European Attendances : 2000-2004

For this period, the number of teams was constant with twelve each year. Promotion and relegation meant change but the same sides tended to yo-yo up and down. That meant only thirteen different clubs were involved. Four teams experienced at least one year out of the top flight, all teams that had lower than average attendances.

From 1995-99, attendances per year averaged from about 5,500 to 7,000 per match. The good news were that the direction was upwards. Could it be sustained? Yes. For this period, the figures were now between 6,500 to 8,500. That wasn't a huge change but sustainable.

For this five years, the Bradford Bulls were the best attended team...just. Over 13,000 on average came along. The Leeds Rhinos had a smashing 2004 but failed by 25 spectators per game to take top spot. Wigan and St Helens came after that with Hull FC in 5th spot.

One problem was some clubs were struggling to get the numbers. The sport was exciting but some teams were not getting enough along. It's well documented about the roving London team unable to get a long term home, adding to the problem of being noticed at all in a large city.

Anything under 5,000 is really not good enough for a professional sport with a strong product. Five clubs fell into this category. Would the numbers improve for them and the league overall? The next in the series will address that question (click here for that one). To see part one: simply click here.

SL Attendances 2000-04
Rk	Team	AVG	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000
1	Bradford	13257	13495	14936	11343	11992	14519
2	Leeds	13232	15740	12849	12106	12793	12672
3	Wigan	10996	12581	10255	10152	11462	10532
4	St Helens	9444	9543	10014	9917	8919	8828
5	Hull FC	8410	11458	11397	6839	6411	5943
6	Castleford	7230	7035	7199	6843	7092	7980
7	Warrington	7226	9889	6982	6053	6333	6872
8	Widnes	6371	6181	6511	6420	-	-
9	Halifax	4411	-	2977	4074	4880	5714
10	Salford	4232	3995	-	4328	4156	4448
11	Wakefield	4142	4806	4017	3715	3558	4615
12	Huddersfield	4040	4362	4751	-	3608	3438
13	London	3458	3458	3517	3766	3131	3419
	TOT AVG	7411	8545	7950	6620	6526	7415
	TOTAL	1245108	1435597	1335653	1112242	1096330	1245720