I can’t help but watch the NRL and A-League and think to myself, does anybody else actually care who wins? Australia’s got a crowd issue, and not the sort of issue like overseas where games are marred by violence because opposing supporters are so passionate.
Are we just lazy or too poor? Because these are popular sports we’re talking about in Rugby League and Football (or soccer).
When you compare our crowds to those in the English Premier League and the NFL it’s a totally different ball game with the game day atmospheres that are created. It’s enough to get the blood pumping in the comforts of your very own living room.
So how do we solve the issue of poor crowds and s#!%house stadium atmospheres and give our favourite sports the respect that they deserve?
How Low Can We Go?
To be fair the landscape of sports in Australia is different to that of Europe and America. Population centres aren’t as large and cities are located a lot further out from each other. Take one of the most isolated cities in the world, Perth, as an example of the isolation.
Australia also tends to be more sport diverse, with a presence of many, many major sports competing for fans. For example there are four different codes of football alone – league, union, Aussie rules and soccer.
Compare that to European and American cities where it’s quite common that only one or two sports are followed closely in large cities. Considering Australia’s population however it’s no excuse for some of the shockingly low crowds drawn to games.
In the NRL last Sunday the Bulldogs played the Sharks in front of 8358 people at ANZ Stadium, 10% of the stadiums 83 500 capacity. Only several days earlier 7008 people made it out to witness the Dragons play the Cowboys, 30% of WIN Stadiums capacity.
Back in May a crowd of just over 12 000 watched Sydney FC thrash Melbourne Victory 6-1 which is under 60% of Netstrata Jubilee’s capacity. Did anybody not know that this was a preliminary final?!
Shockingly low crowds of below 8% of ANZ Stadium’s capacity watched the Western Sydney Wanderers play a home game. Even a crowd of below 4000 bothered to even turn up and watch the Central Coast Mariners play at Central Coast Stadium.
So how can we fix it?
The Solution
Let’s get creative. Clubs could offer free general admission tickets. Sure gate receipt earnings would plummet but if you can attract an extra 10 000+ people then your’re opening up revenue opportunities across a larger pool of people.
Gate receipt losses can be offset by the additional sales of merchandise, food and beverages at the stadiums let alone the opportunity for marketing and advertising potential. Sure operational costs like security, cleaning and insurance premiums may increase but the bigger crowds and game day experience will become a draw card for even more people to attend.
It will also make watching the game on TV more appealing. Only then can I feel that somebody else actually cares who wins. Surely that’s of significance for the biggest source of revenue for sports in TV rights. What’s going on at the moment isn’t working and sitting around doing nothing won’t change things.
Isn’t it about time we try something different?
I hope you enjoyed my blog post my fellow Steemians. You can check out the original post at Wolf Gang Sport.