Wouldn't make a difference unless the directors knew how to run the club.
The Gold Coast Giants were effectively Brisbane 1B. They wanted the Broncos license, but fell out of favour with the key decision makers before Arthurson decided SE Queensland needed another side (and to get out of his agreement with the non-compete for the Broncos, based them in Tweed). They failed because the owners didn't know what they were doing and never got going.
As for opposition codes, a lot of those figures were coming off maiden premiership runs or selective comparisons. Reds may have had a better average in 2012, but they played 3 less regular season games and had a post-season game to add to their tally. Take the best 9 crowds from the Broncos that season and see how they compare.
Past is the past, how much ground have those codes really made?
True about the Giants - even the Titans could be considered in the same boat. There is something about the transient nature of the Gold Coast that makes it a hard area to get into. Financial backing isn't there and the managements have been awful.
Locals normally support the Broncos anyway as they've been the local team for 30 years and anyone else brings their loyalties with them from elsewhere or is more interested in the beach and the lifestyle than football.
It doesn't help when access to the ground is so bloody hard to access and the prices charged enormous because of the deal with the Broncos supporting Queensland Government who own the stadium, but I digress.
As for other sports, I have a good mate here in Sydney who grew up in Adelaide and then lived in Brisbane before re-locating to Sydney. As such he is a Broncos and Queensland supporter when it comes to league.
He only lived in Brisbane for five years and in spite of the Bears / Lions thing he said that finding anyone who gave even the slightest of shits about AFL in Brisbane was virtually impossible. Within a year of being there, he was being dragged along to Broncos and Origin matches because to 99% of the Queenslanders he met, that's ALL that mattered. Everyone else could go jump. Admirable sentiments from our Maroon brethren and it makes me all warm hearted towards Queenslanders (which being a New South Welshman it shouldn't)
He said being an AFL tragic in Sydney is a lot easier because people here understand and take an interest in the game. There are league fans, but AFL fans here aren't like rocking horse shit like they are in Queensland.
So of course I drag him along to every NRL thing I can think of including taking him to Easts Leagues last Friday for the Semi.
He had a good night at least.
