Therein lays the problem.
I can't give tickets away at the moment - well, I did to a Newcastle supporter last week, who was really grateful, even after the drubbing - and trying to get people to games is really really hard.
Even if they don't read it in the DT, the radio and TV is so so bloody negative.
Despite some excellent entertainment on offer. Watching a lot of other games as a neutral, I love it. And price is BS. You can get discounted, cheap tickets all weekend. Ahh... I dunno.
And it is sad going to Souths games and not seeing bigger crowds.
Yes the negativity does not help but I believe the problem of poor crowds is caused by more then that.
Here is a good article by Phil Rothefield
ALMOST 150,000 NRL fans have gone missing since the end of last season.
Crowds are down by more than six per cent with the lowest average attendances since 2004.
This is despite the fact we are enjoying the closest scoreboard margins for years and a thrilling battle between 13 of the 16 clubs that could still make the semi-finals.
No one knows why. Food costs, ticket prices, expensive beer, Origin killing the premiership for eight weeks, traffic jams, parking hassles, the ban on shoulder charges, the no-punch edict, footy too predictable, scheduling, frustration over referees, not enough afternoon time slots, etc, etc. It?s probably a combination of all those reasons.
Personally I think it?s more to do with the saturation television coverage on Channel 9 and Fox Sports.
Think about Friday afternoon 5pm. You?re about to knock off for the weekend. You?re a casual NRL fan, not a member.
It?s decision time. Do you grab the family and head out to Allianz to watch the Roosters v the Bulldogs in what should be ? and what was ? an absolute crackerjack game of footy.
You start to think ? $25 to park, $20 in petrol, $100 for tickets to get the family in, $70 for dinner and that?s without even having a beer. Grand total around $250.
It?s also a cold night. You won?t get home until around 11pm. Tomorrow is a busy day with an early start, kids sport and the usual chores.
Bugger it. You look at the far cheaper and more comfortable option. You buy a six-pack and order four pizzas. All up about $60.
You?re in the warmth of your own home. Channel 9 or the Fox Sports coverage gives you better information than you get at the ground anyway (although I love the big screens at Allianz).
The networks have 30-odd cameras covering every angle, every moment, every incident, on the field and in the dressing sheds. (And yes, you can even mute Gus).
You set the second TV on GEM and watch the Ashes. I did on Friday night. There are no queues to get to the bathroom or the fridge. No traffic jams.
The problem is you can?t ask the networks to pay between $1.5 and $2 billion for the rights if they don?t get a significant input into the scheduling.
How NRL crowds have slipped since last season.
Source: News Corp Australia
Still, what rugby league needs is more special events to get us off the couch and back to the venues.
Like the Roosters-Dragons Anzac Day game at Allianz Stadium. It?s my favourite event of the season. More special than Origin and the finals.
The one day of the year if you have a choice of going to the footy or watching from home, you go. Because it?s an event.
Like the Back to Belmore matches that sold out. Or Good Friday and Easter Monday blockbusters at ANZ Stadium.
Why can?t we take one game every year back to Lidcombe Oval? Just one game.
Make it the Wests Tigers against old rivals Manly. It would sell out because it would be special. Take Monday night games to big regional centres. It would go off.
Use the Sydney Cricket Ground for afternoon games, not Friday or Saturday night. Make ticket prices $5 like the old days to fill the ground.
What concerns me is the NRL don?t know how to deal with this crowd crisis. Losing 150,000 fans (at an average ticket price of $30) is $4.5 million.
Commission chairman John Grant is pushing to spend $1 billion of taxpayers? money on a new 65,000-seat stadium at Moore Park, where the current venue gets the lowest crowds of any stadium in the country.
What does he want ? 52,000 empty seats on a Friday night instead of 30,000? It?s stupid. Share the money around and improve all our venues, Allianz included.
The Swans played at the SCG on Saturday afternoon and got almost 40,000. It was special because of the Adam Goodes story.
That one AFL game got almost double what the two Sydney NRL Friday night games attracted.
Why did we even think of using Leichhardt Oval on a Friday night when the attendance would have doubled if it was played on Sunday afternoon. The NRL administration needs to think smarter.
Your columnist offered NRL CEO Dave Smiththe opportunity to discuss and comment on the crowd crisis. He declined.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...back-to-the-game/story-fnj45km6-1227467172427
