A big reason we get crap crowds compared to AFL

[Kid Dynamite]

No one ever mentions this but one of the big reasons I think we don't see massive crowds in our game is that watching from behind the posts is pretty sh*t. I mean its ok, but I'm sure we lose out a little to other sports because the game is far better to watch from the sides of the field. AFL it doesnt matter where you are so much.

 

[Timmah]

And a solution? Or are you just trying to complain about another facet of the game?

Sure your name isn't Phil Gould?

 

[Kid Dynamite]

Complaint

vs

Observation

There is a difference.

 

[lockyno1]

Wrong, biggest reason- the AFL has more derbys to be honest. Yes there are a few in league but nowhere near as many as AFL have. Not to mention that they play at the MCG every week!

 

[Kid Dynamite]

Wrong, biggest reason- the AFL has more derbys to be honest. Yes there are a few in league but nowhere near as many as AFL have. Not to mention that they play at the MCG every week!
Reply With Quote

Did I say it was the biggest reason? What the f**k does it matter they play at the MCG? We play at Homebush each week and get like 3 fans there.

 

[lockyno1]

Did I say it was the biggest reason? What the f**k does it matter they play at the MCG? We play at Homebush each week and get like 3 fans there.

Last time I checked the MCG holds 95K compared to Homebush's 78K..that is a fair difference. The main reason is not the posts. It is the amount of derby's. Apart from the obvious QLD derby's we have, plus I guess the Dogs/Parra, Dogs/Manly, plus Sous/Roosters, Cronnulla/Saints, there are HARDLY any derby's in league. Derbys are what gets the biggest crowds. Compare the NRL derby's to the 90K they get for Essendon vs Collingwood.

 

[NK Arsenal]

Homebush has 80k seats, MCG 100k seats I believe.

 

[lockyno1]

Yep and that is TWENTY THOUSAND seats difference!

 

[Kid Dynamite]

Hmmm. There was a derby the other night at Homebush wasn't it? Between the Dogs and Eels. Although there were only 75000 or 80000 seats there. Had there been another 15000 more the game would have sold out easy. f**k me.

 

[ByRd]

Dogs vs Dragons/Eels/Tigers/Roosters are all big games and can be classified as derbys, i think the problem with this is that these matches are made more mention in the AFL and there is a bigger deal about them compared to these derbys in rugby league. I think the NRL needs to make a bigger deal about our derby/rivalry matches and you will bigger crowds at these games, it all comes down to the NRL's biggest problem....PROMOTION.

 

[lockyno1]

Hmmm. There was a derby the other night at Homebush wasn't it? Between the Dogs and Eels. Although there were only 75000 or 80000 seats there. Had there been another 15000 more the game would have sold out easy. f**k me.

That is a bad example as Homebush is a horrid ground to watch league. Most of the derby's at suburban grounds sell out take dragons-cronnulla for example. All the QLD derby's sell out. The problem with the NSW derby's is the fact that NSW do not have a great rugby league ground UNLESS they move back to the SFS. Look ask yourself this..would you go to Homebush to watch a league game? I know quite a few that would say NO.

 

[lockyno1]

Dogs vs Dragons/Eels/Tigers/Roosters are all big games and can be classified as derbys, i think the problem with this is that these matches are made more mention in the AFL and there is a bigger deal about them compared to these derbys in rugby league. I think the NRL needs to make a bigger deal about our derby/rivalry matches and you will bigger crowds at these games, it all comes down to the NRL's biggest problem....PROMOTION.

I agree with promotion, I also think that some of these Derby's should be held during the daytime as well- more families will go.

 

[donkey|rope]

thats bullsh*t.

the reason why we have crap crowds in comparison to the afl is because the afl and their clubs have developed a culture in melbourne of people getting out to the ground and watching football. in our game, the nrl thinks that an 'even' competition is the magic elixir to all our woes and the clubs don't give a toss about crowds because they get their revenue from leagues clubs and poker machines. no one has really attempted, in a concerted fashion, to grow their fan bases for god knows how long, and thus fans have returned the love by only showing up when their team is winning. don't get me wrong - sydney has other issues which add to the small crowds, but this is the crux of it.

and afl is a sh*t sport from every which angle

 

[fanatique]

Guys do you want the truth?

Here it is. AFL has a bigger active fanbase. Simple as that. They get more to theri games for the same reason we get more than NBL. We have more fans than NBL.

Derbies? We have as many. My team have 7 homers V Sydney opposition this year. Nonme have attracted 20,000 people. Seats? homebush and Aussie are NEVER near full.

We are great at lying to ourselves about crowds. Frankly talking about the MCG being bigger than homebush as a reason when even the Dogs are playing to 60,000 empty seats at Homebush every home game is simply absurd. They have more fans than we do so let's be big enough to admit it and move on with developing ourt fanbase and forget them. AFL is big. So what?

 

[eels_fan_01]

We get bigger tv ratings and they have bigger crowds. Pretty simple, different strengths.

 

[ozzy_ozman]

Dogs vs Dragons/Eels/Tigers/Roosters are all big games and can be classified as derbys, i think the problem with this is that these matches are made more mention in the AFL and there is a bigger deal about them compared to these derbys in rugby league. I think the NRL needs to make a bigger deal about our derby/rivalry matches and you will bigger crowds at these games, it all comes down to the NRL's biggest problem....PROMOTION.

why dont the nRL in troduce a local derby/rivalry round? im sure it will be able to put bums on seats

 

[meltiger]

Don't bother arguing with Locky, he is a moron.


The biggest crowds the AFL gets on a consistent basis are games between Melbourne's 4 biggest supported clubs, Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton & Richmond.


The reason Aussie Rules gets bigger crowds than RL consistently? RL is an equally good game to watch live or on tv, Aussie Rules quite simply is a sh*thouse game to watch on tv. Anyone who watches the majority of their games on tv as opposed to attending really is missing out. RL is a game that generally the action follows the ball or near enough to it, in Aussie Rules because of the method in which the ball is disposed (ie Long kicking), you really need to actually be in attendance to take in everything that is happening on the field.

One of RL's biggest strengths is it's campatibility for television, unfortunately at times that will hit the crowd numbers. It's a fact of life & not a bad thing. If RL played most of it's games in boutique stadiums, the majority of the stands would be full, the atmosphere great and no one would care.

I've gotta say, I went to Telstra Dome on Friday night and watch two teams battling it out to keep their finals hopes on track, a genuine, all Melbourne blockbuster (Bulldogs V Saints. The crowd was about 35k. There has been some talk on here lately about the Tigers Souths potential crowd in a few weeks, it will be what? 22-23k? I absoloutely gaurentee you the atmosphere a real boutique RL ground will generate that day will far excede anything that the AFL game on Friday night was able to diss up. & that could be repeated right across the suburban Sydney grounds, Camb, Kogarah, Brookie etc

 

[miguel de cervantes]

No one ever mentions this but one of the big reasons I think we don't see massive crowds in our game is that watching from behind the posts is pretty sh*t. I mean its ok, but I'm sure we lose out a little to other sports because the game is far better to watch from the sides of the field. AFL it doesnt matter where you are so much.

Yes, well there is only one problem with this argument. It only holds when both sides of the fields are packed. When was the last time you heard someone say "I'm not going to the footy today because I hear the sides will be packed and I'll only get a seat behind the posts".

I agree that it is better to sit on the sides rather than on the ends as there are depth perception problems, but it is cool to sit up the ends from time to time because you see a lot of interesting stuff you don't see from side on.

The funny thing is, when you watch English Super League they seem to have a tendence to sit up the ends rather than on the sides. This may be because of ticketing arrangements, it may be because they are used to soccer and the way that works, or it may be because they are British.

The best thing Channel 9 has ever done to increase match day attendences was to put Phil Gould on the commentry team. That really got me going to games rather than watching them on TV.

I'm not too sure about Melbourne, but I think one thing people overlook is that Sydneysiders are time poor, and putting aside half a day to get your ass to the footy and back (mainly because of transport) is a big sacrifice. I've never lived outside of Sydney (bar country NSW) but I'd imagine people in places like Perth, Adelaide and certainly Launceston are more relaxed and find it easier to go to the games. When I was living in Sydney, to get to see Souths it was car, train, train, train to Homebush and then back again! After spending 3 odd hours on walk, bus, train, bus to get to uni and then the same back again - come the weekend the last thing you want to do is pass half a day on public transport.

afl is a sh*t sport from every which angle

That's a classic. Give yourself a skippy badge.

 

[Rockin Ronny]

why dont the nRL in troduce a local derby/rivalry round? im sure it will be able to put bums on seats

Crowd issue? It used to be addressed by fudging the numbers - then that was found out.

The reason for bad crowds is obvious. The organisation that owns the game wants fans to stay home and watch TV on their product, PayTV. The cost for a family to go to the footy is massive - especially when things are tight.

 

[bobmar28]

Don't bother arguing with Locky, he is a moron.


The biggest crowds the AFL gets on a consistent basis are games between Melbourne's 4 biggest supported clubs, Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton & Richmond.


The reason Aussie Rules gets bigger crowds than RL consistently? RL is an equally good game to watch live or on tv, Aussie Rules quite simply is a sh*thouse game to watch on tv. Anyone who watches the majority of their games on tv as opposed to attending really is missing out. RL is a game that generally the action follows the ball or near enough to it, in Aussie Rules because of the method in which the ball is disposed (ie Long kicking), you really need to actually be in attendance to take in everything that is happening on the field.

One of RL's biggest strengths is it's campatibility for television, unfortunately at times that will hit the crowd numbers. It's a fact of life & not a bad thing. If RL played most of it's games in boutique stadiums, the majority of the stands would be full, the atmosphere great and no one would care.

I've gotta say, I went to Telstra Dome on Friday night and watch two teams battling it out to keep their finals hopes on track, a genuine, all Melbourne blockbuster (Bulldogs V Saints. The crowd was about 35k. There has been some talk on here lately about the Tigers Souths potential crowd in a few weeks, it will be what? 22-23k? I absoloutely gaurentee you the atmosphere a real boutique RL ground will generate that day will far excede anything that the AFL game on Friday night was able to diss up. & that could be repeated right across the suburban Sydney grounds, Camb, Kogarah, Brookie etc

People standing on the hill? this is 2007.