Official List of Excuses for Low RL Crowds

[Xman]

The reality is that the majority of AFL fans see the game on TV so according to Beauaussie they are less passionate than those who attend. I know it is difficult to follow.

Oh dear!

Not every fan attends every game.

The core group of passionate AFL fans that attend games regularly and take out memberships is much larger than any other Australian sport.

All sports have fringe fans who are only interested in watching the odd game on TV and aren't prepared to spend any money on memberships or attending games. The NRL certainly have a greater proportion of these fringe fans than the AFL!

a shrinking fan base.. attendees & TV watchers in 2011
tired of an uneven .... lopsided ... uninteresting .. boring comp .. full of tanking .. with too many **** teams. rigged draws

thats gunna get worse in 2012
the passion is dying
it already has outside of Victoria .............AFL > ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Record tally of attendance. Record TV deal. 9 live games on TV every week and nation wide. record revenue. Record player payments. 2 new teams

Yep, struggling!

[Raiderdave]

Oh dear!

Not every fan attends every game.

The core group of passionate AFL fans that attend games regularly and take out memberships is much larger than any other Australian sport.

All sports have fringe fans who are only interested in watching the odd game on TV and aren't prepared to spend any money on memberships or attending games. The NRL certainly have a greater proportion of these fringe fans than the AFL!

a shrinking fan base.. attendees & TV watchers in 2011
tired of an uneven .... lopsided ... uninteresting .. boring comp .. full of tanking .. with too many **** teams. rigged draws

thats gunna get worse in 2012
the passion is dying
it already has outside of Victoria .............AFL > ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Record tally of attendance. Record TV deal. 9 live games on TV every week and nation wide. record revenue. Record player payments. 2 new teams

Yep, struggling!

ppphhhttt....Bull Honkey.. that bird that wrote there were 86K U12's AR players in NSW was more accurate with that .. then this is

[Topper]

You guys keep missing the point. I didn't say this your AFL colleague did. He said that people who go to games are more passionate than those who watch. I simply pointed out that only a fraction of the audience for any AFL game were at the game.

So Beau is saying there are first and second class AFL fans. If you dont go to the game you are not that passionate.

I agree with him.

Fans who go to the games are more passionate about the game. It takes a financial and time commitment. In comparison, Watching the TV is piss easy.

The AFL have over double the number of attendance compared to the NRL so they have over double the number of passionate fans as the NRL.

Should make the point that this doesn't always apply as an indicator for passion as such. Not many passionate Melbourne based fans would travel to Perth for example, and vice versa. Also at some of the smaller venues one does have sell outs. This has been a particular problem for Geelong in recent years as they have had to lock out passionate fans from games that they thought wouldn't draw, hence the need for further modifications to the ground.

I'm not disagreeing that there are "first and second class" fans when it comes to attendance at games. But you will find that all of the second class fans do have one thing in common with first class;

A club membership.

[Raiderdave]

You guys keep missing the point. I didn't say this your AFL colleague did. He said that people who go to games are more passionate than those who watch. I simply pointed out that only a fraction of the audience for any AFL game were at the game.

So Beau is saying there are first and second class AFL fans. If you dont go to the game you are not that passionate.

I agree with him.

Fans who go to the games are more passionate about the game. It takes a financial and time commitment. In comparison, Watching the TV is piss easy.

The AFL have over double the number of attendance compared to the NRL so they have over double the number of passionate fans as the NRL.

Should make the point that this doesn't always apply as an indicator for passion as such. Not many passionate Melbourne based fans would travel to Perth for example, and vice versa. Also at some of the smaller venues one does have sell outs. This has been a particular problem for Geelong in recent years as they have had to lock out passionate fans from games that they thought wouldn't draw, hence the need for further modifications to the ground.

I'm not disagreeing that there are "first and second class" fans when it comes to attendance at games. But you will find that all of the second class fans do have one thing in common with first class;

A club membership.

[Beaussie]

You guys keep missing the point. I didn't say this your AFL colleague did. He said that people who go to games are more passionate than those who watch. I simply pointed out that only a fraction of the audience for any AFL game were at the game.

So Beau is saying there are first and second class AFL fans. If you dont go to the game you are not that passionate.

I agree with him.

Fans who go to the games are more passionate about the game. It takes a financial and time commitment. In comparison, Watching the TV is piss easy.

The AFL have over double the number of attendance compared to the NRL so they have over double the number of passionate fans as the NRL.

Should make the point that this doesn't always apply as an indicator for passion as such. Not many passionate Melbourne based fans would travel to Perth for example, and vice versa. Also at some of the smaller venues one does have sell outs. This has been a particular problem for Geelong in recent years as they have had to lock out passionate fans from games that they thought wouldn't draw, hence the need for further modifications to the ground.

I'm not disagreeing that there are "first and second class" fans when it comes to attendance at games. But you will find that all of the second class fans do have one thing in common with first class;

A club membership.

Good point

[enarelle]

Yes but the AFL argument is that to have a true club membership you must be ticketed so the members and those that attend the game are essentially the same thing.

To have true passion how many games do you need to attend? if you go only to the first or last game of the season is that enough?

[Raiderdave]

Yes but the AFL argument is that to have a true club membership you must be ticketed so the members and those that attend the game are essentially the same thing.

To have true passion how many games do you need to attend? if you go only to the first or last game of the season is that enough?

they're the kings of the " double dip " are our flogballers

they claim 7 Million spectators ... &.... & 600K plus members ... yeah thats passion for ya they'll tell ya

ah....
they are essentially .. one & the same

[Topper]

Yes but the AFL argument is that to have a true club membership you must be ticketed so the members and those that attend the game are essentially the same thing.

To have true passion how many games do you need to attend? if you go only to the first or last game of the season is that enough?

There are two kinds of passion, enarelle. The sort that provides money to the club directly (membership) and the sort that goes to every game no matter what. True passion is gauged on a combination of the two and this varies exponentially.

[Raiderdave]

Yes but the AFL argument is that to have a true club membership you must be ticketed so the members and those that attend the game are essentially the same thing.

To have true passion how many games do you need to attend? if you go only to the first or last game of the season is that enough?

There are two kinds of passion, enarelle. The sort that provides money to the club directly (membership) and the sort that goes to every game no matter what. True passion is gauged on a combination of the two and this varies exponentially.

[enarelle]

Its funny but I always thought passion was how you felt about something. You can show passion in different ways but never saw spending money as being a key criteria.

Are fans who pay for cable to see their AFL more passionate than those that only use FTA? They are spending considerably more money.

[Topper]

The short answer to that, enarelle, is no. Because none of the money that goes into pay TV is seen by the clubs.

[Raiderdave]

The short answer to that, enarelle, is no. Because none of the money that goes into pay TV is seen by the clubs.

Gold Coast & GWS much

not to mention the other 8 clubs that required handouts in 2011

[Beaussie]

Its funny but I always thought passion was how you felt about something. You can show passion in different ways but never saw spending money as being a key criteria.

Are fans who pay for cable to see their AFL more passionate than those that only use FTA? They are spending considerably more money.

Supporting News Ltd is not supporting your club directly silly. Typical RL mentality.

Get off your arses and get out to a game why don't you. Pathetic.

[Topper]

Particularly in Sydney where you have a number of options, enarelle.

[cos789]

Official List of Excuses for Low RL Crowds (updated)

01 .SL stuffed us up completely and we haven't recovered .
. The mergers put people off , merged teams don't represent their region , merged teams are too powerful .
. Dropping South Sydney put people off and put more off by coming back and will lose the rest by relocating or dying.
. Dropping the expansion teams kill any chance of becoming national .
. Dropping the other teams didn't matter because they weren't that popular anyway .

02 .We play to our "heartlands" .............. our heartlands are in the bush,
. These people don't get the chance to go to many games as ch9 chop and change times and generally play god.
. Ch 9 and Foxtel shedule NRL games on short notice unlike the AFL that lock the shedule all games in October
. Our heartlands seem to be getting smaller all the time .
. We're stuck in suburban times .

03. Sydney people are doing it tough and just can't afford to go -
. Mortage prices , fuel prices , public transport prices , battery prices for their remote control .
. $30 general entry, I was drinking UDL's at $9 per can

04 . It's a television game -
. And the game was on Fox or FTA so the fans were at home .
. Ratings are much more important than viewers .
. You have to count the regional and city figures even though they overlap .
. You have to count New Zealand figures even though it's not officially a state of Australia yet .
. The ratings were down so I guess a lot of people went out to clubs and pubs to watch it .
. There was a lot of sport on TV. ........golf , tennis , lawn bowls , motorsports , bowling , darts , WWWWE
. There were good shows on TV ... Bloke's World, Iron Chef, Bert's big brother idol lost on celebrity dancing MKR survivor.
. Couch potatoes count as real interested viewers .
. The report is not valid because it only shows interest not real support like ratings where the person gets off his butt and
. ............ sorry where the person changes the channel on the remote .

05.The game is popular but the team isn't
. Either that popular crowd drawing team is down OR that unpopular drawing team is dominating .
. It was an away game for that popular crowd drawing team so they couldn't use their memberships .

06 .It's the Sydney transport system
. Public transport is unpopular or it's too crowded because it's popular .
. You cannot expect people to go to the SFS just because people go to see the Swans at the SCG nextdoor .

07. It's the weather
. Too hot , too cold or perfect for doing something else .
. You cannot expect people to go in weather like that even though there's room in the stadia because nobody goes .

08 It's the Time or Day of the Week .
. It was unsuitable to have a game on at the afternoon, twilight or night time or anytime really .
. It was unsuitable to have a game on Monday ,Friday , Saturday, Sunday or mid week .

09. It's the media
. Too little media , the unfair media ,the negative RL media , too much AFL media
. Our supporters can't read the media (nice pictures though)
. It's war ,according to the Telegraph ,an invasion ,even though football was here before RL ..

10. It's the lack of development by the NRL ,ARL , NSWRL and BRL.... and
. we're facing development from AFL , FFA and Netball .
. NZRL is sponging off Australia and Australia is raping the NZRL
. S14 RU is stealing all our players
. AFL is stealing our players
. FFA will be stealing our players as soon as they expand .

11. It's the lack of blockbusters .
. Sheduled against us was an another big game of .....RU , AFL, AL , NBL , ANL , WNBL.......
. We sheduled a game against another big game of .....RU , AFL, AL , NBL , ANL , WNBL......
. The upcoming Olympics (summer or winter) is grabbing everybody's attention
. The recent WC (FIFA, RU, Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, Cricket, Gridiron) is grabbing everybody's attention
. The recent RL WC is not grabbing everybody's attention - blame the AFL for one Australia Vs Ireland IR test
. Even the AFL International Cup is grabbing attention.


12. The government won't finance new stadiums , but when they do the crowds will be enormous.
. As long as all people are able sit close to the sidelines
. As long as the ends aren't too far from the action
. Now that our stadiums are built they are too big and look empty deterring more people

. Homebush & SFS - small crowds are a visual embarrassment
. Lang Park - now built , no excuses..
. Docklands - state of the art boutique stadium not used as too costly (low crowds)
. Melbourne Rectangular Stadium - Now RL is behind RU as well as AL and AFL.
. Perth NIB - now upgraded , nrl's wannabe team crowd about 1710 and going down .
. Gosford - new stadium , new savior for Sydney clubs except Manly who made a premiership year loss.
. Canberra ,Cronulla, Brookvale, Kogarah, Paramatta, Campbelltown, Penrith, Wollongong upgrades for no effect.
. Newcastle upgrade on the way when the club is looking at downsizing .

13. When they gonna have double headers , triple headers ...we can then claim the one crowd for each game !

14 . We don't have -
. A centrally located "home of football" like the AFL because we chose to waste money at the SFS next to the Swans..
. A centre of sporting excellence like the GWS willl have at Blacktown.
. The AFL's draft , management , development , clout , and aggressive approach to expansion ..
. $1.2 billion in TV rights.
. A decent game , (but that's the least of our worries)
, People wanting to play our game with more wanting to play AFL than RL in NSW in the last 5 years .

15. We do have
. Financially stricken rl clubs (all bar one) awaiting handouts.
. Financially stricken leagues clubs unable to support NRL clubs ,
. A new pokie tax that is gonna kill off the leagues clubs .
. A geographically centred stadium at Homebush suited to AFL blockbusters and the GWS .
. A new stadium built at Blacktown for AFL , because the NRL wasn't interested .
. A new stadium built at Homebush for AFL , because the NRL wasn't interested .
. Players wanting to leave their NRL contracts to play AFL .


16. When looking at NRL crowd averages
. You cannot look at Sydney in isolation - because they are pathetically low .
. You cannot look at Melbourne because they have no history there and because they are pathetically low .
. You cannot look at this point in time because historically crowds dip this time of year .
. You cannot look at crowds at the ground because the crowd looked and felt a lot bigger than the official low figure .
. You cannot look at the crowd on TV because the crowd looked and felt a lot smaller than the official low figure .
. You can look at past pathetically low crowd figures because that shows the present in a good light .
. You overlook that 25% of all rounds affected by SOO with the best 34 players either unavailable or backing up after SOO.
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because the focus is on SOO .
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because they are inflated because "they all do it" (just ask the Storm)
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because clubs are paid $100k to play to empty stadiums .
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because they contain freebies from passport holding Pacific Islanders.
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because they contain freebies from Moms , nans , nurses and carers .
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because they contain freebies for Warriors gear, doing a haka or singing an anthem.
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because they include players, officials, coaching, medical, fitness, trainers, boot studders, waterboys, catering, security, sales staff, turnstile staff, magazine sellers, cheergirls and people wandering into the ground lost .(you know most of the crowd )..
. You cannot look at NRL crowds because more people turned up to see Russel Crowe than South Sydney .

17. You cannot look at SOO crowds
. Because they contain a lot of freebies .
. Tickets still are expensive...spending $100 in Sydney to watch footie is way too much
. Spending $50 for the nose bleed section is way too much
. It is a big week in sport for Sydney so going to the game isn't part of it.
. The game is just too good to watch on TV
, Because the same same two teams play each other, then each other, then each other, every year after year after year.

18. Canberra is under performing
. Because now it supports two clubs .
. Both those clubs cannot find a sponsor.
. The sponsors have all gone to the new AFL club GWS.
. It's all a bluff because Canberra are renegotiating their stadium deal.

19. It's a bluff because "the AFL want some publicity".

20. We cannot look at specific crowd attendances because "8588 is a really inmpressive figure".

21. It's basically because rl is dying - but that is another list !!!