Is live sport worth the effort nowadays?

Homebush has killed off a little of the enjoyment of live sport for me. Having foxtel as well its just so much easier to wacth games at home. It takes something really special to get me to a game, and then those games are ususally cost prohibitive or sell out to quick. Its depressing getting on that train to central or worse lidcombe after the game. As a rugby fan, there is nothing better than club rugby. I go to more club games than waratahs games. Afternoons tick, bbq tick, small crowds tick, game played in good spirits with both teams trying to win generally tick, small beer lines, putting some money back into the clubs tick, cheap tick. There is nothing better on a weekend afternoon.

This gave me a really good chuckle before my live blog of the Vuelta. Makes sitting up in the wee hours of the night to watch sport all worth while. Thanks, Steve

As someone with full season memberships to both GWS and Roosters I've tried to make every home game I can for my team. And living in the Western suburbs it can be difficult to get out to games. Its not so bad for the Giants as Skoda is a fair easy ground to get to. Just up the one highway. And being a new team I really like the small crowds they get there. The lines tog et drinks, food and go to the bathroom are always acceptable. And no matter when I get there I can always grab a good seat. With my Roosters game thou just getting out to Allianz is a massive pain. And half the time after the game I'm left sitting my car in the parking lot for sometimes over an hour waiting just to get out and then make the up to 3 hour drive back home. And the whole time I'm thinking I could have just watched this game at home on the box with some mates, a few cold ones and a fridge full of all my affordable food. Plus a bathroom that hasnt had the floor painted in everyone else urine. Saying that the atmosphere you get at a game is unlike anything else and thats why I keep going back, but at the nd of the day I can understand people staying home. Sydney is not like melbourne. Without risking a debate about which city isn better, because after living in both cities you really cant compare the two. Each are different and amazing in their own ways and are both a credit to this lucky country, but Sydney hasnt been blessed with the transport structure that that melbourne has. And I agree that the location of melbourne stdiums are far superier to that of sydney. NRL needs to have less stadiums and have teams used the same sadiums for home grounds like the AFL does. It is a good system that helps draw bigger crowds. Imagine if Roosters, Bunnies, Bulldogs and Tigers all shared ANZ stadium. The crowds will be pulling 30,000+ crowds every week.

Why the obsession with how everyone else wants to enjoy their sport? So some people think it’s better to go to the game, good on you, glad it floats your boat. But why the obsession with telling me and other that we aren’t doing it right. I can see more clearly a game on TV than at the ground (I still go to more than a few matches a year), I can spend more time doing what I want to actually do if I don’t jump on trains etc, it’s cheaper, it’s vastly more convenient and higher quality food and drink at home or out at nice pub, plus I can watch multiple games across multiple sports in a night. Now for some people those benefits don’t exist or the don’t offset the benefit of the atmosphere and that’s great, really happy for you. You’re having fun and it doesn’t impact my life. But why do you all these “proper” sports fan have to sit there shouting down the way many like to enjoy their leisure time? It doesn’t affect you, I’m sorry I don’t want to be a little part of your club but surely you guys are open minded enough to allow people to enjoy their lives they way they want to?

Walk past the Captain Cook and on to Taphouse. the only down side is that the beer at the stadium is almost unbearable afterwards

AR - they could be out at pubs or restaurants?

don't mean to labour the point AR but it's not about now, it's about a historical cultural trend. if, in the distant past, more people went boating or shooting or whatever else instead of sport for one reason or another, a strong culture of attending live sport did not develop and this, perhaps, has left a legacy. the legacy is that sydneysiders don't attend live sport as much. so these days they stay in.

1. Meet mates at pub a couple of hours before kick-off 2. Drink beer & food at said pub 3. Wander into stadium a good 30 minutes prior to kick-off, make bee-line for toilets. 4. Grab a beer each, sit in seat 5. Watch 1st half enjoying beer which is comfortably floating on top of previous pub beers 6. Half time whilstle - remain in seat and discuss the half 7. 5 to 10 minutes later meander down to toilets which are now available 8. Wander over to beer line, wait for beers (may miss 5 mins of 1st half if unlucky), again, the main rush is over 9. Wander back to seat with beers and sit through the 2nd half with a beer each 10. Final whistle, stay in seat for 5 mins and discuss the game 11. Wander through now partially vacated stadium back to said pub. It's been working wonders for years!

I think ciudadmarron is on to something here. Melbourne has been focused on AFL throughout the city and demographics. Sydney, on the other hand, has always had different areas were a number of sports have been popular. Rugby has always been big in the east and north, Aussie Rules has also become a major contender in those areas and Soccer is gaining on the support it had out west. The top AFL sides have never had any codes get anywhere near them in average attendance in Melbourne, whereas in Sydney the Swans have been number 1 for a number of years and the Warratahs when going well, and now the Wanderers in the future will rival the top averages.

It's actually not a Melb v Syd thing. I agree that there's historical and cultural differences between Melb and Syd with respect to attending live sport. The Mexicans will turn up week in week out, all through winter, no matter what. Transport is also another factor, though I think it's overplayed in Sydney...most folk down in Melbourne are travelling over 1 hour door to door to attend their games. But the overarching point is that (for eg) in Brisbane and Perth, there is a greater turn-out for sport AND cultural events (per capita) than what there is in Sydney. To suggest that Sydney-folk are bushwalking or enjoying the beach more than those in WA or QLD is a bit silly, though I don't doubt that most Sydney-siders might see themselves that way. I think the more accurate picture is that there is a greater culture of "stay in to watch telly" in Sydney than elsewhere. I don't mean that as a slur, but that is what the figures suggest...both in terms of sport attendance vs tv ratings. And I also think the fact that most Sydney sporting events are night matches completely debunks the "everybody's out bushwalking and sailing" argument...but no matter. There's been interesting studies done on sport attendance in "colder" cities vs "warmer" cities. So there may be something in that. Worth checking out...don't have a link for you unfort. cheers

without doubt :lol: (thanks for the averages btw, interesting). but to take things back to the beginning. Sporting crowds in Sydney are lower than those of Melbourne. It has to be compared with Melbourne because it's the only other city with a large number of teams in a national competition. Do we know what Brisbane or Perth or Adelaide would look like if each city had a number of teams in national competition, rather than just one or two? There has to be a reason for this. My original reasoning was actually simply that the barracking culture of Melbourne is what it is because it has had much of the city focussed on the one code for most of it's history, including people from all walks of life - coming across it for the first time, it is strangely unsettling for a Sydneysider to see businessmen don their scarves of a Friday night and toddle off to the G alongside the toothless from Fountain Gate and the hipsters from Brunswick St - this doesn't happen in Sydney. It's odd as well because in some respects Melbourne is more elite conscious- look no further than the most hated teams in each city for a bit of an insight into this. But I digress. And then more recently you have the stadia issue - the bottom line is that it is far easier to get to the footy in one town than in the other. Has this always been so? I know it's much easier to get to Princes Park or Victoria Park or Punt Rd Oval than it is to get to Leichhardt Oval or Brookvale or Kogarah or Henson Park or even North Sydney, all of which required a decent walk for the average punter from the nearest station, as opposed to a quick one from a tram stop or station... but I'm not sure overall and what the cultures of away games were like... it is easier now though to get to games in Melbourne. As far as the outdoors thing goes it's not about spectacularity or potency or friendliness. It's about the culture that develops about doing things of a weekend. In Melbourne a culture has developed that is very footy-focussed. In Sydney it hasn't so much, and I wonder if that is to do with the ease of access to bushland and/or the water and the effect of this in the longterm. So night games etc are immaterial because games all used to take place in the arvo - this was the culture. And the culture of the town was also that if you were rich you might trot along to the union and wouldn't be caught dead at the league and so on. But you might also take the yacht out... and if you weren't on that side of society you might go shooting or fishing instead which could also be done with almost as little effort as going to the football. I am only too aware i'm talking out of my posterior on this point :lol: but I do think there's a different culture and this has happened because of the circumstances of each city.

God's country around Lennox Stevo...people have dreams about that right when it's pumping.

...and I'm certain that Sydney-siders are pursuing these activities at night...when sporting events are predominantly held.

ciudadmarron Following the demise of Waverley, AFL crowds peaked at about 37,000 on average...and they're back to about 32,000 (approx. Waverley-era levels). But again on the "Sydney's Great Outdoors" argument, I can assure you that millions of people around Australia smile at the inference that these somehow far more spectular or family friendly or culturally potent than anywhere else. I mean, there are other places in Australia with beaches and bushwalking.

I don't think it's solely to do with the Wallabies performance. I went to the Bledisloe on Saturday and for a big part of the game the stadium was like a library and the kiwi fans were the only ones making noise. Australian rugby has no active fan culture anymore, until that changes people aren't going to see the benefit of spending top dollar to go to live matches.

Fair enough AR, I just remember it looking empty and windy and rather forlorn - and footy crowds in Melbourne have gone up a lot since the days of Waverley anyway haven't they? As for the "more to do" argument, I am not surprised about the cultural events. Historically speaking though - and this is where you have to go, because this is a cultural thing, it's not a matter of "there's something on this weekend" - the Sydney basin has provided it's inhabitants with opportunities for getting into the great outdoors - swimming, fishing, bushwalking etc etc. This is NOT to say that this is why less people in Sydney attend sporting events now. But when you have a long history culturally of not being as attached to attending the football for one reason or another, it still has a hold.

Surf has been great. Sea temp been above 20 most of the winter. Awesome weather last three weeks but waves a bit scant. Yep, only supposed to be a bit of fun, still happy to 'tough it out' to see live sport.

Don't you know that Sydney's harbour and beaches are jam packed on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights in winter? It's a massive reason why the NRL matches have modest attendances. :)

Ah, close. Cheers for the article, I think your last line sums it all up.

Hence the Lennox? How's the surf?