I'm really shocked tbh at how attendances have increased so significantly and quickly.
We have spent more than two to three decades sitting around the 15 - 16 k limit, yet the game has exploded attendance wise over the past 2 seasons.
An 18 or 19 thousand average seemed impossible not long ago, yet here we are, so quickly.
Almost every match has become an event. Even Spoonbowls!!!
PVL has seriously changed the game for the better during his tenure.
The Bulldogs are a perfect example. Who'd have ever thought two years ago that they'd be getting 30000 attendances now for games that they'd previously just get 10-15k? Yep, nobody.
I don't think that this sort of growth will continue, but geez, it is exciting.
COVID has helped a lot of sports enjoy sudden growth, however we've definitely been fortunate to have a few other factors at play which have also helped pull up the average.
The first is new venues. Townsville, Parramatta & Moore Park all opening recently has helped the Cowboys, Eels & Roosters enjoy some of their best crowds in years. Brookvale getting a new grandstand has also been a catalyst for helping Manly grow their crowds as well.
Dolphins joining the competition has also helped. Having another team that in itself is able to draw over 20K but also give the likes of Brisbane & Nth Qld another guaranteed sell out only helps push things up.
Warriors started to get their act together pre-COVID when it came to crowds, drastically reducing their membership prices & investing in game day with the intention of trying to fill their ground regularly. Credit to then when they returned to NZ post COVID they stuck to the strategy & it has been paying off.
The trick for the sport now is to try & consolidate this growth and make it the new baseline, whilst continuing to get other venues updates or rebuilt. The new Panthers Stadium will help Penrith's average lift over the 20K mark, construction at Cronulla finally finishing will at least move them up from their current 11K average, but ideally the NRL should be working out other targets to help drive investment.