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2017 Crowd Watch

insert.pause

First Grade
Messages
6,446
Source?

Thayer would be truly awful awful awful crowds.
With three Sydney-based games last weekend attracting a dismal 75,000 spectators, the NRL is conservatively predicting a Suncorp Stadium crowd of 35,000 for the Broncos game on Friday night with Red Hill insiders expecting the figure to be closer to 40,000.

It is understood the NRL are expecting between 20,000-25,000 for the North Queensland Cowboys game against Parramatta in Sydney on Saturday night.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...y/news-story/6e26c4e4de1f80e4c6c0bec5ab9b0439
 

moffla

Bench
Messages
3,215
Friday night seems a good fit for the Melbourne game to draw a good crowd and won't conflict with the big game scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I would expect a little more if it were to be against the Broncos than Panthers, little more rivalry there.

It will nearly sell out regardless I imagine
 

DC_fan

Coach
Messages
11,980
And with the amount of stoppages now, a game finishes later than what it once did.

Thing is, AFL night matches will finish after 10pm and it doesn't affect them as much. I went to an NFL Sunday night football match a few years ago between Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets at Meadowlands in New Jersey. Match started at 8:30pm finished at 11:30pm and then had to travel back to Manhattan getting back there at 12:30am.

The difference between the NRL and these two other sports is that the bulk of their weekly schedule is at fan friendly times. The NFL start only two of their 16 weekly matches at night. The AFL only play night matches on 1x friday night, and 2x saturday night. 3 games out of 9. They have a month long of thursday night matches in the middle of the season, but they haven't made it a season-long staple in the fixture. They flirted with sunday night matches for 3 or 4 matches one season and one of them was Collingwood vs Carlton which drew only 40k (normally get above 70k), so then they've canned it since.

In contrast, the NRL will sign a 5-yr deal without a get out clause for the time slot, and so they're stuck with it and the 70K empty seats in the stadium for the duration of that period. Looks like shit and doesn't evoke a desire to get to the game.

I understand where you are coming from with your message and support your thoughts. However, I will pick you up on one little thing you mentioned. The NFL has three games per week with a nighttime kickoff. All of which draw very good crowds. I am not sure that kickoff times effect crowds as much as we like to think they do.

It could be that people, while they still have an interest in the game, have lost the passion they once had for the game. Once that has happened it is hard to get it back.
 

Hank_Scorpio

Juniors
Messages
353
It will nearly sell out regardless I imagine
You would like to think so but I find the pricing a bit prohibitive. Got seats in the nose bleeds last week against Parra for me ($55) and my nephew ($45). For myself I don't find that too bad a price for finals game but $45 for a 9 year old did feel a bit steep. Can't imagine what the better seats would have cost. Nose bleeds for the MCG AFL final this week is $35 adult and $10 kids. Makes a bit of a difference.
 
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adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
You would like to think so but I find the pricing a bit prohibitive. Got seats in the nose bleeds last week for me ($55) and my nephew ($45). For myself I don't find that too bad a price for finals game but $45 for a 9 year old did feel a bit steep. Can't imagine what the better seats would have cost. Nose bleeds for the MCG AFL final this week is $35 adult and $10 kids. Makes a bit of a difference.

yeesh. The people setting these prices obviously don't live in reality.
 

thorson1987

Coach
Messages
16,907
You would like to think so but I find the pricing a bit prohibitive. Got seats in the nose bleeds last week against Parra for me ($55) and my nephew ($45). For myself I don't find that too bad a price for finals game but $45 for a 9 year old did feel a bit steep. Can't imagine what the better seats would have cost. Nose bleeds for the MCG AFL final this week is $35 adult and $10 kids. Makes a bit of a difference.

Tbf, huge difference between AAMI Park nosebleeds and MCG nosebleeds.
 

adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
There was a solid crowd so there is enough demand, but at a better pricing point could the crowd have been better? Not sure.

You'd have to think there'd be a few people who would balk at $45 for a child ticket.

I paid $45 for outstanding seats at the SFS for Roosters v Broncos - and the 2 games drew similar crowds. I'd say Melbourne goes well above if prices were reasonable.
 

Hank_Scorpio

Juniors
Messages
353
Tbf, huge difference between AAMI Park nosebleeds and MCG nosebleeds.

Yes there is but a double difference in price point? Wouldn't have thought so. Don't mind viewing AFL high up due to being able to see play unfold better.

Used to love getting GA at Olympic Park and getting real close for a fair price. My issue is really with kids pricing. Happy to pay a premium for myself but for a kid, that's not very encouraging.
 
Messages
13,793
I understand where you are coming from with your message and support your thoughts. However, I will pick you up on one little thing you mentioned. The NFL has three games per week with a nighttime kickoff. All of which draw very good crowds. I am not sure that kickoff times effect crowds as much as we like to think they do.

It could be that people, while they still have an interest in the game, have lost the passion they once had for the game. Once that has happened it is hard to get it back.

The other thing though is that from 1973 through 2014, the NFL had a TV blackout rule in effect so that if it was not a sell out 72 hours prior to kick off, there could not be live TV coverage. As such this probably helped foster a culture of getting people to the game.

Since the mid-1990s, rugby league has had all games on live regardless of ticket sales.
 

Billythekid

First Grade
Messages
6,560
I'm not sure why we persist charging so much for kids tickets. They're the future of the game and the NRL should do everything they can to get them through the gates. They should just charge 5-10 dollars for kids tickets, for most NRL games they should really just be free.
 

big hit!

Bench
Messages
3,452
I understand where you are coming from with your message and support your thoughts. However, I will pick you up on one little thing you mentioned. The NFL has three games per week with a nighttime kickoff. All of which draw very good crowds. I am not sure that kickoff times effect crowds as much as we like to think they do.

It could be that people, while they still have an interest in the game, have lost the passion they once had for the game. Once that has happened it is hard to get it back.

i always forget thu night and regularly forget to put my picks in for the game. i hate it. point is, the bulk of games are during the day and on sunday. it makes it so easy to follow the League and then move on with the rest of your week. i know the environment is different in the USA with college football on saturday and pros on sunday, but it really works well for me here watching on game pass and logging onto the NFL website, and I reckon it works extremely well for attending and watching matches. you don't have to re-arrange plans throughout the season based on the days your team plays. you know that they 90% of the time, it will be on sunday so you can easily coordinate your life around it. in contrast, the NRL expect you to organise your life around them. it is clear that this is not sustainable for most folks, so in the long-run they end up not attending games.
 

moffla

Bench
Messages
3,215
You would like to think so but I find the pricing a bit prohibitive. Got seats in the nose bleeds last week for me ($55) and my nephew ($45). For myself I don't find that too bad a price for finals game but $45 for a 9 year old did feel a bit steep. Can't imagine what the better seats would have cost. Nose bleeds for the MCG AFL final this week is $35 adult and $10 kids. Makes a bit of a difference.
Difference is though that a smaller ground will always work on supply and demand. Additionally it's worth noting the nosebleeds at AAMI Park > nosebleebs at MCG and you still feel close to the action.

Agree that $45 for a child's ticket is oddly steep though, but I otherwise found the pricing reasonable
 

adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
The other thing though is that from 1973 through 2014, the NFL had a TV blackout rule in effect so that if it was not a sell out 72 hours prior to kick off, there could not be live TV coverage. As such this probably helped foster a culture of getting people to the game.

Since the mid-1990s, rugby league has had all games on live regardless of ticket sales.

That's what happens when the TV networks dont have you bent over a barrel
 

Billythekid

First Grade
Messages
6,560
Difference is though that a smaller ground will always work on supply and demand. Additionally it's worth noting the nosebleeds at AAMI Park > nosebleebs at MCG and you still feel close to the action.

Agree that $45 for a child's ticket is oddly steep though, but I otherwise found the pricing reasonable

The kids prices are the ones that really stand out and are the main ones people are unhappy with. $55 isn't that bad to go and watch your team play in a finals match. The problem is once you started adding in a few kids that can quickly sky rocket from $55 to a couple of hundred dollars for a night out. Not to mention the price of travel, food and drinks.

It's frustrating because it's such short term thinking. Sure you'll make a few extra dollars from the people who still bring their kids to games. Fast forward 10-15 years and those kids who weren't brought to the game because of high prices are now in the routine of watching at home or maybe watching another sport with more reasonable pricing.

Not to mention that parents with kids at the ground are more likely to buy food, drinks and merchandise. You might lose a bit on ticket prices but you gain in those areas.
 

davi

Juniors
Messages
1,932
Sydney is the heartland of rugby league whilst ever it has 9 clubs 8 of which running juniors leagues.

Until brisbane has at least two teams it can go jump up its own corporate arse and f**k off and accept the fact that it devoured its own brl to join the nswrl which was born and grew in sydney.

Ummmmmm NSWRL had poker machines to support their teams and would purge Queensland of its best players because they could pay more money hence it was considered the most strongest competition. That's pretty common knowledge, but don't let facts get in the way of a good argument.

Before QRL jacked up the prices the state of origins in Brisbane would get sold out in three days. Suncorp stadium had 52 000 but the demand was so great if it was 80 000 it would be sold out in a week. Sydney has always been at much slower rate with to fill ANZ stadium and that's only when it does it's a well known fact that crowds are not as strong in supporting the Blues in Sydney.

Also I stated that it was recent times that Brisbane is now considered a new home of rugby league. I never said it has always been like this, so bringing historical points only reinforces that things are not what like they used to be.
 

papabear

Juniors
Messages
973
Ummmmmm NSWRL had poker machines to support their teams and would purge Queensland of its best players because they could pay more money hence it was considered the most strongest competition. That's pretty common knowledge, but don't let facts get in the way of a good argument.

Before QRL jacked up the prices the state of origins in Brisbane would get sold out in three days. Suncorp stadium had 52 000 but the demand was so great if it was 80 000 it would be sold out in a week. Sydney has always been at much slower rate with to fill ANZ stadium and that's only when it does it's a well known fact that crowds are not as strong in supporting the Blues in Sydney.

Also I stated that it was recent times that Brisbane is now considered a new home of rugby league. I never said it has always been like this, so bringing historical points only reinforces that things are not what like they used to be.
It will remain the home of rugby league whilst most of the teams play out of sydney and from sydney.

As for your carry on about SOO, NSW out of pity let you have GI, NSW out of pity created the concept so your shitty backwater state is competitive.
 

Jamberoo

Juniors
Messages
1,264
You would like to think so but I find the pricing a bit prohibitive. Got seats in the nose bleeds last week against Parra for me ($55) and my nephew ($45). For myself I don't find that too bad a price for finals game but $45 for a 9 year old did feel a bit steep. Can't imagine what the better seats would have cost. Nose bleeds for the MCG AFL final this week is $35 adult and $10 kids. Makes a bit of a difference.
Ticket for ANZ this week start from $20 for members ($25 non members). Families from $50. Cheaper than AFL. NRL will draw more than AFL this week.
 

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