25,000 crowd at the Copa del Rey - Spanish cup final

[ratsapprentice]

The King of Spain was in attendance, apparently.

Allied with the fact that Camp Nou has sold out for the T14 final, this is very promising for Spanish rugby!

On the very same day professionalism dawns in the USA, too.

 

[Shaggy]

The King of Spain was in attendance, apparently.

Allied with the fact that Camp Nou has sold out for the T14 final, this is very promising for Spanish rugby!

On the very same day professionalism dawns in the USA, too.

Great to see the game getting that kind of support in non traditional/emerging countries ... I know a few NZ provinces, that would like to see those sorts of crowds at their games

 

[SelimNiai]

When you said Copa Del Rey I assumed that was football. Thats great to see, where is that btw?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Valladolid.

 

[Jaguares]

The King of Spain was in attendance, apparently.

Allied with the fact that Camp Nou has sold out for the T14 final, this is very promising for Spanish rugby!

On the very same day professionalism dawns in the USA, too.

Good news for our sport! :thumbup::beer:

 

[Osezno]

First, thanks for amplifying the echo of this exceptional event. It is of course great news for Spanish rugby and the sport is growing in this country, but Copa del Rey success does not reflect the reality of rugby here.

The final was a local derby between Silverstorm El Salvador (winners) and VRAC Quesos Entrepinares (which have dominated national rugby for the last five seasons). Valladolid used to have great football, basketball and handball teams, but economic crisis made them to be relegated. This left a void that rugby clubs have filled and when both clubs reached Copa del Rey final, some journalists began to campaign for playing the final in Zorrilla football stadium instead of having to move to another city or play at Pepe Rojo pitches (6,000 maximum capacity).

Valladolid new mayor saw the opportunity and decided to back the project, convince the clubs and Real Valladolid, the usual tenant of the venue. Once it became clear that football would be played on Saturday, they scheduled the final for April 17. The goal was to fill lower tiers (14,000 spectators), but tickets were sold out in a week, promoters were forced to issue more tickets and stop giving children tickets for free. The sell out even caught by surprise many usual fans and a fanzone was built so they could follow the game just outside the stadium.

Finally Valladolid town hall insisted a lot to invite the King of Spain for the first time, and after two denials, Felipe VI accepted. It was a hit, as this allowed rugby to open news on TV and newspapers in Spain. In fact, the game was broadcast on TV and reached nearly 2.0% share (some 180-200,000 viewers, plus 60,000 views on streaming) with barely any promotion outside Valladolid. Now they are talking about the possibility of repeating the match at Zorrilla next month if both clubs reach league finals (they were first and second during regular season).

There always was some interest about rugby in Spain, it is quite easy to follow 6 Nations or Rugby World Cup in pubs but we lack of professional structures (many players at the Copa del Rey final are amateurs) and opportunities for talented young guys: U19 won last European Championships, which qualified us for U20 World Trophy, for example. Anyway the proof interest on rugby is increasing even far from Valladolid is that Spain usually has the second best attendances in ENC/REC, only behind Georgia. Last game in Madrid, against Portugal, attracted a 12,000 crowd.

- - - Updated - - -

Video highlights, in case you are interested:


Unfortunately both teams seemed a bit intimidates in the first half of the game and rain didn't help.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Thanks for the info!

 

[dragos03]

Very impressive, too bad the match itself wasn't very spectacular.

Spain has by far the best economic potential of the ENC countries, much bigger than Georgia. Georgia gets big crowds but tickets cost like 1$ while Spain is a much richer country where tickets cost a lot more and advertising can generate significant revenues. The problem is that the national team is weak and relies too much on French players eligible on ancestry.

 

[Osezno]

I wish it was true, but Germany has an even greater economy and a more diverse sport landscope. OK, that means competition between sports, but also experience on how to attract crowds and make a profit. My fear is they are going to overtake us soon if we don't secure the future of what seems a golden generation in the making (last U20 and U18 teams).

Let's see if FER is brave enough to send the national team to Zorrilla next season.

 

[dragos03]

I don't think Germany can overtake Spain soon. Rugby is less developed there, the matches are not on TV and there is tougher competition from other sports. The German league is a joke, all the good players are at the same club, who trashes all the others, so you can't have a competitive final like the one in Spain. Also, it's quite hard for fans to identify with the national team since there are too many foreigners in it. In their match against Romania this year, there were only 2 Germans among their starters.

 

[Osezno]

Well, in Spain only a handful games are on TV, VRAC Quesos Entrepinares only lost one regular season league match in the whole year and has won last four league ***les, and our national team relies a lot on players born in France. I see less differences than you, but thanks for your optimism

 

[Bee]

I don't think Germany can overtake Spain soon. Rugby is less developed there, the matches are not on TV and there is tougher competition from other sports. The German league is a joke, all the good players are at the same club, who trashes all the others, so you can't have a competitive final like the one in Spain. Also, it's quite hard for fans to identify with the national team since there are too many foreigners in it. In their match against Romania this year, there were only 2 Germans among their starters.

Still they managed a draw against Spain which I saw live and avoid relegation...
Rugby will always be and stay a minnow sport here and that will never change.
Football dominates and kills everything else.
With more money flowing there, it will even become worse.

 

[dragos03]

I agree that German rugby has grown a lot. Avoiding relegation is a huge achievement and it will give the national team at least two more years at the top level of the ENC, with better quality opponents and more media interest. Heidelberger also did very well in the Challenge Cup Qualifiers, only losing against Timisoara and should have qualified for the playoffs.

Stiil, you are not at the same level as Spain, which has a stronger domestic league and a better national team. I know you managed a draw against them but that wasn't the full-strength "Spanish"squad full of professional French players.

Football kills rugby in Romania as well...

 

[Osezno]

Rugby will always be and stay a minnow sport here and that will never change.
Football dominates and kills everything else.
With more money flowing there, it will even become worse.

I attended some sporting events in Germany and that was not my impression. Of course football is the first sport, but professional competitions for basketball, handball, ice hockey or outdoor winter sports seem to be doing quite well in terms of attendances and marketing. That is why I think you can end up overtaking Spain in the long run.

Of course Heidelberg needs some competition in Rugby Bundesliga or find a path into another professional league, but it is still a blessing.

 

[Bee]

I attended some sporting events in Germany and that was not my impression. Of course football is the first sport, but professional competitions for basketball, handball, ice hockey or outdoor winter sports seem to be doing quite well in terms of attendances and marketing. That is why I think you can end up overtaking Spain in the long run.

Of course Heidelberg needs some competition in Rugby Bundesliga or find a path into another professional league, but it is still a blessing.

You forget the second "hotspot" for Rugby in Germany, Hannover. They have some old, traditional clubs there !

Team Handball comes right after Football, hockey then.
But I was not talking about attendances, but sponsoring + financing minnow sports !
Where all big companies willing to do sport sponsoring go to football, all the "small" sports like Rugby almost solemnly rely on the goodwill of one wealthy fan who lost his/her heart to the sport.
As long as you are not able to produce more income (and I do not see that in the future), you won't improve and won't gain further interest.

 

[Car]

If I look at the financial problems German ice hockey clubs have been facing for the past decades, that really won't make it any easier for rugby here. Ever since the World Cup 2006, football has become even bigger than before, with quite a negative effect on all other sports.
TV coverage of sports other than football, Formula 1 and outdoor winter sports really is poor compared to your average European country.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

This and Spain U20's in the cup final v Samoa playin to get into the championship looks like rugby really is on the up

 

[Osezno]

Yes, it is a great result whatever the final outcome is. But is not untrue that our problems come at senior level, not in U18-U19-U20 teams: we have a nice pool of talent, but only few of them will have the chance to play at a professional level. Some players from Copa del Rey final are guys only 21, 22, 23 years old that tried their luck in France and ended up returning to Spain. And as they are not used to play in big leagues, if we field them in the national team we crash from minute 60 until the end of the match.

The reason why Spain fields so many players born in France in the national team isn't that there are no Spanish born and bred players available, but just that their physical conditions don't allow them to play at their maximum level for 80 minutes.

And let's be honest too: Spanish recent success in U18 and U19 European Championship plus now U20 World Trophy are also thanks to Georgia rise, which enables a different European team to play the latter championship, and Romanian problems at age grade rugby.

 

[profitius]

Yes, it is a great result whatever the final outcome is. But is not untrue that our problems come at senior level, not in U18-U19-U20 teams: we have a nice pool of talent, but only few of them will have the chance to play at a professional level. Some players from Copa del Rey final are guys only 21, 22, 23 years old that tried their luck in France and ended up returning to Spain. And as they are not used to play in big leagues, if we field them in the national team we crash from minute 60 until the end of the match.

The reason why Spain fields so many players born in France in the national team isn't that there are no Spanish born and bred players available, but just that their physical conditions don't allow them to play at their maximum level for 80 minutes.

And let's be honest too: Spanish recent success in U18 and U19 European Championship plus now U20 World Trophy are also thanks to Georgia rise, which enables a different European team to play the latter championship, and Romanian problems at age grade rugby.

So you're saying if Georgia didn't get promoted, Spain wouldn't be there? Only 1 slot for european teams?


Great to see the progress being made in Spain. The top 14 final in Barcelona will also help promote the sport.

 

[Osezno]

Exactly. Georgia did not take part in last U19 European Championship, qualifying for U20 World Trophy, because they were promoted to the Championship. With only eight teams in World Trophy, there are two ways a same continent can field two teams: being the hosts (Zimbabwe and Namibia this year) or having been relegated the previous year (Samoa and Fiji).