They are also completely incapable of any historical research. Sydney crowd numbers have increased dramatically over the past 20 years, whereas the Broncos numbers have remaind static. They also fail to take into account that the Broncos having 1 team in a city of 1.5 million gives them a much larger fan base than any of the Sydney teams, hence why individual crowd numbers are much larger. Also the lack of games to go to (12 per year) means more people are likely (and able) to attend each game.
Other factors ignored are:
- the universal tendency in every sport known for fans to attend games when their team is winning and not attend when their team is losing (hence Parra, Roosters, Sharks crowds are down, Dragons, Bulldogs, Souths are up; Broncos have never had a losing season, hence their consistently high crowds; compare the old Gold Coast team to the Titans)
- Fewer opportunities to attend will raise crowds - compare crowds at Kogarah and Wollongong pre- and post-merger (6 games per year vs 12 games per year)
- Tossing teams out to try and artificially achieve the fewer games, bigger crowds phenomenon will not work as you alienate masses of fans in the process
- The difference between a 1-team town and a 9.5-team town
- Cost factors, such as the free transport one Knightmare mentioned
What particularly irks me is all the Queenswankers saying Sydney teams should show a bit of innovation to bring in some more money. When a bunch of teams do exactly that by taking games to ANZ Stadium, they whinge about small crowds in giant stadia. There have also been games taken to Brisbane, Gosford, Perth, New Zealand, and Adelaide. What Queensland-based team has ever taken a game elsewhere? Aren't the Queenslanders the ones banging on about driving expansion? Why don't one of the Cowboys, Broncos, or Gold Coast take some games to PNG and Darwin? Or is it all just talk based on an anti-Sydney agenda?
If Queenslanders wanted Sydney fans to follow their lead and abandon their traditional teams for new franchises, instead of entering the Sydney competition, they should have started up their own national competition to take the Sydney comp on, and eventually the fans would have migrated to the superior competition. Oh wait, they did try this, and it died in the arse.
The answer is not less teams in Sydney, it is more teams elsewhere. This will lead to more income from TV rights, and more opportunities and more money for players leading to fewer disappearing to union or overseas, as well as avoiding the cutting off your nose to spite your face situation of alienating fans.
