While the action on the park in the first month of season five of the A-League has been filled with lots of action and goals (54 goals scored at at average of 2.7 goals a game) and controversy (cardboard Miron cut outs), most of the talk off the pitch has centered on the low NSL-type crowd figures.
Football pundits and bloggers have been speculating on why the crowds are so low.
Some have said that it’s because of the A-League’s early start causing the season to overlap into the peak of NRL, AFL and rugby seasons.
While I definitely think the overlapping seasons is one of the main reasons, I think there are three other main reasons.
And I’m sure you have read about them somewhere else.
First is the poor timing of the games, such as Thursday night and 3pm kick offs.
Number two is the backlash by fans not impressed with the overpricing of tickets in some markets such as Brisbane and Gold Coast.
The final reason is also a lack of promotion, with fingers pointed straight at the direction of the Football Federation Australia.
With no presence on free to air television, most people would not even know who is playing, never mind what times the games are on.
In a story John Taylor wrote for the Daily Telegraph this week, the only people happy with the low crowds appear to be TV rights holder, Fox Sports. Murray Shaw, the executive producer of football for the network, said: “The cumulative reach is up 4 per cent year on year, which means more people have watched this year’s coverage than ever before. This is an extraordinary effort given that two of the four rounds have been up against the Ashes.”
This is quite an ironic result as the reasons for the early kick offs is because of Fox Sports scheduling.
Another Thursday night kick off is sure to provide a smaller crowd for the Victory Jets game that kicks off round five of the A League, as Thursday is not a traditional football night in Australia, or anywhere else in the world.
When you decide to play with the Devil, you can’t really complain when he cheats.
melbvictory87
Guest
agree its unbelievable
melbvictory87
Guest
na man, no chance i used to goto hellas with my greek friends and that game would get 5k max. 45%greeks, 45% cro and 10% other (meeeeeee). goto mvfc and i sit next to asians, indians, aussies, maori's, italians etc. veryyyy broad appeal
melbvictory87
Guest
so true, it is becoming disconnected. melbourne victory especially with their closed door pre-season games and versing tianjin teda when they should be playing oakliegh cannons
Mr
Guest
He cannot be serious when he says that's good value. 6,433 is going to get worse with that attitude.
Con Stamocostas
Roar Pro
What clowns. It's immoral thats what it is. Those fans will not come back. What a bunch of bullies
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Geez, it's pretty amazing, who would have imagined that anyone would seriously have thought such an increase in pricing was in any way good?? The article makes one good point, that home games have gone from 10 to 14 (also recall that some teams will have 13 home games) - but that's only a 40% increase, it doesn't justify a tripling of prices!!
Realfootball
Guest
Mr McClennan, if you really are listening to your fans, you will put your hand up and say Sorry, we got it wrong and revise the prices - at least for matchday tickets, because I know there isn't much you can do for people who have already shelled out for season tickets. If you don't you truly risk the club going under and the FFA will certainly move to cut out the rot when it inevitably takes over. Now is the time to show some real leadership.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
...those were the days: VPL on FTA; World of Sport (which was 99% aussie rules); VFA; World Championship Wrestling; and to top it all off - that was the hey day of Australian soaps: No. 96 and The Box - where a 13 year old boy could learn a bit about human anatomy!
Art Sapphire
Guest
Here is the whole article - all I can say is - what a joke! Ticket Prices Hit Roar Nerve Aidan Ormond EXCLUSIVE: Skyrocketing prices of Brisbane Roar’s family season passes have been partly to blame for the club’s poor attendances at Suncorp stadium this season, say Roar fans. Brisbane Roar confirmed today that this season their Maroon class family season pass sells for $1080. Last season the same pass was $390. That's an increase of almost $700. In these tough economic times, it's too much for some fans who've told this website the price hike is the main reason why the club is pulling such low crowds this season. "A big reason why I'm not going to games is that I can't afford it," long-time Roar supporter and mother of two young children Nicole Smeelie told au.fourfourtwo.com. Nicole, who was attending games with her husband and kids, says families are being priced out of watching the Roar. "We can't afford that," she said. "The prices have gone up astronomically. Families can't afford that in this day and age. "I know five or six people who've not bought season tickets because they know they'll miss a game here and there and it's like throwing away money at that price." This season, Roar hosted Gold Coast United in their season opener followed by Wellington Phoenix and Central Coast Mariners. Just under 20,000 saw the opening round clash - a good figure but down on what some had anticipated. This was followed by two of the lowest ever crowds for the club - 7084 and 6433. Brisbane Roar CEO Peter McLennan defended the prices, telling au.fourfourtwo.com that the prices reflect the increase in the number of home games from 10 to 14. "We truly believe over two hours of entertainment we are still very good value for money and at our current entry level ticket prices we're comparable to taking a family to the movies," he said. And he said that it was necessary to have such pricing for the club's economic good but promised that any fan concerns would be taken on board and hinted there could be some ticket relief in the future. He added: "While we are very aware of being affordable, we must also ensure we are viable to guarantee our fans have a club to support in the future. "We are listening to our fans and we're currently assessing our options." Only once last season did Roar dip below a five-figure home crowd (9118 for Perth Glory in round 12). Generally, Roar have been one of the best-supported A-League clubs in the four seasons thus far. At Suncorp last season, attendances for Roar's final two games of the season were over 17,000 and 23,000 respectively. And at the start of last season, Roar's first two home games pulled over 12,000 fans each. The season before that, the club averaged almost 13,000 for their home and away calendar of matches. Roar's next home game is on Sunday, September 20 against Perth Glory.
Realfootball
Guest
The lunatics have taken over the asylum.
Art Sapphire
Guest
you could also watch the VFA on commercial FTA as well. Times have changed Pip.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
From 442 "Brisbane Roar confirmed today that this season their Maroon class family season pass sells for $1080. Last season the same pass was $390. That's an increase of almost $700" Says it all
Pippinu
Roar Guru
It's 47 years ago to be exact - my age. Actually, I was going to mention that 1991 grand final. Anyway, I'm pointing out there was a 23,000 strong crowd for a VPL game back in 1962 - what's the big deal? People might be interested. In the early 70s you could watch VPL games on commercial FTA as well.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Gee, you're a pain PIp. Thats 50 years ago. In all my time going to NSL games in the 80's and 90's. The only time they got over 15k was in the finals. Why did you not paste these figures as well. Best Regular Season NSL Crowd: 17,228 vs Marconi-Fairfield at Middle Park 23/04/1978 Best Regular Season VPL Crowd: 23,000 vs George Cross at Olympic Park 05/08/1962 Best Finals Series NSL Crowd: 23,318 vs Melbourne Croatia (1990/91 Grand Final) at Olympic Park
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
Thats also two Melbourne Teams I bet Hellas vs Newcastle wouldn't have. Plus there is the fact that int he last couple of years the crowds and comp dived badly with teams frequently pulling out during the season.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
In fact, check this bit of trivia out, Hellas' largest crowd: Best Regular Season VPL Crowd: 23,000 vs George Cross at Olympic Park 05/08/1962 That's state league soccer in 1962!!!
Art Sapphire
Guest
Dream on Pip - Hellas vs the Knights only got over 15k in the finals.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
I reckon Hellas vs the Knights would have pulled 15,000 on a Thursday night.
Killer_Tomatoes
Guest
NSL type crowds? get a grip on reality, what NSL team could pull 15k on a Thursday night.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
I've already told you blokes - it's an odd year (5th season), plus a title defence - anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and in five rounds more things have gone wrong than you'd expect in a whole season. It's the champion's curse revisited. Only 15,000 punters - it's getting worse every week.