Rhinos are coming, on the cheap!

[Mellor]

Lot's of concessions around at ER these days. Would love to watch Rhinos but cant justify yet more travel to Leeds, getting to games costs more than getting into games. I'm from Leeds so I'm kinda ok with this but what about those who support other rugby teams or travel from the barren wastes of rugby union in the midlands/south/Wales etc. Double edged sword which certainly benefits our owners and the team (bigger gate). We have lots to learn from Rhinos, I hope GFH pursue more than a one game tit for tat concession that many season ticket holders can't or have no reason to take advantage of.

http://www.leedsunited.com/news/article/ij8qkn0ozce31t3f1k8rejtxu/title/leeds-joins-forces-for-wigan-visit

[Barlow Boy]

I'm from Leeds so I'm kinda ok with this but what about those who support other rugby teams

As a number of 'talkers' will be aware, I am a Cas fan and I know others support different rugby teams eg Birky so I can relate to this.

However, anything that benefits the club is fine by me although I will not be taking up the option

[Pecky10]

As a Bulls fan, there's little benefit to me either although I will admit that of all sports, I find I can enjoy a game of rugby league without necessarily needing to support either side. I've taken in a couple of the rugby league world cup games which I've enjoyed despite neither being a Kiwi or Papua New Guinean

What I have noticed - and this maybe just because both fall into the 'one team - one city' thing is that there ARE a large number of people who are fans of both Leeds United and Leeds Rhinos. I was talking to my pal from Leicester yesterday and he was saying there's absolutely no crossover in Leicester: you either watch rugby or football (and there's a bit of ill-feeling now as the rugby union WC will be at the football ground not the rugby ground ) but in Leeds, I think there's scope for people to benefit and it might bring in a few new fans.

We're talking about a midweek game against Wigan after all, it's not the most attractive of fixtures, so anything that brings a few extra bums on seats and creates a half-decent atmosphere is fine with me

[Deleted User 130]

As our glorious leader Stumpy will tell you, by 'locality' rights, most Leeds United fans should actually be Hunslet RL fans if they have a rugby league team. But Hunslet don't share our colours and they don't even have Marching On Rogether as the club anthem, played before kick off

I know loads of Leeds United fans from Bradford and who are Bulls supporters. I find it a strange contradiction but what the heck, they're good and loyal LU fans.

Leeds Carnegie could try the same scheme but I suspect no one actually watches union unless it's Prem League.

[Sheepy]

If your from South Leeds, Hunslet should well be your RL club of choice, unfortunately the pull of the Super League draws most RL fans to Leeds (those who have a LS postcode). But as Barlow says, there are lots of other local clubs such as Batley, Bramley, Dewsbury, Featherstone who have United fans.

Decent enough idea though.

If you want to check out a good Rugby League site try this - www.hunsletrugby.co.uk

[Deleted User 2]

The whole thing is about catering to and maximising the audience. Fact is the fanbases massively overlap and if you're going to forge & recognise a connection it was always going to be with the best-supported and biggest local club. Hunslet only get 400-500 people for their games, and whenever I've been to a game I've got the feeling it was the main and only interest for most of the people there. Once you go outside Leeds, for any rugby club I'd guess their LUFC fans would be in minority among their crowd, so it wouldn't be appropriate.

As a season ticket holder I can't say I mind the initiatives. Most of the concessions seem to be a one-off, or not enough of a reduction to make me think it's undermining the value in my ST. In my opinion, as long as the per game price of a season ticket is reasonable, the main benefits of it lie in being able to keep a favourite seat, priority on aways and the bits & bobs around matchdays (access to Pavilion, small discount in the shop).

[dlw10]

The key thing for me is that, since I am going to be there anyway, I would much rather see Elland Road as full as it possibly can be just for the boost in the atmosphere. Plus anyone persuaded to come who would not otherwise be there is going to put money in the coffers.

[Sheepy]

It does make sense to forge a relationship between the clubs, it just slightly surprises me its us who has given the Rhinos fans a reason to come to Elland Road (firstly), with all respect I would have thought it would have been the other way around.

That said, you can't fault the board for trying to get more bums on seats and as DLW says, you can't fault them for trying to bring more cash into the club and raising the atmosphere.

Personally I don't think that anyone who supports the Rhinos who only has a mild interest in football will take advantage of the offer (and visa versa), I think those who have a cross over interest in the two sports probably already go to games for both clubs, thats what summer rugby aimed to do and achieved.

It will be interesting to see what the Wigan attendance is.

[1964white]

Good initiative

Champions in rugby of Leeds & hopefully LUFC will aspire to the same level in years to come.....why not ?

I use to have a season ticket at Headingley as well as ER, circumstances changed where it became too expensive to have both so my priority had to be Leeds United

[Mellor]

"The club are offering an early Christmas present to the club’s Season Ticket Holders with a free ticket for the home game against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday December 4 (7.45pm)."

Makes sense, reducing the benefit of being a ST is bad business. Acknowledged now. Top stuff.