NRL's female fans dwindling
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:28 pm
NRL's female fans dwindling as it deals with 'off-season from hell'
Marina Go was staggered when she realised the sheer volume of sex videos of rugby league players doing the rounds on social media.
After four years with the club, Ms Go this week walked away from her role as chair. There are now no women on the board
In her case, the fight for change was about respect for women in rugby league — and the brick wall was a reinforced edifice three layers thick.
She pointed to a lack of action by the NRL, the attitude of clubs and the seemingly never-ending stream of players facing court for offences against women.
The final straw was a dawning realisation she was losing the battle against deep-seated attitudes among the men in the game.
"I just felt disrespected by the NRL as a senior woman in the game," she said.
"I just looked around and I thought the numbers of women are dwindling, not growing."
But rugby league's women problem is not just at the top.
After the recent spate of sex tapes — and what even the game's chairman Peter Beattie described as "the off-season from hell" — there are growing fears the game is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of female fans.
"I'm not as proud as I once was to admit that I'm a diehard rugby league fan," said Cronulla Sharks supporter Lyn Gannon.
The 56-year-old grandmother is the chair of the Sharks members' council and can see first-hand what the stream of scandals is doing to the club's supporter base.
"The Sharks have 24 per cent female membership this year out of a 50 per cent population," said Ms Gannon.
"What does that say? To me it says it's not something that women are attracted to."
And that is the last thing a club desperate for members — and funds — wants.
The scandals strip the game's credibility, fans stay away, women are turned off, they choose other sports with better role models for their sons and daughters, and sponsors steer clear.
Ms Gannon's love affair with the Sharks began 50 years ago when her father used to take her to games as a six-year-old.
"I had players who were teachers at my school," she said.
"There were coppers and tradies — these were respected members of society. I think the players themselves have lost that respect among the wider community."
"From a female point of view, it's a bad look and there are so many options now," Ms Go said.
"I think the NRL is going to lose to AFL, cricket, soccer who are doing a better job of appealing to women."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-14/ ... g/10898160
Marina Go was staggered when she realised the sheer volume of sex videos of rugby league players doing the rounds on social media.
After four years with the club, Ms Go this week walked away from her role as chair. There are now no women on the board
In her case, the fight for change was about respect for women in rugby league — and the brick wall was a reinforced edifice three layers thick.
She pointed to a lack of action by the NRL, the attitude of clubs and the seemingly never-ending stream of players facing court for offences against women.
The final straw was a dawning realisation she was losing the battle against deep-seated attitudes among the men in the game.
"I just felt disrespected by the NRL as a senior woman in the game," she said.
"I just looked around and I thought the numbers of women are dwindling, not growing."
But rugby league's women problem is not just at the top.
After the recent spate of sex tapes — and what even the game's chairman Peter Beattie described as "the off-season from hell" — there are growing fears the game is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of female fans.
"I'm not as proud as I once was to admit that I'm a diehard rugby league fan," said Cronulla Sharks supporter Lyn Gannon.
The 56-year-old grandmother is the chair of the Sharks members' council and can see first-hand what the stream of scandals is doing to the club's supporter base.
"The Sharks have 24 per cent female membership this year out of a 50 per cent population," said Ms Gannon.
"What does that say? To me it says it's not something that women are attracted to."
And that is the last thing a club desperate for members — and funds — wants.
The scandals strip the game's credibility, fans stay away, women are turned off, they choose other sports with better role models for their sons and daughters, and sponsors steer clear.
Ms Gannon's love affair with the Sharks began 50 years ago when her father used to take her to games as a six-year-old.
"I had players who were teachers at my school," she said.
"There were coppers and tradies — these were respected members of society. I think the players themselves have lost that respect among the wider community."
"From a female point of view, it's a bad look and there are so many options now," Ms Go said.
"I think the NRL is going to lose to AFL, cricket, soccer who are doing a better job of appealing to women."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-14/ ... g/10898160