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[simon64]

...was all that showed up to Campbelltown today.

On the down side, the Warriors were playing and neither side has any chance of making the 8.
But it was a 2pm kick-off and a great day. Also, the locals don't get many home games at Campbelltown so you'd think there'd be motivation to get there.

I know in my case not living on the beaches, if the scheduling of the match isn't "right", I simply can't get there. I'd say this would be the main reason crowds are down. Look at Thursday night. Supposedly a huge clash and the crowd was about 7000.

So if you could pick one primary reason why crowds are down (or for Sydney-ites, maybe why you don't get to as many games as you'd like) what would it be ? The game has issues regardless of what Smith and Greenturd say.

 

[mave]

Disposable income is the biggest factor by far for most people.

 

[Pablo]

Sunday arvo, sun is shining, last home game for some big names and being played in the western suburbs. Anything less than 12k is a shocker.
Boycott by the Taylor haters maybe? Haven't taken noticed of tigpies home grade averages but surely this is well below.

 

[Pablo]

Disposable income is the biggest factor by far for most people.

Definitely

 

[castle eagle]

scheduling for mine, even though we got the first 20 rounds in advance work & other commitments got in the way.
also bad weather plays a part, if it looks like rain will play a part then i have to think of a 2 hour drive home in wet clothes(maybe i'm getting old!)

 

[BH72]

also it's not really Wests is it... when they play at Leichhardt they pack the place.

 

[Killer03]

I love going to the games myself (I live in the hunter valley so going to 3 or 4 games a year is a nice weekend away). But if I was going with the family.....stuff that. It's just a complete hassle. The price of food is outrageous and there just isn't enough going on on game days to keep youngish kids involved and interested.

 

[sheridanstand78]

That crowd figure is disturbing and if the NRL are fair dinkum they really need to address as to why the crowds are so down these days. Without knowing all the facts, a Sunday arvo when the weather is fair should attract at least a minimum crowd of 10K. I have a few pals who support the Tigpies and their fan base is as ropeable about their clubs management as we are with ours. There is a disconnect between the club and the McArthur region and the club from what I understand do not do enough promotion. This is a region with a wealth of juniors and they still struggle.

 

[Shoe1]

I'm surprised at that crowd. Big island community out at c'town.

Maybe both teams in terrible form lately had something to do with it?

Cost? Season too long?

The time of the game and weather were perfect, realistically.

 

[MadMarcus]

Greenberg

 

[simon64]

Cost has to be a factor.

Especially if you start talking about a family of 4. The price of food is a joke. It would cost $100 at a minimum to attend a game. Money a lot of people simply can't justify.

There's so much spoken about this but I'm yet to see a club really address it. Drop the price to $10 for adults and halve the price of food. A family should be able to attend a game for $50 at the most. Isn't it supposed to be a working class game ?

 

[The Wheel]

1/ Cost for the non fanatics - as above hard to justify when you can watch it in TV
2/ The fact you have players signing for other clubs at start of year - fans become cynical
3/ Greenturd

 

[sheridanstand78]

I agree with all the above.

The NRL are total amateurs. Allowing players to.sign for other clubs a year out from them commencing there is so stupid! The damage that did to our season is for all to.see.

Too many night games and unfriendly times for fans who want to go to.games.

Ridiculously high prices for tickets and food. The authorities do nothing and allow unfairness to prevail with some.clubs benefiting from the draw and we get the crumbs.

It won't change while we have faceless self interested cronies running our game.

 

[PONTIAN SEA EAGLE]

Money,parking,form slump,cold nights.Just to name a few.

 

[Budgie]

Across the board, I think it's a class thing. Since the western world became 'aspirational', the middle class has all but obliterated the working class. While AFL is a bright shiny thing that had traditionally straddled the classes, and Union is a middle class game, rugby league is still seen as working class and, often, the behaviour of some drunken fans confirms this to the aspirational middle classes.

I've thought this for a while and, if that is the problem, the NRL has a huge job ahead.

 

[manlyfan76]

The fact that Hayne playing a few minutes of a trial NFL game is such a big story on every NRL footy show, paper and forum shows how bad the nrl is going.

 

[Frank]

Simple really. When Manly isn't travelling well rugby league generally doesn't either. After all we are the pride of the league.

 

[Eagles2nv]

There is a number of issues why people are not attending.

Price is a big one, especially for families. How good would sunday arvo be if you could head to the game and there a was a sausage sizzle set up so you can feed the family on the cheap. Never happen cause the margins on food is huge.

Weather doesnt help, I know it hurts the raiders becuase the cold deters alot of people from going.

Poor form stops the bandwagoners from going, but that is the clubs, not NRLs fault.

 

[Eagles2nv]

Clubs need to give members more incentives, and in turn will sign more members.

The NRL mabye needs to look at this better. Mabye sell memberships where you can attend more away games.

For example if you are a Manly or rorters supporter, and live out west, means there is likely going to be a couple of games closer to you (wests/parra/riff//dogs) and you may not get the chance to attend all brooky games. So you could maybe get a Sydney pass that entitles you to 6 brooky games and 3 Sydney based away games.

 

[Mals]

Across the board, I think it's a class thing. Since the western world became 'aspirational', the middle class has all but obliterated the working class. While AFL is a bright shiny thing that had traditionally straddled the classes, and Union is a middle class game, rugby league is still seen as working class and, often, the behaviour of some drunken fans confirms this to the aspirational middle classes.

I've thought this for a while and, if that is the problem, the NRL has a huge job ahead.

I'm not following your train of thought... if everyone is aspiring to be middle class & following a "middle class" game (or the bright new shiny game in town) then the Union and AFL crowds would be sells out in Sydney and Brisbane. This is far from the case.