Fan Attendance

[matrix]

Performance and value for money does have a lot to do with attendance, imo.Even if we did to move to Allianz we might get bigger crowds against Roosters,St George Illawarra and Tigers but I don't think it would make much difference for cowboys, Storm,raiders,panthers,eels etc.A lot of people have short memories, I went to heaps of souths games at sfs where the crowds were poor.

 

[Pplspoet]

Performance and value for money does have a lot to do with attendance, imo.Even if we did to move to Allianz we might get bigger crowds against Roosters,St George Illawarra and Tigers but I don't think it would make much difference for cowboys, Storm,raiders,panthers,eels etc.A lot of people have short memories, I went to heaps of souths games at sfs where the crowds were poor.

Sure performance affects it, but you should have a higher floor than 8-10k.

The simple reality is, if it was all as great as people want to excuse it to be, then there would be more people taking part in this ‘wonderful experience’ of live South Sydney Rabbitohs footy. They aren’t.

We’re at a point where the experience of watching Souths on tele is preferred by a large number of fans (for 80-90% of our games) as opposed to attending live.

And it’s not all on the punter. In fact, little of it is.

We haven’t really raised the problem that the vantage point of GA seats is atrocious if you’re used to watching the game on TV. Those seats should cost peanuts to access.

I know they are an outlier and there are a myriad of nuances to their live success, but the Broncos had a more/similarly disappointing year to us (given their 2023), but still managed an average attendance of just off 40k.

Some of that (excluding favourable scheduling and the Brisbane factor) indicates that if people are in the habit of going to the footy, have live footy as a staple of their weekly footballing lives, and you provide a for-purpose facility, and a quality atmosphere - then even in down years, people will still go to games.

If you don’t have that, the yes, you’ll be barren in any downturn.

We made a Prelim in 2022 with an average crowd of 14k for the season. Yes people were returning from COVID weirdness, but still.

I find it surprising that people feel the need to defend the situation or make excuses for it instead of just accepting that it is an area that could be improved, and either reading along or suggesting proactive solutions.

When the SFS was tired and stale and controlled by the SCG trust, and Accor was only competing with Brookie, Leichardt, and an old Parramatta Stadium, it was a good choice.

It’s not 2006 anymore.

 

[matrix]

Fair point we should be attracting more,however we don't ourselves any favours in not pushing for a better draw.We get very few home Sunday afternoon games if any,when most people are available to attend games. For my situation there's no way in hell I'm going to a Thursday night game and then getting up at 2-3am the next day to go to work and I'm sure there's a lot of people in that situation .You're right the rubbish seats need to be cheaper too especially against poor drawing opposition.

 

[Pplspoet]

Yeah, I’m not sure what the answer is for Thursdays (and in a 20-team comp, Mondays).

Perhaps they keep Thursdays to capital city CBD venues and regionals? Where perhaps access for after work or the local population is more appropriate?

They certainly shouldn’t kick off at 8:00pm. 7pm would be better if they could swing it. Even if it meant reverting to delayed FTA broadcast.

And then there’s the question of whether you send low drawing games there to die, or cut your nose off to spite your face by scheduling bigger drawing games on those nights. I think it’s the former.

 

[Kempy]

Performance and value for money does have a lot to do with attendance, imo.Even if we did to move to Allianz we might get bigger crowds against Roosters,St George Illawarra and Tigers but I don't think it would make much difference for cowboys, Storm,raiders,panthers,eels etc.A lot of people have short memories, I went to heaps of souths games at sfs where the crowds were poor.

In both 2013 and 2014 we were averaging something like 23,000 at Accor. Our biggest ever home crowd was at Accor against the Roosters in the final round of 2013 just under 60,000. Also the same year we drew 32,000 against the Storm.

What I found strange is we played the Storm in a final at Accor the same year yet drew more than 10,000 less. Even more strange was that in 2014 when we played the Roosters in the preliminary final we drew 7,000 less.

I think to me what it shows though and also showed this year with the Bulldogs is after so many poor years of failure a strong season will really bring the crowds back.

In 2014 we drew 17,000 against the Cowboys on a Saturday night. The week before on a Thursday night against the Broncos there was 14,000 there. Even in 2013 against the Cowboys on a Friday night there was just under 16,000.

The best way to compare Allianz to Accor right now is the game we played against Parra last year. That drew the biggest crowd we have had against Parra. There was 27,500 at that game last year.

The best we have had against them at Accor in recent years was just under 21,000 in 2021. Remembering that Accor would suit the Parra fans more getting to the games.

I’m sure like anything though the novelty of playing at the new stadium would die down. But it will be interesting to see when things are going well playing at Allianz if we could get those sort of big crowds against the likes of the Storm and Cowboys.

 

[Training_The_House_Down]

Fair point we should be attracting more,however we don't ourselves any favours in not pushing for a better draw.We get very few home Sunday afternoon games if any,when most people are available to attend games. For my situation there's no way in hell I'm going to a Thursday night game and then getting up at 2-3am the next day to go to work and I'm sure there's a lot of people in that situation .You're right the rubbish seats need to be cheaper too especially against poor drawing opposition.

There’s an excuse in the first sentence
I remember supporters whinging like old tarts about Thursday & Friday games & then last year when we got a Sunday game, nothing changed, it may have been worse even & I brought that up on another social media group & then they made more excuses about it being an out of town side we played, as with what was previously stated our bottom line should be more than 15K regardless, with over 30K members & many more thousands of supporters

 

[captainsutto]

bottom line should be more than 15K regardless, with over 30K members & many more thousands of supporters

Id love to know what % of that membership live within an hour of Accor and further to that, how many season ticket holders we have.
I don’t recall seeing those numbers published but 8 haven’t looked at an annual report for a long time.
I doubt they are published

 

[Training_The_House_Down]

Id love to know what % of that membership live within an hour of Accor and further to that, how many season ticket holders we have.
I don’t recall seeing those numbers published but 8 haven’t looked at an annual report for a long time.
I doubt they are published

I think we have around 30K annually or thereabouts most years
I acknowledge that all of them don’t live in Sydney or all that close to the stadium
But we still have many, many thousands of supporters & people who regularly big up how passionate they are without being financial members
We still supposedly live in a rugby league city
I know that Sydney, I suppose Australia in fact is divided by many sporting codes but we’re a big city & people just take it for granted
What do we have to do to have a situation like other sports in other countries that have to beat people off with a stick & easily sell out?
Australians like to self promote ourselves as sports mad, perhaps we’re not

 

[Pplspoet]

In both 2013 and 2014 we were averaging something like 23,000 at Accor. Our biggest ever home crowd was at Accor against the Roosters in the final round of 2013 just under 60,000. Also the same year we drew 32,000 against the Storm.

What I found strange is we played the Storm in a final at Accor the same year yet drew more than 10,000 less. Even more strange was that in 2014 when we played the Roosters in the preliminary final we drew 7,000 less.

I think to me what it shows though and also showed this year with the Bulldogs is after so many poor years of failure a strong season will really bring the crowds back.

In 2014 we drew 17,000 against the Cowboys on a Saturday night. The week before on a Thursday night against the Broncos there was 14,000 there. Even in 2013 against the Cowboys on a Friday night there was just under 16,000.

The best way to compare Allianz to Accor right now is the game we played against Parra last year. That drew the biggest crowd we have had against Parra. There was 27,500 at that game last year.

The best we have had against them at Accor in recent years was just under 21,000 in 2021. Remembering that Accor would suit the Parra fans more getting to the games.

I’m sure like anything though the novelty of playing at the new stadium would die down. But it will be interesting to see when things are going well playing at Allianz if we could get those sort of big crowds against the likes of the Storm and Cowboys.

Yeah, add in some ‘thirsty in the desert’ effect for those initial 2012-2014 crowds too. We were certainly keen to see some quality footy live after years in the wilderness. There was probably some ‘we’ll show them how much support we have’ too.

Shame we can’t bottle that sentiment and trot it out each season.

I do at times wonder if those averages would have been greater had we been at the SFS (not that it was financially viable at the time).

And the Parra example you mention is a good one. People voted with their feet for that one-off.

2023 was our best home average since 2014 (which was the last time we hit over 19k as an average), but as was highlighted earlier in the thread, that figure is bumped up by the 45k double header in Perth.

More damning, in our entire existence at Accor, we’ve had 1 regular season crowd that was larger than the capacity at Allianz.

So we’re officially a childless couple living in an 8-bedroom, 5 bathroom home.

If Allianz (and I’m open to Commbank personally) are off the table, then we need a legitimate strategy to growing crowds at Accor, cause live attendance will die a slow painful death without intervention.

 

[captainsutto]

What do we have to do to have a situation like other sports in other countries that have to beat people off with a stick & easily sell out?

I’ve been banging on about it for years. We need to get bums in seats by making the membership great value rather than just a cash cow and we need to make game day an experience

Theres zero appetite for either

Australians like to self promote ourselves as sports mad, perhaps we’re not

We certainly are NOT in Sydney. Other states are better at it

 

[Training_The_House_Down]

I’ve been banging on about it for years. We need to get bums in seats by making the membership great value rather than just a cash cow and we need to make game day an experience

Theres zero appetite for either





We certainly are NOT in Sydney. Other states are better at it

I keep saying, what can the club do? Despite the piss poor crowds, I think they’ve tried most things, they have things going on every game day, but they clearly can’t keep being elaborate with what they do if the crowds are low, perhaps if we consistently got better crowds they could have more consistent live entertainment
Even when we do have live entertainment everyone in the members bar just ignores it & keeps talking away
So I think the club is wracking there brains but if you have suggestions?
I’ve mentioned the Burrow before & im not knocking them, but it would be great to get a young, vibrant crowd like they get at the soccer all singing & cheering, waving flags etc, a complete reboot of how rugby league fans are seen, the bulldogs do it to some extent

I think we like to sprout that as Australians we’re sports mad, even if we do refer to other states more so I still don’t think Sydney or NSW is that far removed

 

[captainsutto]

, I think they’ve tried most things, they have things going on every game day, but they clearly can’t keep being elaborate with what they do if the crowds are low, perhaps if we consistently got better crowds they could have more consistent live entertainment
Even when we do have live entertainment everyone in the members bar just ignores it & keeps talking away

I stopped going to the members bar a while ago. Not sure what live entertainment they have but in the ground before kick off, I doubt that would interest me. It needs to be outside the ground.
The often used egg & spoon relay race,kicking a goal or catching a bomb comp pre game at half time isn’t going to bring the crowds back. It cringeworthy

they need to incentivise people to get season tickets for a start, make it value to buy and parlay pre game, outside arena events. Utilise the sponsors and their products, past legends, music. Exclusive venues etc. All for the benefit of those who buy season tickets.
Great a day game experience that people want

 

[Training_The_House_Down]

I stopped going to the members bar a while ago. Not sure what live entertainment they have but in the ground before kick off, I doubt that would interest me. It needs to be outside the ground.
The often used egg & spoon relay race,kicking a goal or catching a bomb comp pre game at half time isn’t going to bring the crowds back. It cringeworthy

they need to incentivise people to get season tickets for a start, make it value to buy and parlay pre game, outside arena events. Utilise the sponsors and their products, past legends, music. Exclusive venues etc. All for the benefit of those who buy season tickets.
Great a day game experience that people want

I don’t think you’ll get outside vendors with such small, uninspiring crowds
They often have sponsors promotions, they recently had an MG launch, they had Troy Cassar Daley this year too which was embarrassing as it was one of the smallest crowds of the year
The lighting, sound system & screens are top class & provide atmosphere

I can’t blame the club for keeping costs down last year when it was apparent crowds weren’t improving, hopefully with a new year, new optimism & some wins we get better crowds & the club can put a bit more oomph into it

 

[Pplspoet]

I stopped going to the members bar a while ago. Not sure what live entertainment they have but in the ground before kick off, I doubt that would interest me. It needs to be outside the ground.
The often used egg & spoon relay race,kicking a goal or catching a bomb comp pre game at half time isn’t going to bring the crowds back. It cringeworthy

they need to incentivise people to get season tickets for a start, make it value to buy and parlay pre game, outside arena events. Utilise the sponsors and their products, past legends, music. Exclusive venues etc. All for the benefit of those who buy season tickets.
Great a day game experience that people want

I’ve been a reserved seat ticketed member since 2006 and haven’t been to the ‘Members Bar’ once. I don’t know where it is, have only really heard about it mentioned on here a couple of times, and to the best of my knowledge, have never been actively informed about it or invited from the club, at least not in the last 8-10 years?

I vaguely remember some talk about it back when they were trying to placate fans who were angry about the Leagues Club going the way of the dodo. Did they do a post match event there for a while?

If it’s a thing, how would one know it’s a thing?

 

[bunnytragic]

I’ve been a reserved seat ticketed member since 2006 and haven’t been to the ‘Members Bar’ once. I don’t know where it is, have only really heard about it mentioned on here a couple of times, and to the best of my knowledge, have never been actively informed about it or invited from the club, at least not in the last 8-10 years?

I vaguely remember some talk about it back when they were trying to placate fans who were angry about the Leagues Club going the way of the dodo. Did they do a post match event there for a while?

If it’s a thing, how would one know it’s a thing?

Poet they include the game day activities in the members' e-mail in the Game Day Hub link.
So if there is or isn't a post match function it is contained there. They do invite members every home game to go to the Members' Bar before the game to catch up with other members and from time to time there will be injured players in attendance. To be honest since COVID I have not been up to the Members' Bar (my eschewing close contact in confined space by choice) but I believe it is still a thing. You access via the stairs near Bay 127. Glory, glory