2017 Crowd Watch

[Vee]

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/league/...rs-caught-using-old-video-to-fake-nrl-crowds/
Broadcasters caught using old vision to fake NRL crowds

Joey Riordan
7Sport / 2 hours ago

Broadcasters have been caught using old vision of NRL crowds in order to to make attendances look bigger as the crowd crisis worsens in Sydney.

The average Sydney NRL crowd this year has been just over 13,000, its lowest in years, with the Thursday night game largely to blame, averaging under 10,000 people.

Attendances for the Friday six pm time slot are only marginally better.

Two weeks ago the crowd crisis was at its worst during the traditional Rabbitohs v Dragons clash at the SCG, the turnout was embarrassing for the six pm clash.

Old vision of crowds used during a Rabbitohs game. Pic: 7 News

Those who did attend said the stadium was completely void of any atmosphere.

Due to horrible crowds such as this one, broadcasters have been sprung using old video of crowds in order to make attendances look bigger.

With ratings king, clubs and the NRL seem to be happy to sacrifice crowds for TV ratings.

Some radical solutions are now being considered by clubs, including allowing members free access to away games.

Fans responded passionately to the NRL crowds report by Josh Massoud on social media.

The NRL season got off to the worst possible start with crowds in 2017, with its worst opening-round attendance averages since the Super League war.

Just 100,975 people walked through the gates in round one's eight matches, at an average of 12,622.

The figure is well down on the 14,644 average attendance across each of last year's opening-round matches, and the lowest since 1996, when only 30,198 watched the four games that weekend.

On that occasion, six matches were forfeited as the Super League war threatened to tear the game apart.

 

[Pommy]

seriously, this one or the other choice being peddled around here is a crock!

the NFL manage to increase the value of their broadcast rights and fill venues.
the EPL and Bundesliga manage to increase the value of their broadcast rights and fill venues.
the AFL manage to increase the value of their broadcast rights and fill venues.

and all those leagues have multiple games on at the same time.

this belief that scheduling games to more fan-friendly attendance times, and also, increasing broadcast rights, as being mutually exclusive is just lazy business.

fix it up, because the more empty seats you see at a game in prime time, the more unlikely folks will go. what is it about the NRL at the mo that makes joe bloe say; "i got to go to a game!!"

absolutely nothing

I don't get your point. Someone claimed there was a loss in revenue which I disputed. The revenue is still there it has just shifted to a different source.

Football in England has laws to prevent games being televised. This ensures people have to go to games if they wish to see anything more than extended highlights. (At least legally) That ship has sailed here and I don't see any government being able to introduce laws to prevent t happening now. London is the largest city in Western Europe, with a population about double that of Sydney and it does not have 8 teams in the top flight competition.
The distances between the EPLs most distant teams can easily be covered by a train or coach journey return in a day so away support is always a thing.
I used to use the EPL as a comparison but the more time I have spent here the more I have realised it's not comparable.
The clubs all own their own grounds also which ensures teams like Palace are not playing at Wembley with 60,000 empty seats.

I don't dispute the NRL could and should run things a lot different but the comparison just isn't there. Tickets for an EPL game will be the be a minimum of $50 and in many cases well over $100 in a country where wages are far less than they are here.
The mindset of English football fans is just totally different to that of Australian league fans.

 

[Brutus]

Ok so whats 18x18x4x2

The odds of gws hosting swans at ANZ two years in a row in a final

U know it's gonna happen ...

And it will probably f**k the rectangular idea.. won't it

It probably will. Worst possible time for poor crowds.

 

[Perth Red]

I remember your excuses for Perth of it being a bit damp.

I didn't make any excuses, I called it for the sht crowd it was.

 

[BuffaloRules]

The last 4 NRL crowds in Perth have been shit..

 

[Perth Red]

I'd go back to fox and nine and tell them it isn't working, offer a four game Sunday instead of the 6pm and thursday game. Double header at anz every Sunday 2pm and 4pm for nine to cover (cheaper production costs and good Sydney ratings), nrl support promotion and game day event stuff to make it a great Sydney day out for all nrl fans, a fox exclusive non Sydney game at same time as one of the double header games 4pm (fox could have viewers choice for both games) and a 6pm game for fox (if nrl are serious about perth pay for five or six of these games to be played in Perth)

Gives nine a big Sydney based Sunday session every week
Gives fox 2 exclusive Sunday games
Gives tv fans choice of what they watch
NRL gets to actually show us it knows how to run the game



But that would be too radical for nrl to think of!

 

[big hit!]

I don't get your point. Someone claimed there was a loss in revenue which I disputed. The revenue is still there it has just shifted to a different source.

Football in England has laws to prevent games being televised. This ensures people have to go to games if they wish to see anything more than extended highlights. (At least legally) That ship has sailed here and I don't see any government being able to introduce laws to prevent t happening now. London is the largest city in Western Europe, with a population about double that of Sydney and it does not have 8 teams in the top flight competition.
The distances between the EPLs most distant teams can easily be covered by a train or coach journey return in a day so away support is always a thing.
I used to use the EPL as a comparison but the more time I have spent here the more I have realised it's not comparable.
The clubs all own their own grounds also which ensures teams like Palace are not playing at Wembley with 60,000 empty seats.

I don't dispute the NRL could and should run things a lot different but the comparison just isn't there. Tickets for an EPL game will be the be a minimum of $50 and in many cases well over $100 in a country where wages are far less than they are here.
The mindset of English football fans is just totally different to that of Australian league fans.

it is comparable. it comes down the Leagues and the clubs themselves and the decisions they've made.

sure, distances aren't far to travel in the UK, but how many tix are sold to EPL away support in a 30-40k stadium anyway? the majority of tix are snapped by home support.

the NFL have had their own rule on broadcast blackouts. it isn't govt-mandated but League mandated over there.

these successful Leagues and their clubs have shore up their futures by ensuring they have satisfactory venues to schedule their matches.

our admins have been poor at playing the game admin game.....at greasing the palms of those that matter. and in some repsect, the current admins are hamstrung by the shit job previous admins have done before them. we can all accuse the ALF of throwing their cash and weight around and getting the olympic stadium and showgrounds configured and updated for them, but they've put themselves in a position to have that sort of clout!

in contrast, the League and it's clubs have constantly fought internally, allowing self-interest to dictate its future, and then deflecting blame as fortunes continue to head south.

 

[El Diablo]

I didn't make any excuses, I called it for the sht crowd it was.

really

1. because their ticketing system they used clearly filled the lower bowl rather than give options to sit in the covered part of the stand. The lower bowl of the East stand was full despite plenty of higher up seats empty. Looked good for Tv but sht for staying dry!
2. They charged $50 for the pleasure of sitting in the rain, compared to pretty much every other leisure option that day it was sht
3. They allow the nib stadium to refuse entry for umbrellas. I mean wtf. All of the lower bowl and Sth stand is uncovered, at least let us come in with some rain protection or give out ponchos to those who had spent $50 for a seat.

Reflective of how the NRL is disengaging its fans. This fixture 5 years ago sells out, yesterday it could barley half fill the place. Weather aside (which probably was worth 3-4k on the crowd) its a dire reflection that interest in the NRL is dropping. In perth that is partly due to lack of expansion after years of hope and promise have come to nothing and partly a general malaise around the game at the moment.

End of day fans are customers, the NRL does not have a right to them, it needs to earn them. If people don't go to games its because the NRl is doing something wrong, not the fans.
if it doesn't learn this fast then good luck getting TV and corporate $'s in years to come as the fanbase dwindles.

Like I said I paid $180 for my family to get pssing wet through and watch a pretty dour game (2nd half at least) that had little atmosphere or entertainment around the ground. Compared to my big bash experience it was worlds apart. As a die hard id do it again, probably, but if I was less invested there is no way I would be back for a second go. And this isn't a perth unique thing, every game I've been to in last couple of years on East coast has been similar.

The sooner the NRL wakes up to the fact it is in the entertainment business the quicker we will right the ship.

Spent $180 taking family to get soaked and watch a pretty avg game of rugby league, nothing going on around the ground, very little "buzz". I can see why nrl crowds are poor.

Makes you wonder why Perth could sell 21k tickets in years gone by and only 11k today? Game is on its arse.

8k for reigning premiers, 15k for two heartland clubs, 11k in two expansion cities, 10k for one of the heartlands most popular clubs, 21k for the games biggest club, another sub 13k round avg. try telling me we haven't got some serious problems!

on that we agree See we can all find excuses for sht crowds. Like I always say, don't blame the customer for not buying the product, look at the product or the sales method. Bit funny though saying 11.4k is a disaster in an afl city whilst under 9k for a 50 year old club in the heartland can be explained away by Ko time and a need for supplementary opposition club fans

Dockers playing at same time, sun sets just after 5pm and on a sht weather sunday like we got it meant the game finishing in cold dark conditions. Not the worse by any stretch but not the best either. If we ever get a team we will need to get used to that slot (though I'd suggest a 4pm KO is better) as that is our Tv value slot to add a 6pm east coast game time slot on a regular basis.
Like I said the time or the weather weren't the main factors in the drop off in attendance from the sell outs 21k we were getting, in nice weather it would have got around 15-16k which is still considerably less than a few years ago so what's changed that fans are giving up coming along? For me its the lack of commitment to expansion that's dulled my enthusiasm. Not sure what it is for the other 5-6k no shows.

 

[dogz08]

rain, sun in peoples eyes, time, umbrellas not supplied and a whole heap of others he came up with

it's probably all sydney's fault

 

[Perth Red]

The last 4 NRL crowds in Perth have been shit..

That's what happens when you f**k fans around. As soon as it became clear there would once again be no expansion for at least 6-7 years the fans here said a big FU. Fortunately grass roots hasn't been infected by the nrl's apathy and we have seen a number of new clubs starting up over last two years.

 

[Perth Red]

it's probably all sydney's fault

Not all, just mostly

 

[Perth Red]

16,001 at Newcastle. Good crowd for a bottom of the table team.

 

[El Diablo]

That's what happens when you f**k fans around. As soon as it became clear there would once again be no expansion for at least 6-7 years the fans here said a big FU. Fortunately grass roots hasn't been infected by the nrl's apathy and we have seen a number of new clubs starting up over last two years.

Not all, just mostly

and the excuses for piss poor Perth crowds keep coming

 

[Billythekid]

Great crowd at Newcastle today. Bottom of the table and little chance of winning but the fans still showed up in good numbers. That's with essentially no away fans as well.

 

[Raiderdave]

you're deflecting here dave. i asked, which game is doing better at the moment?

the NRL's best standard is fairly low in ALF terms, and it's not even near eclipsing that.

established clubs with rosters worth about $7m each are playing in front of sub <7k crowds. two heavily supported Sydney clubs attracted <9k last week. is this progress?

you also said the ALF is about to .... again .... set an attendance record

is that correct ?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/league/...rs-caught-using-old-video-to-fake-nrl-crowds/
Broadcasters caught using old vision to fake NRL crowds

Joey Riordan
7Sport / 2 hours ago

Broadcasters have been caught using old vision of NRL crowds in order to to make attendances look bigger as the crowd crisis worsens in Sydney.

The average Sydney NRL crowd this year has been just over 13,000, its lowest in years, with the Thursday night game largely to blame, averaging under 10,000 people.

Attendances for the Friday six pm time slot are only marginally better.

Two weeks ago the crowd crisis was at its worst during the traditional Rabbitohs v Dragons clash at the SCG, the turnout was embarrassing for the six pm clash.

Old vision of crowds used during a Rabbitohs game. Pic: 7 News

Those who did attend said the stadium was completely void of any atmosphere.

Due to horrible crowds such as this one, broadcasters have been sprung using old video of crowds in order to make attendances look bigger.

With ratings king, clubs and the NRL seem to be happy to sacrifice crowds for TV ratings.

Some radical solutions are now being considered by clubs, including allowing members free access to away games.

Fans responded passionately to the NRL crowds report by Josh Massoud on social media.

The NRL season got off to the worst possible start with crowds in 2017, with its worst opening-round attendance averages since the Super League war.

Just 100,975 people walked through the gates in round one's eight matches, at an average of 12,622.

The figure is well down on the 14,644 average attendance across each of last year's opening-round matches, and the lowest since 1996, when only 30,198 watched the four games that weekend.

On that occasion, six matches were forfeited as the Super League war threatened to tear the game apart.

Just when you thought the crowd situation couldn't get any more embarrassing.

Maybe we'll see them cut to black and white footage of seas of people at the SCG in 1970 next. Actually that should have been done a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Raiderdave]

another sub 10K sydney crowd at allianz
wow
just wow

 

[Emu01]

Just when you thought the crowd situation couldn't get any more embarrassing.

Maybe we'll see them cut to black and white footage of seas of people at the SCG in 1970 next. Actually that should have been done a couple of weeks ago.

They quoted the round 1 crowd average when the rain ruined just about every game.

 

[TheFrog]

That ship has sailed here and I don't see any government being able to introduce laws to prevent t happening now.

Why would the Government even want to interfere in a business's income model anyway?

 

[Teddyboy]

Great crowd at Newcastle today. Bottom of the table and little chance of winning but the fans still showed up in good numbers. That's with essentially no away fans as well.

Expect 20000-25000 for Newcastle when they get their act together.