Rationalisation of Sydney

[Angry_eel]

Just asking out of curiosity. This might not be the right thread . But besides your own team , how many NRL games do people watch of a weekend?

Ever since getting into 1) Fantasy Footbal 2) Telstra BYOD plan, I am watching a minumum of 3-4 game every weekend. Before that, it was just the 1.

A long long time ago when I was a teenager, I watched all FTA games which would have been a minimum of 2 per weekend.

 

[greenBV4]

Just asking out of curiosity. This might not be the right thread . But besides your own team , how many NRL games do people watch of a weekend?

In person or on TV?

I try to at least "half watch" every free to air game, If I could afford Foxtel I'd probably watch more

 

[Perth Red]

Frankly when crowds are brought up they are a total red herring these days.

When you boil it down the only things that really matter when it comes to discussions about expansion or the make up of a competition are the clubs value to broadcasters, streamers, sponsors, and advertisers, and whether or not the club is sustainable, bringing crowds into it is just an attempt to distract from the real issues at hand.

So yeah, there're very few top tier professional clubs that are surviving off gate takings these days, in the modern market crowd numbers effectively mean nothing. Don't get me wrong they are nice to have, but sports clubs can not only survive but thrive without them.

The only reason that crowds are talked about so much in Australia at all is because of dick measuring by AFL types.

I’ve pointed out a number of times how false this is, clubs with large fanbases earn more money from game day revenue, memberships and merch sales than the tv grant, some significantly more. Sure if youre getting 10k attendances and have 15k members and not much wider fan base then you arent earning much from it. But turn that around and suddenly clubs become much much healthier looking in their financials.

 

[Perth Red]

Just asking out of curiosity. This might not be the right thread . But besides your own team , how many NRL games do people watch of a weekend?

4-5 on tv usually. Depends on the match up and venue.

 

[flippikat]

But if we want to truly grow our game, we need to smash this bubble, at least from headquarters’ perspective.
The theme I’m alluding to is that Sydney rugby league is the game, the cliched DNA, ‘where it all started’, all of it.
For some reason, the mouthpieces of league in Sydney’s media are constantly telling us that the traditions of the Sydney suburban competition need to be preserved in the national competition.
This is absolute rubbish.
Those traditions belong to the state competition they started in. The game is and always has been bigger than the competition in Sydney.
True expansion of our game will not be achieved by telling everyone else to play Sydney’s game.
It can only be achieved by making the game everyone else’s game to play.
It’s achieved by sharing ownership of the national competition equally with those who might be new to it.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

There's a rich history of the game outside Sydney, and a huge appetite to see more of it played out in other big cities.. yet a Sydny-centric media (not to mention many administrators over the years) just don't have the nerve or foresight to make the hard calls and face up to pruning that branch of the tree.

 

[The Great Dane]

I’ve pointed out a number of times how false this is, clubs with large fanbases earn more money from game day revenue, memberships and merch sales than the tv grant, some significantly more. Sure if youre getting 10k attendances and have 15k members and not much wider fan base then you arent earning much from it. But turn that around and suddenly clubs become much much healthier looking in their financials.

Well no shit clubs with bigger fan bases make more cash, but memberships and merch sales don't equal gate takings, so even with your numbers (which I don't doubt BTW) those clubs still aren't "surviving off gate takings" soley.

Also making the most money possible and simply being a sustainable business (you know what I was actually talking about) are two vastly different things as well...

I mean seriously did you even read that post or just go off half-cocked?!

 

[Shark62]

Hi. I’m a Sharks fan and new here. Looking forward to lots of friendly discussion. I can’t see any Sydney club relocating willingly but agree Sydney has too many clubs. I see no argument at all for bringing back clubs like the Bears. I’m surprised anybody would even care any more. My Sharks have nearly self destructed so many times now I think we are safe purely by good luck. Have a great day all!

 

[tri_colours]

Thanks for the reply's.

 

[Shark62]

4-5 on tv usually. Depends on the match up and venue.

I used to watch all of them but not this year as I’ve changed to Kayo and the screen quality has been poor. Very disappointing.

 

[flippikat]

Hi. I’m a Sharks fan and new here. Looking forward to lots of friendly discussion. I can’t see any Sydney club relocating willingly but agree Sydney has too many clubs. I see no argument at all for bringing back clubs like the Bears. I’m surprised anybody would even care any more. My Sharks have nearly self destructed so many times now I think we are safe purely by good luck. Have a great day all!

Good to have you on board.

Sydney is indeed the burning question here - and there's a wide range of feelings & opinions on what should happen with that city's NRL representation.

I think what may be needed is some form of criteria/decision making process, lead by the NSWRL & NRL to determine how to slice up Sydney - everything from how many NRL teams come from Sydney to how the junior areas are carved up. (Actually, how long has it been since the NSWRL really looked at junior area boundaries?)

Still, there's a pretty reasonable consensus on the need to expand, and I think accepted view is that Perth & a second Brisbane team are the best next steps.

 

[Shark62]

Good to have you on board.

Sydney is indeed the burning question here - and there's a wide range of feelings & opinions on what should happen with that city's NRL representation.

I think what may be needed is some form of criteria/decision making process, lead by the NSWRL & NRL to determine how to slice up Sydney - everything from how many NRL teams come from Sydney to how the junior areas are carved up. (Actually, how long has it been since the NSWRL really looked at junior area boundaries?)

Still, there's a pretty reasonable consensus on the need to expand, and I think accepted view is that Perth & a second Brisbane team are the best next steps.

Agree that Perth and Brisbane 2 are no brainers.
Regarding juniors the Sharks have a huge nursery and nearly as big as Parramatta these days. Manly’s junior numbers are up this year by the looks of it. The Rabbitohs junior numbers are holding up quite well this year too.
The good old game continues on.
Perth is a huge market in my view. Lots of potential for growth, a nice growing junior nursery and games on Sunday afternoon there would fit well into the 6pm time slot for a 9th game.

 

[Diesel]

Just asking out of curiosity. This might not be the right thread . But besides your own team , how many NRL games do people watch of a weekend?

I’d try to watch 3 full games if I’m lucky & half watch 2 others. If I’m driving or doing something else around the house I have the radio going

 

[Stallion]

Hi. I’m a Sharks fan and new here. Looking forward to lots of friendly discussion. I can’t see any Sydney club relocating willingly but agree Sydney has too many clubs. I see no argument at all for bringing back clubs like the Bears. I’m surprised anybody would even care any more. My Sharks have nearly self destructed so many times now I think we are safe purely by good luck. Have a great day all!

If you look at the population of both Sydney and the Illawarra it can easily cater for nine top flight clubs. Throw in the Central Coast and ten clubs (Central Coast Bears ) with established supporter bases (established supporter base are an advantage compared to no established supporter bases -generational support means plenty of fans in place ) So you are looking over 6million people and increasing for such 'established' and noted clubs. A big market advantage. The AFL have over half a million less people and have ten top flight clubs in Melbourne. Sydney deserves and the code deserves to maintain its historical advantage in this highly populated region. Absolutely no issues with additional clubs such as West Coast Pirates and Brisbane 2! No need to hurt the code any further into the future.

 

[Shark62]

If you look at the population of both Sydney and the Illawarra it can easily cater for nine top flight clubs. Throw in the Central Coast and ten clubs (Central Coast Bears ) with established supporter bases (established supporter base are an advantage compared to no established supporter bases -generational support means plenty of fans in place ) So you are looking over 6million people and increasing fir such 'established' and noted clubs. A big market advantage. The AFL have over half a million less people and have ten top flight clubs on Melbourne. Sydney deserves and code deserves to maintain its historical advantage in this highly populated region. Absolutely no issues with additional clubs such as Western Coast Pirates and Brisbane 2! No need to hurt the code any further into the future.

The Bears are gone. End of discussion. I’m not engaging any further on that. I’ve seen the carnage it’s caused here already.

 

[Perth Red]

Well no shit clubs with bigger fan bases make more cash, but memberships and merch sales don't equal gate takings, so even with your numbers (which I don't doubt BTW) those clubs still aren't "surviving off gate takings" soley.

Also making the most money possible and simply being a sustainable business (you know what I was actually talking about) are two vastly different things as well...

I mean seriously did you even read that post or just go off half-cocked?!

It’s all connected, more members leads to more gate takings leads to more merchandise sales etc etc. it’s about building a committed fan base that will spend money on their club, build that an the seemingly massive $13million tv grant actually starts to become the lessor important revenue source. BUT you do need a significant fan base t9 reach that, which leads us back to population size and clubs reach.

And yes I ddI read it, hence why I felt the need to call out that it is simply untrue to say that gate takings dont matter. They only don’t matter if you are only attracting 10k fans and can surbvive on a sub $24million revenue.

 

[Stallion]

The Bears are gone. End of discussion. I’m not engaging any further on that. I’ve seen the carnage it’s caused here already.

Lol . The carnage is for rugby league in northern Sydney! That's were the carnage is!

 

[Perth Red]

I used to watch all of them but not this year as I’ve changed to Kayo and the screen quality has been poor. Very disappointing.

Me too, used to watch nearly every game all season but I’ve got a bit bored with nrl, partly the sht off season, partly the frustration at no expansion plan and partly sht stuff like the video ref and wrestle that make the game less watchable. I am now picking and choosing much more.

 

[Shark62]

Lol . The carnage is for rugby league in northern Sydney! That's were the carnage is!

See my response above.

 

[Stallion]

See my response above.

Read the genuine response and you may work out that rugby league is in decline without such a top flight club in northern Sydney!

 

[Shark62]

Me too, used to watch nearly every game all season but I’ve got a bit bored with nrl, partly the sht off season, partly the frustration at no expansion plan and partly sht stuff like the video ref and wrestle that make the game less watchable. I am now picking and choosing much more.

I’d watch more if Kayo provided a better quality picture. Tried to watch the sharks last Saturday and got no volume and a poor picture. Very annoying.