"It’s very realistic to say that we’ll have a second team in Brisbane in 2023": V'landys

[Perth Red]

You cannot deny that attendances for our game are lowish compared to AwFuL, NFL and EPL.

Not just them, According to wiki there are 27 other sports comps around the world with a bigger avg than nrl.

 

[Jamberoo]

I can see 25k people from the southern and eastern suburbs of Brisbane regularly attending Firehawks games at Lang Park because that's in Easts catchment and within close range of the stadium. I cannot see 25k people from Redcliffe travelling to Lang Park every fortnight.

Why do they need to come from Redcliffe? It’s like saying ‘as if 25k would come from Coorparoo’.

 

[Jamberoo]

You cannot deny that attendances for our game are lowish compared to AwFuL, NFL and EPL.

Or is it just that Sydney’s sport attendances are half of Melbourne’s? That applies to Cricket as well, horse racing, and to a lesser extent concerts. Broncos crowds are on a par with many AFL clubs. Perhaps why they might get a second side.

 

[The Great Dane]

If you keep moving the goalposts it's easier to prove your point eh. The initial comparison was attending a game (one game). You're now talking about regularly attending. To me that is just stupid.

I haven't moved the goalposts, nor did I talk in the singular in my original post: note the words 'each time', that suggests multiple occurrences... You are simply throwing out a red herring to try to dodge the point I made.

I'm not even sure why you're doing that when what I said is so inoffensive and undeniable.
I mean you've basically painted yourself into the position of arguing that the clubs shouldn't bother trying to upsell their customers and get as much financial commitment out of them as possible.

 

[The Great Dane]

Or is it just that Sydney’s sport attendances are half of Melbourne’s? That applies to Cricket as well, horse racing, and to a lesser extent concerts. Broncos crowds are on a par with many AFL clubs. Perhaps why they might get a second side.

It's all product availability.

Over the past century, but particularly the last 30ish years, the Victorian government and Melbourne (and the sporting bodies within Melbourne) have invested stupid amounts of money into improving sports and events infrastructure, the public services around them, and attracting major events to the city/region.

Basically they've made it as easy as possible to go and consume sports products, while NSW and Sydney has more or less done the exact opposite.

So it's not that Melbourne is culturally more inclined to attend sport, or be more fanatical in general, it's that through lots of investment and hard work they've made it way easier to do so.

 

[baselinepanther]

Then how come their attendances were shit?

one word..... Sydney

 

[The Great Dane]

Why do they need to come from Redcliffe? It’s like saying ‘as if 25k would come from Coorparoo’.

They don't have to come from Redcliffe, but unfortunately a team based in Redcliffe called the Dolphins is going to appeal to people from that part of the city significantly more than to people from other parts of the city, and that is a massive disadvantage when it comes to building a broad and diverse fanbase from across the city, a fanbase that they will need if the club is to be truly successful in the NRL.

It's a pretty basic equation; do we want clubs that appeal to smaller regional niches, or do we want clubs built to appeal to the broadest audience possible, and the answer has to be the latter if we want to build the biggest most sustainable and successful clubs possible.

 

[Jim Rockford]

I haven't moved the goalposts, nor did I talk in the singular in my original post: note the words 'each time', that suggests multiple occurrences... You are simply throwing out a red herring to try to dodge the point I made.

I'm not even sure why you're doing that when what I said is so inoffensive and undeniable.
I mean you've basically painted yourself into the position of arguing that the clubs shouldn't bother trying to upsell their customers and get as much financial commitment out of them as possible.

I agree that getting them to attend games is a very good thing. Not just for the financial benefits but because it looks so much better on TV when you can see a full house. I do however stand by my original point that memberships and merchandise should be the main goal of clubs. Attendance is capped by the size of the stadium but you can sell as many memberships and jerseys as there are people (theoretically).

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Not just them, According to wiki there are 27 other sports comps around the world with a bigger avg than nrl.

Has anyone commissioned a study to find out why our attendances are not as high as they should be?

We've got a great product, but we are underachieving and should have twice as many people turning up to games.

I think the lack of a national presence gives neutral observers the impression it's a second rate regional game. This should have been rectified 30 years ago.

 

[Perth Red]

Has anyone commissioned a study to find out why our attendances are not as high as they should be?

We've got a great product, but we are underachieving and should have twice as many people turning up to games.

I think the lack of a national presence gives neutral observers the impression it's a second rate regional game. This should have been rectified 30 years ago.

I dont think you need to spend money on that one!
Quality of stadia, especially in wet weather
KO times not family friendly
Lazy clubs not engaging their existing fan base or growing it
Game day experience, if you don't win its a crap day out. Should be a fun day of entertainment regardless of result
Not building on "tribalism' by encouraging away fans to attend in Sydney through reciprocal agreements
Terrible coverage of the game on Ch9 turning neutrals off the game

I dont buy cost of ticket as all top sports are similar or more expensive as NRL.

 

[mongoose]

Maybe it's just more convenient to watch on TV and League is made for TV but the NRL and its clubs need to work on making an NRL game an event and not just about watching your own team win. You should go to the NRL cause its a great day out and you feel like you get your money's worth, not just to go watch your team win and if they lose you feel like it was a waste of time. More day games would help this.

 

[Perth Red]

Maybe it's just more convenient to watch on TV and League is made for TV but the NRL and its clubs need to work on making an NRL game an event and not just about watching your own team win. You should go to the NRL cause its a great day out and you feel like you get your money's worth, not just to go watch your team win and if they lose you feel like it was a waste of time. More day games would help this.

of course it is, but thats why you need to offer a reason, or a number of reasons, to get off the couch. Its probably more convenient for fans of the other 27 sports leagues to watch on TV as well but they are managing to get more of them to games than the NRL. Yep, making it a great experience, win or lose, is key to getting people to spend money and take time out of there lives to attend any event. The upside is that attending things live is much more memorable, I cant remember many games I've watched on TV in last 20 years but I can remember most, quite vividly, I've watched at stadia.

 

[Jim Rockford]

Yeah, listen to Perth Red. All us league fans are lazy and not as loyal as the fans of all these other sports. He's really getting sick and tired of telling us all how unworthy we are. We should be more like the fans of his beloved AFL.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

As far as can be seen from what is publicly available the Firehawks are the only viable option.

Maybe the Jets have some tricks up there sleeves, but considering their focus on Ipswich I highly doubt it.

Based on your statement, you've obviously read all three bid documents. Can you lay out why you would take that position?

 

[titoelcolombiano]

In other words all their talk about their home ground has been largely non-committal and suspiciously coy, almost like they either don't want to commit ,or they want people to think they are doing something when that's not necessarily what they plan...

They've been pretty clear and consistent about it. The part about being financially viable and growing into a national brand means that it's obvious one, max two games will be taken elsewhere just like other clubs in the NRL currently do.

The Dolphins intend to play most of their games out of Suncorp Stadium with the new stadium to host a couple of games a year and to serve as the main training field for the NRL side.

To be clear, the Dolphins NRL Bid envisages – and has held preliminary discussions with – Suncorp Stadium to be the main home ground as Brisbane’s true second team.

The Dolphins will also explore the option to play some games at the clubs Moreton Daily Stadium and potentially also at the Sunshine Coast Stadium as the club looks to appeal to the areas surrounding the Dolphins base in Redcliffe and ensure the club has the right stadium strategy to be financially viable and guarantee the Dolphins are growing the game and fanbase into the future as national NRL brand.

Dolphins bid 'NRL-ready' with new stadium complete

The Dolphins NRL bid has been declared "NRL ready" by club chairman Bob Jones as the powerhouse organisation took the next step towards becoming the second elite Brisbane team.

www.nrl.com

https://www.dolphinsnrl.com.au/about/

 

[titoelcolombiano]

It's a pretty basic equation; do we want clubs that appeal to smaller regional niches, or do we want clubs built to appeal to the broadest audience possible, and the answer has to be the latter if we want to build the biggest most sustainable and successful clubs possible.

How are the Brisbane Dolphins playing out of Suncorp Stadium only appealing to a niche market?

 

[The Great Dane]

Based on your statement, you've obviously read all three bid documents. Can you lay out why you would take that position?

I've laid out why I take that position dozens of times, so I'm sorry but I'm not having that discussion with you again.

They've been pretty clear and consistent about it. The part about being financially viable and growing into a national brand means that it's obvious one, max two games will be taken elsewhere just like other clubs in the NRL currently do.

The Dolphins intend to play most of their games out of Suncorp Stadium with the new stadium to host a couple of games a year and to serve as the main training field for the NRL side.

To be clear, the Dolphins NRL Bid envisages – and has held preliminary discussions with – Suncorp Stadium to be the main home ground as Brisbane’s true second team.

The Dolphins will also explore the option to play some games at the clubs Moreton Daily Stadium and potentially also at the Sunshine Coast Stadium as the club looks to appeal to the areas surrounding the Dolphins base in Redcliffe and ensure the club has the right stadium strategy to be financially viable and guarantee the Dolphins are growing the game and fanbase into the future as national NRL brand.

Dolphins bid 'NRL-ready' with new stadium complete

The Dolphins NRL bid has been declared "NRL ready" by club chairman Bob Jones as the powerhouse organisation took the next step towards becoming the second elite Brisbane team.

www.nrl.com

https://www.dolphinsnrl.com.au/about/

'Explore options', 'play some games', 'potentially', maybe do this maybe do that talk is anything but clear.

You're right about them being consistent on the subject though; consistently vague and non-committal.

How are the Brisbane Dolphins playing out of Suncorp Stadium only appealing to a niche market?

LOL, f**k off.

May as well change all the teams names to the Australian Xs, because that way they'd appeal to all of Australia right?!

That's not how it works, you know that's not how it works, and you still haven't looked into the history of other clubs that have attempted what the Dolphins are attempting to do have you.

Look talking to you about this subject is an utter waste of time because you are simply too emotionally attached to it, and frankly completely ignorant about it, to have a meaningful discussion.

 

[The Great Dane]

I agree that getting them to attend games is a very good thing. Not just for the financial benefits but because it looks so much better on TV when you can see a full house. I do however stand by my original point that memberships and merchandise should be the main goal of clubs. Attendance is capped by the size of the stadium but you can sell as many memberships and jerseys as there are people (theoretically).

Why are you separating memberships from attendance when the only memberships that really matter are ticketed ones? Non-ticketed memberships are glorified marketing gimmicks in the NRL.

I also think that you'd be utterly surprised by how little clubs actually make from merchandise once everybody else takes their share. Not that I'm saying that merch isn't important, because it's very important, but the goal should be to get more financial commitment from the average customer than just the odd merch sale. Especially when I'd bet you anything that the average fan very rarely buys big ticket items like a jersey.

 

[The Great Dane]

Game day experience, if you don't win its a crap day out. Should be a fun day of entertainment regardless of result

Game day experience is a massive one that often gets overlooked. Most clubs put as little money and effort into it as possible then wonder why nobody is paying $30 to watch school assembly level entertainment.

The Raiders have gotten better over the years, and now have one of the better experiences in the NRL, but even they are trash compared to most of their competition.

 

[Perth Red]

NRL takes a hefty cut so I doubt clubs make much more than 10-20% profit of retail cost. Some clubs currently bring in less than $1million from merch sales. Some clubs, like Souths who have one of the best range of merch and biggest fan bases, would do much better.