Why Gloucester are swapping Kingsholm for Villa Park
· Yahoo Sports
Harlequins have mastered their Allianz Stadium spectacle, Saracens have hosted huge crowds at Wembley, the Olympic Park and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bristol return to Cardiff's Principality this weekend and now Gloucester are the latest Prem club to launch a showpiece match at a major ground.
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The Cherry and Whites are trading Kingsholm for Birmingham's Villa Park on Saturday when they take on Leicester Tigers (13:00 GMT).
The idea to host a showpiece game has been in the pipeline for a number of years, says chief executive Alex Brown, and it was a visit to Premier League side Aston Villa's home last year that confirmed it was the right place to try.
"It was really quite compelling," Brown told BBC Sport.
"We all came away from that day, that visit, with our eyes fully widened and open to the opportunity, the grandeur of the stadium.
"The level of experience they're delivering for their football fans is incredible and we're all very impressed and equally excited."
Sacrificing a home game to move your team and fans to another location - in this instance 57 miles away - comes with challenges.
But Kingsholm has a capacity of 12,000 and Villa Park is more than three times bigger at 45,000.
Commercially there are opportunities to generate more money, which is a big driver for a modest-sized club such as Gloucester.
"Harlequins sell out 82,000 at Twickenham and that's a massive commercial revenue line for them and we want it to be the same for us," Brown added.
"I don't think we're going to sell out in year two or maybe not even year three, but we may get close - we've got to start somewhere and we've got to make this sport financially sustainable and that's what we're edging towards.
"The goal is to use this extra revenue that we're getting for this game to reinvest into our squad."
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While on the pitch Prem rivalries are fierce, off it there is plenty of collaboration and Gloucester have lent on Quins, Saracens and Bristol to learn from their experiences in hosting these games.
Club leaders meet monthly where initiatives that can benefit everyone are often up for discussion.
"We've definitely learned a lot from Quins who are the masters of this, they do two big games a year," Brown said.
"Bristol were very, very open with what they did last year at Cardiff and Saracens the same.
"We've got a collaborative working group that are driving this big game initiative and I suspect you'll see more clubs go down this route as times go by."
Gloucester come into the game off the back of a win against Harlequins last weekend [Getty Images]'Untapped potential' - Ludlow
Money however is far from the only factor behind the match.
Changes to Prem academy boundaries two years ago meant that Gloucester's catchment area now stretches as far as Worcestershire, Birmingham and Warwickshire.
This added to Villa Park's appeal, with the hope that establishing a game in the region will grow Gloucester's fanbase but also attract more young players through their pathway.
"It's an untapped potential for us," said long-standing back row Lewis Ludlow.
"Hopefully some underlying rugby talent around these parts that we can try and encourage to come down to Gloucester."
It's also about creating a day fans will remember.
Harlequins have turned their Twickenham 'Big Day Out' into the biggest annual domestic rugby event in the world. Fireworks, laser shows, special edition kits and music acts have all featured and been adopted by others.
"We want this to be an entertaining day for our supporters and not to be a seen as a trek up to Villa Park," said Brown.
Centre Max Llewellyn adds that responsibility also lies with the players to put on a good show.
"If we can perform on the pitch it will create a good atmosphere and it'll be electric in the stadium but with such a good following with Gloucester I'm sure a lot of fans will be down here to support us," he said.
MND 'awareness needs to keep rising'
Leicester have won five Slater Cup meetings while Gloucester have two [Getty Images]The fixture has another, much more human element, as both clubs contest the Slater Cup, named after former Gloucester player Ed Slater who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2022.
Saturday's game will be the eighth time the cup has been contested, with Leicester the holders following their 45-14 win at Welford Road in December.
A contribution from ticket sales will be donated to the 4ED Foundation and Ludlow says the importance of the campaign has only grown, particularly in light of former England captain Lewis Moody revealing his own MND diagnosis in October.
"It's become a lot more than a game for Ed and he'd be the first person to say that now," said Ludlow.
"Sadly it's not enough, it needs to continue, the awareness needs to keep rising and the more money we can pledge towards all of these great foundations, not just to help the people with the higher profiles.
"The big part about 4ED is going right down to all the people who need it."
Brown says it is too soon to say if Villa Park will become an annual fixture on Gloucester's calendar - they will conduct a review after the match - but that is the hope.
With the Prem starting to thrive again in terms of entertainment on the pitch, TV ratings and attendances Ludlow believes this is the time for clubs to be doing more.
"Kingsholm's a great stadium but it's got a capacity," Ludlow said.
"If we're going to get more fans in and bridge that gap and start pushing rugby forwards and pushing the Prem forwards, then coming to places like this to play rugby is what needs to happen."