salivor said:
Of course it would be. Suncorp's last 3 crowds are 40k, 44k and 44k again. The last International Rugby League crowd to get anywhere near that would've been the 2000 World Cup final. No crowd in Australia has got within 10k of the Brisbane crowds in the last decade and you don't think Brisbane is guaranteed to get out to a World Cup final in force? Think big, Townsville would make a mockery of the game.
I think it will struggle if it is not an Australian Final! Has Brisbane ever got massive crowds to semi finals games not involving the Broncos? I am sorry but the Rlif/ARL simply isnt capabel of selling the WC as an event. Look at how it has dealt with it so far! thinking they would change is just dreaming.
I say thinking long term is thinking big and a sell out final is doing this. The world cup is about more than just the final game! This world cup has the potential to sell out. A newcastle game the same, even a Melbourne game could get a massive crowd, a Brisbane Semifinal involving Australia definitely could, a png group game could create sellouts with the minnows. With all these sellouts, the finals would become an event, and if they had a game, the Sydney public might actually turn up to a game, and you would expect New Zealand to at worst repeat their tri nations crowds. Growing the world cup as an event is in the long term future of the World cup, not worrying about holding it in a big city or in a slightly smaller stadium. Remember the first trination series where they used small venues. It was criticised but without it, the trinations wouldnt be the success it currently is.
The Rugby Union World Cup requires the hosting country to have a 60k seater stadium in order to get the rights to host the event and you want to host the World Cup final, our international Rugby League pinacle in little old Townsville in a dinky 25k seater stadium. You don't think that's not going to generate negative coverage? All it will do is play right into the stereotypes that damage the international game in the media, that we're so desperate to get a sell out that we have to go to a small stadium out of the major centers. Think big.
Like most posters, you confuse a couple of internet trolls and the occassional union journalist with credibility. Quite simply, you cant laugh at a successful world cup. The success of this world cup will rely on the on field performance and the television ratings. Sadly, it isnt going to replicate the union world cup, It is its own event, and it will eventually grow into a bigger event than the union world cup, but it wont happen at this world cup.
Of course the RLIF are relying on more turning up to the final. One of the factors in the disaster that was the 2000 WC was that we didn't get enough bums on seats at teh final. We could get twice as many people at stadiums in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as we could get at Dairy Farmers, that's twice the profit and if you want to talk about corporate dollars then all 3 centers could tripple anything Townsville could put together.
The only games Townsville should get are pool games and quarter finals. The Semi finals and the final need to be held in the major cities in the major stadiums.
50,000 people in Sydney? if you can get that, why hasnt it ever got it before? Is the final the best time to take a gamble and hope? You seem to think 50,000 people will turn up to NZ v England when reality suggests 10,000-15000 maybe 20,000 at best. By the way, wouldnt a 50,000 sydney final be 10000 or so short of capacity? Good image? What if it rains in Sydney, or if the group games are blow outs and the city doesnt take to the world cup? You cannot seriously compare the merits of Sydney to Townsville at the moment. If we were talking Grand final of Origin game, sure but not for a World Cup final just yet. Possibly in 4 years. If the RLIF is relying on the extra 25000 crowd to make a profit then they are worse than the 2000 organisers and we are in big trouble.
You honestly think Sydney would get 3 X the corporate support than Townsville? Most Corporate dollars comes from the television product a townsville final would lose none of that, but would easily gain an extra 500,000 in local sponsorship which simply isnt reasonable to expect sydney to get. A townsville world cup would be talked about for a year or more in Townsville. Would even create interest there in the current qualifying series. A sydney world cup wont even be thought about in Sydney until a couple a days before the finals starts.
I know Salivor, that you are definitely in the majority in your thinking, and that Brisbane is definitely the best realistic hope for the World Cup finals, but i am sorry, like the ARL/RLIF will be, you are wrong on this one.
If Townsville got the game tomorrow, PNG got their three group games, You would already have 4 sellout games. That leaves a good vibe in to drum up support in New Zealand, and with any luck, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin could sell out their group games and/or a semi final or at least get very big crowds. This leaves group games/Semi finals for Newcastle, Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne where the ARL could but a full effort into. With the right effort you could sell out or at least get very good crowds for every single world cup. That is more important (and profitable) than getting an extra 25000 to turn up to the finals.
By the way, if you want to think big and take a gamble, surely melbourne would be the best for the final. A proven interest/potential interest this year, They would love the opportunity to show up sydney in an event and always do support large events. You could potentially get 90,000 to the MCG which is nearly double the Brisbane or sydney best case crowd. And it would do the game wonders down there. Certainly they are a far better gamble than Sydney and maybe even Brisbane?
