There’s always a sense of excitement when game day comes around. But there’s always a crucial decision to make – to go to the game or watch on TV.
Being there is special. To see your heroes in the flesh performing their acts of greatness and to be part of the communal experience. To take in the atmosphere of the crowd. To be part of that atmosphere – cheering, booing, singing. Waving the flags as your team does well, or trying to put the opposition off.
To be there when history is made. It feels more real when you’re there.
But going to games isn’t without its inconveniences. Tickets are expensive, and sometimes hard to get. The view from the cheap seats isn’t great, often a long way from the action.
Getting there, and especially getting home, can be tricky and time-consuming. Navigating around crowded, infrequent and unreliable public transport, especially when there’s track work. Or the hassle of finding parking and getting stuck in traffic. It can take longer to travel than the game itself.
There are long queues when you want something to eat or drink and the prices are highway robbery.
And if you’re unlucky enough to have your reserved seats in the vicinity of drunken idiots it can be unpleasant, especially if you’ve got children with you.
The alternative is to stay home and watch on TV.
Convenience-wise, it’s a no-brainer. No traffic or train hassles. You can get food or drink out of the fridge without missing any of the game or paying the extortionate catering prices. And there is no risk of sharing the experience with undesirable ferals, unless you live with them.
And you don’t have to pay for a ticket. At worst, a pay-TV subscription, which is less than a family ticket to a single game per month and covers unlimited events.
When you’re watching on TV, the view always changes. You’re taken close to the action, at the best angle to see what’s going on. You get the best analysis from players and coaches with experience at the highest level.
TV coverage is constantly improving too, both in terms of quantity and quality. There’s more live sport televised than ever before, shown with better angles and graphics and detailed analysis that breaks down exactly what’s happening.
During the breaks in play, you can give the remote a workout and check scores of other matches that are happening at the same time. And if your team is putting on a truly dire performance, you can turn the thing off. And with no travel time, you can watch another game immediately before and after.
There’ll always be times you’ll be watching on TV. Teams play interstate, sometimes even overseas. And while interstate trips to see your team play are good fun, unless you’ve got a lot more time and money than I have, you can’t do all of them.
TV sport is big business these days. The driver of professional sport in this day and age are the dollars sporting organisations receive for TV rights. Measured not in millions, but billions. While the attendance figure posted on the scoreboard late in the game is important, the numbers that truly indicate the health of a contest are the TV ratings released the next day.
There’s no doubt the balance of power has swung to the broadcasters. Long gone are the days when live telecasts in the host city were outlawed for fear of hurting attendances. Now games are not only shown live, but are played progressively later to ensure higher TV ratings.
Kevin Sheedy, when asked how AFL had changed during his time in coaching, remarked that when he started teams trained at night and played in the day. Now they train in the day and play at night. And they play at night because the broadcasters, who are putting up the cash, want the games in prime-time to maximise ratings.
The line between attending and TV is becoming blurred. Even critical officiating decisions are made not on the field but in video bunkers.
When attending games, there are massive scoreboard screens to view replays. And thanks to mobile technology, fans can reference their own replays. At a recent live event on The Roar, Clyde Rathbone spoke of observing the crowd at a Brumbies game looking into their screens during a stoppage.
Then there’s the role of social media. If you’re not there, you can still interact with the game. If you are there, your thoughts can reach a wider audience. A witty one-liner shouted over the fence can struggle to be heard over the crowd din. But if the right hashtags are applied, the same one-liner will find itself retweeted virally.
With social media, and live blogs on sites like The Roar, we’re not just watching the game but are engaged with it. And there’s always an array of selfies from the ground and tweets making their way onto the scoreboard during the game.
An ad for a betting site that’s being played far too often has a fan proclaiming “I can shout and scream in 100 stadiums, all at the same time”. Not literally true, but such is the ever-increasing range of sports broadcasting and social media that it almost seems possible.
But for all the advances in broadcasting and the greater convenience it offers, it doesn’t, and can’t, ever replace the buzz of being there.
When you’re at the game, you’re not just watching. You’re part of the game. The atmosphere you generate, the colour and noise you make, it inspires the players to greater heights that won’t happen if you’re not there. Or at least it feels that way.
And the great sporting memories are the ones you were there for. Moments like Steve Waugh driving the last ball of the day through the covers to bring up his century, Leo Barry flying high for a premiership-saving mark, John Aloisi slotting home the penalty to qualify for the World Cup and so many more great moments in sport.
Ask anyone who was there, and their memories will be so much more vivid for the experience.
Watching on TV is pretty good. But there’s nothing like being there. It’s why we keep coming back to the ground.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
A lot depends on the sport. In Australian Football so much happens 50 or 60 metres away from the ball that TV can't capture it and the ball carrier properly. Its far better live. That Melbourne and now Adelaide have venues centrally located makes things better too. League (from someone who very rarely watches it) is a classic case of the TV being better view. The action is in tight, and TV zoom does it justice. Rugby is similar though I would say there is more out of camera shot than in League. Sydney venues being difficult to get to, and Sydney transport being what it is, only adds to that. I would also say TV is better viewing for cricket, where simply seeing the ball at the ground can be difficult if you only go once or twice a year and eyes are tuned to it. Especially form high up in the stands, it tends to be easier from ground level. Association Football is a bit of a mix. I find some parts of the game are better viewed at the ground, the broader team formations and seeing where gaps open up, but individual skills are often better with the TV zoom. To some extent it becomes reinforcing as well. Larger crowds (or at least fuller houses) generally provide beter atmosphere, so if there is incentive to be at the game the incentive is then added to by that factor. The one thing about being at the ground at any major event is you get both, there are replay screens at virtually every professional event now. So, it does come down to price, atmosphere, convenience and the social side a lot of the time - except perhaps with the AFL, where the sport lends itself to live viewing. There are almost less ads on TV than at the ground these days too.
mattyb
Guest
Coming across as unbiased could actually be seen as a good thing.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Best.Night.Ever.
GJ
Guest
Read an article somewhere the other day about the current financial position of Essendon. Currently in the red for around $10M with the expectation that will peak out in next few months to around $11M. Expectation or projections are that that figure will start diminishing reasonably quickly later this year. From memory a 4-5 year timeframe to wipe out the debt. AFL were not concerned due to Essendon's overall strength, large and loyal supporter base and strong financial history. The ANZAC Day match was an Essendon home game this year. Collingwood didn't increase ticket prices last year. I suspect Essendon's current financial position has more to do the increased pricing. They could, so they did.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Nope. You haven't. For a guy on a footy site you're not very candid about who you follow!
SmithHatesMaxwell
Guest
Haven't I????
dave
Guest
Yeah Its a bit weird. If you are on an AFL website surley you must support a team and make comments about the state of your team i.e. how they are gonna win the flag or how well they traded or how crap they are. I dont understand why you would keep the team you support hidden,I mean we are all just anonymous keyboard warriors.Why would you keep it secret? I don't get it.
mds1970
Roar Guru
You must have been not far from me. That was an amazing night - the pure emotion when John Aloisi slotted home the penalty that won the shootout was a very memorable moment. And much more so because I was there.
Slane
Guest
Time on is the AFL name for injury/stoppage time.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Eh, yeah I think 28,000 was about right. I ended up going to Subiaco heaps when I lived in Perth - mainly with my old man watching the Force play rugby (dad's a queenslander, so my childhood was watching rugby not AFL mainly, haha). I've never actually been there for a Freo game, though. Maybe I'll try to head over later this year, otherwise I'll definitely have to head over to experience the new stadium in the next few years.
Sydney C
Guest
Time on?
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Oh dude, I'm beyond jealous. I was only in Year 10 when we made the 2013 Grand Final and I didn't have an oppurtunity to head over to Melbourne! Hopefully one of these years I will be able to experience what you experienced!
Chris
Guest
Marron spot on with the hair on the neck. Homebush stadium was where I experienced the most amazing feeling ever at a sporting event. When Bresciano scored the goal against Uruguay the noise was quite frightening. I was right behind the goal where he scored and I swear the noise went through me like something Ive never felt before. Whilst the SFS is more compact dont totally discount the Stadium! :)
FreoFan
Roar Rookie
It was a fairly small crowd. Around 28,000 if I remember correctly. Which did somewhat take away from the atmosphere but it was a great night regardless!
FreoFan
Roar Rookie
My Uncle who lives in Melbourne snagged me some last minute tickets and flights from Perth to the 2013 GF. Was incredible walking to the MCG with some much purple around! And when we finally started chipping away at the Hawks in the 3rd quarter it was fantastic to be amongst all the Freo fans. Although the result didn't turn out how we had wished it was still an amazing experience to look back on!
J.T. Delacroix
Guest
Living in Richmond in the late '80's & early '90's was ideal. You could catch a tram on Bridge Rd & be @ the MCG in 25 mins. The Tigers usually lost, but the proximity to such a great stadium was priceless. Even with only 35,000 in attendance, you simply can't beat 'being there'.
gyfox
Guest
The noise & atmosphere at Port Adelaide home games beats any other club, AFL or the other codes
marron
Guest
There's a clearer distinction for me. They are just two different activities which are almost unrelated. When I watch on tv I watch as a fan of the sport. Okay I'm overstating a little -,I'm still partisan, I can't help it even as a supposed neutral I'll pick a side. But the focus for me is still enjoying on the game that's being played. I enjoy the game being played on the pitch. Whereas going to a game, the enjoyment comes from being part of a community from the moment I step out of the door. The colour and build up and exchanges and getting a feed locally outside the ground and seeing people I know and then observing the little rituals - the warm ups and the ground preparation and the coach on the sideline and the whole thing. And then the collective adrenalin that the crowd creates. Yes the game itself is part of that although often ill still be watching a replay later to find out "what happened" in those key moments.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
You haven't told us who you go for.
marron
Guest
The G is too big imo. And its perfectly round shape - now like a cookie cutter - doesn't give it a lot of personality. I've been to a few games there, mostly full - one was sold out - and while it was good, I wasn't blown away. Maybe it was expectations, but even the close ones I've been to just haven't hit the heights atmosphere, hair on the neck wise. We're spoilt with the derby kaks but the proximity at the SFS is a part of that I think. A smaller ground, rather than a cavern - it's a big part of it.