Club Support - 4 Tiers of the NRL

[SpaceMonkey]

Maximum numbers of each club combined over the last decade - about 8.3 million i.e. the maximum pool of Australians who have taken an interest in an NRL club over that period (not including those with just a casual unaffiliated interest).

14. Warriors (just above the bottom 2 but stronger crowds)

To get an accurate picture of where the Warriors rank with other clubs you'd need to conduct the survey across AUstralia and NZ, as we'd command the allegiance of a large majority of supporters in NZ (though not all, The Broncos & Dogs in particular have Kiwi followings). I'd say we'd easily rank in the upper half of the table if that was considered.

 

[docbrown]

To get an accurate picture of where the Warriors rank with other clubs you'd need to conduct the survey across AUstralia and NZ, as we'd command the allegiance of a large majority of supporters in NZ (though not all, The Broncos & Dogs in particular have Kiwi followings). I'd say we'd easily rank in the upper half of the table if that was considered.

True, very good point I was merely talking in Australian terms.

The fact that interest in rugby league in New Zealand has been measured at around 50% and that the Warriors would command the lion's share of that, I think you could potentially argue that the Warriors could be in the Top 5 or 6 at least now.

I haven't seen any numbers for NZ polls. My guess though that it could be enough to put the Warriors on a level akin to Broncos, Storm & Eels.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

True, very good point I was merely talking in Australian terms.

The fact that interest in rugby league in New Zealand has been measured at around 50% and that the Warriors would command the lion's share of that, I think you could potentially argue that the Warriors could be in the Top 5 or 6 at least now.

I haven't seen any numbers for NZ polls. My guess though that it be enough to put the Warriors on a level akin to Broncos, Storm & Eels.

I live in Melbourne, and I'd say that the Warriors would be above the Storm for total supporter numbers- the Storm get reasonable support here but generally speaking you see a lot more Warriors merchandise around NZ (and the rest of Australia) than you do Storm merch around Melbourne. In fact according to the staff at a shop here that sells Rugby & League gear, they sell almost as much Warriors gear as Storm gear... and that's less than 1km from AAMI Park!

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

Well firstly unless they have Foxtel they will rarely be able to follow it on television - but - they still poll highly. This means that despite the media blackout, about 25% of Melbourne actively identify themselves as Storm supporters.

In a further survey poll 12% of Storm supporters actually attended an NRL match in the 2010-2011 financial year - approximately 110,000 individual people or so.

If the Storm could convert a quarter of Storm supporters who actually attended games into season ticket holders - they would come close to selling out every match.

The potential is there.

Absolutely, and they've done hard yards in the community down in Melbourne. What I was meaning to point out is that many of the million down there only identify with the storm because they're anti everythig else that isn't from Melbourne. Its a start, but not a realistic reflection of support.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Absolutely, and they've done hard yards in the community down in Melbourne. What I was meaning to point out is that many of the million down there only identify with the storm because they're anti everythig else that isn't from Melbourne. Its a start, but not a realistic reflection of support.

This is very true. The majority of Melbournians don't give much of a shit about the Storm or any form of Rugby in reality, but they'd tick the box in anti-NSW sentiment. The Storm do have a solid core of genuine supporters, but it'd probably be of a similar size to that of a mid-level Sydney club.

 

[docbrown]

This is very true. The majority of Melbournians don't give much of a shit about the Storm or any form of Rugby in reality, but they'd tick the box in anti-NSW sentiment. The Storm do have a solid core of genuine supporters, but it'd probably be of a similar size to that of a mid-level Sydney club.

As I said about 110,000 individual people in Victoria proactively identifying themselves as Storm supporters actually attended a game in the 2010-2011 financial year.

That's a pretty good niche, probably larger than some current Sydney clubs.

 

[magpie_man]

good list docbrown, the only difference i'd make is having the broncos as the sole "alpha" team; they blow the other clubs out of the stratosphere in terms of support.
i reckon with some steady onfield success and brand development the warriors will be rubbing shoulders with the broncos as an "alpha" in a few years. bluey mcclennan might turn out to be new zealand's wayne bennett...