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For the second week in a row, patrons attending The Championships at Randwick fell well short of expectations.
On a glorious day in Sydney, in near perfect weather conditions, just 25,000 attended Royal Randwick.
The ATC surely must be extremely disappointed with this number based on the amount of prizemoney on offer, the excellent facilities they now have and an advertising budget that must have run into the millions. It was still an enjoyable day, but you had to wonder what Randwick would have to do to attract 40,000 people.
Cut across to the Sydney Swans match at the SCG, again in pristine weather conditions, and 25,000 people also decided to turn up. In Round 2 only 32,000 people bothered to attend Homebush Stadium to see the Swans and Buddy play Collingwood.
Playing next door to the SCG on Easter Saturday, the Waratahs attracted around 15,000. Not bad, but not good given their performance hitherto.
Over at the NRL, a respectable 41,000 patrons attended Homebush on Good Friday to see the Doggies just beat the Bunnies and over 50,000 watched the Eels go down tot he Tigers on Monday. But these were the best two NRL crowds of the season so far.
Talking of Doggies and Bunnies, only 3500 managed to turn up to Wentworth Park on Easter Saturday night to watch the conclusion to the Group 1 Golden Easter Egg. Despite Wentworth Park’s location and the great evening weather, this was a pretty ordinary crowd compared to previous years (albeit again an enjoyable evening for this punter).
So why the poor crowds?
Adelaide and GWS managed to get 45,000 to the Adelaide Oval on Sunday and West Coast attracted 35,000 on Saturday night against Port Adelaide. Geelong and Hawthorn hit 88,000 at the MCG on the weekend, and Flemington never fails to attract a big crowd to the Melbourne Cup even in torrential rain.
Are Sydneysiders more inclined to ‘do’ than to ‘watch’? Do we prefer to watch our sport on TV than live because transport in Sydney so horrendous now that people do not dare go anywhere that involves motor transportation?
Is there too much sport in Sydney? Or is it simply a case that all forms of sports entertainment have been diluted by other forms of entertainment in the Emerald City?
Is it a combination of each of these? Do I ask too many questions?
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