2017 Crowd Watch

[big hit!]

If anyone needed proof about the effect of poor scheduling and live against the gate ,last weekend was a classic.
6pm Friday was a crowd disaster.
The Sunday arvo games played in virtually packed out stadiums.
I emailed Rothfield on Friday night about the crap crowd on Friday 6pm,letting him know the News controlled 6pm schedule was hopeless.
Not response from him, but guess what on Sunday he admits the 6pm scheduling was crap with Dragons v Souths and blames the NRL.My understanding is Foxsports wanted the 6 pm slot,because they lost the Monday slot.Talk about deflection.

FFS! who runs the game!!!!

sack the entire NRL admin. seriously, a club goes to the effort of taking a game back to an old rugby league icon, in retro round, where you'd think the match would've been a pinnacle event of the weekend, and they schedule it at 6pm on a friday night?

FFS! i know this game is what it is because of the knuckleheads who play it, but i expect those who make it into suits to run it have some f**king clue!

 

[Suitman]

just 4 more rounds of this debacle scheduling by the broadcasters ..
then its over to the NRL to lock games in from Thursday to Sunday , that look after fans as much as possible

Unfortunately, there's no guarantee the NRL will be any better.

 

[Raiderdave]

Unfortunately, there's no guarantee the NRL will be any better.

we have to have faith , leading in to the new 2018 schedule , which they would be working on now
the NRL would know this is one of the biggest issues in the game & if they don't deliver
then they will rightly cop a barrage of critisism the likes of which they have not seen before

Todd Greenburg ... take note !!

 

[Perth Red]

we have to have faith , leading in to the new 2018 schedule , which they would be working on now
the NRL would know this is one of the biggest issues in the game & if they don't deliver
then they will rightly cop a barrage of critisism the likes of which they have not seen before

Todd Greenburg ... take note !!

haha, yep we are going to see 20 years of caving in to the tv companies change next year, and Todd is just the man to do it!
Going to be fascinating to see the 65 games the NRL gives to Ch9 and then what they stick on a Thursday night. The Fri night and Sunday are decent spots so doesn't really matter who they put in those ones. In theory the Fri6pm the NRL has total control over so lets see what they come up with there. They could bung Warriors a couple of extra mill for marketing and schedule every warriors home game in that slot for starters. Now every game is on Fox it really shouldn't matter to them who goes in the 6pm slot, in fact it shouldn't matter if that slot got moved to a Sunday either.

 

[Timmah]

If anyone needed proof about the effect of poor scheduling and live against the gate ,last weekend was a classic.
6pm Friday was a crowd disaster.
The Sunday arvo games played in virtually packed out stadiums.
I emailed Rothfield on Friday night about the crap crowd on Friday 6pm,letting him know the News controlled 6pm schedule was hopeless.
Not response from him, but guess what on Sunday he admits the 6pm scheduling was crap with Dragons v Souths and blames the NRL.My understanding is Foxsports wanted the 6 pm slot,because they lost the Monday slot.Talk about deflection.

The reason Souths v Dragons had to be Friday is because the Rabbitohs have Thursday this week.

 

[Timmah]

we have to have faith , leading in to the new 2018 schedule , which they would be working on now
the NRL would know this is one of the biggest issues in the game & if they don't deliver
then they will rightly cop a barrage of critisism the likes of which they have not seen before

Todd Greenburg ... take note !!

How can you follow the game so closely and still not know how to spell Greenberg's name?

 

[Raiderdave]

How can you follow the game so closely and still not know how to spell Greenberg's name?

I see youve got your finger on the pulse of the important issues as per usual eh lol

 

[Timmah]

I see youve got your finger on the pulse of the important issues as per usual eh lol

It's basic courtesy you clown

 

[Cumberland Throw]

The reason Souths v Dragons had to be Friday is because the Rabbitohs have Thursday this week.

And who picked that... Ch 9 ..

You would think some lateral thinking would be done when this was picked in Rd16...

Either talking to Nine about the impacts of picking Souths on thursday, has on the week before, or I would consider talking to Souths and the RLPA and offering a 200k compensation direct to the players to share to forego the 5 day turn around for 1 week ,,

15k each to souths players to have 1 day lest rest.. i reckon you would get 100% approval from playing group..

That 6pm game did way more than $200k commercial damage to the game..

 

[El Diablo]

That 6pm game did way more than $200k commercial damage to the game..

source

 

[Raiderdave]

It's basic courtesy you clown

he'll get courtesy when he earns it dickhead

 

[adamkungl]

John Grant has lost the plot and is completely unfit to lead.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...concern-every-league-fan-20170807-gxr6uj.html

"There was no plan other than some flimsy financial numbers and some basic participation and attendance numbers," Grant said. "We needed to get it out because you can't run a business without a plan. Those targets were aspirations. We needed aspirational targets for the game because there had been none. We needed to create momentum around what was possible.

"You're never where you want to be. That's the idea of targets, Andrew. But if you look across those targets, and if you want to attribute responsibility, the NRL is not responsible for all of those targets. Other parties are — eg. clubs."

He's talking about crowd figures here, which is hard to cop when the NRL is responsible for the absurd schedule that puts matches between arch rivals Dragons and Souths at the SCG at 6pm on a Friday instead of 3pm on a Sunday.

"That's a broadcasting thing, mate," Grant said.

Many fans are growing tired of this excuse. The last time I looked, it was the NRL's game. It doesn't belong to Fox Sports or Channel Nine.

Will that change?

"It is, from 2018," Grant said. "We take over control. Well, not complete control because at the end of the day they pay us a lot of money. The broadcasters fund this game to the tune of 65 per cent of overall revenue."

Tl;dr
- The growth targets the NRL proudly announced in 2013 were, in forum terms "loljks just fishing!".
Having 'aspirational' targets but not doing a single thing to achieve them is an absurd thing for the Chairman of the ARLC to admit.

- He outright blames the clubs for not hitting those targets. Then when called on the shitty scheduling blames the broadcaster. Nothing is the NRL's fault.

- Even next year, he claims the NRL will have control. But it won't really. So when they cock it up then it won't be their fault either.

Anyone who thinks the NRL having supposed control over the scheduling will improve things is in for a rude shock.


Is it just me or is that one of the worst interviews from a business leader ever?

 

[El Diablo]

John Grant has lost the plot and is completely unfit to lead.

he'll be gone in February

 

[taipan]

The reason Souths v Dragons had to be Friday is because the Rabbitohs have Thursday this week.

It doesn't get away from the fact 6pm Friday, is worse than the bottom of a cocky's cage.
Have both games at 8pm Friday nights ,one for 9 and one for Fox.
But geez that crap slot is only good for backpackers, bludgers and bingo bashers.

 

[Frank Discussion]

How can he turn around and blame the clubs when these were self imposed targets.

This is beyond hopeless management.

 

[Cumberland Throw]

Great media management of the NRL today.. both Sydney Mastheads declaring either game is dying, or it has become a working class joke

All we need now is some positive inroad story paid for by the AFL, and its another brick in the wall

 

[adamkungl]

How can he turn around and blame the clubs when these were self imposed targets.

This is beyond hopeless management.

His organisation hands the clubs a sloppy turd and blames them for not polishing it into a perfect gold bar.

 

[El Diablo]

Great media management of the NRL today

wtf has that got to do with the NRL?

 

[Clifferd]

Next year should try to focus on a blockbuster Sydney game every single Sunday arvo. (Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they used to do this in the 90s and it was a roaring success?)

The Parra v Tigers game a few weeks proves that with a bit of hype it can be done. It just doesn't happen often enough

Souths V Roosters/Tigers/Bulldogs/Dragons
Tigers v Dragons/Bulldogs/Eels/

Etc etc should always be played on a Sunday arvo (4pm)/Friday night (8pm) maximising crowds. Chuck in the odd Brisbane/NQ/Melbourne/NZ games every now and then also

If the NRL doesn't use this as a basic template they are most definitely geniused

All rivalry games should be stamped to be played on either a Sunday or Friday night as these are the most family friendly time slots

For example Souths v Bulldogs on a Thursday night will probably get 12k and it will be embarrassing. I know both teams are in shit form but fmd chuck it on a Sunday arvo and advertise it as getting one up on your anz rival. With both clubs having a combined 50k members 25k+ crowd should be the norm for this fixture despite ladder positioning

 

[Perth Red]

Slothfield on the case of cost of attending a game. You might pay $220 for a once a year event but not every other week. Price is certainly a factor in our low crowd numbers.


You wake up on a beautiful Sydney Sunday and decide to take the family to the football.
A family pass to Brookvale Oval sets you back $121.99. No seats and nothing undercover. Just entry.
Throw in petrol and parking. $40 worth of food. A couple of beers, two glasses of wine and some soft drink or water.
It becomes a $220 day. There goes the grocery money.
Unlike the old days we now have options. Channel Nine shows four free to air games.
Or for $70 a month you get 32 live NRL games every month on Fox Sports
That works out at $2.20 per game — for the whole family.
No parking, no petrol. A comfortable lounge. Cheaper beer. Better food. And you stay warm.
It’s making the choice easy.
The NRL used to have an advertising slogan: “It’s never the same unless you’re there at the game.”
Not anymore. Not when you’re sitting in a 75 per cent empty stadium.Not when a working class game is charging you $220 for a day out with the family.
It’s the real reason why crowds have dropped almost 10 per cent in the last five years.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s/news-story/4ebcc53d87486114def1328ab8b96caa