Super League Attendance: All six games fail to draw 10,000 fans

Round Eleven of Super League saw a host of one-sided games as summer rugby truly began with the sun shining across England and France.

With such brilliant weather, it made for near-perfect rugby league viewing conditions but that hasn’t been reflected in the Super League attendance figures with none of the six games managing to draw a crowd of 10,000 fans or more.

Round Eleven Round-Up: Five one-sided games and a first won for London Broncos

That wasn’t for a lack of good fixtures though with Warrington Wolves vs Hull KR kicking the round off in what looked to be a brilliant top-of-the-table clash. Sadly for the neutral and Hull KR fans, Warrington toyed with the Robins’ right-edge and raced into an 18-0 lead with KR struggling to get a foothold back into the game.

A moment of Mikey Lewis magic helped draw it back to 18-8 but ultimately Wire held on with Josh Thewlis’ last-minute penalty cementing a table-topping 20-8 victory.

Friday’s games were even more one-sided with the intriguing match-up between Leigh and Salford seeing Adrian Lam’s side ease through with a 40-12 victory. Josh Charnley scored a brace as he racked up his 300th career try in the win, edging ever closer to both Danny Maguire and Ryan Hall.

That scoreline looks close compared to the hammering at The Jungle where Cas fans saw their side humiliated as they conceded 52 unanswered points in the second half to lose 60-4, that win sending St Helens top of the table.

The Red Vee’s stay at the top of the table didn’t last long though as Wigan Warriors and Bevan French in particular put on a show against Huddersfield Giants, French turning on the flair in the sun to help Wigan to a 48-6 victory.

The game that drew the highest Super League attendance was in the South of France where the Rhinos faithful travelling fans were not rewarded for their support. Catalans won 26-0 in a game that was incredibly poor quality from both sides.

That left just one game with London Broncos hosting Hull FC and landing their first win of the season in some style. Trailing 18-16 with 30 minutes to go, the Broncos got the monkey off their back with a brilliant win as they ran in three tries in the final half-hour to win 34-18.

However, the game was sadly marred by Chris Kendall being forced to put an incident on report for what he told each team’s captain was a report of “inappropriate comments”, something that could come out in the disciplinary wash.

As for the Super League attendance figures though, which of the six games performed best in spite of the fact no side hit the milestone figure of 10,000.

Super League Attendances: Crowd figures hit season low

The Super League attendance numbers in 2024 have been so strong that there was eventually going to be a dip and it seems that this has been the week for that with not a single game cracking the 10,000 mark whilst the collective attendance marks the lowest of the season.

Of course, certain weeks of the season have seen estimated attendances given that Hull KR only release attendances each quarter but with the Robins generally having recorded home sell-outs all season, there’s an ability to make a strong estimate.

There was no need to estimate their attendance this week as they were on the road against Warrington Wolves and despite being a brilliant game on paper, the match garnered just 8,573. That figure is a damning indictment on Thursday night games most likely, particularly when one team is expected to make the dreaded trek along the M62.

That game was the second-best attended fixture with only Catalans clash with Leeds drawing more, whilst both Leigh’s win over Salford and Cas’ capitulation against Saints record similar crowds.

Huddersfield broke the 5,000 barrier against Wigan but fans may well be saving themselves for the Challenge Cup semi-finals next week, whilst the clash between strugglers London and Hull only hit 3,225.

A full list of the Super League attendance figures for Round 11 can be seen below.

Warrington Wolves 20-8 Hull KR – 8,573
Leigh Leopards 40-12 Salford Red Devils – 8,103
Castleford Tigers 4-60 St Helens – 7,869
Huddersfield Giants 6-48 Wigan Warriors – 5,334
Catalans Dragons 26-0 Leeds Rhinos – 9,546
London Broncos 34-18 Hull FC – 3,225
Total Attendance – 42,650
Average Attendance – 7,108