The off-field issues bringing down crowds

[Danish]

The problem with trying to "fix" alcohol at the footy is that if you give a nice selection of beers at reasonable prices, you are inevitably just going to end up with crowds made up solely of drunken f**kwit blokes as families steer clear, and drunken dickheads don't spend much money on merchandise or club memberships so its not ideal.

If Australians knew how to get drunk without turning into slobbering messes then perhaps it would work, but put enough alcohol and australian men in any location and they will f**k things up, guaranteed.

The only real way I can see them increasing crowds is dropped ticket prices, better scheduling, and less games.

It also wouldn't be a bad thing to see teams actually set realistic crowd goals and building stadiums to suit. Every team in the comp could play out of a 25,000 seat stadium bar the broncos, with only very few games moved to premier venues for increased capacity (ANZAC day, Easter games, etc). Give teams smaller stadiums that they can potentially sellout every week, and then use that exclusivity to drive ticketed membership sales. Not a whole lot of value in buying a season ticket these days if you only go to 3-5 games per year, but if not buying that ticket means you wont be able to get into those 3-5 games, suddenly it becomes a necessity.

 

[adamkungl]

The problem with trying to "fix" alcohol at the footy is that if you give a nice selection of beers at reasonable prices, you are inevitably just going to end up with crowds made up solely of drunken f**kwit blokes as families steer clear, and drunken dickheads don't spend much money on merchandise or club memberships so its not ideal.

Have more no-alcohol sections rather than 1 bay per stadium?

People want to drink while watching sport and if the stadium won't accomodate that they'll just go the pub. And while drunk f**kwits might buy less merch they'll certainly buy more beer and shit food.

 

[bazza]

Scheduling isn't an issue because we get terrible crowds in the fan favourite sunday afternoon timeslot.

Weather isnt an issue because we get terrible crowds in perfect conditions

Game day experience??? Worse excuse ever, people go to a game to watch footy. Can someone please explain to me what entertainment they propose during a 15 minute half time break that will bring crowds back in their thousands?

'Game Day experience' is the whole thing
1. Getting to the ground - how easy is it
2. What happens before you get to the ground - food, drink, other entertainment
3. In the ground. Do you have a seat? Are you protected from the weather? Can you see the game? Are you sitting next to annoying or entertaining people? Can you get food, drink etc.
4. The game itself
5. After the game - what is there to do? food, drink, other entertainment
6. Getting home

The direct competition to this is sitting in the comfort of your home watching the game on TV

You know what might bring fans back? Making going to an NRL game family friendly. Everyone who has a ticket to a game gets free public transport. Halve ticket prices, reduce food and beverage prices and you are well on your way to getting families back to footy.

It isn't just families that the NRL need to attract - but teenagers, 20-somethings and pensioners

If you halve ticket prices and only increase crowds by 5% - then you just halved your revenue

 

[adamkungl]

I reckon im on to something here with pissing off tiered seating.

f**king bullshit you have to pay an extra $20 to sit undercover in a stadium that has more security guards than fans in attendance.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

'Game Day experience' is the whole thing
1. Getting to the ground - how easy is it
2. What happens before you get to the ground - food, drink, other entertainment
3. In the ground. Do you have a seat? Are you protected from the weather? Can you see the game? Are you sitting next to annoying or entertaining people? Can you get food, drink etc.
4. The game itself
5. After the game - what is there to do? food, drink, other entertainment
6. Getting home

The direct competition to this is sitting in the comfort of your home watching the game on TV


It isn't just families that the NRL need to attract - but teenagers, 20-somethings and pensioners

If you halve ticket prices and only increase crowds by 5% - then you just halved your revenue

I have really only been to suncorp games, none of those factors are an issue. Except maybe weather. The train pretty much stops outside the stadium, theres plenty of pubs and what not around the stadium and public transport is free.

Not sure why sydney is so terrible at these things. How hard is it for the NRL and clubs to make public transport easier, e.g have designated pick up and drop off points for busses dedicated to getting to the game. Make all public transport free to anyone who has a ticket.

The NRL cant control - stadiums, annoying people, entertainment facilities near stadiums, if you can get food or drinks etc.. This mostly comes down to the facilities themselves, which is a state government issue. Also, its not up to the NRL to make pubs and entertainment venues near stadiums, it is just unlucky that most stadiums in sydney arent in a decent commercial area. Business people arent going to build these things if its not viable.

What the NRL can control or have some input in, is - making it easier and more affordable to get to games, ticket prices and food and beverage prices.

Everything else is a state government or private business problem.

 

[Danish]

Have more no-alcohol sections rather than 1 bay per stadium?

People want to drink while watching sport and if the stadium won't accomodate that they'll just go the pub. And while drunk f**kwits might buy less merch they'll certainly buy more beer and shit food.

If you are still having to fight your way through swarms of drunken louts on your way out of the ground (especially drunk opposition fans if you've lost) then having your own bay during the game doesn't help.

I'm all for better quality booze at games even though I never drink at the footy myself. I just realise that aussies are the worst drinkers on the planet and so that leads to more restrictions on our sports venues than in other parts of the world.

Beer and food sales generally go direct to the stadium anyway as well so clubs don't tend to give a toss about how much of that is consumed. Attendance figures, memberships, and merchandise is what they are after on game day.

 

[Danish]

I reckon im on to something here with pissing off tiered seating.

f**king bullshit you have to pay an extra $20 to sit undercover in a stadium that has more security guards than fans in attendance.

That is a definite. Reserved seating should be for season ticket holder bays only. The rest should be single priced GA style seating IMO, with the only restriction being dedicated supporter bays and alcohol free bays.

 

[Canard]

I reckon im on to something here with pissing off tiered seating.

f**king bullshit you have to pay an extra $20 to sit undercover in a stadium that has more security guards than fans in attendance.

They have(had??) this in the AFL, I think (not 100% sure)

Basically its a flexible pricing policy that goes up and down based on demand.

I think it might be worth considering for the NRL.

Ticket prices set at a certain level, depending on the history of attendance to the fixture, and fluctuate from there.

In the AFL, it was controversial because people ending up paying a mint to the high drawing games. I don't think thats a big issue with us and will work better for the games at the lower end of the scale.

You would need to make it fair to the early purchasers though, maybe they get a refund on what they paid over and above the new price?

 

[Dutchy]

Need more games in China.

 

[adamkungl]

There are very few positives to be taken out of the game right now aside from my team's ladder placement.

That's why crowds are down.

 

[Perth Red]

Your thinking home crowds.

You think Roosters v Perth is a draw in Sydney?

If Perth outdraws Newcastle and NQ, then happyv days

I'd hope both. Brisbane2 and Perth Both haven't entail to attract a 16k plus avg thus bringing the avg up not down. Unlike afl that has plonked teams in areas that don't want one we have places crying out for a club. Re home crowds, this is where smart scheduling, and dare I say conferences?, come into play. Even if they are informal conferences then you'd want to be scheduling games to try and create rivallary and tap,into the games strength of nine clubs in one city instead of it being its weakness of over saturation. A 20 game season would also help as fans have less option to pick and choose. Sydney clubs shouldn't be relying on away teams to drag their avg's up anyway.

 

[Perth Red]

Would love them to throw the doors open for Monday night games for a season and see if it makes a difference. If that TV slot is soooooo valuable then use that money to make it free attendance to them games. If crowds go up massively we know price is a key issue. If not then either give up on Monday nights or accept that we are going to accept csmall crowds to get the $ into the game.

 

[Canard]

I'd hope both. Brisbane2 and Perth Both haven't entail to attract a 16k plus avg thus bringing the avg up not down. Unlike afl that has plonked teams in areas that don't want one we have places crying out for a club. Re home crowds, this is where smart scheduling, and dare I say conferences?, come into play. Even if they are informal conferences then you'd want to be scheduling games to try and create rivallary and tap,into the games strength of nine clubs in one city instead of it being its weakness of over saturation. A 20 game season would also help as fans have less option to pick and choose. Sydney clubs shouldn't be relying on away teams to drag their avg's up anyway.

In this discussion though Brisbane2 = Fremantle Dockers and Perth = GWS

Ive no doubt Brisbane2 will be a sucess eventually.

Non-league states like Perth will be a harder slog, but are worth persevering with.

Mate, if and when you get a team, you wait until the 4th year when your bottom of the ladder and crowds are down, bogan fans will be carping on about how you should be out of the comp.

My point is, you can't just judge EVERYTHING on crowds.

 

[Perth Red]

Totally agree, but then again afl wasn't selling out afl games in Sydney to Western Sydney people prior to gws like we are doing for nrl games in Perth. We've got a decent hard core fanbase here. No guarantees and I expect we will have a first couple of sunshine years for crowds before it settles back a bit. End of day it will come down to how well run the club is, the nrl's ability to engage with the WA community, if we can put a competitive team together, if the players behave themselves and don't feed the RL meathead attitude a lot of people have, and if we keep investing in schools and grass roots.

Western force started really strongly but have been unable to put together a winning team since inception and are now paying the price in crowds, they have the potential to be 18-20k crowd avg but have been dire on the field and have dropped to 13-14k.

Good thing is we now have a decent stadium, reasonable grass roots growing and a 20k plus hardcore fan base.

 

[BrisbaneRhino]

I'd stop obsessing about crowds full stop and focus on getting games to grounds with a great atmosphere. Watching 20k packed into a small stadium is light years better than an extra 3k spread around an almost deserted looking big stadium. Its a horrible look and match experience, and does zero to suggest that the TV viewer might actually enjoy being there. If you then picked specific games to play at big stadia you might even see bigger crowds for them.

I also agree its time to revisit the commentators. Rabs is an institution so he'll stay, but the only two 9 guys I'd keep would be Sterlo and Johns. Johns has done surprisingly well and at least looks to give insight into what's going on and is quite positive about skills. The rest I'd get rid of in a heartbeat - Fittler, Lockyer, Lewis and Finch are just poor. As for Gould, a decade ago he was playing the Johns role, and could be very insightful and interesting. Now he just sounds like someone who doesn't even like the sport.

 

[Red Bear]

It still disturbs me how high people put access to alcohol on their list of requisites to attend a game.

It still disturbs me how you can misread an argument so regularly and not even contemplate a different perspective.

As I have said, when I go to the football I go for the football, most other things are a bonus.

That being said, it is enjoyable being able to drink 1-2 nice beers whilst watching the footy. Maybe whilst having something nice to eat. Particularly after paying good beer/food prices for shitty beer/food.

Having watched sport in the States they manage to have a good range of options. heaps of different food, different beers, big name ones as well as local craft beers. Helps create a home feel to them, helps enhance the game day experience.

It isn't about drinking so much as having a game day experience that is good value for money and a real draw compared to just sitting at home watching.

Because a lot of people are more casual fans than alot of the people on here, and these sort of things play into decisions of whether to go or not.

 

[Cockadoodledoo]

Off field issues, such as SKD having 10 charges of domestic violence hanging over his head but will be named to play in white ribbon round.

Yep, that will get the crowds flocking back.

It's actually the indigenous round you muppet.

 

[eozsmiles]

It's a bit unfortunate to think that attendance at a game can be impacted so much by a $2 rise or drop in the price of chips or beer. If the event you are seeing is good enough, then spending an extra $5-10 on snacks through the course of an afternoon is no problem. I'll guarantee not one queenslander complained about the price of chips after origin 3 at suncorp - great ground, great game. If you're standing in the mud at Brookvale or 100m from the action at ANZ watching the titans lose 8-4, then the price of food is more on your mind because you're not having much fun.

They could make afl games free with free beer and chips and I still wouldn't go because the game is crap. At the end of the day we should be more worried about that type of scenario.

 

[Perth Red]

Yeh don't get coat of food argument, I've never not gone to a concert, show, sports event, car show or anything else because coffee, beer and chips are a $1 or 2 more than at the shopping mall. Ticket price and general value for a day/night out win or lose is the biggest issue, and too many games.