The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

[T-Boon]

Why do you think that 18k is a poor crowd?

If you look at what I said I didn't call it a poor crowd. Its more of a poor ambition and poor use of money. The problem is that 15-18k is already about what NRL games get with crappy facilities.

The only reason to spend 10s of millions upgrading is to get bigger crowds otherwise I don't see the point of it. I'd rather the money spent on schools and hospitals.

As I said just do the hills up. Make them slope better so its a good view.

 

[T-Boon]

But also 15-18 is a crap crowd. At least relative to the strongest sports code in the country and just about every other pro football code in the developed world.

 

[Jamberoo]

But also 15-18 is a crap crowd. At least relative to the strongest sports code in the country and just about every other pro football code in the developed world.

Don’t compare to AFL. It is worldwide freak for crowds. Relative to population, it has the highest crowds in the world. MCG is almost the highest attended stadium in the world. Their model is based upon huge CBD stadiums which is not what the clubs nor the fans want for RL in Sydney. If you want to be like AFL you just close all stadiums besides ANZ, SFS and Parra. RL in Sydney has something that every other code has lost - suburban teams playing in their suburb. This must not be lost.
Take the AFL out of the comparison and 15k - 18k in a packed local stadium in the suburbs is brilliant. If you add in a handful of blockbuster games at BankWest/SFS/ANZ and factor in the overall NRL average would push 20k if every Sydney club was filling their local stadium each game. That would put the NRL around 20th best of any league in the world - and every league above them is in a country with more than double the population of Australia. For a sport that only half the country follows, an NRL average of 18k - 20k would be excellent by world standards.
If you don’t bring local grounds up to 2020 standard, crowds will continue to decline. The average at local Sydney stadiums in recent years has been around 13k, so 15k - 18k would represent a 25% increase and would be terrific.

 

[Perth Red]

If you want an 18k avg you need a 25k stadium. If 15k is the height of ambition for suburban clubs then the gap is only going to Get bigger between the haves and have nots. The nrl stopped being a suburban comp a long time ago, in reality less than a third of clubs these days are genuine suburban clubs. Once we have brisbane2 and Perth in suburban clubs are going to be even more in the minority.

 

[Quicksilver]

If you have a 20k stadium and it sells out every week, you have a near-to 20k average.

And if you sell 20,000 tickets and 18,000 show up, you’ve still sold 20k tickets which is all that matters.

 

[Nqcowboy]

I’d like the new stand at manly be called the beaver stand

 

[Styles clash]

Tbf I think Souths is now a brand rather than a location, they are an example of a club that has relaunched its brand to be city wide (in fact country wide) and not just a region. Clubs with very specific area names like manly, Cronulla or penrith are much harder to get that city wide appeal I’d suggest. Not impossible and some better marketing, centralised stadium and star player appeal for the kids could make a difference.

How many years has it been since the Rabbitohs played a game in 'South Sydney' (real game, not preseason)?

 

[Perth Red]

If you have a 20k stadium and it sells out every week, you have a near-to 20k average.

And if you sell 20,000 tickets and 18,000 show up, you’ve still sold 20k tickets which is all that matters.

it won’t sell out every week, that’s the problem, scheduling, weather, opposition, form etc will see some games draw bigger crowds, some draw smaller, to hit 18-20k avg you need to be selling around 25k to the big games to make up for the 13-15k for the low drawing games. Hence why a 18k stadium isn’t big enough.

 

[Perth Red]

How many years has it been since the Rabbitohs played a game in 'South Sydney' (real game, not preseason)?

that’s the point, they no longer need to be confined to a suburb with a small catchment. They’ve become a city wide club playing at a centralised stadium and are reaping the benefits of that.

 

[T-Boon]

that’s the point, they no longer need to be confined to a suburb with a small catchment. They’ve become a city wide club playing at a centralised stadium and are reaping the benefits of that.

They should change their name to Sydney Rabbitohs

 

[Steel Saints]

If you want an 18k avg you need a 25k stadium. If 15k is the height of ambition for suburban clubs then the gap is only going to Get bigger between the haves and have nots. The nrl stopped being a suburban comp a long time ago, in reality less than a third of clubs these days are genuine suburban clubs. Once we have brisbane2 and Perth in suburban clubs are going to be even more in the minority.

No, the NRL stopped being a NSWRL comp a long time ago. The so called suburban clubs are still needed. If you get rid of those clubs, then most likely you would lose juniors. A 20k average can still be achieved, even if the state government (unlikely) funds four suburban grounds at 20k capacity.

You have other bigger grounds:
ANZ- 83, 000
Suncorp- 52,500
New SFS- 42,500
Newcastle - 30, 000
AAMI Park- 30,000
Bankwest- 30,000
Mount Smart- 30,000
Robina-27,000
Townsville - 25,000
Canberra-25,000

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

We’ve heard over the last few years how AFL crowds have been dropping. Not sure if true but had heard it mentioned a few times in media. Some crowd loss is probably due to increased tele coverage of course but I wonder if Melbourne’s big stadium policy has had a negative effect on tribalism thus crowds given clubs don’t play in their own suburbs/grounds anymore. I’d like to hear from the Victorians on here what they think about my last point. I’m just thinking out loud here.

 

[jim_57]

We’ve heard over the last few years how AFL crowds have been dropping. Not sure if true but had heard it mentioned a few times in media. Some crowd loss is probably due to increased tele coverage of course but I wonder if Melbourne’s big stadium policy has had a negative effect on tribalism thus crowds given clubs don’t play in their own suburbs/grounds anymore. I’d like to hear from the Victorians on here what they think about my last point. I’m just thinking out loud here.

Not a Victorian but I've lived in Melbourne for the last 4 years. I can't honestly think of ever hearing anyone speak of it negatively. All the suburbs AFL teams are in are all very close to the city itself so I wouldn't imagine when they changed to centralised stadiums it would have had changed things too much.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Not a Victorian but I've lived in Melbourne for the last 4 years. I can't honestly think of ever hearing anyone speak of it negatively. All the suburbs AFL teams are in are all very close to the city itself so I wouldn't imagine when they changed to centralised stadiums it would have had changed things too much.

I wasn’t thinking that people would talk negatively about it but more the sense of, does tribalism get watered down when there’s no genuine home/away ground?
If so, has that contributed to crowds falling? Is there a lesson there for our game given the debate on future stadium policy? I’ve really been enjoying the debate on the last couple of pages of this thread. Good points from both sides has got me thinking a little deeper on the effects of tribalism.

 

[Nqcowboy]

Not a Victorian but I've lived in Melbourne for the last 4 years. I can't honestly think of ever hearing anyone speak of it negatively. All the suburbs AFL teams are in are all very close to the city itself so I wouldn't imagine when they changed to centralised stadiums it would have had changed things too much.

Lived in thornbury (northern suburbs) in 2018 and was surprised how geographically close Richmond, Collingwood, hawthorn and Carlton were together

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Lived in thornbury (northern suburbs) in 2018 and was surprised how geographically close Richmond, Collingwood, hawthorn and Carlton were together

I remember thinking the same thing.

 

[Nqcowboy]

To me it seems that all playing out of mcg or Telstra dome negates any home advantage of any kind, bar the game announcer amping up the “home” crowd

 

[Perth Red]

They should change their name to Sydney Rabbitohs

why change the brand when it’s so successful?

 

[Perth Red]

We’ve heard over the last few years how AFL crowds have been dropping. Not sure if true but had heard it mentioned a few times in media. Some crowd loss is probably due to increased tele coverage of course but I wonder if Melbourne’s big stadium policy has had a negative effect on tribalism thus crowds given clubs don’t play in their own suburbs/grounds anymore. I’d like to hear from the Victorians on here what they think about my last point. I’m just thinking out loud here.

AFL recent crowd avg is up from 32k to 34-35k last three years. Avg dropped due to two expansion clubs admission but have been boosted in last three years by Perth and Adelaide larger stadiums. Melbourne attendances have been pretty consistent.

the whole tribalism home ground thing does not seem to be in anyone’s minds except some suburban sydney clubs. Most afl fans would rather be playing in a state of the art stadium with 30k plus crowds close to pubs and easy to get to than some small run down joint that they can call “home”.

 

[T-Boon]

why change the brand when it’s so successful?

In what way is it successful? They aren't doing that well financially or in TV ratings and their crowds stink.
Additionally Sydney Rabbitohs is a better name because the team plays in Sydney while South Sydney is a ridiculous name because they don't play anywhere near South Sydney. Actually I am not even sure South Sydney is a place. If it is the Toes certainly don't play there.