Crowd Watch 2014 part 3

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Games gone from selling out in a day to empty seats on game day. Shame but I'm sure the NRL will be putting those extra millions made to good use.

I still dont understand why selling out on the first day is so fantastic...

Sell at $5-a-ticket if thats the goal; then just tell junior leagues the they cant afford balls anymore and RL is now played with bags full of garbage...

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Not that bad for a dead rubber and terrible ticket pricing, but clearly lessons to be learned for the NRL.

Id argue the resulting crowds have validated the decision to raise the prices...

 

[pHyR3]

Best pricing is when each ticket category sells out precisely at kickoff. Not before. That means that youve extracted all the money the public is willing to pay for the product. (this is only valid for SOO and things like that obviously)

In normal NRL we should be trying to increase crowds to create an atmosphere and expand the game obviously.

 

[DIOGENES]

Selling out in a day means you have undervalued your product.

Quick hypothetical maths:
Sellout of 52,500 @ average price of say $100 = gross take of $5,250,000
50, 155 with say 500 no shows @ average price $250 = $12,633,750
I think the league would not be too distressed at not selling 1,345 tickets.

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

I still dont understand why selling out on the first day is so fantastic...

Sell at $5-a-ticket if thats the goal; then just tell junior leagues the they cant afford balls anymore and RL is now played with bags full of garbage...

But Pearce didn't play this year!

Dave Taylor did though.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Best pricing is when each ticket category sells out precisely at kickoff. Not before. That means that youve extracted all the money the public is willing to pay for the product.

snip

The problem is that this is the same public that should be attending club games in Brisbane and Sydney before, during and after SOO. But they are no longer willing to because Origin has extracted all their money (and a slice of their passion).

So Origin profits go up, Origin crowds stay the same (at best) and NRL club game attendances and profits drop. Not to mention all those frustrated good folk that used to go to Origin no longer can afford to do so. This may also dent their passion for the game.

The players union, when shown the money origin is making, may demand more compensation for the players involved, further complicating international eligibility.

The financial figures will be impressive, but the flow on effects are much harder to measure and may manifest themselves slowly over a number of years. The ARLC better be careful where they are going with this.

 

[guyver78]

The problem is that this is the same public that should be attending club games in Brisbane and Sydney before, during and after SOO. But they are no longer willing to because Origin has extracted all their money (and a slice of their passion).

So Origin profits go up, Origin crowds stay the same (at best) and NRL club game attendances and profits drop. Not to mention all those frustrated good folk that used to go to Origin no longer can afford to do so. This may also dent their passion for the game.

The players union, when shown the money origin is making, may demand more compensation for the players involved, further complicating international eligibility.

The financial figures will be impressive, but the flow on effects are much harder to measure and may manifest themselves slowly over a number of years. The ARLC better be careful where they are going with this.

Exactly right & good post. It's the same story last year when heaps of people were surprised that only 45K turned up to watch Souths and Manly play in the second finals game. Given the prices of GF tickets that a lot of Souths supporters purchased how much money do some people here think people have? This will drain club footy across both NSW & QLD for weeks.

Besides lets face it, last night's game was a classic example of a dead rubber at it's finest. It was blatantly obvious. NSW looked slow, disinterested and a team that was just interested in collecting the Trophy, their origin match payment and avoiding injury. Their competitiveness and intensity was non existent after about the 20th minute.

I'll even go as far as saying that even if you paid the reduced price of $210 for a Gold seat last night you were ripped off.

 

[Chook Norris]

Besides lets face it, last night's game was a classic example of a dead rubber at it's finest. It was blatantly obvious. NSW looked slow, disinterested and a team that was just interested in collecting the Trophy, their origin match payment and avoiding injury. Their competitiveness and intensity was non existent after about the 20th minute.

I'll even go as far as saying that even if you paid the reduced price of $210 for a Gold seat last night you were ripped off.

Some pretty ignorant statements to make, mate. NSW spent half the match defending their goal line early on with plenty of intent, hence their fatigue. Did a good job of defending it too until the lack of possession ended catching up with them.

I thought last night was a solid Origin match and the public would've gotten their money's worth. Definitely a lot better footy played than the grub fest that was Origin 2.

As said, I think the NRL is on track with the pricing and the 1000~ unsold tickets wouldn't have bothered them too much. The pricing down in Melbourne at the MCG, however, will be quite interesting; especially considering it isn't a traditional RL market

 

[Perth Red]

I admire the people that bought tickets after game 2. I wouldn't have paid $210 for a dead rubber. Quality wise it was no better than a decent NRL game. Still if people will pay it then the NRL would be silly not to charge it, just hope the prediction of the knock on effect isn't true.

 

[Perth Red]

As said, I think the NRL is on track with the pricing and the 1000~ unsold tickets wouldn't have bothered them too much. The pricing down in Melbourne at the MCG, however, will be quite interesting; especially considering it isn't a traditional RL market

Hopefully with a lot more seats available to sell they will go for quantity and not charge silly money that will put off the neutral sports fan. I'm flying over to see it with some mates so I have a vested interest in cheap seats lol!

 

[SLRBRONCOS]

As said, I think the NRL is on track with the pricing and the 1000~ unsold tickets wouldn't have bothered them too much. The pricing down in Melbourne at the MCG, however, will be quite interesting; especially considering it isn't a traditional RL market

Yeah it better be cheap.

 

[BunniesMan]

I still dont understand why selling out on the first day is so fantastic...

Sell at $5-a-ticket if thats the goal; then just tell junior leagues the they cant afford balls anymore and RL is now played with bags full of garbage...

Do you know how much we're banking each and every year? We are nowhere near our financial capacity. We have the money to invest into growing crowds.

 

[BunniesMan]

For the weekends crowds I think:

Manly 15k
NZ 14k
Melbourne 16k
GC 9k
Cronulla 13k
Penrith 8k

 

[Cumberland Throw]

Sounds inspiring

 

[Timmah]

No, the true joke is that the top of the table battle between Manly and the Bulldogs attracted a crowd of less than 15,000

Wait on.

A team whose membership numbers are more than that of the two other teams combined is permitted an 11k crowd but 15k is abhorrent on the same weekend despite it being 4k MORE?

People would take Souths a bit more seriously if their crowds represented their member numbers...

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Just on pricing for games, I got an email this morning for autumn union internationals. France v Australia/Fiji/Argentina from 15€ a seat, or roughly $22. Puts SOO in perspective.

 

[Pedro Morales Magonzales]

Wait on.

A team whose membership numbers are more than that of the two other teams combined is permitted an 11k crowd but 15k is abhorrent on the same weekend despite it being 4k MORE?

People would take Souths a bit more seriously if their crowds represented their member numbers...

Whether opposition supporters take us seriously or not is up to them.

The income we generate from memberships is in the bank regardless of the crowd we get.

Clubs with lower membership numbers are the ones affected more financially by poor crowds.

While we have over 30,000 members I am confident in saying that the number of full season ticketed memberships would be less than half of that.

Our crowd against the Titans was poor, but it was the highest away crowd for a Titans match in NSW/ACT this season.

I openly criticised the dreadful 11,771 crowd figure for Rabbitohs v Dragons match that was played on a Monday night at ANZ Stadium

Do you truly believe that a crowd of less than 15,000 is acceptable for a top of the table clash between two of the best Sydney based teams in this years competition?

 

[Perth Red]

Brisbane recently announced their membership break down. Less than 9,000 were full season members. If that is reflective of all clubs it makes sense why memberships are not yet influencing avg crowds.

 

[Perth Red]

Whether opposition supporters take us seriously or not is up to them.

The income we generate from memberships is in the bank regardless of the crowd we get.

Clubs with lower membership numbers are the ones affected more financially by poor crowds.

While we have over 30,000 members I am confident in saying that the number of full season ticketed memberships would be less than half of that.

Our crowd against the Titans was poor, but it was the highest away crowd for a Titans match in NSW/ACT this season.

I openly criticised the dreadful 11,771 crowd figure for Rabbitohs v Dragons match that was played on a Monday night at ANZ Stadium

Do you truly believe that a crowd of less than 15,000 is acceptable for a top of the table clash between two of the best Sydney based teams in this years competition?

Souths ticketed membership is more likely to be 9-10,000

 

[guyver78]

Some pretty ignorant statements to make, mate. NSW spent half the match defending their goal line early on with plenty of intent, hence their fatigue. Did a good job of defending it too until the lack of possession ended catching up with them.

I thought last night was a solid Origin match and the public would've gotten their money's worth. Definitely a lot better footy played than the grub fest that was Origin 2.

As said, I think the NRL is on track with the pricing and the 1000~ unsold tickets wouldn't have bothered them too much. The pricing down in Melbourne at the MCG, however, will be quite interesting; especially considering it isn't a traditional RL market

Really? I thought Wednesday's game was no different to watching the Tigers play Penrith last sunday afternoon.

Game 1 was brilliant. Game 2 as boring a game it was, it was still competitive, you could see teams really getting into each other. Game 3 on the other hand, a complete dead rubber. I can't believe you'd pay to watch that.