2015 Crowd Watch part II

[lockyno1]

Their crowds really took off from 96 onwards, was this due to SL and disgruntled Sydney RL fans switching codes or something else?

They made the GF that year or close enough to that year- successful team gets more crowds...

 

[Red Bear]

Their crowds really took off from 96 onwards, was this due to SL and disgruntled Sydney RL fans switching codes or something else?

Same year they got one of the greatest all time players to their club also. Made the finals all but three years since 96. Helped in part by an ability to spend more than the rest, allowing for greater depth than the rest of the comp so they basically never bottom out.

They've done well. Would be interesting what happened if they had a run like the Brisbane Lions have had since they lost that extra bit of cash in their salary cap

 

[Brutus]

Swans have had years and years of FTA television exposure and AFL is given a much better run in the Sydney media than league is in Melb.

 

[Haffa]

Doctored salary cap to guarantee they're competitive at the expense of the rest of the competition allows those glory hunting supporters who used to attend tahs games or follow Eastwood or Randwick in the Shute Shield, or disgruntled Toff bears supporters to follow a successful team and to continue to elevate their social status.

 

[elbusto]

Look at the media coverage in the Age for League and the SMH for AFL and you get a lot of the answer.

Sydney is a city open for anything.

Melbourne is a cloistered city with a closed view of the world. Its improving but it had to.

Having said that Adelaide is worse.

 

[The Voice of Reason!]

What about the top of the table, 1st place yet another 30kish crowd. It's the Brisbane Broncos at top of the ladder not the QLD Reds/Brisbane Lions. Yet the Bronocs are getting QLD Red level crowds in 1st place, :roll:

Can we keep in mind here that the Broncos are averaging almost 33k? Best in the league, by a long shot. Best in Brisbane, by a long shot.

What is the complaint precisely?

 

[elbusto]

Can we keep in mind here that the Broncos are averaging almost 33k? Best in the league, by a long shot. Best in Brisbane, by a long shot.

What is the complaint precisely?

A few idiots around here at the moment. He is one of them. WoodyK is another.

 

[Billythekid]

Storm crowds don't need to match the swans to be decent and I never expect them to reach those highs. They could be better but they could also be worse. Considering the storm get essentially no away support whatsoever I think the crowds we get are pretty respectable especially compared to a lot of Sydney clubs. Sydney have a huge advantage in that it's much easier for away supporters to make it to the game compared to essentially anyone else in the comp.

I'm not one of the people who will bang on about the game dying. Revenue continues to grow and after the next tv deal we'll have a ridiculous amount of money compared to where we were just a few years ago. I just would like to see some of this success translate to crowds. I'm of the opinion that crowds really improve the quality of the product whether at the ground or watching on tv. It's just a shame to constantly see mostly empty grounds and listen to the media bang on about the game dying.

Edit: Regarding the Brisbane crowd as I said above you have to factor in away crowds. The broncos were facing a teams from out of state. What sort of crowds do sydney clubs average against out of state opposition? I doubt it would be much more than 12k it something like that do its a bit harsh complaining about 30k showing up for a similar affair. I still think the broncos should be doing a bit better but they're not the cause of the problem when it comes to crowds in the NRL.

 

[ek999]

Bulldogs v Sharks has less than 1,500 tickets available

 

[Sydney Knight]

It's always amazed me that the swans can have less than 100k on TV but draw 30k plus crowds.

pretty high percentage of fans showing up to games.

 

[hutch]

Doctored salary cap to guarantee they're competitive at the expense of the rest of the competition allows those glory hunting supporters who used to attend tahs games or follow Eastwood or Randwick in the Shute Shield, or disgruntled Toff bears supporters to follow a successful team and to continue to elevate their social status.

This! Well said!

 

[CowboyFuriousFury]

Can we keep in mind here that the Broncos are averaging almost 33k? Best in the league, by a long shot. Best in Brisbane, by a long shot.

What is the complaint precisely?

Should be 35-40k range considering being 1st and in a league city I thought support would be higher for the Broncos. One team town and top of the ladder, no excuses for bigger crowds.

 

[Jamberoo]

Look at the media coverage in the Age for League and the SMH for AFL and you get a lot of the answer.

Sydney is a city open for anything.

Melbourne is a cloistered city with a closed view of the world. Its improving but it had to.

Having said that Adelaide is worse.

Disagree.
Plenty of Storm news in the main paper (Herald Sun), on SEN sports radio and Cam Smith is on AFL 360 at least once a month. Origin even gets a mention on the AFL footy show.
There is no anti RL agenda in Melbourne.
Yet the Storm just cannot break through to that next level of support. Crowds have been the same since day 1. I really thought Storm would fill AAMI most weeks. We are always strong have three of the greatest players of all time yet hardly anyone without a QLD/NZ/NSW/UK background is interested.
Melbourne Victory occupy the same space in the Melbourne sporting landscape as Swans do in Sydney. When they are winning, everyone jumps aboard. You can argue that Victory are one of the biggest sporting clubs in Melbourne, the same way you can argue for the Swans in Sydney. Until either of these clubs spend a few year down the bottom of the ladder, we will not know their true level of support.
Unlike almost every club in almost every sporting comp, Storm crowds hardly fluctuate. Perhaps it is the fact that there is virtually no junior RL in Melbourne. I have never seen or heard of a junior match being played - I always thought my son (now 13) would be a fantastic league player but he has had no RL exposure beside Storm - there is not a RL club within 10kms of us and we live pretty much in the geographical centre of Melbourne. Yet there is reasonable junior participation in RU and most private schools have a RU team. Lot of Melbournians used to follow the Wallabies but that has dropped right off in line with the Rebels crowds - over supply?
Not sure what the answer is for Storm.
More school programs & free tickets?
Cheaper finals tickets?
Origin @ MCG every year or two?

 

[Canard]

Disagree.
Plenty of Storm news in the main paper (Herald Sun), on SEN sports radio and Cam Smith is on AFL 360 at least once a month. Origin even gets a mention on the AFL footy show.
There is no anti RL agenda in Melbourne.
Yet the Storm just cannot break through to that next level of support. Crowds have been the same since day 1. I really thought Storm would fill AAMI most weeks. We are always strong have three of the greatest players of all time yet hardly anyone without a QLD/NZ/NSW/UK background is interested.
Melbourne Victory occupy the same space in the Melbourne sporting landscape as Swans do in Sydney. When they are winning, everyone jumps aboard. You can argue that Victory are one of the biggest sporting clubs in Melbourne, the same way you can argue for the Swans in Sydney. Until either of these clubs spend a few year down the bottom of the ladder, we will not know their true level of support.
Unlike almost every club in almost every sporting comp, Storm crowds hardly fluctuate. Perhaps it is the fact that there is virtually no junior RL in Melbourne. I have never seen or heard of a junior match being played - I always thought my son (now 13) would be a fantastic league player but he has had no RL exposure beside Storm - there is not a RL club within 10kms of us and we live pretty much in the geographical centre of Melbourne. Yet there is reasonable junior participation in RU and most private schools have a RU team. Lot of Melbournians used to follow the Wallabies but that has dropped right off in line with the Rebels crowds - over supply?
Not sure what the answer is for Storm.
More school programs & free tickets?
Cheaper finals tickets?
Origin @ MCG every year or two?

Virtually none of this is correct or over exaggerated for effect.

The media coverage is sparse at best, Rugby League gets.virtually.no coverage on the local TV. The night of Origin, the first item on the Sports news was how Roughead was recovering from some minor surgery! Then a story about AFL coaching.

Storm crowds have grown and are better then a lot of NRL sides.

The Victory play a game with 100 years of history that has always been big in Melbourne, comparisons to League are ludicrous.

As for, there is no anti RL agenda in Melbourne. Really?

The coverage of Origin 2 was solely focused on the minutes silence.

The Project and HYBPA which are Melbourne produced always take potshots at League. 3AW is one massive anti League diatribe. And SEN which has about 3% market share, has one 1 hour League show per week.

 

[Brutus]

No decent free-to-air league coverage in Melb for years. Yet there was a period in Sydney when there was more AFL on free to air than rugby league.
In Sydney and Bris you would get a late replay of the Friday night AFL game, a live Saturday arvo and Sunday arvo game. Prime Time Saturday night AFL if the Swans or Lions were playing. Plus other late replays. Compare this blanket coverage to what RL received in Melb.

The Age newspaper doesn't even know RL exists. Compare this to the Fairfax equivalent in Sydney. You rarely get RL mentioned on any news bulletins be it radio or tv in Melb.

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

Should be 35-40k range considering being 1st and in a league city I thought support would be higher for the Broncos. One team town and top of the ladder, no excuses for bigger crowds.

Yes, pricing. Two weeks ago when still first you were like must be 30k. Now your expectations are going overboard. Our average is almost 33k, 2k off your demand so your argument is pretty daft.

If there was the option of two adults and two kids for $50 every week we would get a 35k plus average easy.

 

[ag6858]

No decent free-to-air league coverage in Melb for years. Yet there was a period in Sydney when there was more AFL on free to air than rugby league.
In Sydney and Bris you would get a late replay of the Friday night AFL game, a live Saturday arvo and Sunday arvo game. Prime Time Saturday night AFL if the Swans or Lions were playing. Plus other late replays. Compare this blanket coverage to what RL received in Melb.

The Age newspaper doesn't even know RL exists. Compare this to the Fairfax equivalent in Sydney. You rarely get RL mentioned on any news bulletins be it radio or tv in Melb.

There still is. 7mate have four live AFL games/week in Sydney and Brisbane.

 

[Jamberoo]

Virtually none of this is correct or over exaggerated for effect.

The media coverage is sparse at best, Rugby League gets.virtually.no coverage on the local TV. The night of Origin, the first item on the Sports news was how Roughead was recovering from some minor surgery! Then a story about AFL coaching.

Storm crowds have grown and are better then a lot of NRL sides.

The Victory play a game with 100 years of history that has always been big in Melbourne, comparisons to League are ludicrous.

As for, there is no anti RL agenda in Melbourne. Really?

The coverage of Origin 2 was solely focused on the minutes silence.

The Project and HYBPA which are Melbourne produced always take potshots at League. 3AW is one massive anti League diatribe. And SEN which has about 3% market share, has one 1 hour League show per week.

The minute's silence was a red herring - until the last few years even on Anzac Day it was the same @ AFL.
I have never seen or heard a single sports media person discussing RL in a negative way since Storm's salary cap scandal. I see no anti-RL agenda.
You are right, there is very little coverage, but I would suggest that the coverage is commensurate with the level of interest.
I don't listen to 3AW or watch the Project.
Storm crowds are virtually unchanged since 1998. Despite winning premierships and the new stadium. How can you not say that is disappointing? I hate everything about the Swans but they have been about four times more successful than Storm. GWS crowds will probably pass Storm's within two years. This is not good.
Don't get me wrong, the product (stadium, team performance, entertainment at matches) is fantastic. Storm should be filling the stadium for big games and finals.
I was at the opening of AAMI with 30K others and thought that was the start of decent crowds for RL in Melbourne.
We had 33K v Parramatta (07 final & Docklands) and round 1 v Dragons @ MCG (30K in 2000) and now in a purpose built rectangular stadium 20K - 25K is about the max.

Can you ever see crowds growing?

 

[Perth Red]

I guess when you consider the NRL invest around $4.5mill a year plus a tiny bit in the vrl whilst the afl spends $20mill plus plus on afl in Sydney it shows you get out what you put in. I have no doubt much of the media coverage in Sydney is bought one way or another but that is what they need to do at least it is being successful. Given storm and nrl where news ltd owned for many years the lack of effort by the NRL in making the storm a major club is pretty abysmal really.

 

[Canard]

The minute's silence was a red herring - until the last few years even on Anzac Day it was the same @ AFL.
I have never seen or heard a single sports media person discussing RL in a negative way since Storm's salary cap scandal. I see no anti-RL agenda.
You are right, there is very little coverage, but I would suggest that the coverage is commensurate with the level of interest.
I don't listen to 3AW or watch the Project.
Storm crowds are virtually unchanged since 1998. Despite winning premierships and the new stadium. How can you not say that is disappointing? I hate everything about the Swans but they have been about four times more successful than Storm. GWS crowds will probably pass Storm's within two years. This is not good.
Don't get me wrong, the product (stadium, team performance, entertainment at matches) is fantastic. Storm should be filling the stadium for big games and finals.
I was at the opening of AAMI with 30K others and thought that was the start of decent crowds for RL in Melbourne.
We had 33K v Parramatta (07 final & Docklands) and round 1 v Dragons @ MCG (30K in 2000) and now in a purpose built rectangular stadium 20K - 25K is about the max.

Can you ever see crowds growing?

Your being deliberately disingenuous to claim RL gets no negative coverage in Melbourne. And your attempt to deflect the negative way they reported on Origin backs that up.


Melbourne didn't even have any real TV coverage of the NRL till last year. The Swans have had live coverage since the 80s

I went to all those matches also. If you said to me that the 30k to see the test match opener meant League has arrived, I would have called you a nutcase.

As for crowds

Yes I can see them improving

Since the move to AAMI their crowds have been around 14k. In 2013 it was 16k.

Crowds were around 8k towards the end of their Olympic park tenure.

The Storm have carved out a great niche which is better than several Sydney based NRL clubs. Your negativity, along with PRs, is bizarre and to me unwarranted