Crowds in Sydney are pathetic.

[Oatley Dog]

I'm in the country and think surely it's not that hard with public transport to get to a game is it?

It's not just the travel time, its the timing of the games as well. I drive to every game I go to and I live about 30mins from ANZ but playing on a Thurs night means none of my grandkids can go because they have school the next day, so there's 6 empty seats, plus my daughter who brings some of them so that's 7. The NRL now only plays 2 games a week during daylight hours and they are both on Sunday and rarely are both in Sydney so unless the only thing in your life is footy then as a family you aren't likely to go. That then leaves the Friday night crowd and frankly its 70% drunks and idiots. I don't go to most away games on Fri nights simply because half the crowd gets full and starts carrying on like idiots. Home games are OK. I have my seat and know all the people around me. Contrast that with AFL and you get a completely different vibe. It is set up for family involvement even down to the kids getting on the field.

 

[CroydonDog]

I'm in the country and think surely it's not that hard with public transport to get to a game is it?

Thank you.

Growing up in the bush myself, we had zero public transport.

Both major grounds in Sydney are easy to get too - not Etihad Stadium easy though.

Allianz is no harder to get to from Sydney city as MCG, Adelaide Oval, Aami Park or even the new Perth Stadium will be.

 

[CroydonDog]

It's not just the travel time, its the timing of the games as well. I drive to every game I go to and I live about 30mins from ANZ but playing on a Thurs night means none of my grandkids can go because they have school the next day, so there's 6 empty seats, plus my daughter who brings some of them so that's 7. The NRL now only plays 2 games a week during daylight hours and they are both on Sunday and rarely are both in Sydney so unless the only thing in your life is footy then as a family you aren't likely to go. That then leaves the Friday night crowd and frankly its 70% drunks and idiots. I don't go to most away games on Fri nights simply because half the crowd gets full and starts carrying on like idiots. Home games are OK. I have my seat and know all the people around me. Contrast that with AFL and you get a completely different vibe. It is set up for family involvement even down to the kids getting on the field.

Scheduling is an issue I agree. It sucks there are not more daytime games, but it seems that alternate kick off times are here to stay.

On the issue of driving, I used to drive to a lot of ANZ games too (but I was helped by a mate at a business close to the stadium who got me free parking.

But sydneysiders need to get over expecting to drive to the front door of major stadiums... but the state government also needs to get on side... here in SE QLD the major stadiums have ZERO parking, but PT is free to the grounds (for the GABBA, Suncorp, QSAC, QBUS and Metricon). Weird that a small place like Brisbane has worked it out better than a city the size of Sydney!

 

[Oatley Dog]

Scheduling is an issue I agree. It sucks there are not more daytime games, but it seems that alternate kick off times are here to stay.

On the issue of driving, I used to drive to a lot of ANZ games too (but I was helped by a mate at a business close to the stadium who got me free parking.

But sydneysiders need to get over expecting to drive to the front door of major stadiums... but the state government also needs to get on side... here in SE QLD the major stadiums have ZERO parking, but PT is free to the grounds (for the GABBA, Suncorp, QSAC, QBUS and Metricon). Weird that a small place like Brisbane has worked it out better than a city the size of Sydney!

Yeah I hear you. I have parking at ANZ along with my seat so that isn't a problem for me and PT delivers you to the front of the ground so it really isn't about getting there per se, its more about the timing. There are still the best part of a million people working in the city every day but over 4 million people live in the outer suburbs so that means a lot a travel getting from work to home to get the kids and getting back again. That's the problem. That plus the different rail lines you have to go on to get from point a to point b to get to the footy if on PT. It just isn't that easy - particularly when you can watch it on TV and relax.

 

[Trafford10]

It's not just the travel time, its the timing of the games as well. I drive to every game I go to and I live about 30mins from ANZ but playing on a Thurs night means none of my grandkids can go because they have school the next day, so there's 6 empty seats, plus my daughter who brings some of them so that's 7. The NRL now only plays 2 games a week during daylight hours and they are both on Sunday and rarely are both in Sydney so unless the only thing in your life is footy then as a family you aren't likely to go. That then leaves the Friday night crowd and frankly its 70% drunks and idiots. I don't go to most away games on Fri nights simply because half the crowd gets full and starts carrying on like idiots. Home games are OK. I have my seat and know all the people around me. Contrast that with AFL and you get a completely different vibe. It is set up for family involvement even down to the kids getting on the field.

I totally agree about lack of games in daylight.
NRL sold out to the TV channels.
But that is how they have marketed and structured the game.
The NRL is so corrupt.

Btw almost 3 times the crowd at the Swans game as Manly v Penrith.

 

[dogluva]

Scheduling is an issue I agree. It sucks there are not more daytime games, but it seems that alternate kick off times are here to stay.

On the issue of driving, I used to drive to a lot of ANZ games too (but I was helped by a mate at a business close to the stadium who got me free parking.

But sydneysiders need to get over expecting to drive to the front door of major stadiums... but the state government also needs to get on side... here in SE QLD the major stadiums have ZERO parking, but PT is free to the grounds (for the GABBA, Suncorp, QSAC, QBUS and Metricon). Weird that a small place like Brisbane has worked it out better than a city the size of Sydney!

They were offering free travel with your ticket but that has been discontinued.

Last week for the St George game they re-instated the free travel to try I suppose to entice more to go. In the past if we didn't need to travel back home the same day we usually parked at Lidcombe and caught the sprint train because the price was included in our ticket fee. Don't have an Opal card at all. On home game days it meant a walk back around the other side of the stadium but saved $25 in parking.

 

[Chicharito]

Ridiculous ticket prices, shit transport, over priced food so its no surprises that the crowds are pathetic. To see so many empty seats for finals football only shows how far outta touch the NRL is tbh.

 

[Oatley Dog]

Ridiculous ticket prices, shit transport, over priced food so its no surprises that the crowds are pathetic. To see so many empty seats for finals football only shows how far outta touch the NRL is tbh.

All national sports charge around the same so its not about price or food charges. A day at the cricket costs a couple of hundred, a day at golf championships not much different. I'm pretty sure tennis and all the other sports charge a bucketload. I paid over $500 for a single ticket for an NFL game next month in NYC and have paid similar prices for baseball and basketball. It comes down primarily to the timing of the games, the performance of the team you follow, the weather and then all the other stuff.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

sucks that this week 2 of the finals couldnt have a change of opponents.
Broncos v Cowboys
Eels v Panthers
Would be much better, would also keep all the sydney teams on the one side of the draw and produce more revenue whilst providing better entertainment imo

 

[Chris Harding]

There are a number of reasons, and these are:

Poor scheduling of games for Thursday and Friday nights when people have to get home from work - and commuting in Sydney takes hours.

Stadiums are no longer in the local area or near the clubs. Public transport requires changes of mode, and parking is expensive, or not available

The quality of accommodation and price of entry, food and beverages is poor value for money.

There is virtually no shelter from the elements at most big stadiums, and putting a crowd of 30,000 in an 80,000 seat ground kills the atmosphere.

The length of time between lower grades and main game is too long

The quality of "entertainment" between games is appalling

The high decibel advertisements that drown out conversation is annoying and unnecessary. If we have to suffer ads, entry should be free.

The standard of play has become boring, with one out running and fifth tackle kicks the norm

The standard of refereeing has made the game look like some teams have it rigged in their favour

Winning. People will come out and support their team if it is winning most games. Nobody wants to pay good money to watch their side flogged every time.

 

[Wahesh]

Seriously watching the game last night.
And through the whole season just illustrates how shit Sydney crowds are.

The NRL are kidding themselves if they don't think crowd numbers are marker on the health of the game.

I even think there was a game this season at Lottoland where the crowd was around 5;000. Fucking pathetic.

Dude, a city with 9 teams will always get low crowds. Lottoland... mate that's the heart and soul of Rugby Union - no surprise there.

This is one reason I want a second Brisbane team in Ipswich or Logan. 2 teams will give the Broncos a lower crowd figure average.

As for AFL... of course they get larger crowds. Melbourne is a boring shithole with nothing else to do, so everyone goes and watches AFL. Der...

 

[Trafford10]

Dude, a city with 9 teams will always get low crowds. Lottoland... mate that's the heart and soul of Rugby Union - no surprise there.

This is one reason I want a second Brisbane team in Ipswich or Logan. 2 teams will give the Broncos a lower crowd figure average.

As for AFL... of course they get larger crowds. Melbourne is a boring shithole with nothing else to do, so everyone goes and watches AFL. Der...

Totally ignorant comment about Melbourne.
Sydney is my home town and I love to visit but Melbourne is a great place to live.
Other than the fact I can't watch my football team live.

 

[berries1935]

if the NRL was serious about crowds the below schedule would work:

Friday night
1 NSW game
1 QLD game shared between the 3 clubs
both kicking off at 8pm. FTA can use a digital channel to show both games at once

Sat
3pm
5:30pm
7:30pm

Sun
2pm x 2 games
4pm

Simple

 

[Oatley Dog]

if the NRL was serious about crowds the below schedule would work:

Friday night
1 NSW game
1 QLD game shared between the 3 clubs
both kicking off at 8pm. FTA can use a digital channel to show both games at once

Sat
3pm
5:30pm
7:30pm

Sun
2pm x 2 games
4pm

Simple

Not that simple. Do that and Fox can't show every game live so the value of the contract goes down by 25% or $500m over 5 years. Would you take that hit if you were Greenberg? You're sure as hell not going to get it back through the gate.....

 

[chris_e_fresh]

Shit crowds attendances at games what do you expect, NRL shit organisation, shit NRL media commentators, shit news paper reporters, shit NRL referees. It all amounts to a very big pile of the stuff.

everything you said above is true

the nrl brand is so shit / i used to love league and ever since 2014 i fell out of loves because of the bullshit channel 9 dished up for the final and it wasnt just because we lost

they keep changing the rules why dont they just change the wrestling rule rolling players on to there backs should be cut out

 

[Phalangist]

there's differences between sydney crowds in nrl and melbourne crowds in melbourne. 1) just about all the melbourne based sides except geelong are around the melbourne district, where the sydney clubs are more spread out. 2) the MCG and etihad stadiums are easier to get to with better public transport (every line goes through both stops) where to get to anz everyone has to switch lines to reach homebush, and to get to allianz you need shuttle busses. so it's more of an excuse to just stay in

I don't think transport is the problem

 

[Shanked]

I don't think transport is the problem

it's part of the problem

 

[steeliz]

What did anyone expect.

Cheapest kids tickets to the NRL - $80. Cheapest kids tickets to the AFL finals...............................$10

Where is the best value for money event????????

 

[Kaz]

What did anyone expect.

Cheapest kids tickets to the NRL - $80. Cheapest kids tickets to the AFL finals...............................$10

Where did you get that info.

Eels vs Cows Junior tickets 4 - 15 are $15

 

[Phalangist]

it's part of the problem

I'm pretty sure the Scg next door for the swans game filled the stadium up. They don't have some secret tunnel with an express train transporting supporters to the game.