Yep, it’s me beating the Adelaide Rams Drum. Bit of a read here for you folk....
Having moved here last year, I’ve been genuinely surprised at how many people have an interest and approached me about League (usually when I’m wearing a Dragons jacket, hat or one of my old retro-wear pieces – like my prized Gold Coast Seagulls Jacket or Adelaide Rams Hat), and also the number of people I’ve seen getting around in NRL gear.
And it got me thinking. Is there a strong case to bring back Adelaide to the NRL at some point?
Well I now believe there is a strong case. Or at least stronger than many might think.
If I was back in Sydney a few years ago and someone suggested this, I’d have laughed so expect you might too. Undoubtedly there’s some bias around wanting an Adelaide team. But pushing any bias aside, I’ve done a bit of research. So, read on to open your mind, pick holes in it, or just fill in some time.
Firstly, add Adelaide into the expansion list as below.
- Brisbane V2
- New Zealand V2
- Perth
- Central Qld
- Central Coast
- Adelaide
If an expansion team can’t generate ROI soon after establishment, then in these times we live in there’s no point continuing the conversation. But rather than bore everyone with financial jargon and stats… break it down into the following areas, which all are the major drivers on a P&L.
1 - Establishment & Ongoing Operational Costs.
2 - Stadium
3 - Sponsorship/Advertising.
4 - Membership and Attendance
Generally, establishment & operational costs will be similar for all. But aspects where costs may differ are Travel, and Stadium operations.
So for Adelaide??
Stadium
There’s two. Adelaide Oval and Hindmarsh Stadium. Let’s take it we want a rectangular stadium – Hindmarsh – which is getting an upgrade to seat 22,000 thanks to winning the 2023 Womens’ World Cup.
Operating Costs for a stadium this size would be on the lesser side compared to bigger stadiums. While they could also co-habit with A-League Side Adelaide FC. Cohabitation will also incentivise owners to invest in future upgrades with more games per year hosted.
Stadium Quality?
It’s small but I’ve never been to a ground where all seats are so on-top of the action. There’s not a bad seat in the house, the stands are so close to the playing arena. That is one of the great appeals of league – to be close to the action. And with the upgrades to come for 2023, stadium quality will only improve.
Stadium Access?
Adelaide is the easiest major city to get around by car. It’s also only a 9-iron away from the city centre, and easily accessed by Public Transport.
Travel Costs.
Teams will have to travel all over the place but the majority of travel will be in / out of Sydney given the number of Sydney Clubs. And Flights costs will be the differentiator here.
So for Adelaide?
Adelaide is a 2hr flight time to Sydney. Brisbane is 90 minutes, Melbourne 80 minutes, Perth is 4 hrs into Sydney, and 5 hours leaving Sydney. NZ is just under 4 hours (depending on which city). And costs are relative to these times.
If comparing with Perth, the flight costs pp is close to Double the cost for Adelaide. Consider that for a minimum travelling squad of 30 and that is very sizeable (Sorry Perth Red!). Adelaide is far cheaper than Perth or NZ.
But in return… when Clubs have to fly interstate to a game with an “expansion team”. Adelaide has direct flights to all city centres. The only other expansion candidate that can do this is Brisbane. Of course this may change in time.
Sponsorship & Advertising
Tricky one. You could compare by city sizes in terms of revenue expectations. In which Case Adelaide sits in the middle of all others. Noting revenue would be expected higher for larger population bases - for the club and for TV viewerships. In the case of Perth & Adelaide, these will bring "new eyeballs" to the game... where other heartland areas may already have their TV's on Rugby League. With new eyeballs comes increased ratings, advertising revenue and overall financial strengthening of the NRL.
Membership and Supporter Base.
How to best could you gauge this?
You could go on heartland states versus “frontiers” like Perth, Adelaide etc. If going by Population bases, Adelaide is 3rd behind Brisbane & Perth. And way ahead of the others. We could also go on a comparison of past history and current stats.
Once a year the Storm play the Roosters at the Adelaide Oval. Over the last 3 seasons these games have drawn over 16,000, 18,000 and 21,000 fans. Not bad for a state that has no firm Rugby League presence or club to follow.
And the Rams… first season, 1997. But when the SL war was over, Adelaide were “sacrificed” and entered 1998 with no future beyond it. So with the rams here was a team that;
- Was hastily cobbled together for the SL comp.
- Drew over drew over 27,000 people to their first match
- Averaged over 15k crowds in its first season.
- With the exception of their 2nd last game of the season (while running 2nd last), had all crowds over 10,000 people
- Had no established quality players apart from Kerrod Walters.
- Only won 6 games all year.
Further to their crowds…
- Their average crowd was the 6th highest of all clubs across both competitions.
- Of the established Sydney teams only Parramatta's average was higher.
Granted the SL war affected crowds that year, so then comparing it to the 1996 season..
- Only the Warriors, Broncos, Knights and Roosters had higher home crowd averages than this.
And with 1995 (when the "SL War" hadn't blown up yet)
- Only the Warriors, Broncos, Raiders, Knights, Crushers and Cowboys had higher average crowds.
- The Warriors Crushers and Cowboys were all new teams but in "RL Heartlands".
- The Broncos Raiders and Knights were one-city teams and highly successful during that time.
- The Rams in 97 had higher crowd averages than all the Sydney teams of 1995.
And their average crowd back then in 1997, with all this considered, is higher than the majority of clubs in last years’ competition (given Covid in 2020).
When the noose went around their neck before 1998, they naturally suffered on the field and off it. The party was over before it really got a chance to get into full swing, cops knocking on the door telling them to shut it down.
So..
It’s safe to say that an Adelaide team, at the very least, would average a crowd of 16k. However, given more exposure to RL since 1997, a bigger, better rectangular stadium, and the high proportion of expats from the east coast (like me) who now live here….20k a game is not an unreasonable expectation. That’s bigger than most club averages in the current competition (pre-covid).
The other thing to a lesser extent is that away fans can fly in and out of Adelaide over the weekend and support their team much easier than other teams (barring Brisbane). In on a Friday/out on Sunday Night. Hard to do in other areas.
The thing that underpins all of these assumptions is that they get the front office set up right, and a competitive team – which again would need to be a given for any expansion club...
End Pt 1....
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Part 2... COMPARISONS TO OTHER EXPANSION TEAMS (next post)...
