Sydney FC have been the best team in the A-League all season, so why do they continue to play in front of such small crowds?
The Sky Blues’ routine 2-0 win over Adelaide United on Friday night was notable for stretching their unbeaten run to 16 games.
But it also generated plenty of conjecture over the attendance in the stands, with only 11,225 fans turning out at Allianz Stadium for the visit of the defending champions.
It prompted Sydney FC chief executive Tony Pignata to tweet: “Very disappointing crowd. I know the Derby sucked the market but still to get 11k is not good (when) we are undefeated”.
What is it about Sydney in particular that makes it so difficult to draw a crowd?
Part of the problem, it must be acknowledged, is that getting to Moore Park is difficult at the best of times – whether you’re driving or using public transport.
And the proposed multi-million dollar refurbishment of Allianz Stadium will amount to little if accessibility isn’t improved at the same time.
Yet there are some other extenuating circumstances that perhaps deserve some discussion.
Sydney may be a city of nearly five million inhabitants, but it’s also one of the most expensive places to live on the planet.
And that’s a problem when we’re asking fans to shell out not only to attend fixtures, but also for broadcasting subscriptions to watch their football on.
Pignata himself was involved in a minor brouhaha on the eve of the Sydney derby when FourFourTwo ran a story based on his tongue-in-cheek quip about the cost of derby tickets.
When asked by a Wanderers fan why a derby ticket cost more than $52 including fees, Pignata joked that he should increase ticket prices even further.
“Have you seen prices for sports events in the US? We should up it,” Pignata tweeted.
He later claimed that his comments were only banter and that FourFourTwo had taken them out of context, but I just wonder if the crux of the point was lost amid the online commotion.
Because if casual sports fans are paying higher prices to attend premium A-League fixtures – and derby attendances suggest they are – then how realistic is it to expect those same fans to shell out again for the next home game?
In other words, is it really much of a surprise when the highs of a derby are followed by a low for the next relatively ho-hum A-League encounter?
There’s also the fact that so much of the marketing seems to be preaching to the converted, with most of it beamed directly to supporters already sitting inside an A-League stadium.
Even when there’s a decent story to help sell the competition, our clubs have a history of shooting themselves in the foot, such as Western Sydney’s inexplicable decision to prevent Vedran Janjetovic from speaking to the press following last week’s derby draw.
And having just spent a strange week in Melbourne as a fan at the Australian Open – a tournament that goes out of its way to look after players, broadcasters and sponsors, but one which seems to consider paying spectators an afterthought – I’m aware that a lot of these issues aren’t unique to the A-League.
The question is what to do about it?
With most clubs possessing minuscule marketing budgets, it’s no surprise to see so many using social media to push their messaging. But is it getting out to the right audience?
We also need expansion to happen sooner rather than later, since it’s clear supporters are growing increasingly weary of watching the same fixtures year after year.
Scheduling Sydney FC games on a Friday night doesn’t help either, even if the fixtures understandably need to be shared around.
But the players themselves are doing their part. Surely they deserve to be enjoyed by a larger audience?
r_south
Guest
I disagree. Read http://madebyjoel.com/2011/03/paper-city-sydney-opera-house-and-luna-park.html
rrandolph2
Guest
I disagree that http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/08/22/too-many-deer/
Patrick Effeney
Editor
Mix has changed somewhat already, and will continue to work towards getting on more active contributors, people who reply in the comments etc. Profile stuff is the big one - making it more interactive, so you can follow authors and get notifications when your favourite people write, and have a personalised article feed. All very exciting!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Thanks Patrick, appreciate your time in replying. Looking forward to see those changes. Profile stuff sounds interesting. Has the mix of experts already changed or just normal movement? Enjoy the Roar, keep up the good work. ?
Patrick Effeney
Editor
Good Griffo. A number of things actually. Let me bring up the list for you! We're implementing a number of changes. A few things changed in terms of which experts we're getting on, in accordance with the feedback. We've created a number of new resources, and we'll be overhauling the profile system on The Roar in the coming months. It's all been a work in progress, but it's coming in the next couple of months.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
2231 comments averaging 318 per topic. Truly world class I'm guessing.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Tuckerman January 2017 A-League needs substance to match the BBL’s style - 239 comments Our passion for English football is not helping the A-League - 382 comments Is it ever okay to stop supporting your team? - 252 comments The Sydney derby is still the hottest ticket in town - 283 comments Why are so many Australians threatened by the A-League? - 602 comments Is it time to talk about A-League referees? - 107 comments Sydney FC deserve bigger crowds - 366 comments A total of 2,230 comments in hardly 3 weeks. During arguably the busiest and most congested periods in the Aus sporting calendar and a time of the year when most users are still on holidays. A staggering achievement in journalism.
Rick Diznek
Guest
You seem to think if you repeat your patently wrong assertion over and over again maybe someone will one day believe it. lol Get a life
Onside
Guest
thanks for that
Onside
Guest
tedious
HiHo
Guest
But isn't Fuss an imposter? After all, " to antagonise and to derail proper football discussions" describes his behavior to a tee. Any one who carries on like him is only doing harm to the sport (i.e. causal fans get stuffed, flares are cool, boys will be soccer hooligans, etc), more so then those so called "Imposters" you soccer fans seem to take way too seriously. Lighten up, realise your not the biggest fish in the pond in Australia, and enjoy the game for what it is.You'll live longer (waits for The Roar to delete/ban this post because I dare say something some soccer fans may not like, or dare I say it, something Fuss doesn't like). So much for the Roar being a public forum for free and open discussions.
clipper
Guest
But is it comparable to London or Melbourne, where the other codes teams don't get near the dominant codes attendances. I very much doubt the most attended team in London will ever be anything but Football or AFL in Melbourne. Even GWS, which is poorly attended is ahead of Easts.
Agent11
Guest
If you're referring to League in Sydney then NRL is still the most attended competition on aggregate. There is roughly 100 games of NRL in Sydney per year taking into account clubs who take home games out of sydney. I think there is 22 AFL games and 27 A League games per year in Sydney. Super Rugby has a measly 7 or 8 games a year in Sydney. This is not including finals either. The sheer number of games means far more people still attend NRL per year than any other code.
clipper
Guest
Kaks - for some reason, it wasn't too bad the double Sat. night. I've seen far worse for half the number of people. But I agree that most times it's hard going and often quicker to walk up.
clipper
Guest
Jeff - isn't that true for all teams that fall out of finals contention?
Griffo
Roar Guru
Obviously the special emoticon may have triggered the moderation, which has stopped me using it before, but it may be an effective foil to some posts if it didn't go against what I said above :lol:
Griffo
Roar Guru
It amazes me how much people can't resist feeding the trolls, or that grown adults have to have the last word. Just my opinion on an opinion site but you don't have to 'Add comment' to an obvious troll ?post peeps. Ignoring the post is hard, but much more effective than spending 10-20 posts trying to convince them they stink.
Griffo
Roar Guru
The 'reporting' mechanism has always been there, it just requires human interaction to activate. My understanding from the past is that forum moderators are volunteers. Perhaps the Roar could do with some more on the football tab to keep the comments more on topic? -- As an aside Patrick, how did the forum over drinks go last year? Anything resulting from that meeting?
brian drian
Guest
Kasey, I suggest you email the roar directly regarding this issue. I have done so several times, perhaps if they received more complaints they would actually do something about it.
Sydneysider
Guest
"And I find it laughable how many people dismiss the exposure of the ACL," agreed Post Hoc, and now cricket want to expand to Asia: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/big-bash/big-bash-league-should-play-hong-kong-round-cricket-nsw-proposes-20170123-gtwvqu.html "Going deep in Asia means TV audiences measured in 10’s of Millions, major heads of state and heads of industry at games. Something colonial games in a few states of Australia have no way of understanding"