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The Brisbane sporting landscape experienced a shift in 2016 when the Brisbane Roar staked a legitimate claim as Brisbane’s second most popular team.
In 2016 and for the first time in the Roar’s history they achieved the second highest aggregate attendance compared to the city’s four other major clubs – the NRL’s Broncos, the AFL’s Lions, Super Rugby’s Queensland Reds and the BBL’s Heat – totalling 205,483 people, approximately 20,000 more than third-placed Lions.
The title of Brisbane’s best attended team has been shared between the Broncos, Reds and Lions over the past 10 to 15 years, with the Broncos holding the highest aggregate attendance in Brisbane since 2006. The Roar has only ever been able to reach third highest on any given calendar year.
Significantly 2016 marked the first time the Roar recorded a higher aggregate attendance than the Lions, which was unthinkable between 2000 and 2005 when the Lions were enjoying a six-year stretch as Brisbane’s most watched team.
While it is a significant achievement for the Roar, their 2016 attendance was not significantly higher than that of previous years – their average attendance of 14,677 was only their third highest on record and their aggregate attendance was only 3,000 more than their previous record set in 2014. This means that, though they have elevated themselves to second place, there hasn’t been a major shift of Rugby Union or AFL fans abandoning Reds and Lions matches.
In fact 2016 marked a downward trend in overall professional sport attendance in Brisbane, with the combined total of the five major teams dropping below 1,000,000 for the first time since 2009, perhaps due to a reduced public appetite for attending live matches across all sports in Australia. That makes it an even more impressive result for the Roar.
The highest and lowest aggregate attendance between 2006 and 2016 for each of the five major sporting teams in Brisbane are as follows:
Brisbane Broncos
Highest: 420,379 (2010)
Lowest: 365,754 (2013)
Brisbane Lions
Highest: 329,264 (2010)
Lowest: 187,816 (2016)
Queensland Reds
Highest: 273,745 (2012)
Lowest: 106,608 (2007)
Brisbane Roar
Highest: 205,483 (2016)
Lowest: 119,390 (2010)
Brisbane Heat
Highest: 130,053 (2015)
Lowest: 61,290 (2016)
The elevation of the Roar among Brisbane’s sporting teams has been a gradual process with minimal change in attendance year to year compared to the Lions and Reds, whose average attendances can fluctuate by up to 10,000 per match from season to season depending how the team is performing.
However, given that the Lions have no clear path to success for at least another 10 years and that the Reds will never be able to build a Super Rugby dynasty due to the strength of New Zealand rugby, the Roar have a tremendous opportunity to establish themselves as Brisbane’s second most popular team for the next decade.
The main threat to the Roar for that title will likely come from the Brisbane Heat, especially if the Big Bash League expands from four to eight home matches per season to cater for the high demand for domestic Twenty20 in recent summers.
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