Sydney Match of the Day

[Perth Red]

Why not give it a go with a soft program of monthly game day events, once a month at ANZ, $10 members of any club tickets, loads of great entertainment, make it the must do Sunday afternoon in Sydney sports event. Thats only around 7-8 events to try it with. Set a goal of 20k then try and keep building it.
Penrith v Wests
Wests v Eels
Souths v Bulldogs
Souths v Roosters
Bulldogs v Wests
Wests v Manly
Bulldogs v Eels

there's the first seven without taking much risk

If it fails (and lets be honest it would have to REALLY be bad for it to draw less than the 12-14k suburban ground avg) then not much lost. If it works then each year they could increase the number of events.

 

[Timmah]

At absolute worst, the crowd averages stay EXACTLY the same.

I'd love to know the logic behind this - there is simply no guarantee this would be the case.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Why not give it a go with a soft program of monthly game day events, once a month at ANZ, $10 members of any club tickets, loads of great entertainment, make it the must do Sunday afternoon in Sydney sports event. Thats only around 7-8 events to try it with. Set a goal of 20k then try and keep building it.
Penrith v Wests
Wests v Eels
Souths v Bulldogs
Souths v Roosters
Bulldogs v Wests
Wests v Manly
Bulldogs v Eels

there's the first seven without taking much risk

If it fails (and lets be honest it would have to REALLY be bad for it to draw less than the 12-14k suburban ground avg) then not much lost. If it works then each year they could increase the number of events.

I like the idea, why not use WSS as the venue? We rarely pull more than $35k to a club game anyway so it might be the perfect time and venue to try this at.

 

[morley101]

Not many neutrals go to matches these days... they have Foxtel subscriptions. They go to the ground to watch their team play and watch the other games on Foxtel or channel 9.

 

[Mr Spock!]

A draw announced at the beginning of the season and one announcing games 5 weeks in advance would end up being nearly identical.

9 has their favourite teams (Brisbane and the big Sydney clubs) and FOX has their demands. It was definitely fun looking in the paper every monday to see the recently announced schedule, but the benefits beyond that are small.

The middle ground i might suggest is announcing the slots for maybe the first 10 weeks. Then let the table start to for and, in week 5/6, announce R11-20. Then in Round 15, announce the R21-25 run home.

I think that would be a nice balance between the current draw and the old "5 weeks in advance". And it would give the NRL something to announce to fans mid-season...

Yeah it was great watching the Eels all year on Nine.....especially towards the end of the year when there were clashes between finals contenders not covered.

I take it they won't be seen much next year......

 

[Perth Red]

Not many neutrals go to matches these days... they have Foxtel subscriptions. They go to the ground to watch their team play and watch the other games on Foxtel or channel 9.

Sydney gets millions of tourists a year, I wonder how many of them take in some Australian culture at an NRL game? I know whenever I'm visiting a new country/city I try to get to a sports event if the stadium or experience interests me.

 

[madunit]

In years gone by we used to have match of the day played at the SCG

It would have 20 to 50k regular crowds

Match was selected by the competition points aggregate of the two teams playing

Could this concept work again in the modern game

Eg a Sydney teams match of the day played Sunday afternoon at ANZ

I would limit to matches between Sydney clubs though

TV ended that concept. Will never work today.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

I'd love to know the logic behind this - there is simply no guarantee this would be the case.

Id love to hear what you think COULD go wrong...

Are we putting at risk the amazing 13k average? Will fans flee to the hills if we structure the draw slightly differently? Will clubs throw tantrums? (we have NEVER seen that before)

Seriously, what is the worst that we could reasonable expect?

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Not many neutrals go to matches these days... they have Foxtel subscriptions. They go to the ground to watch their team play and watch the other games on Foxtel or channel 9.

I think people really underestimate the power of habit....

Neutrals dont go to follow other teams because that would mean trying to figure out the transport/prematch entertainment/best seats/etc EVERY time they go to a new game. Neutrals dont go because we just dont give them a chance.

Base regular games at a single location and let people figure out their routine. Going to the football should be like going to you childhood home, everything should be familiar and easy.

Yeah it was great watching the Eels all year on Nine.....especially towards the end of the year when there were clashes between finals contenders not covered.

I take it they won't be seen much next year......

Two points.

- C9 would have picked the REGARDLESS of their results. They are a big Sydney club; even when theyre going badly, they still draw good audiences.

- If you do actually put the best games on FTA, you run the risk of lowing the attending crowds. Maybe its a good thing that the best games arent on TV, it forces people to go to the games.

 

[Timmah]

Id love to hear what you think COULD go wrong...

Are we putting at risk the amazing 13k average? Will fans flee to the hills if we structure the draw slightly differently? Will clubs throw tantrums? (we have NEVER seen that before)

Seriously, what is the worst that we could reasonable expect?

That fans won't want to attend ANZ and crowds dip, with everyone complaining the matches aren't at their own home ground.

I don't understand on what basis you think it'd be a success.

 

[Perth Red]

That fans won't want to attend ANZ and crowds dip, with everyone complaining the matches aren't at their own home ground.

I don't understand on what basis you think it'd be a success.

Basis for possible success

Cheap ticket entry
NRL sponsor promotion opportunities
game day experience
Hype and marketing
Routine of knowing whats on when
Game day KO time
Stadium quality
Bonus cash grab for clubs involved

If ANZ isnt the answer until it gets past 30k then hold it at Allianz or WSS

Like said most of these games are only getting sub 15k crowds, its a very low bar to reach in a city of 5.5million people!!

 

[unforgiven]

Basis for possible success


Routine of knowing whats on when


If ANZ isnt the answer until it gets past 30k then hold it at Allianz or WSS

There goes your routine inside the same post?

 

[unforgiven]

I think people really underestimate the power of habit....

Neutrals dont go to follow other teams because that would mean trying to figure out the transport/prematch entertainment/best seats/etc EVERY time they go to a new game. Neutrals dont go because we just dont give them a chance.

Base regular games at a single location and let people figure out their routine. Going to the football should be like going to you childhood home, everything should be familiar and easy.



Two points.

- C9 would have picked the REGARDLESS of their results. They are a big Sydney club; even when theyre going badly, they still draw good audiences.

- If you do actually put the best games on FTA, you run the risk of lowing the attending crowds. Maybe its a good thing that the best games arent on TV, it forces people to go to the games.

So you idea is to develop a feeling of going to your childhood home by taking the game away from where people are used to attending. People who go to every home game now will have to break their habit of attending and go to a new stadium. You will lose those people on the hope of gaining these neutrals?

 

[Perth Red]

There goes your routine inside the same post?

Start at allianz or wss, if in three to four years it is hugely successful and drawing 30k crowds move the events to anz. as long as one stadium is locked in for the year then that is enough routine for most Id suggest

 

[Perth Red]

So you idea is to develop a feeling of going to your childhood home by taking the game away from where people are used to attending. People who go to every home game now will have to break their habit of attending and go to a new stadium. You will lose those people on the hope of gaining these neutrals?

Lose them? We aren’t asking them to travel interstate! Is it that much of a hardship to travel to a quaity stadium in the same city once or twice a season where there’s loads of good stuff going on, a big crowd, great atmosphere on a Sunday afternoon?

 

[unforgiven]

Lose them? We aren’t asking them to travel interstate! Is it that much of a hardship to travel to a quaity stadium in the same city once or twice a season where there’s loads of good stuff going on, a big crowd, great atmosphere on a Sunday afternoon?

Lose them? What a stupid comment, it is 5 times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer. So lets throw away the ones we have on the nope we can neutrals to a game.

As the Doctor said, going to the football should be comfortable, familar and easy .You guys talk about creating a sense of home and routine to attract the neutrals but you are doing that by taking away the sense of routine and home for the rusted on supporters. That is why this has the potential to be a disaster, they may not attend and you may not attract the neutrals leaving you with no one. The way the NRL has scheduled Sundays for next season with the majority being Sydney V Sydney matches is they way to go. Sure let the NRL promote them and put on all the bells and whistles but they should remain where the club chooses to play them.

 

[Perth Red]

Lose them? What a stupid comment, it is 5 times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing customer. So lets throw away the ones we have on the nope we can neutrals to a game.

As the Doctor said, going to the football should be comfortable, familar and easy .You guys talk about creating a sense of home and routine to attract the neutrals but you are doing that by taking away the sense of routine and home for the rusted on supporters. That is why this has the potential to be a disaster, they may not attend and you may not attract the neutrals leaving you with no one. The way the NRL has scheduled Sundays for next season with the majority being Sydney V Sydney matches is they way to go. Sure let the NRL promote them and put on all the bells and whistles but they should remain where the club chooses to play them.

You won’t lose the regulars, what you will do is add the neutrals. Doh. 12-16k as is or aim for 30k with a super sunday Sydney match of th month or round if it works, that’s the question?

 

[unforgiven]

You won’t lose the regulars, what you will do is add the neutrals. Doh. 12-16k as is or aim for 30k with a super sunday Sydney match of th month or round if it works, that’s the question?

How do you know you wont lose them? Majority of fans don't travel to away games.

 

[Perth Red]

How do you know you wont lose them? Majority of fans don't travel to away games.

If it’s included in their memberships and is something worth travelling for then we shouldn’t be losing them, it’s not a fricking hardship of immeasurable proportions to go across the city on a Sunday!
Some fans might like the idea of a home game at a fancy new stadium full of people and with loads of stuff going on,great food and drink and a full days entertainment. Or they might not but if we don’t try something different then one thing is for sure and that’s well still have our 15k competition crowd avg for evermore. There has to be some advantage of having nine clubs fanbases in one city that we can leverage off?

 

[Timmah]

If it’s included in their memberships and is something worth travelling for then we shouldn’t be losing them, it’s not a fricking hardship of immeasurable proportions to go across the city on a Sunday!
Some fans might like the idea of a home game at a fancy new stadium full of people and with loads of stuff going on,great food and drink and a full days entertainment. Or they might not but if we don’t try something different then one thing is for sure and that’s well still have our 15k competition crowd avg for evermore. There has to be some advantage of having nine clubs fanbases in one city that we can leverage off?

I honestly don't see those initiatives as being enough to entice fans of clubs like Manly, Roosters, Cronulla and even the Dragons to head to venues in Sydney's west in any meaningful number.

Take those clubs out of the equation and it immediately reduces the number of fixtures you can use to populate that timeslot - and then take out marquee match-ups like Dogs-Souths (Good Fri), Tigers-Eels (Easter Mon) and it becomes pointless very quickly.

Not to mention the reticence some clubs might have to giving up home games at their regular venue. Is it worth alienating the base to attract a handful of newbies?