Or how about we look at how the NRL has no idea about how to grow the game into an expansion market like Melbourne?
There was a massive opportunity to gain additional Victorian supporters following Origin I at the MCG. I took a friend to his first Rugby League game that night (as we were able to get $15 seats on level 1). Since June 6th there's been the following Melbourne Storm home games:
- Vs. Broncos on Sunday 10th June (4 days after Origin)
- Vs. Dragons on Thursday 5th July (A Thursday night game where the Origin players weren't eligible to play)
The next home game is Saturday 28th July Vs. The Raiders. This person wasn't interested in backing up and seeing another game so soon after his first experience so didn't go to the Broncos game, wasn't interested in watching a B-Team side so didn't go to the Dragons game.
This means it's 7 & 1/2 weeks from his first Origin experience until he can watch a full strength Storm side play at home. It's also 7 weeks between 'full strength' Storm games for any passing Melbourne Storm supporter during the middle of the season.
If you want to convert AFL supporters into switching or watching both, this is the time of year you should start focusing on having the Storm in Melbourne. By the middle of this year Carlton, St. Kilda and Western Bulldog supporters have all already given up on their team as they can't make finals this year-- they may've looked for an alternative team to get before for the rest of 2018. Or even looking at the AFL bye rounds (Round 12-14) when AFL teams had the week off, the Storm only had 1 game in Melbourne (the Broncos game).
A run of 2-3 home games here could've gained new supporters that were either curious about the NRL and the Melbourne Storm due to the hype of Origin (which was bigger than I thought). Instead it was an opportunity wasted.
Or even look back at the Round 3 match between the Melbourne Storm and the North Queensland Cowboys. The game was a Grand Final replay, potentially (now guaranteed) JT's final game in Melbourne and a match featuring the Cowboys (who have built quite a rivalry with the Storm in recent years). What did the NRL do?? Schedule the game 5 days after we'd just had a home game on the same night as the first game of the AFL season! If this game was played the week before (free of AFL) it would've got a crowd of 20,000+ instead it got 13k.
Before people go (as they have every time I've mentioned this game) that the NRL fixture was released first-- it doesn't take a brain surgeon to google the previously released date (which was a Thursday night) for the AFL season (which was published in August last year), look that the AFL has played Richmond/Carlton on the first Thursday night the MCG has been available of the season for over a decade and that with Richmond as the reigning premier of the AFL that crowd would be big.
Having 90k at the MCG at the same time makes it difficult for the Storm for two reasons
- The segment of fans who support both the Storm and one of Richmond/Carlton forcing them to choose
- The concern of Melbourne Storm supporters (who live predominately in the outer suburbs) that traffic will be bad after the game due to the excess congestion in the area on a school night.
If the NRL actually thought about the fixture they had in Melbourne, the Storm would have the second largest crowd average to only the Broncos. But because they fixture us so poorly our average is lower,but still competitive with clubs in the 'heartland'.
