2016 Crowd Watch

[Raiderdave]

I am pretty sure that NZ has cold weather as well and winter nights in Melbourne aren't exactly toasty..

Canberra is cold in winter, we get it, but the schedule isn't changing.

There's cold
Ie Melbourne & NZ cold with Games played in Single digits


Then there's Canberra cold.
Nothing compares in this part of the world for professional sport.

Green Bay Packers have sold out every game since 1959. Current capacity of the stadium is 81,000-82,000. The NFC Championship game in 2008 was -32c with wind chill. The coldest game on record there was -38c with wind chill.

The issue here is the fair weather nature of Rugby League fans be it rain in Sydney or cold in Canberra.

It's fine to use weather as an excuse (I do it in extreme examples) but understand that relatively speaking, you have it pretty good.

Green Bay Packers have sold out every game since 1959. Current capacity of the stadium is 81,000-82,000. The NFC Championship game in 2008 was -32c with wind chill. The coldest game on record there was -38c with wind chill.

The issue here is the fair weather nature of Rugby League fans be it rain in Sydney or cold in Canberra.

It's fine to use weather as an excuse (I do it in extreme examples) but understand that relatively speaking, you have it pretty good.

My point is you don't need to schedule games in the coldest conditions & least convenient possible times for Raiders fans as you're literally asking for people not to attend . When It's also live on TV , Canberra has a higher uptake of PTV then even Sydney , It's a bad combination & you'll never get fans of their arses & develop an attendance culture when we do this as a sport to ourselves.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

So it's the NRL's fault.

You'll be kicked out of the circle before you've had a chance to pull your duds up.

 

[guyver78]

anybody have a link to the 2 for $100 bring a mate state of origin tickets?

i know a few that are interested in going but cant get good seats, only rubbish behind the dead ball line on level 3.

 

[Perth Red]

I'm just not sure whether 50K in entertainment would result in a substantial increase in crowd on a Monday night in Canberra?

What type of entertainment are you suggesting?

I'd play on the fact it is freezing and create a German winter wonderland type experience for night games, Bavarian beer hall with live music out the front, maybe some winter markets for the evening games, mulled wine and hot cider, oompah band on the concourse, fun selfie opportunities etc etc etc. aim to get the 20-60 year old couples there

Do that for the night games then something a bit different for the games with daylight Ko times that is more focussed on families and kids; face painting, kids give aways, comps on the concourse for the kids to take part in, a fun fair out the front etc. It's really not that hard and happens every weekend at well set up events around the country/world.

One of the things we dont do so well is decide who our market is and create game day experiences to entice that market. Afl firmly targets families and kids, Aleague targets groups of men out for a laugh together, what's nrl's target audience beyond couch potatoes in front of tv's?

Re the numbers, sure it's not guarantee that it will improve things, what in life is, but I can guarantee that doing nothing will continue to see the NRL crowds re ain spas stagnate as they have for the past decade.

 

[T-Boon]

I would give the Raiders a permanent time slot on Saturday at 3.00. I know this doesn't suit Fox super Saturday but stuff them start super Saturday at 3.00.
I would also fix the time and day that each teams play their home games so that fans are in a routine of when to go.

 

[Timmah]

So it's the NRL's fault.

You'll be kicked out of the circle before you've had a chance to pull your duds up.

Are you capable of having an adult discussion without the acid tongue, sarcasm and bullshit?

 

[Desert Qlder]

How is the ticket giveaway going for all this NSW fans who turn up win, lose or draw, rain, hail or shine?

 

[guyver78]

How is the ticket giveaway going for all this NSW fans who turn up win, lose or draw, rain, hail or shine?

Literally 100's for sale on ebay and gum tree

 

[Pommy]

I would give the Raiders a permanent time slot on Saturday at 3.00. I know this doesn't suit Fox super Saturday but stuff them start super Saturday at 3.00.
I would also fix the time and day that each teams play their home games so that fans are in a routine of when to go.

Wont that be great for whoever gets Thursday night.

 

[Perth Red]

I think that has to be start point. stop playing games at times that are a shtter for fans to get to. AFL got more money and fan friendly kick off times in its TV deal. We continue to pander to TV whilst accepting less money. We are now locked into sht KO times until 2023, hopefully by then we will have found a leadership that will put the game first and not bend over for shtty TV deals.

And before anyone pipes up that the money is in TV, Many AFL clubs earn significantly more from a large active fanbase than they get in TV grants.

 

[T-Boon]

Wont that be great for whoever gets Thursday night.

You start by punting Thursday night and Monday night to the history books. It is idiotic. Two friday night games was better.

 

[Pete Cash]

Canberra isnt greenbay who attract fans from across Wisconsin and neighbouring states. Canberra is one of the least successful teams of the nrl era, a side that any time a good talent comes along they turn out to be a deadshit and embarrass the fans, a side that the people who run the place are often outright hostile to the fans.

I would love for the raiders to be like greenbay but as things stand we are a shitty team of losers playing out of the coldest ground in Australia that is in the middle of nowhere. Things have been improving a bit but we havent played finals in years and had an exodus of talent we are recovering from.

 

[Pommy]

You start by punting Thursday night and Monday night to the history books. It is idiotic. Two friday night games was better.

Whilst I agree with you it's never going to happen. TV pays the bills.

 

[T-Boon]

Whilst I agree with you it's never going to happen. TV pays the bills.

I'd never heard of Thursday night football until this year and Monday night football before a few years back so it could easily happen. The way to compensate the TV rights owners is to bring in more opportunity for advertisements such as playing the game in quarters and each team having a 2 minute time out. Playing the game in quarters has been discussed before and seems sensible to me. Time outs are a more radical idea but I am all for it to test out the coaches capacity for making adjustments through the game.

 

[Pommy]

I'd never heard of Thursday night football until this year and Monday night football before a few years back so it could easily happen. The way to compensate the TV rights owners is to bring in more opportunity for advertisements such as playing the game in quarters and each team having a 2 minute time out. Playing the game in quarters has been discussed before and seems sensible to me. Time outs are a more radical idea but I am all for it to test out the coaches capacity for making adjustments through the game.

I'm not a marketing expert so in not sure if that would be likely to compensate them.
Sport mid week is common all around the world and I suspect there's a lot more money in it than what your suggesting to replace it.
League players are in demand from other codes so the money has to keep rolling in.

 

[T-Boon]

I'm not a marketing expert so in not sure if that would be likely to compensate them.
Sport mid week is common all around the world and I suspect there's a lot more money in it than what your suggesting to replace it.
League players are in demand from other codes so the money has to keep rolling in.

thats a good point, the US sport is all week (except American football). Maybe we should go that way and have a game every night and 2 on Sundays.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Stadium is empty half our from kick off. Game won't crack 50k

 

[Diesel]

You start by punting Thursday night and Monday night to the history books. It is idiotic. Two friday night games was better.

You get your wish next year, 2 Friday games with a shitty 6pm KO

 

[DiegoNT]

You start by punting Thursday night and Monday night to the history books. It is idiotic. Two friday night games was better.

Well we are getting 2 friday night games again and people are still whinging. We can't go back to delayed games on tv, having every game live has to stay. As a rural tv only viewer, i find Monday night a lot better then Thursday night. Monday night is like a bonus game at the end of the round. It's the only time spot i watch every week no matter who plays. The big problem is the crowds but i don't think the clubs use it well. Bulldogs were smart about it last year and played it at belmore. They made the game into an event and got a good crowd and tv ratings. Maybe clubs could have turned the game into a showcase piece, take the game to new markets, maybe take the game to traditional homes. 16k at belmore was a lot better then the 12k that would have turned up at The Olympic Stadium.
As for quarters and time outs in rugby league? No

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

I called it, people up in both level sides of level six, yet only one side was ever on sale to the general public. Giveaways filling the other side (620 - 632).