2017 Crowd Watch

[carcharias]

So

Actually cheapest adult GA tickets in Sydney (for their next home game)-
Swans $33
GWS $24
Sydney FC $34
Wanderers $30
Roosters $29
Wests $22
Sharks $26
Bulldogs $25

It varies, but there is no way NRL is priced above other sports.

Here in Melbourne
AFL is $25 (prices vary for seating - e.g. bug MCG games an average seat is $70),
Storm is $24 - only the ends are this price, gets very expensive for decent seats
Victory $28
Melb City $35
Rebels $25

So all pretty similar. Storrn just needs decent timeslots to grow crowds.

I got those prices off ticketek today
I just went to a home game
The cheapest were $15 and 17
Both for a random seat from what I could gather.

 

[Canard]

The problem with the Storm (and I assume all other NRL and sports) is that its actually closer to $30 for those so called $24 tickets, if you buy at the ground on the day (and even on the website)

To me, $30 for a GA ticket in a non-heartland area is bonkers, especially when the Storm do manage to attract a fair bit of walk up fans during the winter months.

In a place like Melbourne, those GA seats should be priced around $20 tops.

 

[adamkungl]

The problem with the Storm (and I assume all other NRL and sports) is that its actually closer to $30 for those so called $24 tickets, if you buy at the ground on the day (and even on the website)

To me, $30 for a GA ticket in a non-heartland area is bonkers, especially when the Storm do manage to attract a fair bit of walk up fans during the winter months.

In a place like Melbourne, those GA seats should be priced around $20 tops.

Plus how insane is it that the NRL didn't schedule games in Melbourne before the AFL season started.. no competition except the pre-season fumbles and Melbourne have to wait til a Thursday in round 3 for a game.

 

[Perth Red]

To be positive we have the following on the medium term horizon

New stadiums in Sydney and Townsville and maybe Canberra one day
NRl controlling the schedule of where to put the big games
Clubs getting a massive grant increase so hopefully more able to engage some crowd strategy
Memberships increasing

There is always hope.

On the flip side we will still have Greenburg and the Commission running the show and seemingly, regardless of how much income they have, totally unable to address this issue.

 

[taipan]

Plus how insane is it that the NRL didn't schedule games in Melbourne before the AFL season started.. no competition except the pre-season fumbles and Melbourne have to wait til a Thursday in round 3 for a game.

Agree that is the dumbest decision by the NRL.Your competitor opens the door for you with no games on, and you ignore the marketing possibilities and the Melbourne market.
I'll bet the decision was finally made by that mob who prepares the scheduling on behalf of the NRL.That being the case ,any admin would be conversant of the fact, your competitor is still not awake for a couple of weeks.

How bleeding hard is it?

 

[adamkungl]

To be positive we have the following on the medium term horizon

New stadiums in Sydney and Townsville and maybe Canberra one day
NRl controlling the schedule of where to put the big games
Clubs getting a massive grant increase so hopefully more able to engage some crowd strategy
Memberships increasing

There is always hope.

On the flip side we will still have Greenburg and the Commission running the show and seemingly, regardless of how much income they have, totally unable to address this issue.

Devils advocate, I predict the NRL running the scheduling they will favour broadcasters every bit as much as they do now.

 

[moffla]

Agree that is the dumbest decision by the NRL.Your competitor opens the door for you with no games on, and you ignore the marketing possibilities and the Melbourne market.
I'll bet the decision was finally made by that mob who prepares the scheduling on behalf of the NRL.That being the case ,any admin would be conversant of the fact, your competitor is still not awake for a couple of weeks.

How bleeding hard is it?

This.

We smashed it last year when there was no AFL on. We based our whole marketing around that on AFL free weekends. It worked. The NRL didn't learn.

 

[Pete Cash]

Of course they will.

edit

That was in response to adam

 

[taipan]

To be positive we have the following on the medium term horizon

New stadiums in Sydney and Townsville and maybe Canberra one day
NRl controlling the schedule of where to put the big games
Clubs getting a massive grant increase so hopefully more able to engage some crowd strategy
Memberships increasing

There is always hope.

On the flip side we will still have Greenburg and the Commission running the show and seemingly, regardless of how much income they have, totally unable to address this issue.

I must be on the same wavelength as PR for the first time since the Titanic.Someone deck me to see if I'm really here.
What I hope for from the NRL in 2018,is promotion either by the clubs or NRL.Agressive promotion not some nimby ad in a newspaper.

 

[Perth Red]

The problem with the Storm (and I assume all other NRL and sports) is that its actually closer to $30 for those so called $24 tickets, if you buy at the ground on the day (and even on the website)

To me, $30 for a GA ticket in a non-heartland area is bonkers, especially when the Storm do manage to attract a fair bit of walk up fans during the winter months.

In a place like Melbourne, those GA seats should be priced around $20 tops.

I'm not convinced price is the major deciding factor. Getting a GA membership brings price down dramatically at most clubs. As has been shown NRL pricing is in line with every other prof sport in the country so not any greater a barrier than those other sports.

Having the majority of teams in a city not so live sporting interested and with poor infrastructure and lay out is probably one key issue, then the lack of hype, positive media and general public profile of NRL is the factor in the other cities like Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane etc. Add in an incompetent leadership of the game who with pretty much unlimited finances still haven't made any sprt of dent in the problem and you have the current malaise. The game seems pretty much stuck at the moment, the independence we craved hasn't made a bit of difference, the revenue we craved hasn't made much difference and the strategic plan set in 2012 and due to finish this year has failed in just about every significant area. One day we may get leadership the game deserves.

 

[Perth Red]

I must be on the same wavelength as PR for the first time since the Titanic.Someone deck me to see if I'm really here.
What I hope for from the NRL in 2018,is promotion either by the clubs or NRL.Agressive promotion not some nimby ad in a newspaper.

I feel dirty, lol.

We have seen in the positive growth of memberships what can be achieved with some effort, strategy and resources. We now need to see the same brought to attendance

 

[Canard]

I'm not convinced price is the major deciding factor. Getting a GA membership brings price down dramatically at most clubs. As has been shown NRL pricing is in line with every other prof sport in the country so not any greater a barrier than those other sports.

I can't see GA memberships attracting more then hardcore fans in expansion areas like Melbourne though, I think you need to price for walk ups and "event" games. For that same $30 in Melbourne, if you are on the MCC waiting list you can attend about 15 or AFL games, sit in good seats and drink full strength beer.

Apparently there is also an AFL membership which gets you into all games in Melbourne (not sure on cost)

Is there such a thing as NRL membership in Sydney?

 

[Perth Red]

I can't see GA memberships attracting more then hardcore fans in expansion areas like Melbourne though, I think you need to price for walk ups and "event" games. For that same $30 in Melbourne, if you are on the MCC waiting list you can attend about 15 or AFL games, sit in good seats and drink full strength beer.

Apparently there is also an AFL membership which gets you into all games in Melbourne (not sure on cost)

Is there such a thing as NRL membership in Sydney?

You're probably right and GA memberships aren't about the answer to walk ups so much as the argument that as a fan of that club it is too expensive to go to a game. if you were so inclined you can get a membership to some places that make it less than $15 a game!

Sadly once again the NRL has failed to leverage off a potential funding change opportunity to force some strategic direction. Instead of giving clubs $13mill grant they could have said, we are giving you a $12million base grant and a $1million crowd subsidy but to receive it you have to offer GA admission for kids at $5 and adults $15, a baseline GA membership at $100 and no ticket above $35. Clubs would still be better off and the NRL would be steering the ship on this issue. Just throwing money at clubs with no expectation of outcome other than to not go broke is a recipe for mis-spending with no real strong sustainable outcomes for the game.

Clubs, other than probably Souths, clearly haven't woken up to the revenue value of big membership and attendance cultures.

 

[Russell Crowe's Band]

26 bucks to stand on a hill at the sharks with no cover
it should be 20 bucks for a family pass and 10 bucks for an adult. given the facilities

pack people in

 

[Emu01]

Problem is:
Roosters are priced similarly to Swans in the stadium next door. Even a few dollars cheaper!
BUT
The Swans justify that price by selling most of the seats in their stadium.
Roosters typically sell around 25% of the stadium.

I'd like to see even 1 club just take on the risk for a season and do whatever it takes to fill the stadium.
Sell $100 full season memberships.
Cut out the premium ticket prices except for the season ticket holders, make the whole joint GA for $15 a ticket.
Get players and free tickets out to local schools.
Organise cheap transport options with the government.
Advertise the shit out of it.
Build that culture of attendance and then start raising the price.

I remember the wests tigers had a $10 ticket promotion a few years back.. Every seat was only 10 dollars at Campbeltown.

I think it was a back to the 70's theme pies and cans of soft drink was cheap as well..

They packed them in that night, huge crowd. Just goes to show what a bit of clever marketing can do.Something I don't see from the nrl.

Every time I ring them with suggestions about how to get more people to the games,they throw it back at me and say it's up to the individual clubs where they play and how much they charge not the Nrl. I'm left speechless at their pathetic approach to crowds.

 

[JamesRustle]

Kogarah is the biggest myth in Rugby League. Dragons fans whinge they don't have enough games there but don't show up to the games that are there.

It's very rarely close to full.

Wollongong got over 16K in the exact same timeslot 2 weeks ago.

Compare the opposition teams allocated to Kog v. Gong...

 

[carcharias]

26 bucks to stand on a hill at the sharks with no cover
it should be 20 bucks for a family pass and 10 bucks for an adult. given the facilities

pack people in

Season seats are the way to go if you live close enough to get to the games.
Works out about the same but you get a seat

 

[LeagueXIII]

Which is the exact same situation the AFL is in. What's special about our fans that they can't show up when the game is shown on tv?

Also it's a pathetic excuse and does nothing to explain poor crowds. If that was the reason for poor crowds it would be consistent across all timeslots, stadiums and teams.

There are many issues affecting NRL crowd numbers but games being shown live is low on the list.

The difference between AFL fans and league fans is passion....simple as that.

 

[Canard]

The difference between AFL fans and league fans is passion....simple as that.

Marketed passion.

 

[LeagueXIII]

agree
well I actually meant the brookie crowd looks better
the ANZ crowd is better

& sydney being sydney
we'll have suburban grounds around for a while
but they aren't the future so we need a plan

To build crowds in Sydney......every club in Sydney should have a modern 20-25,000 seat stadium similar to the MSL grounds in the USA....rectangular.
We should stop settling for second best and start building for the future....tap more into tradition. People always go on about too many teams in Sydney, I think this is Bs and just giving up territory to other sports besides look at the turnaround in the fortunes of Souths and Cronulla. The game is going to have more money flow into it in the years ahead as the digital platforms start next year. Also Sydney's population is expected to grow by 2.2 million in the next 20 years. We lost North Sydney and that area has become AFL and union stronghold with little league presence.
I would also try and play as many Sydney games on a Sunday afternoon as it use to be to build the routine of going to games again. Out of Sydney games can be played at night. If Sydney becomes weak we can kiss goodbye big TV money besides why not grow Sydney to increase revenue, the AFL drool at the potential Sydney offers we talk about culling clubs. We once had 12 clubs in Sydney, now we have 9 and we still want less, why?