Ben Warren of the Kangaroos during the AFL Round 01 match between Port Adelaide Power and the North Melbourne Kangaroos at AAMI Stadium, Adelaide.
For all sporting administrators, one of the greatest challenges they face is the search to increase crowds at their matches. Even in a high crowd-drawing competition such as the AFL, particular teams struggle to attract crowds, even to their home matches.
Some of Australia’s other major codes, such as the NRL and A-League, often attract crowds of less than 10,000, reducing atmosphere and revenue. The obvious consideration is the overall quality of the product, and this has been one long-standing criticism of the A-League and its predecessor, the NSL.
For the NRL, however, it is the strongest (or certainly equal strongest) domestic rugby league competition in the world, yet the majority of crowd numbers fail to reflect this.
Marketing and promotion is the other key factor, and this is where the A-League has fallen down; a lack of real creativity exists with its marketing, with hardly any mainstream advertising and somewhat bewildering promotion.
For example, an advertising van emblazoned with the basic slogan “Your team. Playing the world’s biggest game” and details of the Glory’s upcoming fixture was seen in Perth.
Very simple promotion, but it’s something, right? Not when this van is parked outside the stadium in the hour before kick-off. I may not be an expert in marketing, but I’d guess most of the people seeing the van at this time would be already going to the game.
Would it not be better served roaming the city streets, where volumes of people will see the message, rather than being a pretty picture for those already attending the match?
Every code has its own interests in mind, and understandably so, but I believe by working together, through some creative marketing and fixturing, there is a way of promoting every code together.
This is a two part plan, the first part involves uniting all the major sporting teams from a particular city.
Could you imagine if every competition worked together so that all the teams from, say, Brisbane travelled to Melbourne on a particular weekend?
Supporters would be encouraged to travel down (also boosting Australia’s economy) and could take in a number of different sports in the one weekend.
The Melbourne Victory would play the Brisbane Roar in the A-League on the Friday night, the Melbourne Storm could play the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL on a Saturday evening and any of the Melbourne AFL teams could play the Brisbane Lions on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Brisbane’s lack of an NBL basketball team would make the addition of that sport unattainable, but the introduction of Melbourne’s new Super 15 rugby team means the Queensland Reds could also travel down that weekend. Admittedly there is not a massive window where all the season overlap, but at least three of the aforementioned events could easily happen.
By scheduling these matches so nothing would clash, supporters would be able to take in as many different sports as possible during a weekend, and potentially become ‘hooked’ on a new one.
Codes such as the A-League would benefit, as a new market is opened up, and despite the oft-quoted ‘AFL vs football rivalry’, it would enable the domestic league to grow.
While it may not be the number one priority for all sporting fans, football is extremely popular worldwide, and most Australians would admit some interest. The A-League can benefit from this, by working alongside other codes, rather than competing for supporters.
The overall “city in another city” proposal is something that could only work maybe once or twice a season, with all Brisbane teams travelling to Melbourne at one point, and possibly vice versa, with another city such as Perth doing the same at another time.
It would certainly require a high degree of flexibility from fixture makers, and perhaps an independent governing body to intervene, but if clashes were avoided, even supporters from the host city would benefit.
By marketing this as a unique “city vs city” rivalry with an “us and them” mentality, and through other incentives such as an all-encompassing weekend ticket, fans would be able to support their local team in any sport, and boost the overall health of all competitions.
Even if such a scenario did not occur, another way of benefiting all codes would be to limit the number of fixture clashes that occur on a particular weekend. In a city such as Melbourne, which is a hotbed of sporting activity, this presents challenges, although certainly not insurmountable ones.
During a recent trip, I had an interest in attending a Melbourne Storm match. Having never attended an NRL match before, the code stood to gain extra money through my admission, however a clash with an AFL fixture already booked meant the NRL missed out.
While all codes aim to maximise prime-time viewing, if the NRL match had been an hour later, myself – and potentially many other supporters – would have been able to do both.
Melbourne sporting weekends are popular with people throughout the country, and I am sure many would be keen to take in a different sport if the fixturing allowed it.
Another example of poor planning was back in August 2009 when Perth hosted two football matches on a particular weekend; the West Coast Eagles vs Richmond and Perth Glory vs Melbourne Victory. They clashed on a Friday night.
The A-League match in particular would have benefited greatly from being played at any of the numerous other times it could have been held.
Nothing is impossible, and by marketing sports as a combined package, and putting the interests of the broader spectator base into their minds, governing bodies can ensure their own sport grows in popularity, and also the overall health of sport in Australia is improved.
Fez's are cool
Guest
Add to that a second Brisbane NRL side.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
The short answer is no, keep reading for the complicated answer. The AFL generally wins in the metro areas overall, but the NRL generally takes it out with the inclusion of regional ratings. Over the course of the year, Roy Masters believes that the figures amount to a 2 million viewer gap, but that the AFL actually gets more viewer hours due to the increased length of the game. There is a fair bit of discussion over how the NRL figures are arrived at, given that many AFL dominating regional areas simply are not counted. (including Tasmania, SA and WA regional areas). Others believe that the QLD regional figures double count some of the QLD figures according to the maps supplied by the rating agencies. Roy Masters also points out that the AFL generates more advertising revenue for broadcasters than the NRL - by a fair margin (even in NSW), and is worth the same amount as the NRL on paytv despite less live matches. Its a far from black and white issue.
simon
Guest
But doesn't the AFL outrate the NRL on TV too? How is your last sentence being fair? The rest of your comment was already in favour of the NRL.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
This is a good idea, but I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. The AFL usually puts out it's draw before the NRL does - and AFL fans from Melbourne are quite likely to travel interstate to see their team (I would argue a larger number of them travel than from any other domestic league in Australia), AFL games in Melbourne don't need any extra patrons, and many people in Melbourne follow more than just one sport. With those considerations I think the NRL / A-league / ANZ Championship etc would benefit from having Melbourne teams (Storm / Heart / Vixens) play in Sydney (for example) the weekend big-drawing Melbourne clubs with lots of travelling supporters (like Collingwood, Essendon etc) are due to play in Sydney.. BUT What makes people less likely to do something like that (travel then attend more than one sporting competition while interstate) is the prohibitive costs. Most members of AFL clubs only have memberships that allow them access to games played at their home grounds. So they'll have to pay for tickets to two sporting events for themselves and their partner/family which can be quite expensive, as well as travel to the city, their accomodation, and food and all that. Not to mention there are lots of other things people might want to experience in Melbourne, the Gold Coast or Sydney on their weekend away (I can't be sure about Adelaide, Brisbane or Perth). In my opinion what would be a better solution is for teams in certain areas to work together. For example, the Gold Coast Suns, Gold Coast United and Gold Coast Titans should work together, have members of one club (Titans, for example) be able to purchase discounted memberships / tickets to home games for United and the Suns. And should there be a weekend where both the Suns and Titans both play at home (say a Saturday and a Sunday game) have 'double header' tickets available, which lets ticketholders get into both games for $50. Sydney FC (AFL), Sydney FC (HAL) and any of the inner-city Sydney NRL teams could do the same.. Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Storm and Melbourne Demons as well.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
I respectfully disagree.
OzFootballSherrin
Roar Pro
ac - as compared to??
ac
Guest
By the way BILBO makes a lot of sense in what he says. AFL needs to be seen live and then it is a great game. NRL can be seen on tv (in which it rates very well) and i think this where the difference is between AFL and the NRL. Though to be fair the NRL crowds are way up on what they used to be averaging 17.5 per game.
Katipo
Guest
Increasingly supporters choose to watch footy at home on TV where the beer is cheaper, the toilets cleaner & car parking is more convenient. In the early 20C people didn't have a lot of entertainment options. Football was the biggest game in town. Communities turned up to support their local football teams in massive numbers. Those days are gone. Today sport is a TV products funded by the broadcast deals: which factor compensation for lost spectator revenue. Rather than increasing crowds, in the future, football crowds will likely reduce as more entertainment and media options compete for our attention. Co-operation between football codes to win eyeballs is a good idea (in theory). Ultimately it may become a necessity.
Funktapuss
Guest
Work together, HAH! It is a time for war. Rooty Hill may well end up to be Australian football's Stalingrad, but we are there, in the belly of the beast.
ac
Guest
the AFL is out to destroy the other codes not work with them. AFL INC is a bad bad organisation.
EvertonAndAustralia
Roar Pro
As a Brissie boy I wish there was a law stating that the Lions, broncos and Roar cannot be playing at the same time.
NF
Guest
Lincoln with the current membership drives going on at the moment and with majority of the clubs exceeding last year totals it can be assumed that crowds will increase once again this year hopefully because membership & attendance has a positive correlation the AFL is a perfect example of that. However, the increase in NRL membership will follow suit because as far as I'm concerned the attendances should be way higher than are originally it just people need to get out there. The popularity is there but not truly reflected in a sense as it's fullest potential.
Lincoln9
Roar Rookie
The Broncos averaged 35k last season, and only they and the Bulldogs averaged over 18k. I'm certainly not suggesting the NRL is in poor shape, but when every other team is averaging crowds of 10-18k, there's no doubt they would be looking at ways to increase attendances. Overall, I admit my idea is somewhat fanciful (particularly considering the dramas of the WC bid - something I hadn't really considered), but I still see some overall benefit if such a proposal could come to fruition, however unlikely that may be...
bilbo
Guest
By the way - "For the NRL, however, it is the strongest (or certainly equal strongest) domestic rugby league competition in the world, yet the majority of crowd numbers fail to reflect this." The NRL has the highest average (17.5K) and aggregate (3.5m) crowds of any domestic rugby competition in the world, more than the French Rugby comp, UK Rugby and League comp, and the South African and NZ comps. The Super Rugby comp has a higher average (20K), however this is a provincial/representative competition, and there are only 94 games as opposed to 201. What this means is that ground attendance is not the most popular or best way to watch either rugby code, as possession and field position are highly important. Rugby Union in SA, NZ and France are bigger than League in Australia, however the Australian comp has a much higher attendance. This shows that crowd attendance is not an accurate indicator of popularity.
Patrick Angel
Roar Guru
A one off Gala could present some opportunities, but anything more would not work in a competitive marketplace. It would have to be mutually beneficial, perhaps for charity to decrease the vitriolic talk that would come if there was money to be made.
NF
Guest
Never happen sports is a competitive market if it means AFL scheduling the same time as the A-League so be it that's business by attempting to cut into each other pie it what all the codes are doing to get that market share. A competitive sport market is better than a non-competitive one as it gives codes that extra incentive to work that much harder and will create a greater result in the long run.
Justin
Guest
Nice sentiment but its pie in the sky stuff.
OzFootballSherrin
Roar Pro
The AFL and ARU have in the past sought to avoid direct clashes.....in Sydney for example. However, that's not so hard for perhaps 1 game each. Trying to tie into Sydney re the NRL or Melb re the AFL would be almost impossible - - - drafting a season fixture is hard enough as it is.
Ben Carter
Roar Guru
I admire the sentiment and the idea Lincoln, although I think the practical side might be rather tricky to get agreement on.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Looking at what transpired during our WC bid, hard to imagine that anyone is going to be working with anyone in a hurry