase

One of the major financial issues at the club is generating matchday revenue, and with crowds of under 4,000, it’s unlikely that it will contribute too much towards the day-to-day running of the club.

He compared his club to more successful clubs in the Super League era, such as Wigan Warriors and St Helens.

When asked a question on how the Giants grow their fanbase and why it’s been a struggle, he said: “I wish I knew the answer to that, I really do. I guess one quick answer would be it’s more of a football town, and I wish the football club every success.

“We’re in this wonderful stadium now, and the fact is, with our fans, we rattle in a 24,000-seat stadium. That makes it very difficult to get the atmosphere that you want.

“Even when you go back to the heady days of the League Leaders’ Shield, we were still only getting six or seven thousand. We weren’t breaking the 10,000, which was the goal. This has been the most difficult problem to solve that I’ve ever had.

“We will get out of it, this is just a passing phase in the same way that success is a passing phase, apart from clubs like Saints and Wigan, who seem to have consistently been successful. I wish I knew their formula!”