Canberra has more fans of other teams than the local one, that's always been the problem.
Yes the Raiders have plenty of fans, but they need a decent team to watch.
Raiders are in danger of becoming the third team in town, needs something doing down there.
They also have one of the ugliest jersey colours and a sh*thouse song that plays non stop at their games.
Surely isn't going to help.
Reality is Brumbies are getting biggest crowds, Raiders a few thousand behind and GWS are now in town and competing for paying spectators (though probably not going to get much bigger than they are now imo)
I'd say you could argue that they have a solid support base of about 190k and a bandwagon of another 100 to 150k (alot of those being those Canberra residents who support other league teams) - which although one of the smallest in the league - is still enough to get better crowds than what they're achieving.
If NRL clubs converted 10% of their solid support bases into members we wouldn't be having these conversations.
Regarding crowds at games like the Bulldogs Tigers on Friday night, the aim should definitely be to get some 40k+ attendances. The game ticked pretty much all of the boxes you would need for a really big crowd.
1. 2 well supported Sydney teams - tick
2. Both teams in the top 8 - tick
3. Both teams who can play attractive football - tick
4. Important game for both teams - tick
5. Decent weather - tick
6. Unused stadium capacity - tick
29k is okay, but there is a lot of upside potential in a game like this, compared to a game like Warriors vs Panthers. Even the Sharks vs Rabbits game ticked most boxes, but the ground capacity would limit any improvement to a couple thousand. With a bit of effort, media build-up over a week or two, 40k should have been possible for the Bulldogs vs Tigers.
To improve the season average, the NRL really needs to push the marketing for these games where the stars do align.
epic wtf.
GA tickets $28 for Friday night's Canberra game.
No wonder people don't f**king go.
About the norm to watch live top sport these days. What would you expect it to be?
GA at MCG for AFL is $20...
At Etihad its $24....
Melbourne is a city of 3 million people, Canberra is a city of 350k. Things just cost more here. $28 for a ticket in Canberra is normal. No more or less expensive than what the other codes charge.
4*Melbourne is a city of 3 million people, Canberra is a city of 350k. Things just cost more here. $28 for a ticket in Canberra is normal. No more or less expensive than what the other codes charge.