Sports fans in Australia are no mugs. That probably explains why there were more than 75,000 empty seats at the MCG on Saturday night.
The 23,000-odd fans who paid good money to watch Melbourne Victory ‘beat’ Juventus in a penalty shoot-out in the International Champions Cup deserve some recognition.
They are, evidently, dedicated football fans – the sort promoters take for granted when they sit down to set ticket prices that bear little in common with the real world the rest of us inhabit.
For most of us, paying $214.10 for a decent seat to watch the football – plus $6.10 for the privilege of printing the tickets at home – is a once-in-a-blue-moon extravagance.
And given that Juventus played in Australia as recently as 2014, it’s no surprise that dedicated football fans weren’t exactly bolting for their wallets as soon as the fixture was announced.
But then, it’s not season ticket holders promoters of such events are trying to appeal to.
The problem isn’t just that ticket prices for tournaments like the ICC are inordinately high, it’s also that promoters hope these are the only football matches you attend all year.
They couldn’t care less if you regularly attend Melbourne Victory or Melbourne City games, because they’re not even in the football business to begin with.
ICC fixtures in Australia are brought to you by TEG Live and TLA Worldwide, with the former calling itself “Australia’s leading integrated live entertainment solutions company” and the latter touting its ability to “create and deliver exclusive events within the sports landscape”.
TEG Live was once part of Nine Entertainment Co, which explains why the game was broadcast on Gem, while it also calls Ticketek one of its “assets” – no doubt helpful when you want to sell tickets to your own events.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with bringing major events like the ICC to Australia.
After all, more than 99,000 fans turned out last time the carnival was in town to see Real Madrid thump Manchester City at the MCG.
If the promoters reckon there’s a market for Juventus versus Tottenham Hotspur on a Tuesday night in Melbourne, so be it.
And if the tournament inspires certain fans to give the A-League a chance if they hadn’t already done so, then so much the better.
But the reality is that very few people who pay between $50 to $214 to watch the reserve teams of two European clubs go around in a glorified friendly are going to suddenly become rusted-on A-League fans on the back of the experience.
More likely is that the fans who do attend feel like they’re being ripped off, as Claire Siracusa’s editorial in The Age suggested last week.
I’m glad she wrote it, because despite the fact that Australian consumers are increasingly expected to turn a blind eye to questionable ticketing practises – I’ve already made my thoughts on Ticketmaster Resale known – I’m well aware that many folks aren’t particularly fond of the topic.
In fact, any time I write a piece like this, I usually get a message or two from concerned parties asking me to “work with them” or imploring me to take another look at their product.
Perhaps if I lived in the corporate world, where a night out at the football was spent in catered boxes eating exotic foods and drinking free beers, I might be inclined to view the ICC more positively.
It’s clear this is largely the market these entertainment promoters are trying to target.
But I don’t live in that world.
In fact, most of us live in a world where the high cost of living makes choices like whether to fork out hundreds of dollars to watch a friendly a serious discussion in our households.
When faced with that choice, is it really any wonder that so few fans turned up at the MCG on Saturday night?
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
It says a lot more about you than it does me when you think that someone who has written 350,000+ words about football in Australia for The Roar is attempting to put the game down.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
You got me, Bob! Goodness knows how hard I tried to hide my affiliation to the AFL for all these many years...
Bob
Guest
You make statements as if they are facts. When they're not. The organisers knew the squads this year would be light of stars following the Euro's and Copa and pre-tournament expectations were 40-60k. 23k was disapointing sure but was still double the NRL match the same night and matched the AFL attendance that night. Failure, that a meaningless friendly between reserve teams beats "bigger" sports in their own back yard? Don't make me laugh :) And the venue is the MCG by agreement with events Victoria (and other codes so they can plan) and has to accomodate the expected range of crowds over the 4 years of the tournament and not in any one year. If AFL is so interesting why aren't you watching it on tv or at least posting about it on the afl pages lol ??
Bob
Guest
So in the past 7 days: - In the NRL storm have played a table topping match to a 40% full stadium, and on a Thursday night game less than 6,000 turned up for two of the biggest teams in that competition. - Collingwood are playing this afternoon and there are masses of empty seats. - hurricanes and versing Chiefs in Super Rugbys SF and the stadium is less than half full. That's a SEMI FINAL match Will Mike write a critical article on why these sports can't fill stadiums for matches? No of course not, Mikes only interest is in putting the sokha down with another needlessly critical article. Just stop writing on these pages Mike, we get enough of your dross from the Murdoch media!!
anon
Guest
They held it at the MCG because they expected a 90k crowd. Instead they got 23k. They could have held the matches at AAMI Park. Crowds were about 70% less than anticipated. If that's not a failure I don't know what is.
Squizz
Guest
I think the more relevant comparison would be Turin AFL team inviting an out of season Hawthorn 2nd string side to play in Turin and expecting people to pay through the nose for the opportunity. It is a pre-season friendly - that is all and the prices are outrageous when it is put in that context.
Bob
Guest
31,000 and 41,000 ... maybe not that hard? And the European press are saying what good crowds they are. Typical Aussie (AFL) media to be putting them down.
Bob
Guest
THIS! The irony being no one will show up this allowing mike to write another pointless article on how no one turns up ha ha
Bob
Guest
I'm confused, how are we defining "when no one turns up"? When 23,000 show up, when 31,000 turn up or when 41,000 turn up? Or is it the sum total of 95,000 people showing up in the same week being classed as "not turning up"???
STEVEN ELLIS
Guest
Conditioned by 40 years to an openly hostile local media the public has been conditioned to the negative narrative .. 'the sockah glass is always half empty '
harry houdini
Roar Rookie
Is the paper plane flying season over yet ?.
harry houdini
Roar Rookie
@Mark, i think GWS has had some sell outs in Canberra this year i believe, not sure of the weather this weekend but the game is on track to sell out V Richmond.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
anon, I can't take a single thing you post seriously. If your opinions aren't worth putting your name to - even if it's simply a recognisable pseudonym - then they're not worth paying attention to.
Punter
Guest
When the mind is weak, the fear is at it's greatest!!!!
anon
Guest
That's really unfortunate. I can remember last year the outrage from the AFL when two teams fielded their B-teams in meaningless games in the final round of the season. The AFL has taken steps to ensure it never happens again. It probably will put you off from attending the soccer next year now. Once bitten, twice shy as they say. I would be certainly voting with my wallet. Really, there might not even be European soccer in Melbourne next year. With such low attendances the teams and organisers mustn't be making money. Maybe next you it will be West Ham against the Melbourne Knights or something.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Agree with you. False advertising. You should be able to get your money back on the basis that you bought the tickets to see the stars that were the advertising face of this event. ACCC should be onto this.
anon
Guest
I read a lot of excuses here. AFL Grand Final day at the 'G, you could fill it twice over with people paying between $300 and $2,000 to watch Australia's own game. Just look at A-League attendances, Soccerroos attendances. Not all is right with Australian soccer. Maybe interest in soccer is merely reverting to the mean. Soccer got a bump 10 years ago from the novelty of making a World Cup. That level of interest was never going to be sustained. Just look at A-League ratings. One GWS game on Fox Footy gets bigger ratings than all five weekend A-League games get combined (in the middle of summer when there's nothing to watch on TV). The people of Australia, and the people of western Sydney have spoken. The Wanderers have been nothing short of a success story for Aussie soccer, but the interest in them pales in comparison to the interest in GWS.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I'm sorry to hear you were so badly let down, Christina. I certainly think that in future promoters, in conjunction with state governments, should get guarantees in writing that a certain percentage of first team players must be on the pitch. That said, I certainly hope your family is not lost to the game. Indeed, for a much better football experience, you could certainly do worse than heading out to a Melbourne City or Melbourne Victory game this year. Not only is it cheaper, it's also local - meaning that if your boys enjoy it, you can all return again and again as often as you like.
Christina
Guest
My family attended Sat night Juve vs Vict match. My boys biggest Super Juve fans ever. Always watching Euro championships. Bought silver tickets at presale and gave to my boys for Xmas and have been waiting ever since for the big day that they would see their favourite players. First soccer match ever and cost a small fortune but i thought was worth the look on their faces..only to find they were not playing and replaced with junior B reserves. That was not the look i was expecting. Weren't notified that they had cancelled prior to the night, i should have a right to cancel too if i am not getting what i paid for. Juve posters handed out on the night with the main team keyplayers, front cover of the program, all over websites yet none of these players played on the night. Very disappointing and all the fans should be compensated that feel the same way in my opinion. Not right.
Nemesis
Guest
Would the Victorian Government be disappointed with the attendance last Saturday? Perhaps, they will be. But, I don't think it's a given that they are unhappy. Visitor numbers to Melbourne in July would be lower than other times of the year, so any injection of new events to stimulate the economy in Melbourne would be seen as a benefit. Of course, the Government wouldn't want the investment to dwarf the returns so we need to know how much the Government has invested. Does anyone know the figure? Given the success of the ICC in 2015, I wouldn't be surprised if the revenue the Victorian Government received from last year's ICC matches in Melbourne more than covers the outlay for hosting the event this year and the next two years. If there's one thing Governments in Australia seem to be getting right in recent years is understanding how to leverage special events to stimulate their economy.