Rationalisation of Sydney

[Stallion]

Massive, immense, fab? Come on give us a number in your estimation.

100000s at.least for all Sydney clubs for a start. Then work out their added numbers from grandfinal appearances and increase those numbers from that. Do the math dodo!

 

[Perth Red]

100,000 or 999,999 thousand?

 

[Stallion]

100,000 or 999,999 thousand?

100000 minimum and up from that figure. Base it on grandfinal appearances and you start to ascertain their supporter bases in Australia and NZ. TV appearances in those 3 decades in particular did the promotion work for Australia wide recognition. Till you acknowledge this fact you are a lost soul!

 

[Perth Red]

Why GF appearances? That tends to bring about 50-60k out of the woodwork at most. Based on attendances, memberships, TV viewing figures, big games such as GF's etc you'd be hard pressed to show any evidence that most of the clubs have anything over 100k-150,000 "fans" and I use that world loosely as 50-75% of those fans would have very limited or no financial contribution to the club. So losing a smaller Sydney club in effect probably loses around 30-70k fans of any great value.

 

[Stallion]

Why GF appearances? That tends to bring about 50-60k out of the woodwork at most. Based on attendances, memberships, TV viewing figures, big games such as GF's etc you'd be hard pressed to show any evidence that most of the clubs have anything over 100k-150,000 "fans" and I use that world loosely as 50-75% of those fans would have very limited or no financial contribution to the club. So losing a smaller Sydney club in effect probably loses around 30-70k fans of any great value.

Grand final appearances are the biggest day of publicising a club bar none. It's when supporters are won over. In fact most of the people following a club would have found the club from a grandfinal appearance. I did with the team I follow. I'm sure this is a common trait with plenty of supporters. Grand finals are gold. The biggest day of the year with the biggest audience outside of representative fixtures for rugby league.

 

[Perth Red]

Grand final appearances are the biggest day of publicising a club bar none. It's when supporters are won over. In fact most of the people following a club would have found the club from a grandfinal appearance. I did with the team I follow. I'm sure this is a common trait with plenty of supporters. Grand finals are gold. The biggest day of the year with the biggest audience outside of representative fixtures for rugby league.

That is true, but as an indicator of size of fanbase I dont see the correlation, unless you are talking about the number of fans who attend a GF of the clubs involved?

Roosters and Manly might be the exception to your point in recent years!

 

[Stallion]

That is true, but as an indicator of size of fanbase I dont see the correlation, unless you are talking about the number of fans who attend a GF of the clubs involved?

Roosters and Manly might be the exception to your point in recent years!

TV eyes have it PR! I've never attended a Roosters grandfinal but always viewed them on tv. I have been to other Roosters games like Anzac day and the Souths final at the SFS last season . BUT TV RULES FOR MOST FANS OF RUGBY LEAGUE.

 

[Perth Red]

That is true but Id say less than 10% of the TV audience is actually fans of that club and the rest are neutrals who will watch any game thats on. The more attractive glamorous or quality playing clubs draw the bigger audiences as more neutrals tune in to watch what they hope will be a good game. Hence why Brisbane v Melbourne is the biggest game of the year so far, despite Melbourne being a relatively small fanbase. So if its Manly v Wests or Perth v Melbourne (if not plodders) the TV audiences will be within a few % of each other.

 

[Stallion]

That is true but Id say less than 10% of the TV audience is actually fans of that club and the rest are neutrals who will watch any game thats on. The more attractive glamorous or quality playing clubs draw the bigger audiences as more neutrals tune in to watch what they hope will be a good game. Hence why Brisbane v Melbourne is the biggest game of the year so far, despite Melbourne being a relatively small fanbase. So if its Manly v Wests or Perth v Melbourne (if not plodders) the TV audiences will be within a few % of each other.

Nope. You are underestimating the 3 decades of significant tv exposure throughout Australia. Il testify to being one of those fans you refuse to acknowledge . I have mates that are Manly Warringah fans just because of their grandfinal appearances on the 70s and onwards. These fans are rusted on but get really pissed when talk of f**king off their club or identity is about. It's the same for all these clubs. The thirty years of exposure referred to is gold for the competition and its clubs. It's the advantage this competition has over the other codes trying to impinge on the football market of Sydney and subsequently throughout Australia.

 

[greenBV4]

Some!? You are f**king kidding! They have immense fab bases around Australia due to the high rating tv exposure of three decades 70s, 80s &90s .Wow @ You’re so not with it! ?

Every club has followers around the country, not just the Sydney ones. From what I've noticed down here, besides Storm fans, Brisbane and Cowboys and obviously Warriors have the biggest followings.

Up home on the North Coast, It'd be Gold Coast, Cowboys and Dragons. Dragons are a "big" Sydney club, and most people I knew who followed them was because of connections to the south coast

Storm have a decent following in Queensland, as well as most of the unrepresented states

Its also worth noting that fans from the 70s, 80s and 90s aren't the future of the game, we have to do what would best capture not just the current generations but the kids and the generations after them, they are the future of the game and will decide how popular it is as time goes on. The NRL biggest downfall is its lack of future vision, it makes decisions for the short term, and is too scared to make big calls that would be beneficial for the future.

 

[Stallion]

Every club has followers around the country, not just the Sydney ones. From what I've noticed down here, besides Storm fans, Brisbane and Cowboys and obviously Warriors have the biggest followings.

Up home on the North Coast, It'd be Gold Coast, Cowboys and Dragons. Dragons are a "big" Sydney club, and most people I knew who followed them was because of connections to the south coast

Storm have a decent following in Queensland, as well as most of the unrepresented states

Its also worth noting that fans from the 70s, 80s and 90s aren't the future of the game, we have to do what would best capture not just the current generations but the kids and the generations after them, they are the future of the game and will decide how popular it is as time goes on. The NRL biggest downfall is its lack of future vision, it makes decisions for the short term, and is too scared to make big calls that would be beneficial for the future.

Big mistake if you think the fans of the 70s , 80s &90's don't matter! Most people are living longer and they have family. This is in turn keeps interest in the competition and the code. We dissagree if you think those three decades of immense tv popularity of the Sydney clubs is not important. It's massive!

 

[greenBV4]

Big mistake if you think the fans of the 70s , 80s &90's don't matter! Most people are living longer and they have family. This is in turn keeps interest in the competition and the code. We disagree if you think those three decades of immense tv popularity of the Sydney clubs is not important. It's massive!

Never said they weren't important, just that the NRL needs to be able to make decisions for the future as well as the present, in order to strengthen the code for the long run

For every past fan who grew up watching the Sydney clubs dominate, there are news ones now watching the new "big" clubs, the Storm, Broncos and Warriors, as well as the traditional big Sydney clubs. To say clubs like Manly have the same national fanbase as those clubs is just not true

IMO the big clubs of the modern game are:
Storm
Broncos
Warriors
Parra
Dragons
Souths

Cowboys are close

Other clubs just don't compare nationally

 

[Diesel]

Warriors are known for drawing their fans to away games and are the number 1 team for doing so.

As for Manly, they’d have a large supporter base in NZ. Along with Canberra & Canterbury and to a lesser extent Broncos, all these clubs were most popular with Kiwis pre-1995

 

[tri_colours]

Why GF appearances? That tends to bring about 50-60k out of the woodwork at most. Based on attendances, memberships, TV viewing figures, big games such as GF's etc you'd be hard pressed to show any evidence that most of the clubs have anything over 100k-150,000 "fans" and I use that world loosely as 50-75% of those fans would have very limited or no financial contribution to the club. So losing a smaller Sydney club in effect probably loses around 30-70k fans of any great value.

I think all fans must be of value. Packer did make a record TV deal at that time. And the likes of Winfield, Samsung or Adidas and all other sponsors didn't sign up because of the 15k that went through the gates each week.

 

[unforgiven]

A lot of posters here want the NRL to run like a business and plan for the future. Any business that sacrifices loyal customers for the potential of new customers is making poor business decisions. It is much more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to retain existing customers. The NRL needs to build its new customer base while maintaining its existing customers. You do not do that by cutting or relocating teams.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Never said they weren't important, just that the NRL needs to be able to make decisions for the future as well as the present, in order to strengthen the code for the long run

For every past fan who grew up watching the Sydney clubs dominate, there are news ones now watching the new "big" clubs, the Storm, Broncos and Warriors, as well as the traditional big Sydney clubs. To say clubs like Manly have the same national fanbase as those clubs is just not true

I'd say the big clubs of the modern game are:
Storm
Broncos
Warriors
Parra
Dragons
Souths

Cowboys are close
Bulldogs probably if they had some success

Other clubs just don't compare nationally

I’m pretty conffident that the Tigers are one of the Top 3 supported Sydney clubs..

 

[ReddFelon]

As a Manly fan from a rusted on Manly family who has lived and worked in NSW, WA and as of this year North Queensland, I've never met anyone who wasn't from the Northern Beaches that follows my team. I've met interstate Parra, Souffs, Dragons and Sharks fans. My best friend is a Roosters fan from Rose Bay and he hasn't ever met any Roosters fans who aren't from the Eastern Suburbs or the inner city. Not feeling this whole "fans around the nation thing".

 

[Jimmy Wiggle]

Nope. You are underestimating the 3 decades of significant tv exposure throughout Australia. Il testify to being one of those fans you refuse to acknowledge . I have mates that are Manly Warringah fans just because of their grandfinal appearances on the 70s and onwards. These fans are rusted on but get really pissed when talk of f**king off their club or identity is about. It's the same for all these clubs. The thirty years of exposure referred to is gold for the competition and its clubs. It's the advantage this competition has over the other codes trying to impinge on the football market of Sydney and subsequently throughout Australia.

Stallion, you keep talking about this massive tv presence in the 70s, 80s & 90s. Maybe in NSW but not anywhere else, it wasn’t until the mid 00s that Vic, WA & SA were getting games at a decent time. Even Brisbane was getting delayed telecasts in 1995. I get that you are passionate but making shit up doesn’t help your argument

 

[Cdd]

Never said they weren't important, just that the NRL needs to be able to make decisions for the future as well as the present, in order to strengthen the code for the long run

For every past fan who grew up watching the Sydney clubs dominate, there are news ones now watching the new "big" clubs, the Storm, Broncos and Warriors, as well as the traditional big Sydney clubs. To say clubs like Manly have the same national fanbase as those clubs is just not true

IMO the big clubs of the modern game are:
Storm
Broncos
Warriors
Parra
Dragons
Souths

Cowboys are close

Other clubs just don't compare nationally

Hit the nail on the head. Most of those are one town teams.

I’ve no doubt one team in Perth, Adelaide, Central Coast, Rockhampton and Christchurch/Wellington could have a similar effect.

Cowboys are a great example. Townsville isn’t a huge place, nor is it particularly affluent and yet they’re an NRL powerhouse and with the new stadium coming they’ll be one of the best franchises in the NRL.

 

[Stallion]

Never said they weren't important, just that the NRL needs to be able to make decisions for the future as well as the present, in order to strengthen the code for the long run

For every past fan who grew up watching the Sydney clubs dominate, there are news ones now watching the new "big" clubs, the Storm, Broncos and Warriors, as well as the traditional big Sydney clubs. To say clubs like Manly have the same national fanbase as those clubs is just not true

IMO the big clubs of the modern game are:
Storm
Broncos
Warriors
Parra
Dragons
Souths

Cowboys are close

Other clubs just don't compare nationally

The point missing *(and its a major one) : the clubs you have mentioned would not exist had it not been for the immense popularity of the Sydney/NSW comp. !