The biggest problem between NSW and Queensland fans, is that Queensland fans pre-purchase tickets, whilst Sydney fans don't.
I guess the strength of having smaller stadiums, there is always that risk that the best seats are going to be gone if you just turn up on the day, so as such regardless of the weather on the day, or if a key player pulls out, most people who pre-purchase generally show up.
The classic example of that is the two games yesterday, Brisbane had pre-sold 48,000 tickets before the games had even opened, Parramatta had sold 5,000 plus their 5,000 members/pre-allocated seats, so a third of the crowd were walk ups. Now if the weather had turned worse last night in Sydney, the Eels game possibly would have only got those 10,000 as a crowd, at the same time because it did become a bit cold and threaten to rain, it was possibly 1-2K down where it might have been.
NSW clubs need to change the culture down here to encourage people to pre-purchase, by seriously rewarding those who become members, and those who buy before game day. Clubs should give more significant discounts to make people want to pre-purchase, ie. at Parramatta there is little to no benefit fiscally pre-purchasing. ANZ Stadium, for some clubs, you may save $5 though that isn't well promoted, and isn't a huge amount anyway, while at like Manly its only $2....
If pre-purchases increase, the clubs can start using hype to sell the rest of the tickets. If Parramatta Stadium only had 5,000 tickets left last night before the game, I guarentee you they would have gone close to selling it out as it would have suddenly become a 'must attend' game, and would force people to commit to it, rather than the 'I'll decide on the day' approach.
