David Smith, NRL needs to be played in smaller stadiums!!

[leagueiscrap]

CEO Dave Smith is convinced more NRL games need to be played in front of sellout crowds — at smaller stadiums
18 HOURS AGO FEBRUARY 28, 2015 12:00AM 2 comments
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CEO Dave Smith is convinced more NRL games need to be played in front of sellout crowds —
CEO Dave Smith is convinced more NRL games need to be played in front of sellout crowds — at smaller stadiums. Source: News Limited
A TRIP to New York over Christmas to watch ice hockey’s Rangers at Madison Square Garden has Dave Smith convinced more NRL games need to be played in front of sellout crowds — at smaller stadiums.
On the day Smith announced a record $50 million profit for the game at the annual general meeting, the NRL boss also said a decision on future expansion would be decided by the end of this year.
But Smith put himself on a potential collision course with Shane Richardson, who joins League Central next week as the head of game strategy and development, over the debate of how to grow crowds.
NRL CEO Dave Smith during the NRL Business review 2014. pic Mark Evans
NRL CEO Dave Smith during the NRL Business review 2014. pic Mark Evans Source: News Limited
While the former South Sydney boss has been bullish in the past in his support for bigger stadiums like ANZ at Homebush, Smith gave a clear view on how he would like to see the state government spend $600 million on Sydney stadia upgrades.
“Ultimately what I want to do is have a great experience myself and make sure all the fans that pay their hard earned money have a great experience,” Smith said.
“And I think you do have a greater experience if you are in a packed stadium, whatever that size is, and there is lots of atmosphere.
“That is what we are planning for and that is what we hope the government plans for too.
“This is a once-in-a-generation decision for all of the great people who live in Sydney.”
There has been ongoing battle in Sydney footy over the future of suburban grounds like Brookvale and Leichhardt and the atmosphere they provide, versus the giant ANZ Stadium where so much rugby league is played these days.

NRL launches 2015 season
NRL launches 2015 season
Smith has already spent $750,000 on a feasibility study for the Moore Park venue and it seems he thinks the future is somewhere between traditional and supersized stadiums.
But Smith’s view is in direct opposition to how Richardson has previously stated the best way to grow crowds. When ANZ was under attack at the start of last year after record low crowds, Richardson was outspoken when he hit back at criticism ANZ lacked soul and had too many empty seats.
“I don’t care about the crowd numbers. I care about the yield. Who cares about the look?” Richardson said. “What’s important is what you’re bringing through the gate. People want to highlight how many seats were empty. The whole mentality makes me puke.”
But Smith said what he and his family took home from New York was a wonderful memory.
Asked how he would advise the government to spend the $600 million, Smith was adamant atmosphere is everything.
Henrik Samuelsson the Arizona Coyotes in his first NHL game against the New York Rangers
Henrik Samuelsson the Arizona Coyotes in his first NHL game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Source: AFP
“There was 25,000 people, an amazing stadium,” Smith explained of Madison Square Garden.
“The entertainment was fantastic. There were more kids than you could shake a stick at. It was great. And it was a great thing to watch. I’d never watched ice hockey in my life and my kids loved it and I loved it.
“If we can recreate with a wonderful atmosphere that we have across our big events and indeed our 20,000 people events in that modern contemporary way, I think you will see crowds grow exponentially.
“This isn’t about stadiums, this is about infrastructure and it is a very, very big decision and I am very happy that we have got $600 million committed.”
Meanwhile, Smith said one of Richardson’s first jobs was to investigate the possibilities for expansion. Asked if he expected a decision to be ready by the end of the year, Smith said: “Absolutely, it is a key question and it feeds into broadcast rights.
“But more importantly it feeds into keeping the momentum and progress that we have seen across the game.”
Originally published as Smith wants smaller stadiums for NRL

[leagueiscrap]

like local council suburban grounds

because the current club grounds are currently to big :_<>

[leagueiscrap]

Theres not a few victorians who wish the AFL had done the same thing back in the 80s and 90s

the NRL has their tax payer funded 20k capacity club grounds to play at.

the AFL does not, they have Etihad 50k seater & the MCG 100k seater
maybe the AFL needs to start the political BS like the NRL has done for decades to fund their grounds. then they will have some smaller club grounds.

grounds like optus oval should see some government funding, as the NRL seems to have a tax payer funded ground built & renovated for every team it starts up

[leagueiscrap]

now they have the broke no fan titans, whinging about the costs to run CBUS stadium, that they custom built with $160 odd million from the tax payer

HE Titans will hold urgent talks with the Queensland government after revelations they are paying on average $1.25 million more than other NRL clubs to use their home ground.

The Titans even considered hosting games at the home of AFL rivals the Suns due to a crippling $2 million bill for hiring Cbus Super Stadium.

An NRL report, compiled by Asia-Pacific giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, laid bare the enormous financial strain of stadium hire that helped bring the Titans to their knees.

[leagueiscrap]

Theres not a few victorians who wish the AFL had done the same thing back in the 80s and 90s

the NRL has their tax payer funded 20k capacity club grounds to play at.

the AFL does not, they have Etihad 50k seater & the MCG 100k seater
maybe the AFL needs to start the political BS like the NRL has done for decades to fund their grounds. then they will have some smaller club grounds.

grounds like optus oval should see some government funding, as the NRL seems to have a tax payer funded ground built & renovated for every team it starts up

You missed the point completely. Theres more than a few fans that wish we didnt play at generic stadiums like Etihad and the MCG, playing crowds of 20-30k at massive concrete edifices like the MCG and ANZ Stadium does not lend itself to the great atmosphere seen at smaller packed grounds (see also Victory games at Aami Park). Some would like to see games played at their traditional bases too. Credit to Dave Smith for recognising that soulless modern stadiums are not the be all and end all.

i understand where your aiming at wookie, there are thousands of fans that wish that every club still played out of their own home ground, or even a smaller stadium built for the AFL in melbourne for the smaller drawing clubs.

in an interview with Daniel Andrews late last year, he has mentioned there is plans somewhere for a 30k seater stadium to be built in Melbourne but it won't be seriously looked at until 2017. but i cannot find anything in writing about it.

my point is with the NRL they have had for decades funding for club grounds & stadiums for decades, something the AFL has never had, if they did some of the old club grounds would still exist, optus oval and a few others...

in Sydney, they are screaming for their grounds to be upgraded & in QLD, there are the titans who had a custom built stadium complaining it is to expensive to rent, North QLD cowboys demanding they need a new stadium, after receiving a decade of funding for the current stadium, think they need new one because their current 14k crowd average warrants one. now we have the Broncos some 18 million in the bank, richest club in the NRL wanting to up grade their training base, have money promised from state and federal levels.

the NRL clubs do nothing but invest in its league clubs and gaming licences for profit & scream & expect government funding for football facilities. with the new found wealth from the broadcast rights, the NRL are still putting jackshit back in to the game, just expect and demand government hand outs!!!!

[post_hoc]

I think David May be looking at Wanderland last night saying, yep I think I'm on the right strategy.

[ParraEelsNRL]

I can't see where the NRL will be moving any team into a smaller stadium, could you point it out for me lic?

I see them remaining in their home grounds as they are now with a few bigger games taken to bigger stadiums or teams like Wests tigers and St George splitting their games between 2 home grounds instead of 3 and 4. Parramatta if they go anywhere will play at ANZ, that's over 4 times the size of Parra stadium, if not, Parra stadium will be upgraded thus making it BIGGER.

The Sharks own their own ground so they can tell the NRL to get bent if the ground passes all the safety requirements, it seats 20k plus it's not that far from the SFS.

Penrith may get an upgrade, they may play more at Parra, they could start taking bigger games to ANZ too, I still can't see a smaller stadium mentioned.

Manly, well it's Manly, good luck moving them out of Sookvale, and if you do, you will never ever hear the end of it, if you think souffs was bad, you couldn't imagine the pretend bluebloods go off at their perceived injustices. I have read quite a few times that Sookvale is up for an upgrade, so again, where is the smaller stadium?

Have I missed any other team affected in Sydney?

Nup, souffs and Dogs already play at ANZ, Rorters play at the SFS.

LIC is a dope, and again the same as yesterday, he has no idea how to copy and paste an article so I don't have to continually reread a part because it's in there twice or tree times in a row

[ParraEelsNRL]

now they have the broke no fan titans, whinging about the costs to run CBUS stadium, that they custom built with $160 odd million from the tax payer

HE Titans will hold urgent talks with the Queensland government after revelations they are paying on average $1.25 million more than other NRL clubs to use their home ground.

The Titans even considered hosting games at the home of AFL rivals the Suns due to a crippling $2 million bill for hiring Cbus Super Stadium.

An NRL report, compiled by Asia-Pacific giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, laid bare the enormous financial strain of stadium hire that helped bring the Titans to their knees.

You like that aye, shows what type of person you are.

How would you feel if RL went to Vic, WA and SA and got new stadiums built and then got to run them with all the good stuff making money from everything the stadium does then having all the AFL clubs pitching in $300,000 each to play at HOME, in an Aussie rules state each week?

It would not happen and it should bloody well not happen, it's afl heartland, they come first, so why is it the RL states have the complete and total opposite?

[ParraEelsNRL]

in Sydney, they are screaming for their grounds to be upgraded & in QLD, there are the titans who had a custom built stadium complaining it is to expensive to rent, North QLD cowboys demanding they need a new stadium, after receiving a decade of funding for the current stadium, think they need new one because their current 14k crowd average warrants one. now we have the Broncos some 18 million in the bank, richest club in the NRL wanting to up grade their training base, have money promised from state and federal levels.

the NRL clubs do nothing but invest in its league clubs and gaming licences for profit & scream & expect government funding for football facilities. with the new found wealth from the broadcast rights, the NRL are still putting jackshit back in to the game, just expect and demand government hand outs!!!!

The Cowboys are the QLD side out of all the pro clubs to be screwed, again you say the complete opposite to what the real facts are.



North Qld hasn't had any decent upgrades for years, and when they did last do something, they put some concrete in and slapped a coat of paint on the joint. There is only cover from the rain over half a stand and it's run into the ground, the club constantly complains there's no room for the corporates it has grass hills plus the capacity much like Parra stadium over the years in fact has gotten smaller, near 10k smaller, if that's upgrading, I hope I don't find out what you mean when they down grade.

Every Qld team in all sporting comps play in brand new, or completely rebuilt stadiums from the two on the gold coast for RL and the afl and cricket ground built on the old carrara stadium site or the Qld Reds Super 15 side playing out of the same place as the Brisbane Broncos and the Brisbane raor at Suncorp stadium, the Brisbane lions share the near new Gabba with Australian Cricket.

All pro sides in QLD for all sports play in Modern upgraded or brand new fully seated mostly covered stadiums.

All except for the North QLD Cowboys

[ParraEelsNRL]

I think David May be looking at Wanderland last night saying, yep I think I'm on the right strategy.

Sell out?

19,484, but but but but but I swear all you sokka and afl fans continually tell us that 19,500 is NOT a sell out at Parramatta, yet here you are saying it's so, how can 1 team getting that crowd be called a sellout yet another isn't because the crowd wasn't 20,000 plus?

LOL, I love it, a local derby huh, I bet that helps boost the average, maybe take it to 14k this season :_<>

[sydneyfc]

hehe as expected, ol eelsy comes running in again, head down and frothing at the mouth
waa waa not a sell out!

sorry old timer - times have changed, a sell out isn't when there isn't any picnic space on a hill anymore

speaking of averages, theirs is nearly 15k now, making it larger than parras avg at pirtek for a second straight season, baby!

derby derby derby...parra get about 7 of them a season, half at pirtek...none close to matching the 19k the a-league version does match after match infact didn't your match vs the roosters and sharks draw 14k and 11k respectively

LMAO i would neck myself if sfc got 11k in a derby match

luckily, all a-league derbies in sydney and melbourne sell out 9 times out of 10

[ParraEelsNRL]

Why because all you trolls who were talking garbage needed setting straight?

Stop the bs and lies and no one would have to respond to the garbage.

[AFLcrap1]

WS Parra has a higher average than any other team .
All the but but but in the world won't change it .

[leagueiscrap]

in Sydney, they are screaming for their grounds to be upgraded & in QLD, there are the titans who had a custom built stadium complaining it is to expensive to rent, North QLD cowboys demanding they need a new stadium, after receiving a decade of funding for the current stadium, think they need new one because their current 14k crowd average warrants one. now we have the Broncos some 18 million in the bank, richest club in the NRL wanting to up grade their training base, have money promised from state and federal levels.

the NRL clubs do nothing but invest in its league clubs and gaming licences for profit & scream & expect government funding for football facilities. with the new found wealth from the broadcast rights, the NRL are still putting jackshit back in to the game, just expect and demand government hand outs!!!!

The Cowboys are the QLD side out of all the pro clubs to be screwed, again you say the complete opposite to what the real facts are.



North Qld hasn't had any decent upgrades for years, and when they did last do something, they put some concrete in and slapped a coat of paint on the joint. There is only cover from the rain over half a stand and it's run into the ground, the club constantly complains there's no room for the corporates it has grass hills plus the capacity much like Parra stadium over the years in fact has gotten smaller, near 10k smaller, if that's upgrading, I hope I don't find out what you mean when they down grade.

Every Qld team in all sporting comps play in brand new, or completely rebuilt stadiums from the two on the gold coast for RL and the afl and cricket ground built on the old carrara stadium site or the Qld Reds Super 15 side playing out of the same place as the Brisbane Broncos and the Brisbane raor at Suncorp stadium, the Brisbane lions share the near new Gabba with Australian Cricket.

All pro sides in QLD for all sports play in Modern upgraded or brand new fully seated mostly covered stadiums.

All except for the North QLD Cowboys

Many stages of redevelopment were taken on and gradually completed over the Cowboys growing success. The venue had changed from a disused Harness Racing facility to the current complex. The management and operation of the stadium was handed over to Stadiums Queensland in December 2003 in the hope for more cash inflow and government spending.

In 2005 the eastern terraces were extended, a new replay screen invested, public address system installed, 30 more corporate boxes and upgraded catering facilities as part of the funding injection. The lighting facilities were upgraded for night time broadcasts. 2006 saw the eastern, northern and southern grandstands receiving even further upgrades with the fitting of extra seating and the eastern terrace was extended completely taking over the old eastern hill.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willows_Sports_Complex

bung some covering over the seating & that will be all they need.

[leagueiscrap]

now they have the broke no fan titans, whinging about the costs to run CBUS stadium, that they custom built with $160 odd million from the tax payer

HE Titans will hold urgent talks with the Queensland government after revelations they are paying on average $1.25 million more than other NRL clubs to use their home ground.

The Titans even considered hosting games at the home of AFL rivals the Suns due to a crippling $2 million bill for hiring Cbus Super Stadium.

An NRL report, compiled by Asia-Pacific giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, laid bare the enormous financial strain of stadium hire that helped bring the Titans to their knees.

You like that aye, shows what type of person you are.

How would you feel if RL went to Vic, WA and SA and got new stadiums built and then got to run them with all the good stuff making money from everything the stadium does then having all the AFL clubs pitching in $300,000 each to play at HOME, in an Aussie rules state each week?

It would not happen and it should bloody well not happen, it's afl heartland, they come first, so why is it the RL states have the complete and total opposite?

they are losing money because they are giving tickets away FFS & still no one is turning up
yeah go and design your own stadium, & expect to play in it for nothing.

there has been major renovations to rectangular stadiums, in Vic, SA & WA & when the clubs play there in WA & AAMI park they get good returns.

the AFL gets screwed over with its stadiums they are currently doing so with Etihad & the Adelaide oval. the Lions have spoken out several times about the terrible contract they have with the Gabba,

get off your high horse idiot. the NRL have had decades of hand outs, the AFL receives stuff all when compared to the NRL.
the titans financial mess is they have no fans FFS & build these new flash facilities then couldn't afford the rent on them, its their own fault they are 25 million in debt