No Sydney team needs to be removed and we would be stupid to do it. Let's not pretend that crowds are only an issue in Sydney. Whilst it might be slightly more of a problem, crowds have been pretty stagnant for years across the board and this year in general crowds have been mediocre (not just Sydney). This is an NRL issue. Also I'd argue that once the new stadiums are available in Sydney that their crowds will compare more than favourably with the rest of the comp.
More importantly though is that Sydney is a fast growing city. In the next 20 years or so Sydneys population is going to grow by the millions. You could be looking at an extra 2-3 million people potentially. It's the most important market in the country by far and we need to make sure we take advantage of that. Removing teams isn't exactly the best way to achieve that. If anything disgruntled fans are likely to jump ship and this AFL is all too prepared to spend the big bucks trying to lap up all the fans they can get.
Crowds are a massive issue but there are so many ways to improve them without removing teams. How about we have a look at all he massive issues plaguing crowds before taking such a silly step.
Comparing GWS to Cronulla is the f**king funniest thing I've seen. A team in a crowded market against a team with one opponent in their main city plus a whole other city to call on.
JFC
This is as stupid as the people who say the storm have no competition. Sports all compete against each other for fans.
If you put a RL team in New York would you expect massive crowds? What about China? They have no competition for RL teams so would they be expected to draw big crowds? The giants are only competing with the swans for AFL fans but they're competing with all sports for general sports fans and media coverage.
It's bullshit to pretend the giants have it easier than any Sydney NRL club. They're a team that has been forced in with no demand whatsoever. The city they're in doesn't give a f*ck about the sport they play. Nobody watches the game on TV and they can barely any media coverage comparatively (as a sport I mean, though the AFL does pay for a lot of coverage).
Edit: Also on a further note I don't buy he argument that Sydney people just don't attend games. The swans in particular continue to make a mockery f that argument even drawing big crowds on a Thursday night no less (and I'm pretty sure their games finish super late which is another big complaint). The problem isn't Sydney when it comes to crowds and that just putting your fingers in your ears and ignoring all the other major issues. Sydney crowds could be and should be much bigger. It's the home of rugby league and there are more league fans there than anywhere else on the planet. We just have to get those fans engaged to actually come to games rather than watch on TV.
