2024 Crowd Watch

[titoelcolombiano]

To be fair, the Lions also have abut 50 tickets left for their game this week.

If games are selling out a few days out, then the capacity is spot on.

30k is not hard with the amount of prictorians up here. But the wouldn't go near capacity if the 50k oval got built. Then when they eventually return to the bottom of the ladder the 10k oval at Springfield will do.

 

[APPSY]

Should see 4 sell outs this weekend.
Bronx vs Cows
Wahs vs Knights
Sharks vs Raiders
Eels vs Tigers

 

[yakstorm]

A big boost for Friday's game:

The Good Friday Clash Returns: Bulldogs v Bunnies

Join the Pack at Accor Stadium this Friday 29 March, as we tackle the South Sydney Rabbitohs in our Round 4 Good Friday clash.

www.bulldogs.com.au

We are excited to share that ALL Ticketed Members* will have reciprocal access to attend this away match!

Previously this benefit has been exclusive to full season Members, however, if you are an Ultimate, Platinum Plus, Platinum, Gold, Kennel, Blue Zone or Flexi 4 Member your Membership card will scan you in.

There is no need to purchase a ticket if you hold a Ticketed Membership outside of Bundaberg Members. All valid ticketed Members will have the seating details included on their Membership card.

 

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

^^
Good news.

And independent of it, three bays have been released on Level 4 East for the general public this morning:



The weather forecast is looking clear for Good Friday (2023 had a little rain around), so there might be strong walkup demand too.

Overall things shaping up pretty well for a 30,000+ crowd.

 

[Marlins]

Maybe I’m crazy but I’d like to see Good Friday, Easter Monday and Queens bday matches played at Allianz. Would go nicely with the annually Anzac Day match.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Maybe I’m crazy but I’d like to see Good Friday, Easter Monday and Queens bday matches played at Allianz. Would go nicely with the annually Anzac Day match.

Nice sentiment, but Accor would certainly be easier to get to for fans from the Western suburbs. Holds a lot more people too if we start to make these games events on the League calendar.

 

[King-Gutho94]

Nice sentiment, but Accor would certainly be easier to get to for fans from the Western suburbs. Holds a lot more people too if we start to make these games events on the League calendar.

Unless there is event buses on for Homebush - Allianz is easier then Homebush to get too from the Hills, Castle Hill, Parramatta & Penrith.

Get the bus to from the Hills Wynyard & jump on the tram at Wynyard which takes you straight to Moore Park.

Or get the metro train from Castle Hill to Central & jump on the tram at central.

Same for Penrith get the express train to central jump on the tram then your at Moore Park within 5-10 mins after hitting Central.

With Homebush you either have to go bloody Lidcombe on the train and come back or get a bloody uber to the joint if the Event Buses aren't running.

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Unless there is event buses on for Homebush - Allianz is easier then Homebush to get too from the Hills, Castle Hill, Parramatta & Penrith.

Get the bus to from the Hills Wynyard & jump on the tram at Wynyard which takes you straight to Moore Park.

Or get the metro train from Castle Hill to Central & jump on the tram at central.

Same for Penrith get the express train to central jump on the tram then your at Moore Park within 5-10 mins after hitting Central.

With Homebush you either have to go bloody Lidcombe on the train and come back or get a bloody uber to the joint if the Event Buses aren't running.

Will the new metro line that has a stop at Homebush help with that ?

 

[bazza]

Unless there is event buses on for Homebush - Allianz is easier then Homebush to get too from the Hills, Castle Hill, Parramatta & Penrith.

Get the bus to from the Hills Wynyard & jump on the tram at Wynyard which takes you straight to Moore Park.

Or get the metro train from Castle Hill to Central & jump on the tram at central.

Same for Penrith get the express train to central jump on the tram then your at Moore Park within 5-10 mins after hitting Central.

With Homebush you either have to go bloody Lidcombe on the train and come back or get a bloody uber to the joint if the Event Buses aren't running.

For the easter games the event buses are running due to the easter show and make sense to have a least one big game at Homebush at Easter
Is the Tigers v Eels game each easter Monday and alternate between Homebush and Parramatta?

 

[H.H]

That fixture use to draw great crowds when the Easter Show was still held in Moore Park.

Similar to the Bulldogs v Rabbitohs concept, it would draw a nice portion of the Easter Show crowd and be one of the Roosters better drawing games.

Unfortunately when the Show moved west, the fixture was no longer an event & the Roosters were happy to forfeit it in exchange for ANZAC Day (especially as Easter Sunday can technically fall as late as April 25)

The Roosters actually continued to host that Good Friday clash until 2010, well after the current ANZAC Day concept started in 2002.

In 2011 I think Easter and ANZAC Day clashed as you indicate could happen and it just never happened again after that which was disappointing.

 

[yakstorm]

Good Friday match draws a healthy contingent from the Easter Show, so doesn't make sense taking it away from Accor.

Easter Monday, use to do the same (and still does it when its WT match). Whilst I understand why the Eels want to play it at CommBank, if it was at Accor, it would comfortably draw 35K+ this year.

As the show is on, all the major event buses & trains are running, so accessibility isn't an issue & for the years the teams are firing, there is more crowd upside (both Good Friday & Easter Monday have drawn 50K+ crowds in the past).

The only thing Allianz has over Accor for those events is that it is a better ground.

 

[bazza]

Will the new metro line that has a stop at Homebush help with that ?

definitely will make homebush easier to get to for nearly everyone. There is also going to be a light rail as well - though that would not have as big an impact

Hopefully the stadium will be a rectangle at the same time that the line opens.

 

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

Will the new metro line that has a stop at Homebush help with that ?

Significantly. Sydney Metro West will set Sydney Olympic Park up for success the way it should have been for the 2000 Olympic Games.

On Sydney Metro West, you will be able to reach the following destinations much faster:
- Parramatta in ~5 minutes (currently 31 min by public transport or 17 min to drive)
- Sydney CBD in ~15 minutes (currently 40 min by public transport or 25 min drive from Wynyard)
- Pyrmont in <15 min (currently 48 min by public transport or 20 min drive from The Star)

It will also bring Tigers heartland much closer with new stations at The Bays and Five Dock, and Bulldogs heartland much closer with new stations at Burwood and North Strathfield.

 

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

The NRL should look to leverage more big events across Sydney to align scheduling for a list of blockbuster games.

Yes, the Royal Easter Show is on and the NRL leverages it for Good Friday and Easter Monday. But they missed a trick last weekend with neither the Bulldogs nor the Rabbitohs scheduled at Accor Stadium (for the opening weekend of the Show). I also think the NRL should be a proactive stakeholder in getting the Royal Easter Show to extend its dates to cross three weekends instead of the traditional two. That way you could schedule 3 Bulldogs/Rabbitohs games at Accor Stadium to leverage the Show.

Similarly, the NRL should look to work with Destination NSW to leverage Vivid Sydney for drone/laser/lights shows at Allianz Stadium and Accor Stadium accordingly. Vivid covers four weekends in 2024, which means you could at least get four games at Accor Stadium (including King's Birthday) for the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs, and two games at Allianz Stadium for the Roosters under current home ground arrangements. Throw in some special Vivid effects and you're got yourself a must see.

 

[yakstorm]

Significantly. Sydney Metro West will set Sydney Olympic Park up for success the way it should have been for the 2000 Olympic Games.

On Sydney Metro West, you will be able to reach the following destinations much faster:
- Parramatta in ~5 minutes (currently 31 min by public transport or 17 min to drive)
- Sydney CBD in ~15 minutes (currently 40 min by public transport or 25 min drive from Wynyard)
- Pyrmont in <15 min (currently 48 min by public transport or 20 min drive from The Star)

It will also bring Tigers heartland much closer with new stations at The Bays and Five Dock, and Bulldogs heartland much closer with new stations at Burwood and North Strathfield.

It's crazy some of the public transport decisions that were made by previous governments. When Olympic Park was chosen for the Sydney Olympics, the current 'Western Line' was meant to be redirected to go through it so it was a regular train stop, same when the Airport line was built, it was meant to have a train station near SFS/SCG.

The cost saving decisions of the past have no doubt had an impact on the attendance culture in Sydney. Whilst there are a lot of things wrong with Melbourne, you can't fault how accessible the Melbourne Olympic Park precinct (MCG, AAMI Park, Tennis Arenas) is both to the CBD, but wider Melbourne as well.

 

[Lidcombe Bull]

After round 3 in both codes sorted by largest to smallest in their home city market on the right, with their overall average on the left. Out of personal interest I've included the Dolphins' Suncorp games as a separate line item so I can track their peak interest.

Not only is the revenue gap closing to the AFL, but so is the attendance gap including the Storm who have been slowly creeping up on the bottom attended AFL sides in Melbourne for a while and are currently in front of North Melbourne.

Club	Ave	Home City Ave
Carlton Blues	83,881​	83,881​
Collingwood Magpies	78,933​	78,933​
Essendon Bombers	73,805​	73,805​
St Kilda	69,517​	69,517​
Adelaide Crows	44,758​	44,758​
Melbourne Demons	44,100​	44,100​
Hawthorn Hawks	43,960​	43,960​
West Coast Eagles	42,401​	42,401​
Fremantle Dockers	40,604​	40,604​
Geelong Cats	39,352​	39,352​
Sydney Roosters	39,170​	37,594​
Sydney Swans	37,483​	37,483​
Brisbane Broncos	35,507​	35,507​
Port Adelaide Power	34,078​	34,078​
Brisbane Lions	33,367​	33,367​
Dolphins (Suncorp Games)	21,244​	32,477​
Richmond Tigers	30,254​	30,254​
Parramatta Eels	24,763​	24,763​
New Zealand Warriors	20,663​	24,076​
Newcastle Knights	22,134​	22,134​
Dolphins	21,244​	21,244​
Melbourne Storm	21,048​	21,048​
Penrith Panthers	20,806​	20,806​
North Queensland Cowboys	18,986​	18,986​
North Melbourne Kangaroos	17,589​	17,589​
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	28,069​	17,284​
Canberra Raiders	16,968​	16,968​
Gold Coast Suns	16,776​	16,776​
Wests Tigers	15,990​	15,990​
GWS Giants	14,635​	14,635​
Gold Coast Titans	14,537​	14,537​
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks	12,928​	12,928​
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs	12,037​	12,037​
St George Illawarra Dragons (Sydney)	9,252​	9,252​
Western Bulldogs	9,752​	N/A
St George Illawarra Dragons (Wollongong)	9,252​	N/A
South Sydney Rabbitohs	N/A	N/A

I imagine this table will look a bit different by mid season, however the NRL is definitely closing the gap on AFL.

The difference in average attendances between AFL and NRL has improved steadily since the Super League war.

In 1998 the average AFL crowd was 68.5% higher than the average NRL crowd. In 2023 the gap had shrunk to just 45.6% higher, which is the lowest it has been since 1969 (41.4%).

 

[bazza]

I imagine this table will look a bit different by mid season, however the NRL is definitely closing the gap on AFL.

The difference in average attendances between AFL and NRL has improved steadily since the Super League war.

In 1998 the average AFL crowd was 68.5% higher than the average NRL crowd. In 2023 the gap had shrunk to just 45.6% higher, which is the lowest it has been since 1969 (41.4%).

the AFL has added teams that have dropped their average (e.g. GWS, Suns) while the new NRL teams have generally gotten bigger crowds as well as improving facilities in existing clubs

 

[Harry O]

Why are mentioning drop ball here? Who cares what crowds they get, couldn't give a flying toss

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Why are mentioning drop ball here? Who cares what crowds they get, couldn't give a flying toss

The reason this is of interest is because it is a gauge for how much revenue we can get from this aspect of the game compared to them. An area that directly impacts on the comparative and strength of the clubs and the game overall and has been an area of advantage for them for a considerable time.
Any closing of that gap only further strengthens the NRL and is definitely in our interest to discuss ways that it may be narrowed further.

 

[Perth Red]

A big boost for Friday's game:

The Good Friday Clash Returns: Bulldogs v Bunnies

Join the Pack at Accor Stadium this Friday 29 March, as we tackle the South Sydney Rabbitohs in our Round 4 Good Friday clash.

www.bulldogs.com.au

We are excited to share that ALL Ticketed Members* will have reciprocal access to attend this away match!

Previously this benefit has been exclusive to full season Members, however, if you are an Ultimate, Platinum Plus, Platinum, Gold, Kennel, Blue Zone or Flexi 4 Member your Membership card will scan you in.

There is no need to purchase a ticket if you hold a Ticketed Membership outside of Bundaberg Members. All valid ticketed Members will have the seating details included on their Membership card.

Yay, long overdue! Every Sydney match up with spare capacity should have this deal!