The second half of Super League Round 20 has been played and the attendance figures are in and make for very interesting reading.
Attendances have been a hot topic of late after the discourse around loop fixtures with a claim made by both Derek Beaumont and Karl Fitzpatrick that the second meeting of teams sees an average attendance drop of 9%.
That is one of the arguments for removing loop fixtures with competition integrity and fan fatigue another, albeit fan fatigue ties into the dropping attendances.
With Super League Round 20 being a split round, it meant that we got just three games this past weekend and all were done and dusted by Friday night with no games on Saturday or Sunday.
Salford Red Devils versus Hull KR on Thursday night saw no reported attendance, as has been the case for most Red Devils’ games this year, but the other two fixtures have boasted strong numbers.
Super League Round 20 attendances
That 74-12 win for Hull KR played out in front of plenty of travelling Robins’ fans but no confirmed attendance has been announced.
As for Friday’s fixtures, both drew very close to 10,000 with St Helens topping the charts with 9,824.
Whilst it’s the best of the round, it’s actually a sharp decline on St Helens’ attendance against Leigh Leopards prior to the break, with that game pushing close to 12,000.
Friday night’s other attendance makes for more interesting reading as it possibly confirms one of the much-reported pieces of data around loop fixtures.
The second home game against the same opponent typically averages a crowd that is 9% smaller with fans generally unwilling to watch the same game a second time. There are anomalies with Derek Beaumont highlighting that the second fixture versus Saints last year increased given the play-off jeopardy of both sides.
However, this was Leigh’s second game versus Warrington and it did see a decline in attendance. Their Round Eight meeting was watching by 9,627 fans but Friday night only drew 9,364.
Whilst it’s not quite a 9% drop, it’s noticeable and feeds into the argument against loop fixtures which will be gone in 2026 as Super League expands to 14 teams.
Super League Round 20 Attendances
Salford Red Devils 12-74 Hull KR – Unknown
Leigh Leopards 20-16 Warrington Wolves – 9,364
St Helens 40-0 Castleford Tigers – 9,824
John
August 4, 2025 at 11:58 am
Who wrote this?
At one point Leigh appear to have been playing both away at St Helens and home to Warrington, and
a drop from 9627 to 9364 – marginally over 3% drop – seems to be “not quite a 9% drop”
Accurate reporting and arithmetic don’t seem to be strong points!
D
August 4, 2025 at 1:25 pm
Leigh’s 2nd game against Wire was also when folk are away on their summer holidays; That would also impact the attendance.