Cardiff Dragons Hoping For Arena Fever As They Get Ready For Big Move

By Graham Thomas

Cardiff Dragons believe they can follow the lead of London Pulse and attract a diverse new fan base by switching home venues to a bigger venue.

Dragons are away to Pulse on Saturday at the Copper Box Arena, with the Welsh club having already played their final home game at their regular House of Sport location in Cardiff.

Their remaining two home matches of the Super League season – against Leeds Rhinos and Team Bath – have been switched to the bigger-capacity Utilita Arena in the centre of the city.

https://twitter.com/cardiffdragons_/status/1793980254333370813

While the Dragons’ ambitions to make the play-offs this season may be over, they hope a move to a bigger home will boost their pulling power in the future.

“London Pulse play at the Copper Box Arena, which is an amazing, iconic venue that was memorably part of the London Olympics,” said Dragons chief executive Vicki Sutton.

“London is a very cosmopolitan city and they attract a very diverse audience, but Cardiff has also become very diverse and we feel we can tap into that potential as we look to grow our supporter base.

“It’s hard to compare us to other teams and cities, but we feel that by playing in a bigger venue we can really start to drive our fan base upwards.”

Still time to buy your tickets for this weekends game – details below https://t.co/fGmkTtPreq

— London Pulse Netball (@Pulse_Netball) May 20, 2024

One of the other similarities shared by Pulse’s Copper Box Arena and the Ultilita Arena is the ability it offers the teams to be on the venue’s own platform when it comes to marketing.

A glance at the Utilita Arena website shows the Dragons are up there on the “hot and tending” page for tickets, alongside Liam Gallagher, Girls Aloud, The Four Tops and Romesh Ranganathan.

“The traffic on that website is significant and it’s great to see us next to the likes of Liam Gallagher and others. We’re in good company,” added Sutton.

“Like the other shows, we are offering great entertainment for people. We realise that there is still a cost of living crisis, so we have tried to keep ticket prices as low as possible and we think we are offering great value for money.

“You don’t have to wait for 45 or maybe 90 minutes for a goal, like in some sports. There’s a goal every 10 to 12 seconds!”

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