2019 Crowd Watch

[Vee]

why would they have the first Eels vs Bulldogs game at Bankwest on a Thurs night? Does the NRL even give a f**k about their draw?

What, are you new here?

 

[Vee]

Hopefully cowboys fans aren’t priced out of their new digs.

That has concerned me since the new stadium was announced.

 

[Vee]

Yet now next weekend the AFL has a bye round and Melbournian's will be looking for total level sport to watch--- where will the Storm be playing? At Lottoland @ 5:30pm on Saturday with no FTA coverage. The NRL should have the Storm playing at home in a prime time slot next week and take advantage of the break in the AFL season.

In all the poor scheduling decisions, this and not having Melbourne at home in Round 1 before the fumblers start are right up there.

 

[yakstorm]

There are a number of reasons why Membership hasn't translated into greater attendance, one of the big impacts is clubs simply don't try and get their members to games, or engage with them much more than a weekly email after they have signed up.

It's why for a lot of games and clubs you can have between 25-30% uptake by members of their eligible entitlements. The big shift to membership versus game day, has also seen clubs significantly cut back on their game day promotions... where the original theory was the membership revenue up front would help then fund additional marketing later on, clubs have instead just kept the upfront revenue and then kept game day marketing to a minimum for most events.

Removal or reduction in things like reciprocal rights have also impacted, as well as a growing 'anti-ANZ stadium' mentality amongst the fanbase have also hit as well as when we play fixtures.

When crowds started growing again, between 2002 - 2006, the weekend looked like this:

• 1x Friday Night Game
• 3x Saturday Games
• 3x Sunday Games

Friday was often built up as a the game of the round, whilst the other six were at time-slots that were pretty accessible to majority of fans. It also saw a nice 4x Daytime versus 3x Nighttime mix.

That all changed from 2007, when we started to move away from the 3pm Saturday game, added an extra Friday Night Game, introduced Monday Night Football, etc. We've gone to more TV friendly timeslots versus attendance friendly.

None of these factors on their own are the single reason why there is a lack of conversion from memberships to attendance, but they have all contributed.

 

[Vee]

Has there been any consideration to giving NRL club members cheaper tickets to away games?

I've wondered that for years.

 

[Warriors Fever]

That has concerned me since the new stadium was announced.

Stadiums qld (if that’s who are owning it) have a bad record with rent and the pricing that comes from it.

 

[ACTPanthers]

It’s an odd one as to why Membership growth across most of the clubs has continued to point upwards but crowds generally have not.

I’m an interstate member of the roosters living in the ACT. As s neutral, I go to as many raiders games as I can but at $30 a pop I can only go to so many. And signing up for a Raiders season ticket just doesn’t sit right with me.

Has there been any consideration to giving NRL club members cheaper tickets to away games?

This is just a suggestion mate, but you can volunteer with the Raiders in which you help with setup, act as a customer service rep and other misc jobs, but this gives you free entry to all home games.

You don't just sign up and start, they need to accept your application first, but may be a way for you to go to games without getting the actual membership.

 

[carcharias]

This is just a suggestion mate, but you can volunteer with the Raiders in which you help with setup, act as a customer service rep and other misc jobs, but this gives you free entry to all home games.

You don't just sign up and start, they need to accept your application first, but may be a way for you to go to games without getting the actual membership.

Help locals read the writing on their tickets?

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Another year, another ~15k league wide crowd average. 15 seasons in a row now where the crowd has averaged between 15-17k. No growth, only stability.

The myth about increased memberships driving bigger crowds has been entirely debunked - it's barely made a lick of difference. Clubs seem to still be solely reliant on good years boost attendances and seem to be incapable of using that to then have the floor lifted on their numbers permanently once bad years come around. We're getting new stadiums, transport has and will be improved, tickets prices adjusted, food and drink, etc etc. Still don't see it making too much of a difference.

There needs to be a monumental change of the image and culture within the fans of the game and the game itself. We're not doing enough to appeal to wider demographics and bigger audiences. We need bolder, smarter, and more ambitious people than who we currently have at the helm to get that done. At the moment we're just stuck in the mud, revving as hard as we can, thinking that we'll eventually get out.

You've touched on some good points there. We've definately seen a boost in Brisbane once Suncorp was built. The Broncs had slumped to a 19k average following SL at their old dump ANZ Stadium (Brisbane). Following their move back to a new Suncorp Stadium, their crowds climbed steadily back over 30k. I take your point about them being pretty stagnate since though.

Melbourne similarly had a boost from a new ground. Their first year at AAMI their average attendance went from 11.9k to a record 14.6k and their attendances continue to climb to what they are today 18.7k (16.5 at AAMI).

It'll be interesting to watch what happens to the Eels and Cowboys over the next few seasons but I think it is reasonable to say that getting more big city market teams into the comp playing out of decent stadia can really help move us forward. It won't be long til all Sydney clubs that aren't using either Bankwest, new Allianz or new ANZ are left behind.

New grounds, big city clubs and make the hard calls on clubs that are underperforming off the field and we will finally see some movement.

 

[ACTPanthers]

Help locals read the writing on their tickets?

That too...

 

[juzzy_83]

Something I have always wondered... how do 3 game memberships get factored into game day ticket sales? Does this then affect a crowd figure when a game is a sellout? If a Sharks or Manly fan have already used their allocation does that mean that a sell out does not mean all tickets for that game have been sold as they cant put this ticket up for sale as they wont know what 3 games they will attend? Hope the question makes sense

 

[shaggs]

Something I have always wondered... how do 3 game memberships get factored into game day ticket sales? Does this then affect a crowd figure when a game is a sellout? If a Sharks or Manly fan have already used their allocation does that mean that a sell out does not mean all tickets for that game have been sold as they cant put this ticket up for sale as they wont know what 3 games they will attend? Hope the question makes sense

The sharks required every person who has a limited ticket (3 or 6 game Flexi) to nominate whether they were using their ticket before 5pm last Sunday. If you didn’t, then that spot was free to sell.

 

[carcharias]

The club has been emailing for ticket holders to sell their tickets through the club if they can’t make the game.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Another year, another ~15k league wide crowd average. 15 seasons in a row now where the crowd has averaged between 15-17k. No growth, only stability.

The myth about increased memberships driving bigger crowds has been entirely debunked - it's barely made a lick of difference.

Don’t think it’s been debunked yet. More likely a lot clubs fudge their membership numbers like counting juniors as members for instance. They like to boast about their huge membership numbers each year and yet their crowd average sits well below the members total, despite regular finals appearances

 

[Perth Red]

Don’t think it’s been debunked yet. More likely a lot clubs fudge their membership numbers like counting juniors as members for instance. They like to boast about their huge membership numbers each year and yet their crowd average sits well below the members total, despite regular finals appearances

For some clarity they really should identify how many are full ticket members. Going on crowds I’d be very surprised if it was over 50% at most clubs. This would explain the discrepancy.

 

[League Unlimited News]

 

[Cumberland Throw]

This isn’t just an NRL problem, most AFL clubs also have membership numbers well above their average attendance. I don’t think it’s a terrible thing, good way for clubs to maintain a revenue stream even if fans can’t get to games. Sort of offsets the scheduling issues as well.

They are worse than us..

Teams with 105,000 members get 40k to a game..

But who cares if 105k want to spend $50 a year who cares

 

[azza29]

They are worse than us..

Teams with 105,000 members get 40k to a game..

But who cares if 105k want to spend $50 a year who cares

That’s pretty much it, and I’d imagine the average member is spending more than that. It’s a serious revenue stream, even before you consider that members are more likely to spend up on merch as well.

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

Suncorp looks about 32k.

 

[League Unlimited News]