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       #Post#: 146318--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: KentQuin
       Date: December 22, 2025, 3:27 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Nicholas Piper link ---
       >
       > If money is the goal to reduce overall season ticket pricing,
       then perhaps the goal should be to have all 'home games' at the
       Allianz and sell the stoop to housing?
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Not owning your own stadium is a certain route to extinction.
       Just look at Wasps and Irish.
       The Stoop needs to add another 5k to 10k seats. That should be
       the ambition.
       #Post#: 146320--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: Rugbycat
       Date: December 22, 2025, 3:38 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Nicholas Piper link ---
       >
       > Yes, understand the money argument, which is why I was asking
       'apart from money'.....
       >
       > If money wasn't an issue, do you think folks would be still
       happy with the BGs.
       >
       > It was depressing to see our team perform so well the previous
       week at the Stoop in the champions cup and then watch long
       standing season ticket holders sack it off after 60mins at the
       Allianz.
       >
       > Realise Briz were excellent but for me the lads looked out of
       sorts.
       >
       > If money is the goal to reduce overall season ticket pricing,
       then perhaps the goal should be to have all 'home games' at the
       Allianz and sell the stoop to housing?
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Great way to follow Wasps and London Irish into oblivion, we
       average around 22k attendance for the season with the big games,
       so we need to expand the Stoop to 20 or 25k, as was planned
       before Covid, which you need money for and these games prove it
       is viable.
       Where would you play the PWR games without the stoop, and anyway
       the big Stoop is at the maximum number of games anyway, and the
       RFU are likely to do work on it in the future.
       We probably only exist now because we have the stoop and that is
       thanks to the people in the past who acquired it, even before
       professional rugby we played games at Twickenham, if you look
       back at our history.
       #Post#: 146321--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: KentQuin
       Date: December 22, 2025, 3:43 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Quinston Churchill link ---
       >
       > It’s mental to think anyone would even consider doing away
       with the Twickenham games. When rugby is on it’s knees and
       almost every club is struggling, why you’ll you not want to take
       advantage of a huge financial opportunity?
       >
       > We treat it like a second ‘home’ and our record in those games
       is good, so the perceived loss of home advantage is an odd
       reason to think of doing away with The Big Game/BSKO.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Yup. Other clubs are trying to mimick our model for a reason.
       What does get left out of the BG equation is actually our
       performance over the Christmas period. Quite often we have a
       6-day turnaround (which is self-imposed as we get first dibs for
       the BG slot) and that impacts on our chances of following it up
       with an away win.
       #Post#: 146323--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: poorfour
       Date: December 22, 2025, 4:27 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Personally, I love the Big Game.
       We need to separate the result from the event - though
       apparently it's our first loss at HQ in over a decade, and we
       shouldn't confuse the team's current issues and inconsistency
       with what the Big Game has done for Quins and the game.
       Firstly, I don't think we can divorce the money from the event.
       It exists to generate revenue that Quins, or any other club for
       that matter, could not generate at their home ground. Club rugby
       is loss-making pretty much across the board, and dependent on
       the patience and largesse of its owners. We've seen several
       times what happens when those owners can't or won't shoulder the
       burden any more.
       Big Game is what makes Quins, with a moderate sized home ground,
       the revenue leader in English rugby, and one of the few clubs
       troubling the French giants (who benefit from a more lucrative
       tv deal, and in most cases being able to use a municipally owned
       stadium).
       It's also important in growing the game. How much of Quins'
       support at the Stoop, with regular sell outs and a waiting list
       for season tickets, is a byproduct of people encountering the
       game through the Big Game? Rugby attendance as a whole has
       grown, but Quins have grown their supporter base considerably
       over the time that they've been running the Big Game.
       The format allows us to have the women's and men's team playing
       in a double header. I'd be surprised if Saturday's crowd topped
       last year's world record for a women's league game, but there
       were still more people in HQ than typically attend at the Stoop
       (even with the RWC 25 boost). They got to see a game in which
       Quins began to get their season in gear, with almost the inverse
       scoreline to the men's game, with a signature Ellie Kildunne try
       from nowhere to put a little lustre on a performance where
       almost all of the Quins players had their moment.
       Growing the women's game is a key pillar in the game's route to
       profitability and sustainability, and the Big Game is pretty
       much the biggest showcase for it outside of internationals.
       #Post#: 146326--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: Narbia
       Date: December 22, 2025, 5:14 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote ---
       > Big Games - is it really needed any more?
       --- End Quote ---
       Yes. HTH. [emoji57]
       --- Quote from: deadlyfrom5yardsout link ---
       >
       > Are you a Journo with your 2 posts by any chance?
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       That's what i was thinking too.
       #Post#: 146327--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: Camquin
       Date: December 22, 2025, 5:41 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       The big stoop is a traditional Quins home ground.
       It was our main ground for nearly 50 years, and even after the
       acquisition of the current site in 1963, many games were played
       in the big ground - though the crowd in the green sheds could be
       a little slim.
       #Post#: 146328--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: never sleep
       Date: December 22, 2025, 5:57 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Nicholas Piper link ---
       >
       > Yes, understand the money argument, which is why I was asking
       'apart from money'.....
       >
       > If money wasn't an issue, do you think folks would be still
       happy with the BGs.
       >
       > It was depressing to see our team perform so well the previous
       week at the Stoop in the champions cup and then watch long
       standing season ticket holders sack it off after 60mins at the
       Allianz.
       >
       > Realise Briz were excellent but for me the lads looked out of
       sorts.
       >
       > If money is the goal to reduce overall season ticket pricing,
       then perhaps the goal should be to have all 'home games' at the
       Allianz and sell the stoop to housing?
       >
       >
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Seems a bit of an overreaction to losing a game.
       We lose a game - so, the answer is to sell the home ground,
       bankrupt ourselves and give up.
       Rugby is just a game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But
       it is just a pastime. An excuse to do something fun on a
       Saturday and have a few beers with your mates while watching
       some fat blokes throw a ball around; as opposed to pushing a
       trolley round a retail park / DIY shop.
       #Post#: 146330--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: Brown Bottle
       Date: December 22, 2025, 6:18 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: never sleep link ---
       >
       > ...
       >
       > Rugby is just a game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
       But it is just a pastime. An excuse to do something fun on a
       Saturday and have a few beers with your mates while watching
       some fat blokes throw a ball around; as opposed to pushing a
       trolley round a retail park / DIY shop.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       If that was all people cared about I doubt there'd be many who'd
       bother to turn up to see Quins at the Stoop when there are loads
       of decent rugby clubs around where you could do all that for far
       less money and a fraction of the hassle.
       #Post#: 146331--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: never sleep
       Date: December 22, 2025, 6:41 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: Brown Bottle link ---
       >
       > If that was all people cared about I doubt there'd be many
       who'd bother to turn up to see Quins at the Stoop when there are
       loads of decent rugby clubs around where you could do all that
       for far less money and a fraction of the hassle.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       Yes there are.
       I am also a member of Richmond and drink beer at their ground
       too.
       The Quins Big Game beats the Richmond v London Scottish derby
       for a day out.
       #Post#: 146332--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Big Games - is it really needed any more?
   DIR By: Brown Bottle
       Date: December 22, 2025, 7:09 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       --- Quote from: never sleep link ---
       >
       > Yes there are.
       > I am also a member of Richmond and drink beer at their ground
       too.
       > The Quins Big Game beats the Richmond v London Scottish derby
       for a day out.
       >
       --- End Quote ---
       I think there's been a misunderstanding.
       When you said "Rugby is just a game..." etc. I didn't realise
       you were only referring to the "Big Game". My response was not
       based on that, hence I referred to Quins playing at The Stoop.
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