Magic Weekend is easily one of the Super League’s highlights of the year.
With people from across the UK – and France – able to mingle at a rugby league festival, it really is a concept anyone can embrace.
But something that comes up most years is where the magical weekend should take place. Newcastle’s St James’s Park is a fan favourite.
Of course, with an event like the Magic Weekend, it is not only the quality of the stadium that must be taken into account, but also the proximity of a large city and access to entertainment and accommodation.
A total of 62,154 fans showed up at the Newcastle home, which proved to be an increase from 60,866 in 2021.
But, the sport’s commercial director, Rhodri Jones, has revealed that a decision will be made quickly for the home of Magic Weekend in 2023.
“We will do the post-event review, internally with the clubs and also with Newcastle United and the Newcastle board as they are part of the three-way deal that we have here,” Jones told PA news agency. .
“There is a view to come back here next year but we will only trigger that once we have done the review. There is an aspiration from the Newcastle side to bring us back.
“We had a great weekend. Downtown has been busy, hotel and accommodation rates are high so they are very keen to have us back, but we need to do our own analysis and make a decision fairly quickly.
It was also revealed that there had been interest from elsewhere to host the event – and it was a stadium from the past, with Jones confirming it was a stadium ‘closer’ to the heart of the M62 corridor.
“I got an interesting message from a stadium on Saturday saying they were watching and it looked great and would be interested in having a chat,” Jones revealed.
“It’s closer to heart and a stadium we’ve been to before but, to be fair to Newcastle, they’re in pole position based on how many years we’ve been here, the relationship we have with the stadium and how fans love coming to Newcastle.
A stadium that has already hosted Magic Weekend and is closer to the heart of the country points to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester or Anfield in Liverpool, but is it worth the trip away from Newcastle?
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