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Its always a big occasion when a city the size of greater Sydney with a population of over five million introduces a new professional sporting team, even if the professional sport is a little bit foreign to most Sydneysiders.
The AFL is famous for their enthusiastic drive out of Victoria to grow the game and convert as many Australians as they can.
This is evidenced by the AFL’s growing presence in Sydney media, exemplified by Sydney newspapers running yet more stories about the “cross-town rivalry” between the Swans and the Giant, how the Swans were going to “teach the Giants a lesson”, and they “couldn’t wait till the big game”.
AFL management has always had a very positive attitude to any of their ventures, and with record income behind them they were very confident of making the Swans and the Giants a roaring success in Sydney.
However, some of the AFL administration are showing some concern about the Giants progress and their first baby steps into the Sydney sporting market.
Just three weeks before the AFL NAB pre-season comp kicks off, the Giants have signed up just a touch over 4000 members, which is well below their 17,000 membership target.
It’s also estimated that nearly half of those members don’t actually live in Sydney, but in places like Queanbeyan, Canberra and even Melbourne, so that’s only about 2000 Sydney folk who have signed with the Giants.
That’s also because in 2012 the Giants will spread their home games between four different venues – ANZ Stadium, Blacktown Olympic Park, Skoda Stadium and Canberra’s Manuka Oval.
“Greater Western Sydney” is taking on an increasingly large area, especially since the many “new AFL fans” of Blacktown failed to materialise.
The AFL prides itself on memberships and that’s money in the bank to them. They even sell three game packages as “memberships” to boost their numbers, so such a low number of members who actually live in Sydney is of concern to them.
The Giants figures don’t look too good either, when you compare them to the three rugby league teams in their area. In 2011 the Parramatta Eels had 11,339 members, Wests Tigers 9,286 and the Penrith Panthers 8,421. Even Sydney FC has a little under 10,000 members this year.
The AFL has a longer tradition of club membership than the A-League or the NRL, who have only recently started to expand their numbers.
Last year’s debutants the Suns had 14,000 members going into the comp, and the Gold Coast has a population ten times smaller than Sydney’s.
It’s not just the NRL and the FFA who are feeling the Giants’ aggressive push, cross-town rivals the Sydney Swans are also suffering.
Following a 30 percent drop in attendances and ratings for Swans home games last season, Sydney memberships are also way down on target compared to last year and might fall below 20,000 for the first time in years.
But GWS Giants boss David Matthews says he’s not targeting Swans fans or members. He is not low on confidence either. “I think the arrival of the Giants is advantageous to both teams and it’s a one plus one equals three situation where the game grows,” he says.
Israel Folau just isn’t having the star attraction impact that the AFL hoped for. He hasn’t been able to convert many NRL or other sports followers outside of the Minto islander community where he grew up.
The AFL even held this year’s AFL Draft in Sydney’s western suburbs and officially declared that “GWS conquered the national AFL draft”.
But judging by Sydney’s reaction to, or lack of reaction to, the draft and the Giants in general these past few weeks, it appears that the AFL’s 18th club has a long way to go to win the hearts and minds of those in Sydney’s football and rugby league heartland.
Kevin Sheedy and the Giants officials – and even the club’s new recruits – are still all spruiking the same confident message about AFL.
They know it’s going to be tough, but if the game wants to prosper further than Victoria, then Western Sydney is where the game must be won. Their optimism is backed by the fact that the AFL has the money to make sure that the Giants don’t fold any time soon.
As the song says, it’s a long way to the top, if you want to rock and roll, especially in Sydney.
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