Who can pull the bigger crowd? NRL or AFL?

[Mr. Sparkle]

With the Sydney Swans playing Collingwood on the Friday night at ANZ and then the Bulldogs playing South Sydney on the following day on Saturday night. Do you think the Bulldogs v Rabbitohs, two traditional sydney rivals with one of the biggest fan bases around Sydney and NSW will draw a bigger crowd than the AFL preliminary match? Don't forget the Collingwood fans travel in big numbers, with over 50,000 + members.

Also the ticket prices for the AFL match are double the NRL's. AFL's Platinum and Gold seating are $160 and $130 and the NRL's Cat 1 are only $80 for adults.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

Record-breaking weekend in prospect for footy finals at ANZ Stadium

MELBOURNE reckons it's the centre of the sporting universe. But next weekend, the NRL and AFL will unite to produce the biggest crowds at ANZ Stadium since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Officials are predicting record turnouts of more than 75,000 for Friday night's preliminary final between the Sydney Swans and arch-rivals Collingwood, followed the next evening with an all-Sydney grand-final qualifier between South Sydney and the Bulldogs.

All roads will lead to Sydney Olympic Park as the precinct takes on a distinctive Olympics feel about it with thousands of fans converging.

The Rabbitohs have become the Cinderella story of the NRL finals as they attempt to reach their first grand final since their fabled premiership in 1971. As for the Swans, they have lost their last seven matches to the Magpies at ANZ Stadium.

The last time the ground hosted back-to-back preliminary finals was in 2006 when just over 60,000 fans went to the Swans-Fremantle AFL clash and a little over 40,000 attended St George Illawarra's NRL match against Melbourne.

The NRL's preliminary final record is 74,549 for a Canterbury-Eels game in 2009.

"This is potentially one of the biggest footy finals weekends in Sydney sporting history and it is certainly the biggest since the Olympic venue was built," ANZ Stadium managing director Daryl Kerry said.

Direct trains from Central to Sydney Olympic Park and major event buses are already in place for the city's massive sporting weekend.

Tickets to both finals go on sale to club members today and tomorrow for the general public.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...s-at-anz-stadium/story-e6frexni-1226475211327

 

[Captain Kickass]

Dear author of sh*tty article,

One week of "crowds" in Sydney, does not a sporting capital make !!!

Credit where it's due : Historically Melbourne has proven itself as the better state when it comes to crowd participation at the footy.

- Have the papers suddenly forgotten Manly pulled 16K for a semi final last week ?
- Could Sydney Swans pull the same crowd if they played Fremantle instead ?

I sharnt be listening to any more of this crap.

 

[Özil]

Dear author of sh*tty article,

One week of "crowds" in Sydney, does not a sporting capital make !!!

Credit where it's due : Historically Melbourne has proven itself as the better state when it comes to crowd participation at the footy.

- Have the papers suddenly forgotten Manly pulled 16K for a semi final last week ?
- Could Sydney Swans pull the same crowd if they played Fremantle instead ?

I sharnt be listening to any more of this crap.

Agreed

As for Collingwood, as much as everyone hates them, these guys know how travel, there will be a minimum of 20k of them in Sydney for that game against the Swan.

 

[TJW]

collingwood fans travel in huge numbers! it will be close with both getting around 65000-70000

 

[OTTO]

Seats get taken out to expand the field ... Of course NRL should get more

 

[CroydonDog]

Seats get taken out to expand the field ... Of course NRL should get more

I think in rectangular mode the capcity is about 10K highter

 

[UmoGus]

+ the Collingwood fans that live in NSW.

 

[MrDogzOfWar]

I hope the Canterbury-Bulldogs vs Rabbitohs game has a bigger crowd than AFL... Go the Dogs

 

[Lord Almighty]

I can tell you right now that the NRL game will attract a bigger crowd easily. 2 Sydney teams, Souths back after 40 years, dogs minor premiers, if the weather is fine I would expect 75,000 possibly more.

As for the AFL. I'm a Swans member and I know at least 50 people who aren't going due to the ticket prices. They are double the NRL. We have only 10 half bays in the $70 category (plus a few nose bleeds), then only 14 half bays in the $100 silver category. The rest of the ground is $130-160 which represents a huge portion. The AFL are way out of touch with the Sydney market with the pricing.

NRL tickets are half AFL price and better value.

There have been 25,000 tickets sold in the members pre-sale, add 10,000 ANZ members, 5,000 collingwood ferals who didn't buy today (no chance of 20,000 coming up) and 10,000 general public and you have about 50-55k.

Considering there are only 12 bays out of 46 on ground level that are 70-100 bucks, and the rest of the ground is $130-160 barring the nosebleeds you'll be hard pressed to get casual fans to fork out half the cost of an annual membership to snap up the gold and platinum tickets that will remain.

Swans vs Pies: 52,000
Dogs vs Souths: 75,000+ in fine weather.

 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I can tell you right now that the NRL game will attract a bigger crowd easily. 2 Sydney teams, Souths back after 40 years, dogs minor premiers, if the weather is fine I would expect 75,000 possibly more.

As for the AFL. I'm a Swans member and I know at least 50 people who aren't going due to the ticket prices. They are double the NRL. We have only 10 half bays in the $70 category (plus a few nose bleeds), then only 14 half bays in the $100 silver category. The rest of the ground is $130-160 which represents a huge portion. The AFL are way out of touch with the Sydney market with the pricing.

NRL tickets are half AFL price and better value.

There have been 25,000 tickets sold in the members pre-sale, add 10,000 ANZ members, 5,000 collingwood ferals who didn't buy today (no chance of 20,000 coming up) and 10,000 general public and you have about 50-55k.

Considering there are only 12 bays out of 46 on ground level that are 70-100 bucks, and the rest of the ground is $130-160 barring the nosebleeds you'll be hard pressed to get casual fans to fork out half the cost of an annual membership to snap up the gold and platinum tickets that will remain.

Swans vs Pies: 52,000
Dogs vs Souths: 75,000+ in fine weather.

One of the reasons why AFL's ticket prices are double the NRL could be that the AFL match goes for an hour longer.

 

[Lord Almighty]

One of the reasons why AFL's ticket prices are double the NRL could be that the AFL match goes for an hour longer.

No it doesn't. An average quarter of footy is generally about 27.5mins. So the game time is about 30mins more than 80mins of league. This means the cost of the AFL should be $110 for platinum.

On top of that is that only 25% of the ground is $70-100 the rest is $130-160. The AFL set the pricing without considering Sydney's market. They're gonna be in for a big wake up call with the crowd figure.

Only 21,000 were sold today (members presale) and that's both collingwood and Sydney.
The hawks v crows game has already sold 35,000 but Melbourne and Adelaide fans will pay
top dollar.

 

[Pink Pikachu]

The NRL may win this small battle of fixtures but overall it has a long LONG way to go before it can even begin to brag about anything crowd wise.

I was at a Richmond v Essendon match in 2009, just a regular round 9 fixture between 2 teams that were running 10th and 12th, it got a 79,000 crowd at the MCG.

Could you imagine 10th v 12th in the NRL attracting 79,000 people? Dream on.

 

[TJW]

to me it doesn't matter where you sit to watch afl, the action is all over the park and you can follow it easily. nrl live is crap in the corners, not much better on the ends, which forces you to buy on the sides.

the difference between the 2 codes in crowd numbers is nrl is happy with 15-20000 for a regular game, its a disappointment for afl

 

[Lord Almighty]

AFL is usually the 3rd or 4th most supported league in the world.

With 2 new teams the average will drop down for a while though.

The amount of blockbuster clashes between Melbourne clubs that attract 80,000+ in regular season is staggering.

 

[likeadoggy]

AFL will get a bigger crowd because it's a game better watched live whereas league is better to watch on the T.V

 

[Þo£ar ßêar ™]

Have you ever been to Melbourne ? There is nothing else to do but go and watch sport LOL

 

[Þo£ar ßêar ™]

Agree!

AFL will get a bigger crowd because it's a game better watched live whereas league is better to watch on the T.V

I've had a number of people i know tell me, they believe AFL is a much better to watch LIVE (at the game) -
Also, i think both games come up well watching on TV.


GO BULLDOGSSS

 

[Lord Almighty]

Afl has sold 54,000 and nrl 50,000. Surprised by that.

I still don't see a crowd more than 60,000 for AFL. In light of ticket prices that's pretty good. The NRL deserves a full house for this.

 

[ouwet]

Afl has sold 54,000 and nrl 50,000. Surprised by that.

I still don't see a crowd more than 60,000 for AFL. In light of ticket prices that's pretty good. The NRL deserves a full house for this.

51,000 according to channel 10