Crowd Watch 2011

[Chook Norris]

the warriors found 36,000+ fans to themselves however

 

[Goddo]

"Panthers are not a big club for attendances" - since when was that an excuse for poor crowds? Sorry, not good enought - they need to turn their club around and become a big club for attendances.

Storm vs Sea Eagles at Brookvale I would expect a crowd of 16,000 to be decent for a round 1 game, and would have rated a B.

You can't compare the Northern Beaches fanbase and market with the Melbourne one. A city of 3 million and the so called "home of Australian sport" in a centrally located, brand new state-of-the-art stadium with excellent transport links all over the city to the venue, should have got a much bigger crowd for round 1. Like I said, if the Storm were mid-table and the game was mid-season then it would have been acceptable, but not for a round 1 game.

I agree RE Penrith. There are probably 2 too many NRL sides for a sustainable TV/sponsorship/media driven comp in Sydney currently, and because they are financially secure no one ever points the finger at the elephant in the room: Penrith crowds.

In that context, anything over 12-13k is good - at least it wasn't sub 10k! But the Panthers really have to start drawing a crowd, or use their wealth and multipule licenced clubs to finance a relocation, and leave western Sydney to the Tigers, Eels and Bulldogs, teams that can actually draw fans.

Penrith isn't like Canberra or Melbourne, who offer licences that build a national footprint for the game and other financial growth oportunities.
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The Storm game was competing with a few other events - the moomba thing started that night (I think its a sort of carnival).

Also, you may or may not be aware that Melbourne is a town OBSESSED with AFL. They actively shun RL because

1. - they are quietly scared of it and see it as a rival, or
2. - believe its inferior to their own game
(I'm not exactly which is more true, its usually a mix of the two with Victorians)

The problem is you say "3m people" bla bla bla, yet most of them hate RL. The majority of Storm attendences come from:

* Islanders living in Melbourne,
* Kiwis/NSW/QLD people living in Melbourne who want to see a game,
* the 15k or so RL following Victorians and
* the friends, partners and children accompaning these people

So they are getting around 14k from a pool of possible spectators around 50k mark. Not bad going compared to most sides.

You also ignore the fact that the Storm have had steady improvements in yearly attendence averages last year 10th in the NRL, beating Canberra, Penrith, Manly, North Queensland and Cronulla.

In previous years it was:
2010: 14,670 - 10th
2009: 12,000 - 14th
2008: 12,500 - 14th
2007: 11,700 -14th
2006: 10,800 - 14th

all this in a city where there is near ZERO free to air TV coverage. AND they are comming off the most shameful punishment in Australian sport EVER. 14.6k was a good crowd against low drawing Manly.
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Manly are a RL "heartland" yet have pathetic attendences, partly due to geography, partly due to their stadium, partly due to their fans. The Storm are growing and pulling crowds - Manly are trending sideways, maybe even backwards.

But you are a pre-Copernican pro-NSWRL fan. Like a few others around here, you would rather it return to being a Sydney only competition. What else should I expect from you?

 

[ouwet]

Weather isn't to good outside...

 

[BDGS]

Weather isn't to good outside...

Was raining out here earlier, lasted about just over an hour. Nothing since. But it is dark, the weather will prevent us from getting 200k but we will break the record for most ever though.

Are you going?

 

[age.s]

Our crowd wasn't fantastic yesterday, but if it had been belting down with rain people would rightly use that as a reason for the crowd being 1-2k lower than usual. I would have preferred to sit in teeming rain than that heat, and if I had young children I'd be more reluctant. It was brutal on the Eastern side of the ground, although it was much nicer in the second half with some cloud cover. I reckon the heat had something to do with the lower than expected crowd frankly.

 

[ouwet]

Was raining out here earlier, lasted about just over an hour. Nothing since. But it is dark, the weather will prevent us from getting 200k but we will break the record for most ever though.

Are you going?

Yeah I'll be there!

 

[NRLMad]

Hopefully the game is well attended tonight. Realilty is that this game should have been on yesterday and it would have drawn a lot more than tonight! It should have switched with one of the crappy games yesterday.

 

[NRLMad]

So they are getting around 14k from a pool of possible spectators around 50k mark. Not bad going compared to most sides.

You also ignore the fact that the Storm have had steady improvements in yearly attendence averages last year 10th in the NRL, beating Canberra, Penrith, Manly, North Queensland and Cronulla.

In previous years it was:
2010: 14,670 - 10th
2009: 12,000 - 14th
2008: 12,500 - 14th
2007: 11,700 -14th
2006: 10,800 - 14th

all this in a city where there is near ZERO free to air TV coverage. AND they are comming off the most shameful punishment in Australian sport EVER. 14.6k was a good crowd against low drawing Manly.
-------------------------------------------

All we need is for Melbourne to be in contention again this year and they will easily draw 20K / game. People seem to have very short memories. Last year, they were expecting the Storm to disappear. It really does show you how important having the Storm in the competition is. Manly fans are probably up there with the Sharks/Riff as the worst travellers. They are definitely not going to travel past the Spit Bridge very often.

 

[Perth Red]

yeh Penrith game should have been tonight, their crowd drop wouldn't have mattered much. I find the NRL scheduling weird at times!

 

[age.s]

yeh Penrith game should have been tonight, their crowd drop wouldn't have mattered much. I find the NRL scheduling weird at times!

Would have suited me. Let the dogs and tiger fans sweat like hogs.

Don't worry, if we keep playing like that you'll start seeing us on Sat and Mon evenings much more regularly.

 

[BDGS]

All we need is for Melbourne to be in contention again this year and they will easily draw 20K / game. People seem to have very short memories. Last year, they were expecting the Storm to disappear. It really does show you how important having the Storm in the competition is. Manly fans are probably up there with the Sharks/Riff as the worst travellers. They are definitely not going to travel past the Spit Bridge very often.

In saying that i thought Manly had quite a large number of fans down at AAMI park on the weekend. More then i was expecting them to get.

 

[Bluebags1908]

I agree RE Penrith. There are probably 2 too many NRL sides for a sustainable TV/sponsorship/media driven comp in Sydney currently, and because they are financially secure no one ever points the finger at the elephant in the room: Penrith crowds.

In that context, anything over 12-13k is good - at least it wasn't sub 10k! But the Panthers really have to start drawing a crowd, or use their wealth and multipule licenced clubs to finance a relocation, and leave western Sydney to the Tigers, Eels and Bulldogs, teams that can actually draw fans.

Penrith isn't like Canberra or Melbourne, who offer licences that build a national footprint for the game and other financial growth oportunities.
------------------------------------------------
The Storm game was competing with a few other events - the moomba thing started that night (I think its a sort of carnival).

Also, you may or may not be aware that Melbourne is a town OBSESSED with AFL. They actively shun RL because

1. - they are quietly scared of it and see it as a rival, or
2. - believe its inferior to their own game
(I'm not exactly which is more true, its usually a mix of the two with Victorians)

The problem is you say "3m people" bla bla bla, yet most of them hate RL. The majority of Storm attendences come from:

* Islanders living in Melbourne,
* Kiwis/NSW/QLD people living in Melbourne who want to see a game,
* the 15k or so RL following Victorians and
* the friends, partners and children accompaning these people

So they are getting around 14k from a pool of possible spectators around 50k mark. Not bad going compared to most sides.

You also ignore the fact that the Storm have had steady improvements in yearly attendence averages last year 10th in the NRL, beating Canberra, Penrith, Manly, North Queensland and Cronulla.

In previous years it was:
2010: 14,670 - 10th
2009: 12,000 - 14th
2008: 12,500 - 14th
2007: 11,700 -14th
2006: 10,800 - 14th

all this in a city where there is near ZERO free to air TV coverage. AND they are comming off the most shameful punishment in Australian sport EVER. 14.6k was a good crowd against low drawing Manly.
-------------------------------------------
Manly are a RL "heartland" yet have pathetic attendences, partly due to geography, partly due to their stadium, partly due to their fans. The Storm are growing and pulling crowds - Manly are trending sideways, maybe even backwards.

But you are a pre-Copernican pro-NSWRL fan. Like a few others around here, you would rather it return to being a Sydney only competition. What else should I expect from you?

:lol: You're funny. I bag Melbourne crowds and you accuse me of having a pro NSWRL Sydney-only competition agenda.

I have bagged Penrith's crowds too, and last time I checked they were in Western Sydney.

And you also conveniently ignore the fact that I gave the Broncos and Warriors crowds an 'A' rating.

Despite Penrith's crowds I am not in favouir of axing them (or any other Sydney team) as you insinuate in your e-mail. Penrith do bring other very important things to the competition like the enormous amount of juniors they produce. And the new team from that other game coming in next year it's not exactly a great idea axing Penrith depsite their flaws. Axing Penrith or any other Sydney team will not boost the crowds of other Sydney teams anyway - want proof?... Manly's crowds haven't exactly skyrocketed since the Bears were kicked out have they? I haven't seen too many Bears fans at Brookvale lately.

As for your excuses about Melbourne, yes I agree their crowds have steadily grown, and yes I agree they are obsessed with that other game - but sorry, obsession or not that crowd is still not good enough for the opening game of the season.

And for the record, I fully support having Melbourne Storm in the competition. At no stage in my previous post did I suggest otherwise, so to insinuate I want a Sydney-only competition (i.e. kick Melbourne out) is simply you putting words in my mouth.

If you or any pro-Storm fan can't cop criticism about poor crowds well that's not my problem. Their next home game might be great and I might rate it an 'A'.

 

[Cumberland Throw]

Here comes the rain. Right on que

 

[mxlegend99]

yeh Penrith game should have been tonight, their crowd drop wouldn't have mattered much. I find the NRL scheduling weird at times!

I would have preferred it. It was way too hot yesterday sitting in the sun for a few hours. If I knew we were going to play that badly I would have watched it at home in the aircon and been able to drink far cheaper.

IMO Saturday nights the best time to get to a game. The temperatures are usually nicer, you have plenty of time to get to the games early enough to catch the Under 20's if you want, you can easily make a night out of it and head elsewhere to drink afterwards. I also think we tend to get our best crowds on a Saturday.

 

[Perth Red]

Penrith do bring other very important things to the competition like the enormous amount of juniors they produce. .

Is this a furphy? Its the Panthers Leagues club that is producing and funding the Jnrs, not the NRL Pnathers. Would all that Jnr development continue if the NRL Panthers were not in the NRL? Yep. Clearly the kids out West are not taking up RL to emulate their Panther heroes otherwise they would also be at the games cheering them on.

Not saying they should be axed but they should def be put on notice by the NRL to lift their game in attendances or face the possibility.

 

[Bluebags1908]

Is this a furphy? Its the Panthers Leagues club that is producing and funding the Jnrs, not the NRL Pnathers. Would all that Jnr development continue if the NRL Panthers were not in the NRL? Yep. Clearly the kids out West are not taking up RL to emulate their Panther heroes otherwise they would also be at the games cheering them on.

Not saying they should be axed but they should def be put on notice by the NRL to lift their game in attendances or face the possibility.

You are right in saying the Leagues Club helps fund junior development, but I think the the NRL team goes hand-in-hand with that to promote the game to the kids.

I agree Penrith do need to lift their game crowd-wise.

My expectations on all the crowds are higher this week simply because it's round 1.

 

[Spitty]

Is this a furphy? Its the Panthers Leagues club that is producing and funding the Jnrs, not the NRL Pnathers. Would all that Jnr development continue if the NRL Panthers were not in the NRL? Yep. Clearly the kids out West are not taking up RL to emulate their Panther heroes otherwise they would also be at the games cheering them on.

Not saying they should be axed but they should def be put on notice by the NRL to lift their game in attendances or face the possibility.

I'm not for a second making excuses for my teams crowd yesterday, but if there were no Penrith Panthers do you seriously think Panthers Leagues club would continue to fund junior football to the extent that they do now? What motivation would that have to do that? Plus without the Penrith Panthers, the leagues club would suffer massive loss of patronige to the point where they wouldn't have the money to continue to fund a junior sport they no longer have a need to fund.

And who would start to poor plenty of money into junior sport between Blacktown and Katoomba? We've got a sh*te load of islanders who RU would love to give free jnr registration too. Plus a new AFL jnr club is popping up daily now, let alone with little competition.

As I say I'm not defending Panthers crowds. I don't like them being as low as they are. I'm there every week and my two daughters who are under 4 were there in the heat which wasn't comfortable for any of us. But please Perth Red don't suggest that the loss of the Penrith panthers wouldn't affect junior numbers. Both of us want to see your team in the comp in the near future, but I fail to see how extra teams will survive when you remove the source of your players. Unless you plan on playing with the 5 or 6 NRL players players Perth have produced, you'll need at least a few Panthers juniors to make a team list. Mate you get rid of the Panthers and your more likely have those juniors playing for the Western Force than the Perth Reds.

 

[supera]

Your highly stupid,if people are choosing to go to a race meeting over a Raiders game then that means the NRL isn't a good enough product for those people.

bullsh*t. the people of melbourne would choose the melbourne cup over any game of footy. every regional city in australia stops for its cup day. sydney would too if it was cultured enough to appreciate horse racing and actually gave some notice to some of the amazing race days you guys have.

Firstly, Canberra management should have informed or requested to the NRL that Black Opal race day was on this weekend and that they would prefer a different day for the match or an away game to start the season

the raiders did inform the NRL of the clash, and requested any other time slot. they were ignored.

Canberra is one side that would definitely benefit from a set draw so that people from these outlying areas can organise their trips in advance.

i totally agree with that. in fact i think a set draw benefits all non-sydney teams because of the allowance to book trips further out. i know i'd travel to a lot more matches in brisbane and melbourne if i had more notice.


i'm not defending the crowd. even with the long weekend and the unfortunate clash with the black opal, we should've cracked 15k.

i only posted what i did because people are so quick to comment on crowd numbers without knowing a thing about the circumstances.

for example, did any of the people bagging the raiders know about the black opal? i wouldnt profess to bag another teams crowds, cos i don't know what's going on in the area at the time.

 

[Serc]

Most (if not all) of the couple of showers/light rain patches across Sydney today should have cleared by kickoff tonight...though it would be hard to imagine that in Sydney right now as I imagine the sky looks quite dark and gloomy (thick cloud brought in by this mornings SE change)

 

[Evenflow]

It didn't take long for the old chestnut of the rain excuse to rear it's ugly head. I suspect some are getting in early just in case it's a sh*t crowd tonight and if it is there's no excuse whatsoever, first round against 2 big Sydney clubs who are both anticiapted to have big seasons. Should be a cracker crowd and i still think it will be given the things mentioned.