Sydney Swans have no trouble getting fans through the gate

[Beaussie]

Yep, only the Swans/AFL can attract such huge crowds in Sydney for a home and away game.

RL heartland

Win or lose, Sydney fans know how to pull a crowd
Date August 12, 2012
Andrew Wu
Sports Writer

WHICH city has played host to the biggest AFL crowd outside Victoria this year? It's not Adelaide, home of the second-placed team on the ladder, nor is it Perth, whose flagship team West Coast have not been out of the eight all year.

Despite a howling gale so strong it could bring the surf to the city for today's famous run, more than 45,827 braved an unusually cold winter's night to support the team Swans marketers like to describe as ''Sydney's passion''.

These are heady days for the ''foreign'' football code in Sydney. Not since 2008, when the Swans were still riding the coat tails of the classes of 2005-06, has such a big crowd turned out for an AFL game in Sydney.

And there are more box-office spoils ahead for the Swans. The clash with Hawthorn in a fortnight is on the verge of a sell-out. Then, barring a meltdown by John Longmire's men in the following three weeks, should come at least two finals in September.

On the basis of what we saw last night they should have no trouble getting fans back through the turnstiles, for the game lived up to expectations. If anything it should have whetted their appetites.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/AFL/AFL-news/win- ... z23Yts3Vov

[Xman]

Why is it that the Swans can draw great crowds in Sydneys terrible road and public transport infrastructure and RL struggles? Isnt Sydney RL territory?

[eelofwest]

Why is it that the Swans can draw great crowds in Sydneys terrible road and public transport infrastructure and RL struggles? Isnt Sydney RL territory?

How are your AFL expansion crowds going Xman?

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

[Xman]

Why is it that the Swans can draw great crowds in Sydneys terrible road and public transport infrastructure and RL struggles? Isnt Sydney RL territory?

How are your AFL expansion crowds going Xman?

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

What?

The Lions and Swans have very respectable crowds. In fact they average more than all but 2 NRL teams, despite playing home games in RL heartland.

The Suns and Giants are new teams with small followings. This is hardly surprising given they are currently uncompetitive and are located in markets with existing AFL expansion teams.

How can you brag about a one of NRL crowd in Perth? Yes 20k is good by RL standards but is average at best for a one off event.

[piesman2011]

One game in Perth is not really statistically significant. It is sort of like the SOO in Melbourne. It is a once a year sort of event (I assume it was the only main season match in Perth this year). The question I would ask is if a match was played in Perth every week would it get 20K every week? I would like to think it would. But you cant really say that one match they drew 20K shows that RL is popular in Perth.

[cos789]

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

That was a real dodgy 20k, empty seats everywhere.
They promoted the hell out of that game with TV, newspaper and radio.

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

■Canada - 32,789 (1987). Melbourne v. Sydney (B.C. Place, Vancouver)
■Japan - 25,000 (1986). Carlton v. Hawthorn (Yokohama Stadium, Tokyo)
■United Kingdom - 18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London)

.

[justanotherleaguefan]

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

That was a real dodgy 20k, empty seats everywhere.
They promoted the hell out of that game with TV, newspaper and radio.

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

■Canada - 32,789 (1987). Melbourne v. Sydney (B.C. Place, Vancouver)
■Japan - 25,000 (1986). Carlton v. Hawthorn (Yokohama Stadium, Tokyo)
■United Kingdom - 18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London)

.

Just like that trial match eyy?

[eelofwest]

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

That was a real dodgy 20k, empty seats everywhere.
They promoted the hell out of that game with TV, newspaper and radio.

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

■Canada - 32,789 (1987). Melbourne v. Sydney (B.C. Place, Vancouver)
■Japan - 25,000 (1986). Carlton v. Hawthorn (Yokohama Stadium, Tokyo)
■United Kingdom - 18,884 (2005). West Coast v. Fremantle (The Oval, London)

.

Wow so games from 1987 really......

So your Comparing exhibition matches from other countries were the AFL have no chance to expand to a exhibition match in Perth which is ripe for expansion......mmm don't see how that makes any sense at all...

A similar comparison would be the GWS crowds or the Suns crowds, both expansion area's in this country. Problem with that comparison is the AFL have fully fledged teams and the NRL crowds in Perth are on top easy and that is without a team.

What are the chances of the AFL expanding to these area's Cos?

Better go back to Bigfooty and strike while the iron is hot, i heard Newcastle is ripe for the taking....or maybe we can install a 3rd sydney team...

[Striker]

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

That was a real dodgy 20k, empty seats everywhere.

Are you calling the bean counters liars? Shame on you without proof!

[Beaussie]

NRL can pull 20k in a non heartland area (WA) with no team represented and bugger all promotion, can the AFL do that Xman.....

That was a real dodgy 20k, empty seats everywhere.

Are you calling the bean counters liars?

Wouldn't be the first time the NRL and its clubs have been exposed fudging crowd numbers.

Souths' dodgy crowd figures
By Josh Massoud and James Phelps
The Daily Telegraph
June 26, 2008

SOUTH Sydney have conceded they include stadium workers, media, referees - and possibly players - when counting home crowds.

The stunning admission came after a special investigation into the attendance at Monday night's game against Gold Coast Titans at ANZ Stadium.

After monitoring each turnstile, The Daily Telegraph's clickers tracked 7522 people into the ground from the time gates opened at 4.45pm until midway through the first half.

The Rabbitohs later announced an official crowd of 9827.

Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson then confirmed "club staff, stadium staff, media and officials" partly accounted for the discrepancy of 2305 people.

"People that come from (our) club staff, the other club and referees don't come through the check system (turnstiles)," Richardson said.

"There's a whole range of people that go in through other entrances."

The revelation provides an insight into how clubs count crowds at a time when attendances are being monitored closely as Sydney's nine teams struggle for growth in a congested market.

A Souths statement emailed on Wednesday afternoon in response to the survey added: "There were un-ticketed guests who entered via a staff gate that appear to have missed your scrutiny.

"Added to this are groups such as club staff, stadium staff, media, officials etc. who haven't been counted by The Daily Telegraph clickers."

The terms used in the statement are wide enough to include players, referees, coaches, and mascots. Staff employed by the stadium, including caterers, waiters and customer service personnel, might also be inferred.

ANZ Stadium declined to respond, on the basis that clubs are responsible for crowd counts.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl- ... 1116735208

[Striker]

That's the Rabbitohs. The bastard child of the NRL who are only in the comp through sufference, and Russell Crowe's face value!

Show me other clubs, with proof!

[Xman]

That's the Rabbitohs. The bastard child of the NRL who are only in the comp through sufference, and Russell Crowe's face value!

Show me other clubs, with proof!

The 95-page government report, detailing the activities of Queensland's nine big sporting stadiums for the 2009-10 financial year, showed:

* None of the Titans' home crowds announced at 14 games matched the attendances printed in the annual report.

* Thirteen of Gold Coast's 14 games featured inflated attendances.

* The greatest discrepancy was an extra 2209 fans for the Titans' home clash against the Knights last year.

* The Broncos' crowd figures at 11 games were identical to those in the annual report.

* Nine of the Cowboys' 12 games matched crowd figures in the report. Surprisingly, the club twice underquoted crowds.

In the 12-month period, the Titans' total crowds for their 14 home games, according to the annual report, was 237,527.

Yet the club's total attendances based on game-day announcements was 251,324.

The extra 13,979 spectators equates to a beefed-up attendance of nearly 1000 fans, on average, per home game.

On five occasions, the Titans' game-day crowd announcement exceeded the relevant annual report figure by more than 1500 fans.

A Stadiums Queensland spokesman said the organisation would look into the reasons for wildly fluctuating crowd figures at Titans home games.

"The figures are provided by the venue management (Skilled Park) and we've been alerted to the discrepancies in these figures," the spokesman said.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 6100472019

[Striker]

I read somewhere that match day counting was a clusterf and they had trouble fixing it. That's not intentional.

[Xman]

I read somewhere that match day counting was a clusterf and they had trouble fixing it. That's not intentional.

Yeah interesting how the report the says the vast majority of mistakes were overcounting!

[Striker]

Still unintentional no matter what you say about it.