Magic may return to the Etihad

MAGIC Weekend could be coming back to Manchester.

Super League is bracing itself for a dip in attendances at this year’s event and organisers are considering a move away from Newcastle.

St James’ Park will host the annual two-day extravaganza for the third successive year this weekend when fans from all 12 Super League clubs head for the north east.

Newcastle drew a record 68,276 aggregate attendance in 2016, but Super League executive director Roger Draper says he is expecting a crowd of between 60,000 and 65,000 for the 11th running of the event.

“We’re tracking for our third best ever Magic Weekend out of 11,” Draper said. “We are looking for a last-minute push.

“I think there’s a few reasons for the dip. It’s the third year of Newcastle and we no longer have (relegated) Hull KR, who are now taking 2,500 fans to the Summer Bash. If they were coming here, they would have the third highest attendance.”

Magic Weekend was launched in Cardiff in 2007 and was taken to Edinburgh and Manchester before moving to Newcastle in 2015, initially because the Etihad Stadium was undergoing renovation.

And Draper concedes it could be on the move once more – with City’s home a possible venue.

“We’re doing a review at the moment of where we go for 2018 and then where we go for 2019 to 2021,” he added.

“We’re trying to piece a venue and an event strategy together so we don’t just do it every year or every few years. We’ve got the advantage now of having an international calendar in place so we’re trying to map together where Magic and all our other events fit.

“It’s a good time to be doing it because the London stadium market is pretty strong at the moment – you’ve got Tottenham with a new stadium and Chelsea with a new stadium – Liverpool was a big success for the Four Nations final, and there is Manchester and the Etihad which has always been a favourite with the fans.

“You’ve also got Leeds, Newcastle and new venues like Coventry, so there’s a lot of opportunities there for us.”