http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/03/11/dear-nrl-this-is-why-the-fans-are-walking-away/
Round 1 of the 2014 NRL season is now complete and the rugby league community is in uproar over the embarrassingly low attendance figures for its seasons opening round and the perceived lack of interest in the game. That much is clear.
What isnt clear to some, however, is that the NRL only has itself to blame. Not the players. Not the commentators.
Those in the NRL with the power to change things. They are responsible for this.
Certain parties among the media must hold a lesser portion of the blame also.
The crowd attendance at this seasons opening NRL games made the brand look like a bush league. It was a truly pathetic sight. So naturally, the excuses followed. It was a Thursday night and people had work the next morning. It was the weather. Really? Go tell that to the 50,000 screaming Poms who attend a Wednesday night Chelsea game in the pouring rain on a regular basis.
The low attendance was due to one reason; the paying public are simply not buying what the NRL is currently selling. The A-League (and overall interest in what we Australians call soccer) is growing stronger every year. Manchester United and Liverpool both made trips Down Under recently to great fanfare. Italian giants Juventus and English heavyweights Manchester City will arrive in a few months.
The AFL continues to draw consistently large crowds.
Meanwhile, the NRL lumbers on, complaining about low attendance season after season without doing anything significant to attempt rectify it. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting difference results. A wise saying, and one the NRL needs to hear.
So how does the NRL attempt rectify this situation? The game clearly needs a makeover. It needs to modernise the way in which it presents itself, without alienating its core audience.
Where to begin?
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There is more to this article but it goes on for a while and rather than crit you all for over 9000 with a wall of text, I thought I'd leave it there and let you guys read it and comment.
What are your thoughts on this given the Dragons moving some games to larger stadiums? Also, what about some of the suggestions about the clubs doing more at the games? Some of the suggestions are fair enough I think. But not sure how alot of the Sydney clubs would cope with some of the suggested changes.
For me I think there are options to move some of the teams out of Sydney to other locations etc. But that raises other issues with fan base and support. If Sharks moved to become another QLD team or NZ team, would those sharks fans based in Sydney leave the game altogether? Continue to support the team but only attend the few games they played in Sydney? Turn to support one of the remaining teams in Sydney?
Obviously Sharks is just an example but it raises some questions about how to improve numbers at games.
I know when the Bulldogs play up here in Mackay we get the stadium packed. It doesn't hold a whole heap of people but having a team based up here would ultimately generate numbers pretty consistently. Would even possibly promote stadium expansion. It's an unknown but maybe worth some thought.
Not sure we need more teams though...
Thoughts?
Round 1 of the 2014 NRL season is now complete and the rugby league community is in uproar over the embarrassingly low attendance figures for its seasons opening round and the perceived lack of interest in the game. That much is clear.
What isnt clear to some, however, is that the NRL only has itself to blame. Not the players. Not the commentators.
Those in the NRL with the power to change things. They are responsible for this.
Certain parties among the media must hold a lesser portion of the blame also.
The crowd attendance at this seasons opening NRL games made the brand look like a bush league. It was a truly pathetic sight. So naturally, the excuses followed. It was a Thursday night and people had work the next morning. It was the weather. Really? Go tell that to the 50,000 screaming Poms who attend a Wednesday night Chelsea game in the pouring rain on a regular basis.
The low attendance was due to one reason; the paying public are simply not buying what the NRL is currently selling. The A-League (and overall interest in what we Australians call soccer) is growing stronger every year. Manchester United and Liverpool both made trips Down Under recently to great fanfare. Italian giants Juventus and English heavyweights Manchester City will arrive in a few months.
The AFL continues to draw consistently large crowds.
Meanwhile, the NRL lumbers on, complaining about low attendance season after season without doing anything significant to attempt rectify it. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting difference results. A wise saying, and one the NRL needs to hear.
So how does the NRL attempt rectify this situation? The game clearly needs a makeover. It needs to modernise the way in which it presents itself, without alienating its core audience.
Where to begin?
________________________________________________________
There is more to this article but it goes on for a while and rather than crit you all for over 9000 with a wall of text, I thought I'd leave it there and let you guys read it and comment.
What are your thoughts on this given the Dragons moving some games to larger stadiums? Also, what about some of the suggestions about the clubs doing more at the games? Some of the suggestions are fair enough I think. But not sure how alot of the Sydney clubs would cope with some of the suggested changes.
For me I think there are options to move some of the teams out of Sydney to other locations etc. But that raises other issues with fan base and support. If Sharks moved to become another QLD team or NZ team, would those sharks fans based in Sydney leave the game altogether? Continue to support the team but only attend the few games they played in Sydney? Turn to support one of the remaining teams in Sydney?
Obviously Sharks is just an example but it raises some questions about how to improve numbers at games.
I know when the Bulldogs play up here in Mackay we get the stadium packed. It doesn't hold a whole heap of people but having a team based up here would ultimately generate numbers pretty consistently. Would even possibly promote stadium expansion. It's an unknown but maybe worth some thought.
Not sure we need more teams though...
Thoughts?
