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Recently on The Roar, Ryan O’Connell interviewed Roosters COO, Ted Helliar, who shockingly revealed what the NRL already knows: ticket prices are not the most important factor when it comes to attendances.
After CEO Dave Smith announced the NRL would be making increased attendances a major priority, critics said he was ignoring the ‘fact’ that high ticket prices were making the game too expensive for fans.
Here’s how Helliar addressed the issue:
“I suppose there is an argument for and against (cutting the cost of tickets). On games that traditionally draw smaller crowds, such as a Monday night, we will drive cheaper ticket offers and incentives… We haven’t seen instant success in slashing ticket prices and seeing an extra 10,000 people turn up.”
But while tickets may be cheaper, fans are quick to point out the high cost of food and drinks.
However, Wests Tigers have recently advertised a promotion offering a general admission ticket, a sausage sandwich and a drink for just $25 for their Friday night clash against the Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval.
Surely at such a competitive price, and at one of rugby league fans’ most celebrated grounds, tickets would be selling out fast.
This is what Tigers General Manager of Commercial Operations, Grant Mayer, had to tweet on Wednesday night:
“Sad to say that ticket sales for @Wests_Tigers game on Friday are shocking. Great pricing, great talent on show, is it just unhappy fans?”
These words say a lot.
In the hours following the tweet, Mayer received a barrage of tweets, each offering a number of reasons for such poor sales with bad weather and poor on-field performances proving the most popular answer.
What is obvious however, is that cheap tickets have not ensured bums on seats for the Tigers, or indeed the Roosters.
This is not to say that the high cost of attending NRL games is irrelevant.
There are many fans, particularly families, who choose to watch the game at home due to the costs involved and who would benefit from lower prices and Melbourne has also experienced recent success with 2 for1 offers on Monday night games.
However, what the NRL has identified (and what is proving to be evident) is that prices, weather and team performance (among others) are all relevant factors when it comes to crowds.
That is what underpins the NRL’s plan: to enhance the experience of going to a game, so that fans feel they are getting better value from attending than they are from watching at home.
This will differ from game to game and will involve a lot of research, trial and error. There won’t be a one-size-fits-all solution, but as long as everyone can get past Smith’s passing reference to jumping castles, I’m sure we’ll see plenty of growth in the future.
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