You throwballers couldn't have picked a worse weekend to start this thread. But we'll get to that. The AFL has the biggest club in Sydney (and also has a 2nd team which is the smallest club in Sydney). The nRL has the smallest club in Melbourne.
Season 2013 Averages
Swans: 27,395
Storm: 16,806.
Pretty open and shut. But wait, there's more.
Season 2013 biggest crowd (thus far):
Swans: 42,627
Storm: 25,480
Another clear cut victory. But I know what you're thinking; ********* only care about % of ground capacity achieved, for reasons known only to them. Which team has achieved the biggest % of ground capacity:
Season 2013 % of ground capacity
Swans: 31,060 @ SCG (91%)
Storm: 25,480 @ AAMI (85%)
Ouch, don't even have ridiculous clutching at straws capacity % to fall back on. But we're not finished yet. Melbourne has an attendance culture, while Sydney doesn't. So the Storm have an extra advantage over the Swans, and yet the Swans have somehow ALTERED the attendance culture of its fans to become the biggest club in Sydney, while the Storm have failed to take advantage of the pre-existing attendance culture of Melbourne and still languish at the bottom. To illustrate this, let's look at the current average attendances in both cities. Now some of these teams have played more games than others, but it gives a fair indicator nonetheless.
Sydney average attendances 2013
Swans: 27,395
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs 20,939
Sydney Roosters 20,165
South Sydney Rabbitohs 17,532
Cronulla-Sutherland 13,708
Manly-Warringah 13,434
Parramatta 12,855
St George Illawarra Dragons 12,575
Wests Tigers 11,413
Penrith Panthers 10,862
GWS: 9,440
Melbourne average attendance 2013
Collingwood 57,578
Essendon 51,625
Richmond 50,236
Carlton 44,579
Geelong 40,351
Hawthorn 35,108
St Kilda 31,719
North Melbourne 26,843
Western Bulldogs 22,680
Melbourne 22,621
Storm 16,806
Swans the biggest club in Sydney, Storm the smallest club in Melbourne. They're the premiers, and they couldn't even get a higher attendance than the Demons.
And to illustrate things perfectly, we have this current round. Throwballers were shouting from the rooftops that their top of the table clash in Melbourne was fantastic, really sticking it to the AFL. lol, wat?
Melbourne crowds this weekend
Richmond v Brisbane - 46,961 (the sleeping giant is awake)
Carlton vs Bulldogs - 31,126
Saints v Hawthorn - 24,765
Storm v Rabbitohs - 21,244
That's right. Literally the smallest crowd in Melbourne this weekend. How about in Sydney? How did the Swans fare?
Sydney Crowds this weekend
Sydney vs Collingwood - 42,627
Roosters v Raiders - 13,223
Parra v Tigers - 12,013
Sharks v Knights - 11,358
Not only do the Swans have the biggest crowd for the round, they also have a bigger crowd than all three nRL games combined. They got TRIPLE the crowd of the next biggest crowd thus far. The Swans are everything you wish the Storm were and more. But I know how your little minds work. You don't like talking about the Swans, and I don't blame you. After all, they are currently and have been the biggest club in Sydney for 18 years (soon 19) in a row. You like low hanging fruit. "Let's go after GWS" you think eagerly. And yes, GWS have smaller average crowds than all nRL teams in Sydney. But here's the rub: in that respect, they're exactly like the Storm. Your only team in Melbourne. Your premiers. lol.
