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Two rounds into the 2013 NRL season and there has been disappointing crowds across the board. The question is, why aren’t rugby league fans turning up to the games?
Here are a few possible explanations.
Firstly, the television deal dealt a attendance blow when it was announced with the introduction of Thursday night football, which is not a attractive time-slot to attend games on a work-night.
Monday night football is already a common crowd killer, but soon enough Thursday night football will overtake it as a poor crowd puller.
Already rivalry games such as Bulldogs/Eels drew less than usual during this timeslot, a mere 25,000 when it could possible got 35,000-plus on Friday/Sunday afternoon.
The TV deal itself reinforces the idea of league being a ‘TV sport’, which is the most common excuse as to not turning up to the game besides the usual transport and traffic reasons.
‘TV sport’ or not, if league fans truly care about the game they could a least make a effort to attend one game.
The sight of empty seats in barren stadiums is a terrible look for the game on the couch.
Poor attendances makes the code look second-rate and unattractive to any potential new followers, so whenever possible make the effort for once to get off the couch and get to the game.
Supporting the game on the couch is not real support – and that’s the truth!
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