Will suburban grounds really bring back NRL crowds?

[BOZO]

Will spruced-up suburban grounds bring back NRL crowds?

Data suggests romantic memories of bumper attendances at suburban grounds like Brookvale Oval may be built on an illusion.

www.smh.com.au

 

[globaleagle]

Yes.

Is Roy Masters an agenda driven git, cowardly regurgitating old stories filled with insipid rhetoric because his editor and the click bait gods demand it?

Yes as well.

 

[Woodsie]

Yes.

Is Roy Masters an agenda driven git, cowardly regurgitating old stories filled with insipid rhetoric because his editor and the click bait gods demand it?

Yes as well.

If the point he is trying to make is .... stadiums should have seats in them ... well ... thanks Ironside ... well done .. I am sure architects around the globe will hail him as a visionary ... if he is a christian he will likely get a Nobel prize ....

 

[manly al]

Surely it is an accepted given now that suburban ground crowds will find it hard to surpass the attendances before the advent of pay T V coverage and numerous other streaming services . Suburban grounds can still provide an important role and financial benefits for their clubs and for home ground advantage and local supporter convenience . Telecast and broadcast and streaming rights are the main income sources in recent decades but again with suburban grounds still providing an important role , not to mention the cultural aspect . .

 

[DUFFMAN]

Doesn’t matter if a local ground is majority hill or a full stadium, keep playing games at any ground on a Thursday night or 6pm Friday will make little difference to the crowd figures.
NRL scheduling plays just a large part in crowd figures.

On a wet Sunday afternoon you might get more people attending if everyone gets a seat undercover but the majority of games are in the dry.

 

[The Who]

People attend sporting events because of the atmosphere, crowd interaction, 'feel', colour and excitement that TV coverage can never replicate.
It is not as convenient or comfortable as sitting in a lounge chair, it costs you a lot more, and you don't see as much live as you do with a TV broadcast.
For those like me who have been watching RL live for 60 years I'm prepared to make the sacrifices to get to a match. However, for the current generation who are growing up wedded to their iphones the lure of attending RL matches must be waning.
I can't see RL consistently maintaining its live crowds over time. Some seasons will be bumper ones with the well-supported clubs being successful on the field. But, the time-poor instant-gratification generations we will have in future will mean that attendances at all sporting events will be lower.

 

[Harvies elbow]

If the point he is trying to make is .... stadiums should have seats in them ... well ... thanks Ironside ... well done .. I am sure architects around the globe will hail him as a visionary ... if he is a christian he will likely get a Nobel prize ....

Well he was hailed by the media as a highly successful and revolutionary coach so anything is possible.
Fact was he was neither...

 

[Shoe1]

Yes. And 15k at brookie or belmore looks and sounds better than 15k at anz

 

[Wombat64]

What a stupid article......

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

Well you can’t get more out of touch with the game than live in Melbourne, as Roy does.

Unless you live in say Hobart, Launceston, Geelong, Adelaide or Perth.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

I’ve been to a couple of Comp games at ANZ with a crowd of about 15k and the place looks empty, Half of the food outlets are closed and there is absolutely no atmosphere. On top of that you are a Mile away from the action. It cannot be compared to sitting on the hill at Redfern (when used), Brookie, Leichhardt etc. We don’t need stadiums for Comp games bigger than BankWest. Even BankWest looks empty with 15k. Big stadiums small minds.

 

[Harvies elbow]

Masters going to dribble a bib full on talkin sport.
Apparently...

 

[conanu]

Roy Masters historical crowd figures are a waste of time using as an indicator, purely because they were so inaccurately calculated in the old days. Not to mention the crowd figures were always being brought down to avoid tax and gate takings were being given to players as cash after matches along with the door money from the disco at the club afterwards.

Journalists hate suburban grounds and always sook about them regularly because they don't get pampered at them and they have to work hard for their dollar for a change. When they can't get parking spaces they get annoyed then stuck in traffic leaving and at the suburban grounds they don't get put up in the corporate suites so they can eat the cucumber sandwiches. Thats why they are so against suburban grounds and they love the likes of Wankfest or ANZ because the stadium owners lay out the red carpet for them with flash corporate suites with food and plenty of VIP parking. When they come to Brookie they get told drink a cup of cement and harden up, sit in a small box and do your F'ing job. Remember too that Todd Greenberg started out as the Boss of ANZ stadium before he was the Dogs CEO so he loves a giant stadium with no one in it.

 

[HoldenV8]

Masters singles out Brookie (are we surprised??) for the lower crowds at suburban grounds, plus throws in the old line about Manly fans not traveling for good measure, yet he neglects to mention the fact that it has higher average attendances than every other suburban ground in Sydney despite the fact that it has had comparatively far less money spent on it than any of the others save maybe Belmore and Leichhardt.

 

[swoop]

NRL's ultimatum: Four new suburban stadiums or grand final will go
By Michael Chammas
May 31, 2020 — 2.18pm

The NRL will meet the NSW government this week armed with the threat of moving the grand final away from Sydney if the state doesn't deliver up to four boutique suburban stadiums over the next decade.
With the state government on Saturday dumping plans for the $800 million redevelopment of ANZ Stadium as it deals with the financial fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, NRL powerbrokers are set to demand funds be redirected towards suburban venues as part of a push to regenerate tribalism in rugby league.

The 30,000-seat Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta cost around $300 million to build.CREDIT:GETTY
The NRL recently signed an extension to keep the grand final in Sydney until 2042, but that agreement hinged on a $2 billion promise that included new stadiums at Parramatta and Moore Park, as well as the redevelopment of the former Olympic venue into a rectangular facility.
According to sources with knowledge of the NRL's stadia strategy, the governing body is delighted with the decision by NSW government to scrap ANZ Stadium refurbishment plans, and will now lobby for up to four 15,000-20,000 seat stadiums worth around $150m-$200m each.
Advertisement

The NRL understands the government's predicament given the toll of the coronavirus crisis, and is expected to extend the time frame if it agrees to roll out a suburban venue plan that will cater for communities and sporting clubs across many codes.
Manly, Campbelltown, Penrith and Sydney's south have been earmarked as primary targets, with all nine Sydney clubs to be supported as part of the NRL's grand plan.

Brookvale Oval on the Northern Beaches is one of the NRL's priority venues to redevelop.CREDIT:SMH
A stadium in Sydney's south would cater for the Dragons, Sharks and potentially Canterbury, who also have the option of playing out of Bankwest Stadium. South Sydney would have the option of playing matches alongside the Sydney Roosters out of the new stadium at Moore Park, or moving games out west to Bankwest Stadium with the Parramatta Eels.
The Wests Tigers would play the majority of their games out of a new Campbelltown Stadium, which will also host new A-League club Macarthur FC.

NRL's ultimatum: Four new suburban stadiums or grand final will go

After the NSW government scrapped plans to redevelop ANZ Stadium the NRL is set to demand it fund the construction of four new boutique grounds.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Woodsie]

Poor Gladys .... she will be having nightmares about PVL .......

 

[wombatgc]

Poor Gladys .... she will be having nightmares about PVL .......

And Hugh Marks, who is also a huge fan of bringing back the tribalism with smaller boutique grounds.
Sir PVL continues to keep kicking goals.

 

[The Who]

If the argument is that more crowds attend grounds which have seats how come the largest crowds at Brookie (it was not uncommon to get 25,000+ in the 1960's and 1970s for the grudge matches against Parra, Balmain, Wests) were when the ground had less seating? People were prepared to stand and watch, sit on an expanded Hill, and in big crowds kids actually were allowed to sit inside the fence near the sidelines and behind the in-goal.
Oh how I remember the tussles with fellow supporters for the prized cardboard corner posts that would erupt a couple of minutes before full time.

 

[Woodsie]

If the argument is that more crowds attend grounds which have seats how come the largest crowds at Brookie (it was not uncommon to get 25,000+ in the 1960's and 1970s for the grudge matches against Parra, Balmain, Wests) were when the ground had less seating? People were prepared to stand and watch, sit on an expanded Hill, and in big crowds kids actually were allowed to sit inside the fence near the sidelines and behind the in-goal.
Oh how I remember the tussles with fellow supporters for the prized cardboard corner posts that would erupt a couple of minutes before full time.

For me it is not so much an arguement about game day crowds ... rather it is about building fans ... most of us rusted on tribal fans began our journey with our dads at suberban grounds ... a local indoctrination that lasts a lifetime ....

A 2 hour trip to the centre of Sydney to an atmosphere black hole .... just doesn't do it ....

 

[Seagalatos]

PVL I salute you, full steam ahead, fixing over 20 years of neglect to the game.

I would back you to go to a feminist rally and come back with a few sandwiches and an ironed shirt.