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2024 Crowd Watch

yakstorm

First Grade
Messages
5,700
i think they need to be getting more Storm fans there after 25 years ..20 at the top of the table ..,13k “ rusted ons” ain’t cutting it
Outside of Broncos, Knights & Cowboys can you name another team in the NRL who has more than 13K rusted on fans?

Plenty of teams have decent bandwagons, but generally don't have a huge amount more who turn up when things aren't going great.

Storm have attracted crowds over 20K 5x times this year, including against Penrith, Souths & Newcastle who all have very small supporter numbers in Melbourne, so on top of the 13K rusted on, there is definitely a broader audience in Melbourne who will turn up to matches.
 

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
14,369
Outside of Broncos, Knights & Cowboys can you name another team in the NRL who has more than 13K rusted on fans?

Plenty of teams have decent bandwagons, but generally don't have a huge amount more who turn up when things aren't going great.

Storm have attracted crowds over 20K 5x times this year, including against Penrith, Souths & Newcastle who all have very small supporter numbers in Melbourne, so on top of the 13K rusted on, there is definitely a broader audience in Melbourne who will turn up to matches.

we are talking about a one team town of 5 million … not Newcastle or the cowboys … would the Warriors have more ?

when have things ever been “non bandwagon” for the Storm last 20:years ? One year … how would things be going if they missed the finals say three years in a row?
 

moffla

Bench
Messages
3,358
we are talking about a one team town of 5 million … not Newcastle or the cowboys … would the Warriors have more ?

when have things ever been “non bandwagon” for the Storm last 20:years ? One year … how would things be going if they missed the finals say three years in a row?
If my grandmother had wheels she would have been a bike. Year on year there is steady growth, shouldn’t that be celebrated?
 

t-ba

Post Whore
Messages
57,699
I would assume it's the same reason the Swans don't draw as well as half of the Victorian clubs in the AFL despite having a city of 5 million all to themselves and what is now decades (with a few bodge seasons here and there) essentially at the pointy end of the table.

It's not traditionally a place where the sport is widely followed and the fact they're outdrawing plenty of teams from the heartlands is probably a good result!
 

RedVee

First Grade
Messages
6,338
I'm not the diviner of Melbourne success.

My point was more about the fact that the Roosters fans skew young and haven't yet started moving around the country because of adult shit, like how the Dragons used to draw really well on the Gold Coast but now less so because all the old bastards who retired to Mermaid Waters have started dying off.
And I guess their grandkids are Titans, Broncos os Dolphins fans
 

yakstorm

First Grade
Messages
5,700
we are talking about a one team town of 5 million … not Newcastle or the cowboys … would the Warriors have more ?
Total population doesn't equal Rugby League supporter base. There would be more RL supporters in the Hunter & surrounds than Melbourne.

Warriors have averaged 14K over their entire life and have multiple seasons under 10K, so it's fair to say their 'base' is around 13K.

when have things ever been “non bandwagon” for the Storm last 20:years ? One year … how would things be going if they missed the finals say three years in a row?
Possibly why the Storm average above their the 'rusted on'. Club averaged over 20K last year across their 12 games, will do similar this year.

Last year they had the 6th largest crowd average, this year they're 5th so far.
 

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
14,369
Total population doesn't equal Rugby League supporter base. There would be more RL supporters in the Hunter & surrounds than Melbourne.

Warriors have averaged 14K over their entire life and have multiple seasons under 10K, so it's fair to say their 'base' is around 13K.


Possibly why the Storm average above their the 'rusted on'. Club averaged over 20K last year across their 12 games, will do similar this year.

Last year they had the 6th largest crowd average, this year they're 5th so far.

im curious to see how the Storm rusted ons will cope with a few years out of the 8 …it’s inevitable to happen one day ..
 

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
14,369
Total population doesn't equal Rugby League supporter base. There would be more RL supporters in the Hunter & surrounds than Melbourne.

Warriors have averaged 14K over their entire life and have multiple seasons under 10K, so it's fair to say their 'base' is around 13K.

Do you think success of the team is also a factor to take into account? How would you compare the Knights and Warriors results to the Storm these past 25 years ?
 

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,456
im curious to see how the Storm rusted ons will cope with a few years out of the 8 …it’s inevitable to happen one day ..

I’d be interested too as it may force their hand to do more to engage and build their casual fan base. Whilst their crowds are slowly but surely growing I do think that they could do more to expand their fan base.

I live down here and I don’t see them do much promotion or deals to get fans to their games anymore. Maybe I live under a rock because I don’t actively listen to much radio or watch FTA TV in my own time but through work I hear/see my fair share of the isual suspects, can’t remember the last time I heard or saw anything about the Storm plugging an upcoming game. Likewise ticket deals, I remember they did the Marvel stadium deal last year which resulted in 2 higher than normal crowds but don’t think I’ve seen anything this year.

In saying that I eagerly await someone more knowledgeable proving me wrong with all the media engagement and advertising the club does and I’ve just been missing it 😂.
 

moffla

Bench
Messages
3,358
I’d be interested too as it may force their hand to do more to engage and build their casual fan base. Whilst their crowds are slowly but surely growing I do think that they could do more to expand their fan base.

I live down here and I don’t see them do much promotion or deals to get fans to their games anymore. Maybe I live under a rock because I don’t actively listen to much radio or watch FTA TV in my own time but through work I hear/see my fair share of the isual suspects, can’t remember the last time I heard or saw anything about the Storm plugging an upcoming game. Likewise ticket deals, I remember they did the Marvel stadium deal last year which resulted in 2 higher than normal crowds but don’t think I’ve seen anything this year.

In saying that I eagerly await someone more knowledgeable proving me wrong with all the media engagement and advertising the club does and I’ve just been missing it 😂.

Each pre season lately, the Storm run a membership day in conjunction with SEN radio which appears to be quite popular. 4 game memberships for the price of 2, 8 games for the price of 4 etc.

This year they also released a State of Origin membership which came with an origin ticket plus access to two home games.

Cut through for these deals is hard when it’s such an AFL dominant media but I do think the club are doing their part.
 

Saxon

Bench
Messages
2,952
I’d be interested too as it may force their hand to do more to engage and build their casual fan base. Whilst their crowds are slowly but surely growing I do think that they could do more to expand their fan base.

I live down here and I don’t see them do much promotion or deals to get fans to their games anymore. Maybe I live under a rock because I don’t actively listen to much radio or watch FTA TV in my own time but through work I hear/see my fair share of the isual suspects, can’t remember the last time I heard or saw anything about the Storm plugging an upcoming game. Likewise ticket deals, I remember they did the Marvel stadium deal last year which resulted in 2 higher than normal crowds but don’t think I’ve seen anything this year.

In saying that I eagerly await someone more knowledgeable proving me wrong with all the media engagement and advertising the club does and I’ve just been missing it 😂.
Victorian media is ridiculously AFL centric. Even for major successes, local media treats Storm a poor second (or worse). It has improved massively since the early days of the Storm but RL is still an 'also ran' news item.

Footnote.
In the early days we used to have to go to pubs that could get Imparja's feed from the NT to watch live RL.*
Even the channel Nein games were broadcast at stupid O'clock in the morning if at all - this despite contract clauses with the NRL that Nein televised games should be shown in Melbourne on the day of play. Rarely did they start before midnight, and often there were "technical issues" or other overnight sporting events (or old episodes of Prisoner or something equally crap) which meant the RL broadcast was bumped. We wrote and emailed Nein and the NRL, submitted applications to the ACA/ACMA and even picketed Nein's offices in Bendigo St.

Cable TV improved the situation somewhat but we were still unable to get Nein games on the day when I left Melbourne in 2006. At that time the only regular RL on radio was SEN - there was a regular spot on Kevin Bartlett's show on Wednesday mornings, and Francis Leach was happy to talk to the odd Storm player - and nothing outside of that. MMM at the time treated League like the Black Death.
 

Wb1234

Referee
Messages
27,647
Victorian media is ridiculously AFL centric. Even for major successes, local media treats Storm a poor second (or worse). It has improved massively since the early days of the Storm but RL is still an 'also ran' news item.

Footnote.
In the early days we used to have to go to pubs that could get Imparja's feed from the NT to watch live RL.*
Even the channel Nein games were broadcast at stupid O'clock in the morning if at all - this despite contract clauses with the NRL that Nein televised games should be shown in Melbourne on the day of play. Rarely did they start before midnight, and often there were "technical issues" or other overnight sporting events (or old episodes of Prisoner or something equally crap) which meant the RL broadcast was bumped. We wrote and emailed Nein and the NRL, submitted applications to the ACA/ACMA and even picketed Nein's offices in Bendigo St.

Cable TV improved the situation somewhat but we were still unable to get Nein games on the day when I left Melbourne in 2006. At that time the only regular RL on radio was SEN - there was a regular spot on Kevin Bartlett's show on Wednesday mornings, and Francis Leach was happy to talk to the odd Storm player - and nothing outside of that. MMM at the time treated League like the Black Death.
David gallop use it or lose it lol
 

BuffaloRules

Coach
Messages
14,369
Mate the Storm are pulling awesome crowds considering they are probably the 9th most popular team in their city.

In my opinion the crowd last night was disappointing… the competition leader versus the hottest team in the comp in a possible grand final preview… I think it was an opportunity lost , particularly as the Storm played a fantastic game …perhaps as someone mentioned above more could have been done to get a bigger crowd with marketing and ticket deals … although being interstate I dont know what actually was done in this regard…

No one appears to agree with me ,so obviously my expectations were too high ..I’ll keep them in check moving forward …
 
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