2026 Crowd Watch

[bazza]

I take your point on cost, but it doesn`t have to be the same people week-in, week-out. These clubs have big enough fan bases that even if supporters choose one or two games per year they can have pretty good attendances.

clubs should be looking at season ticket holders/members filling up 50 - 70% of the ground each week with the rest people paying a premium

 

[Sky_Is_The_Limit]

The general rule of thumb for Allianz seems to be:
- If Level 2 South or North goes on sale, the crowd will be upwards of 20,000
- If Level 2 South and North go on sale, the crowd will be trending towards 25,000

So it will be interesting to see if the crowd can push 20k. A 6:00pm start and average weather forecast may put a dampener on that.

I think Parramatta and St George will be over 20k. Parramatta surprised everyone by beating Brisbane, and it would be good for the comp for them to be amongst it this year.

Two bays on Level 2 South are now on sale, so we should be looking at something over the 20k mark if the weather holds.

 

[yakstorm]

Canberra Stadium sales map for tonight (Maroon indicates sold/off-sale). Shame this game is on a Thursday night, if it was a Saturday or Sunday, a lot of Bulldogs fans would have travelled down for it, as it stands, I'm thinking 15-16K.

 

[yakstorm]

All non-accessible seats are now sold out in the General Admission South section at Allianz for Friday's Roosters v Panthers game.

The other Friday match, Storm v Broncos, is well on track for a big crowd. As mentioned previously, there is no GA seating for this game, so a 25K+ crowd is in the mix here.


General admission for the Rabbitohs v Wests Tigers game at polytec Stadium on the Central Coast is also now sold out. All restricted view seating has been put on sale for the game as well.

 

[guyver78]

The Roosters play the Titans at Gosford in May and when i looked the seats in bay 41 were i thought $80 also but checked again today and they are $75 which is still way to much. i like sitting in bay 41, your on about the quarter line and under cover, with my Roosters member discount and concession i got the tickets for $52 each which is still not cheap but a bit more affordable but as you say i'm not sure how some people or families can afford to go week in week out.

Souths were only giving members a 10% discount which brought the prices down to $72 which I think is still too much and as a result I just decided to watch the game on TV. Someone brought up a good point earlier saying the Zoo costs close to $200 for a family and yeah that's true but we have to put some things into perspective too.

A zoo is a whole day event that you might visit once every 10 years if that. This is just a 2 hour footy game and that's it. $52 is still quite a bit for that. Roosters tickets at SFS were always quite expensive tho.

I remember when Souths used to send out an email going back about 10 years, they always used to send a code for 1/2 price tickets to non-ticketed members. They don't do that anymore, now it's a 10% discount which is completely pointless..

 

[guyver78]

I support the Rabbitohs and besides the last 2 years i've been a season ticket holder, Category 1 reserved at ANZ since 2012.

Whilst the averages in crowds in the NRL across the whole season might have slightly up, Souths crowds have actually been pretty shit since we won the Grand Final.

Forget the first few rounds of the season, that doesn't really mean much. Traditionally the first few rounds have always drawn decent crowds until the novelty wears off and winter sets in.

If we're talking just an average game of Rabbitohs vs Tigers during the season, the crowds have not been that great. I remember the days we were always losing, we'd always outnumber Roosters supporters 2-1 even tho they'd have the superior side. These days, even under Wayne Bennett when we were winning, crowds have not been fantastic or anything.

We used to be on par with the bulldogs for numbers at the stadium. Now any given Good Friday game the Dogs would outnumber us 3-1 easy.

 

[ouwet]

I support the Rabbitohs and besides the last 2 years i've been a season ticket holder, Category 1 reserved at ANZ since 2012.

Whilst the averages in crowds in the NRL across the whole season might have slightly up, Souths crowds have actually been pretty shit since we won the Grand Final.

Forget the first few rounds of the season, that doesn't really mean much. Traditionally the first few rounds have always drawn decent crowds until the novelty wears off and winter sets in.

If we're talking just an average game of Rabbitohs vs Tigers during the season, the crowds have not been that great. I remember the days we were always losing, we'd always outnumber Roosters supporters 2-1 even tho they'd have the superior side. These days, even under Wayne Bennett when we were winning, crowds have not been fantastic or anything.

We used to be on par with the bulldogs for numbers at the stadium. Now any given Good Friday game the Dogs would outnumber us 3-1 easy.

Yeah 3-1 when it's your home game...

Last year when 65,000 went how many you think were South's? I think 5-8,000 but let's say 10,000. 6.5 to 1 on that day

 

[Wb1234]

I support the Rabbitohs and besides the last 2 years i've been a season ticket holder, Category 1 reserved at ANZ since 2012.

Whilst the averages in crowds in the NRL across the whole season might have slightly up, Souths crowds have actually been pretty shit since we won the Grand Final.

Forget the first few rounds of the season, that doesn't really mean much. Traditionally the first few rounds have always drawn decent crowds until the novelty wears off and winter sets in.

If we're talking just an average game of Rabbitohs vs Tigers during the season, the crowds have not been that great. I remember the days we were always losing, we'd always outnumber Roosters supporters 2-1 even tho they'd have the superior side. These days, even under Wayne Bennett when we were winning, crowds have not been fantastic or anything.

We used to be on par with the bulldogs for numbers at the stadium. Now any given Good Friday game the Dogs would outnumber us 3-1 easy.

Supply and demand

Gosford is a small ground for that game

Allianz would’ve had cheaper options but not for the good seats

Clubs know demand is fairly inelastic so the know how to maximise game day revenue of prices v numbers going

 

[Captain Apollo]

Also match tickets are predicated on buying them before game day. They are cheaper by at least $10 or more if you buy them beforehand and not at the ticket office at the ground on the day.

Season ticket prices can usually offer much cheaper options again. With the Roosters (for example), the cheapest membership which gives you a reserved seat (Silver) is $490 which is for all 10 games at Allianz and 1 game at Gosford, which is an average per game cost of $44.54. If you go for the Bronze, you get an unreserved seat in a set of designated bays behind the goal line at a cost of $305 which is for 10 games at Allianz and 1 game at Gosford, an average of $27.27 per game (note all are adult prices). I dare say all clubs season ticket prices would be similar in cost basis per match compared to buying individual game by game tickets.

 

[Wb1234]

 

[guyver78]

Yeah 3-1 when it's your home game...

Last year when 65,000 went how many you think were South's? I think 5-8,000 but let's say 10,000. 6.5 to 1 on that day

OK bro let's not over-exaggerate too much now

 

[guyver78]

Also match tickets are predicated on buying them before game day. They are cheaper by at least $10 or more if you buy them beforehand and not at the ticket office at the ground on the day.

Season ticket prices can usually offer much cheaper options again. With the Roosters (for example), the cheapest membership which gives you a reserved seat (Silver) is $490 which is for all 10 games at Allianz and 1 game at Gosford, which is an average per game cost of $44.54. If you go for the Bronze, you get an unreserved seat in a set of designated bays behind the goal line at a cost of $305 which is for 10 games at Allianz and 1 game at Gosford, an average of $27.27 per game (note all are adult prices). I dare say all clubs season ticket prices would be similar in cost basis per match compared to buying individual game by game tickets.

What's the most expensive in the middle bays?

 

[guyver78]

Supply and demand

Gosford is a small ground for that game

Allianz would’ve had cheaper options but not for the good seats

Clubs know demand is fairly inelastic so the know how to maximise game day revenue of prices v numbers going

Yeah 100% spot on and it's as i said in my previous post. At any of the big stadiums, the only real seats worth going to the game for are the Cat 1 reserved and a small amount of Cat 2 reserved. The rest are rubbish.

Like have a look at ANZ stadium. For an average game that draws 15K, the seats behind the dead ball line are not even worth taking for free. It's not worth fighting the traffic there for those, just watch it on TV..

 

[Wb1234]

Yeah 100% spot on and it's as i said in my previous post. At any of the big stadiums, the only real seats worth going to the game for are the Cat 1 reserved and a small amount of Cat 2 reserved. The rest are rubbish.

Like have a look at ANZ stadium. For an average game that draws 15K, the seats behind the dead ball line are not even worth taking for free. It's not worth fighting the traffic there for those, just watch it on TV..

Allianz and commbank would be ok. Been once to each sat behind the sticks it was ok

But yeh Accor even the good seats are average

Last year went to souths dogs behind the posts in the corner and right up the.back and still watched most of the game on the screen

Accor is such a punish now for club games except dogs whose big crowds give it some atmosphere

Souths will be back at Allianz in 2029 that will be a game changer imo

Accor was great for saving souths but now it’s a burden for the club

 

[Mother Nature's Son]

Souths will be back at Allianz in 2029 that will be a game changer imo

I`m not so sure about Souths, they are probably skewed one of the least well-off supporter bases in Rugby League not to mention one of the most dispersed.
I`m not sure that even a brilliant stadium like Allianz will work for them, the Roosters high-end
appeal and marketing makes them a much better fit for that venue.

 

[horrie hastings]

Souths were only giving members a 10% discount which brought the prices down to $72 which I think is still too much and as a result I just decided to watch the game on TV. Someone brought up a good point earlier saying the Zoo costs close to $200 for a family and yeah that's true but we have to put some things into perspective too.

A zoo is a whole day event that you might visit once every 10 years if that. This is just a 2 hour footy game and that's it. $52 is still quite a bit for that. Roosters tickets at SFS were always quite expensive tho.

I remember when Souths used to send out an email going back about 10 years, they always used to send a code for 1/2 price tickets to non-ticketed members. They don't do that anymore, now it's a 10% discount which is completely pointless..

The Roosters it was 20 % which took the price down to $60 at Gosford but i am entitled to a concession which took it down to $52. The 10 % for Rabbits members is quite shoddy and $72 is outrageous for a game where lots of members would have to travel a fair distance to get to.

The Roosters last year had a mad Monday promotion for 20% off tickets for their home games, i'm sure that helped getting a few extra through the gates, not sure whether they are doing it this year.

 

[Warriors Fever]

Souths are full of the same “fans”
That are fans of man city, Barcelona and others. They are a good brand but that’s about it, don’t really travel to games in huge numbers as the amount of “random souths fans” would suggest.

 

[ouwet]

OK bro let's not over-exaggerate too much now

Unfortunately last year I definitely am not exaggerating, the lack of South Sydney supporters was shocking... maybe I'm exaggerating when its your home game though (a little).

 

[Wb1234]

I`m not so sure about Souths, they are probably skewed one of the least well-off supporter bases in Rugby League not to mention one of the most dispersed.
I`m not sure that even a brilliant stadium like Allianz will work for them, the Roosters high-end
appeal and marketing makes them a much better fit for that venue.

Have you seen property prices in Redfern or maroubra

 

[i0Nic]

Would be great to first get an upgrade to lang park making it 65k in the next few years. Once that happens, we get Accor rebuilt to be a 75k rectangular stadium with a roof. In that 2-3 years it being built the grand final shifts to the upgraded Lang Park.

Hopefully within this timeframe we can also get a new Canberra Stadium and the proposed upgrades to WIN and Brookvale.

Only the sharks would be left with a truly sub par stadium. Somehow if they can get some funds to upgrade it a bit at least making it 16-18k would be ok - and they should also move a couple games to Allianz and Gosford.

Saints move Sydney games to Allianz. Tigers move a couple big games to the new Accor.

HBF and Port Moresby to 27-30k all seaters.

Mt Smart gets an upgrade to 30k

Following this plan it sets us up to be able to push for 25k+ crowd averages.

Timeline:
2030 - Lang Park 65k
2031 - New Canberra stadium 27k
2031 - Upgraded Brookvale 24k
2031 - Upgrades to Shark Park 18k
2031 - New stadium introduced with NZ2: One Nz stadium 25k
2032 - Mt Smart upgrade 30k
2033 - Rectangular Accor 75k
2033 - Upgraded WIN 24k
2034 - Upgraded HBF 27k
2035 - Upgraded Port Moresby 30k

This would help achieve:
- Broncos averages above 45k pushing 50k
- Canberra 22k average
- Manly 22k average
- Sharks 16k average
- Dragons 23k average (inc a few big Allianz games)
- Bulldogs regular 35k+ average
- Tigers 25k+ average
- Bears 24k+ average (including a big Optus stadium / Allianz home game)
- PNG 25k average


if Storm averages get to 25k, Newcastle 25k, Dolphins 26k, Souths 26k, Warriors 27k, Cowboys 24k.. We would get to a 25k+ average and probably closer to 30k with these numbers