23k, probably 15k Dogs fans
Souths admin need to be very, very careful with our complete disregard for building a younger supporter base
Or we'll go the way of the Dragons very quickly, from being a large supported powerhouse to a small time club
Agreed. I have no doubt that a move back to Allianz Stadium is in the interests of the club's long term future, but they will need to tailor their marketing and their product to capture the imagination of the next gen + their new demographic just a stone's throw from Moore Park.
I'm a Souths fan and I live in South Sydney. Whilst there's still the rusted on Rabbitohs fans in this part of the world, they are probably more likely to be part of the TV audience, and the strong pub presence on game day. There is a young and diverse demographic that the club needs to work on to get behind the club and into an attendance culture at games.
Merch, collaborations and a witty social media presence probably goes a big way with this demographic:
- Merch = anything retro because the 80s and 90s are currently in vogue
- Collaborations = South Sydney already has a partnership with Young Henrys (good), but they should probably look to expand this type of collaboration beyond beer to things like spirits, coffee etc...maybe even get a cameo on a show like Heartbreak High
- Witty social media presence = getting Reggie the Rabbit to go viral on social media (for the right reasons), so people want to see him and take pics/videos of/with him on game day.
Regarding the Dragons - I moved from Brisbane to Sydney in 2012...and I have to say, aside from ANZAC Day, I don't get where their fanbase is, who they are, or why some consider them to be a "big Sydney club" when they seem to have a stubbornly small club mindset - low membership numbers, small stadia and a refusal beyond ANZAC Day to do anything to engage with the outside world.
www.rabbitohs.com.au
