2025 Crowd Watch

[undertaker]

We'll see what the Kiwi support looks like when they play Australia.
I don't expect Kiwi support to come in big numbers until they're beating Australia regularly.

It's a little bit like when NSW used to beat QLD every game.. it only got big when it switched to " Origin"

Kiwi support could go mental if Australia v NZ becomes as even as QLD v NSW...

Which is why the Trans-Tasman 3-test series between Australia and New Zealand needs to be brought back. If the Ashes series was resurrected this year after 22 years in the wilderness, the revival of the Trans-Tasman series can definitely happen if V'Landys et al. at the ARLC want to make test match football a priority.

Pre-Super League war, the Trans-Tasman series got strong tv ratings and good crowds. I posted somewhere (have to find the link) that during the 1993 series, the 2nd and 3rd tests both got 2 million+ viewers (across the 5 metros), with the 3rd test outrating the AFL Grand Final that year. As a result of this, Channel 9 took back the tv rights for test matches from Channel 7 the following year.

EDIT: Found the link. You can see the ratings near the bottom of the page:

Is The Footy Show the most successful TV show in 25 years? | TV Tonight

Sorry Eddie. The numbers don't lie.....

tvtonight.com.au

 

[Wb1234]

Is it sold out yet, it should be

 

[steeden.]

Why did Sydney need it if they weren’t going to use Accor

Either Suncorp or Eden park should’ve got it

Arl really are making some stupid decisions when it comes to the nz market

Agreed. We all knew the final would be NZ vs. Tonga or Samoa, so why not play have the final at Eden Park and move one of the two Auckland-based pool games to Wellington or Dunedin?

 

[undertaker]

Agreed. We all knew the final would be NZ vs. Tonga or Samoa, so why not play have the final at Eden Park and move one of the two Auckland-based pool games to Wellington or Dunedin?

100% agree with you.

Having two games during the group stage in Auckland was a mistake. A final of NZ vs Tonga, NZ vs Samoa or Tonga vs Samoa would've drawn a bumper crowd at Eden Park, getting 15-20k more people than what will turn out at CommBank Stadium this coming Sunday.

 

[steeden.]

100% agree with you.

Having two games during the group stage in Auckland was a mistake. A final of NZ vs Tonga, NZ vs Samoa or Tonga vs Samoa would've drawn a bumper crowd at Eden Park, getting 15-20k more people than what will turn out at CommBank Stadium this coming Sunday.

definitely. if ever there was a year to play no games in Sydney it was this year under the guise of "Allianz is unavailable".

I'm glad we didn't move it to Accor though

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Seriously Can the kiwis muster more than 10k fans in New Zealand ?

Rugby league fans in New Zealand are Polynesian.

Rugby league players in New Zealand are Polynesian.

I don't get how people think you can take probably 50%+ of the pre-existing Kiwi players and fans, slap blue and red jerseys on them, and then say "hey where did the Kiwis fans go?"

We are lucky that for now we can still put together a strong side, but when all you hear is "this is good for the international game long term so NZ might have to suck it up for a while" it's a bit galling to hear in the same breath "hey why aren't you Kiwis supporting your team". This whole thing is set up to reappropriate NZ fans and players to other teams ffs!

...and I say this as non-rantingly as I can. I'm trying my best to be objective about simple cause and effect. Maybe one day Pakeha and Maori will want to go along en masse to what is effectively a Samoa or Tonga home game in Auckland, but I'm not holding my breath. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[yakstorm]

Why did Sydney need it if they weren’t going to use Accor

Either Suncorp or Eden park should’ve got it

Arl really are making some stupid decisions when it comes to the nz market

They're taking the financially safe approach. Coming into the series, Auckland only wanted to pay for 2x games (which they got) whilst Queensland & NSW each had entitlements from last year's deal.

The NRL could have choosen to fulfil their contractual requirements with the state governments in a future year, but most likely went for the safe money.

Tests in NZ don't make as much as in Australia, from both a currency conversion perspective, but also from a commercialisation perspective with the NZRL being the hosts. If the local governments weren't prepared to contribute, that also sees it being less profitable.

In terms of venue choices with Accor & Allianz out of action this weekend, it left only CommBank in Sydney. Sure the NRL could have swapped the order of the games, but most likeky felt Tonga v Samoa was always going to be an easier sell in a big stadium than the other combos.

 

[Wb1234]

They're taking the financially safe approach. Coming into the series, Auckland only wanted to pay for 2x games (which they got) whilst Queensland & NSW each had entitlements from last year's deal.

The NRL could have choosen to fulfil their contractual requirements with the state governments in a future year, but most likely went for the safe money.

Tests in NZ don't make as much as in Australia, from both a currency conversion perspective, but also from a commercialisation perspective with the NZRL being the hosts. If the local governments weren't prepared to contribute, that also sees it being less profitable.

In terms of venue choices with Accor & Allianz out of action this weekend, it left only CommBank in Sydney. Sure the NRL could have swapped the order of the games, but most likeky felt Tonga v Samoa was always going to be an easier sell in a big stadium than the other combos.

Thought the nz games the nzrl keeps the gate and the Aussie games the arl does ?

To be fair the factors you mentioned like govt commitments and funding provided do change the picture

So if they had to give the nsw govt a test match then there weren’t many other choices except Newcastle

Just think the final at Eden park would’ve worked no matter who made the final and the arl still could’ve kept the gate from it as it was their test match to sell if they didn’t want to let the nzrl keep it all



Allianz obviously would’ve been perfect for whichever teams made the finals but obviously unavailable due to flooding issues

 

[Wb1234]

Commbank doesn’t look far from a sell out

Only a few bays left with a dozen rows with minimal sales

 

[Gobsmacked]

Commbank doesn’t look far from a sell out

Only a few bays left with a dozen rows with minimal sales

It's not a massive capacity but 2 non Australian teams selling out is a strong message for the strength of the international game.
It's going look great on TV and both teams are in great form!
All we need now is some good ratings and we're flying..as if we weren't already...

 

[Gobsmacked]

What this pac championship is showing us is the pulling power of Samoa and Tonga in both Australia and NZ.
If the WC is structured right and we choose the right locations, we should do really well for crowds in the tournament!
Picking the right locations for games for Australia,NZ, Tonga and Samoa in Australia and NZ should do well, PNG playing in PNG , Fiji should get Fiji games, England in Perth, Lebanon in Western Sydney..
I think there's a chance this WC could be the most attended and profitable.

 

[jolly boys outing]

In terms of hiding an entirely empty section, I don't think I've ever seen them do a better job.

You'd think the ground was full.

The anti Accor.

I honestly don’t know where the other 11k would fit?

does the near 39k crowd include members as I’m seriously struggling to see where another 11k fans can be fitted into Eden park?

 

[Brutus]

Eden Park is a messy looking thing.

 

[Growthegame]

I honestly don’t know where the other 11k would fit?

does the near 39k crowd include members as I’m seriously struggling to see where another 11k fans can be fitted into Eden park?

It looked liked it was in its cricket configuration. Looks like some seats have been removed from its normal rugby configuration.

 

[It's Been Done]

It looked liked it was in its cricket configuration. Looks like some seats have been removed from its normal rugby configuration.

It hosted a T20 match a couple of weeks ago and is hosting another two this week, so that would explain Eden Park being in Cricket configuration

 

[undertaker]

Which is why the Trans-Tasman 3-test series between Australia and New Zealand needs to be brought back. If the Ashes series was resurrected this year after 22 years in the wilderness, the revival of the Trans-Tasman series can definitely happen if V'Landys et al. at the ARLC want to make test match football a priority.

Pre-Super League war, the Trans-Tasman series got strong tv ratings and good crowds. I posted somewhere (have to find the link) that during the 1993 series, the 2nd and 3rd tests both got 2 million+ viewers (across the 5 metros), with the 3rd test outrating the AFL Grand Final that year. As a result of this, Channel 9 took back the tv rights for test matches from Channel 7 the following year.

EDIT: Found the link. You can see the ratings near the bottom of the page:

Is The Footy Show the most successful TV show in 25 years? | TV Tonight

Sorry Eddie. The numbers don't lie.....

tvtonight.com.au

Forgot to mention....

I'd also like to see the Baskerville Shield (England vs New Zealand) contested more regularly as well. IIRC, it hasn't been contested since 2019, when Great Britain made an ill-fated comeback.

I don't know what the crowds would be like in New Zealand. However, going off the more recent series held in England in 2015 and 2018, there's definitely a lot of potential to draw large enough crowds to play the test matches at venues with more than 25k capacity. London Olympic Stadium drew 44k, Elland Road drew 32k and Anfield drew 26k (regarding Liverpool, I have no doubt the new Everton Stadium would draw a much larger crowd than this).

All in all:

Australia vs England (Ashes)
Australia vs New Zealand (Trans-Tasman trophy)
England vs New Zealand (Baskerville Shield)
Tonga vs Samoa

These 4 bilateral test series need to be contested more regularly

 

[yakstorm]

Thought the nz games the nzrl keeps the gate and the Aussie games the arl does ?

Sorta. The most recent Sky/NZRL/NRL deal guarantees that the NZRL have the opportunity to host a set number of home tests each World Cup cycle, I'm not sure the exact number, I think its 6 total, and for them the NZRL is the 'host' and has the opportunity to sell tickets/hospitality/etc.

For those games the NRL collects a %, both as the opposing team fee and also because they help underwrite the games.

Beyond that agreed number, the matches are up for negotiation.

So if they had to give the nsw govt a test match then there weren’t many other choices except Newcastle

WIN Stadium is the only other venue that could have been considered, with it also being part of the VenuesNSW management.

Either way, Wollongong would have been too small & Newcastle is too far away from the core supporter bases (although if Australia was playing, would have been a solid choice).

Just think the final at Eden park would’ve worked no matter who made the final and the arl still could’ve kept the gate from it as it was their test match to sell if they didn’t want to let the nzrl keep it all

Don't disagree that it would have been nice to have allowed the Kiwis to play at home again, especially as they're trying to rebuild interest in the national side, though I understand that the NRL is trying to extract as much revenue as possible from these tournaments (which will hopefully have a positive impact in the next CBA when it comes to prioritising international Rugby League)

 

[RedVee]

Sorta. The most recent Sky/NZRL/NRL deal guarantees that the NZRL have the opportunity to host a set number of home tests each World Cup cycle, I'm not sure the exact number, I think its 6 total, and for them the NZRL is the 'host' and has the opportunity to sell tickets/hospitality/etc.

For those games the NRL collects a %, both as the opposing team fee and also because they help underwrite the games.

Beyond that agreed number, the matches are up for negotiation.


WIN Stadium is the only other venue that could have been considered, with it also being part of the VenuesNSW management.

Either way, Wollongong would have been too small & Newcastle is too far away from the core supporter bases (although if Australia was playing, would have been a solid choice).


Don't disagree that it would have been nice to have allowed the Kiwis to play at home again, especially as they're trying to rebuild interest in the national side, though I understand that the NRL is trying to extract as much revenue as possible from these tournaments (which will hopefully have a positive impact in the next CBA when it comes to prioritising international Rugby League)

Yes, I attended Aus vs Samoa at WIN back when Vagana started the movement for heritage players to choose their Island nation.

I’d go again.

 

[yakstorm]

CommBank sales map. Pretty much just the back corners left of CommBank and less than 2,000 tickets left. Unless sections have been held back, I'd expect the match to sell out by Wednesday at the latest.

 

[eels4lifee]

Sundays forecast ain't good either