Greater Western Sydney will be waiting “a lot of years” for crowd numbers that reflect their on-field AFL exploits, Sydney Swans chief Andrew Ireland predicts.
The Giants’ bid to take over western Sydney’s NRL heartland was always ambitious.
That the expansion club have already well exceeded expectations in the code’s most barren territory is a triumph.
But Ireland, who was part of the committee that formulated rules around assistance for GWS and Gold Coast’s entry into the competition, said there’s no escaping the reality that a supporter base takes generations to build regardless of a team’s performances.
“Where they are is probably the toughest market for an AFL club in Australia,” Ireland told AAP.
“It’s going to be generational, it’s not going to happen overnight.”
The Giants’ transformation into flag favourites has triggered a spike in memberships – in May the club cracked the 20,000 threshold to sit among the top few Sydney-based sporting clubs across all codes.
Match attendances are growing at a slower pace.
Crowds are steadily improving at Spotless Stadium following a tepid start to the season, with last weekend’s 21,924 Sydney derby turnout providing a significant boost to the bottom line.
The venue’s 2017 average after six home games is now 13,444, slightly up on last season’s 12,126 over eight matches, while crowds at the club’s second home in Canberra are slightly down on last year at 11,617 with one ACT fixture remaining.
The grand total is still less than half of the Swans’ average 2017 turnout at the SCG, something Ireland put down to the simple fact the Giants are still only five-and-a-half years old.
“They’re are an exciting team, and at face value will be for a while, so it gives them a chance,” Ireland said.
“But it’s hard to build a membership from scratch in general.
“Then if you’re talking about the true west where it’s not really AFL heartland, an awful lot of work will need to be done for a lot of years yet.”
Wayne
Guest
And the storm didnt have another nrl team to follow and have a rivalry with - apples and oranges - how are the lions drawing against the broncos
Agent11
Guest
lol. wonder when AFL will bring out the version that can be played on basketball courts or on the golf course. Kick a sherrin into a football sized hole in the ground, the kids will love it.
Mickyo
Guest
AFLX
Agent11
Guest
League and soccer will decline while AFL continues to make strides. Yep gotcha. All these rectangular stadiums in NSW and QLD, wonder what they will do with them?
Cat
Roar Guru
Geelong's attendance will be up and down for a couple more years until Stage 5 is finished and we have a proper fixture. Once KP renovations are finally done Geelong will consistently pull bigger numbers than they have been. We're already averaging 5k more than last year but likely to drop again when the Ford stand and Ablett terraces are bulldozed and rebuilt. Cats should go from averaging around 22k at KP to 32k+ when done.
Cat
Roar Guru
Whne you go from 185 games a year to 207 a year, you can expect a temporary drop. In that time period you also had at least two grounds having renovations that impacted maximum capacity (SCG and Kardinia Park).
Forza Milan
Guest
I like both sports but obviously soccer more. I tend to only watch the second half a game of footy or sometimes even the last qtr as 3 hours is a big chunk of ypur weekend to give up (particularly with young kids).
Forza Milan
Guest
Yes but look at how many times do teams play at mcg, etihad or adelaide oval. Half the teams have etihad and mcg as their home grounds. Less than 10% of games in the epl are played at old trafford (76000 capacity) and emirates (60000), the two largest stadiums.
Alicesprings
Guest
There'll be an extra 20k watching football in Perth each week due the new stadium. That'll increase average attendances by another couple thousand - back up to 2010 levels. If either of the big4 Victoria clubs ever decide to become premiership contenders again it's not unreasonable to suggest that average attendance will push through the 40k barrier. Truely amazing for a country Australia's size.
Mark
Guest
Did you call ANZ "really nice"? Eww
Mark
Guest
Sydney vs South based memberships are around 2-1 (from memory). But please keep reeling off completely baseless accusations.
pioneer
Guest
nailed it.
Lroy
Guest
I used to do the same when I lived in Brisbane, Id watch 8-9 Lions games a year just to get an Aussie Rules fix...lo and behold the year after I left they won the flag... thats why I only watch the Eagles on TV now..Ha ha ;-)
pioneer
Guest
It will eventually win out. To do that it will only need to match the current level of interest in rugby league, which I think will occur in maybe 15 or 20 years' time. I suspect the NRL in NSW will wane over time due to factors like the slow death of junior RL (what parent wants little Johnny to play a game as violent as this?), and the general boofheadedness of it – I’ll never understand why, but when even the most intelligent of NRL players speak in public, it is as though it's a contest to see who can come across as the most Neanderthal. With TV broadcast technology advancing at the pace it does, we're getting to see the big hits up real close and personal, and I'd wager that the general violent aesthetic of rugby league will surely start to turn a lot of people (women?) off. I used to be a big league fan and now I find the violence confronting. There'll always be a place for the NRL, but I think increasingly it will evolve into a kind of extreme sport, with a reduced audience, that's played by no one except the professionals in the NRL. AFL’s got everything that's good about RL, and does have plenty of hard body contact without the extreme violence of RL (although the level of the violence will be an increasing problem for junior AFL - if I had a kid, I'd want him/her playing soccer, not AFL or RL). AFL has also got a lot of what makes soccer great, with the added bonus of lots of goals being scored. I love soccer, but contrary to popular opinion I can only see a decline in its popularity over time. The lack of scoring is totally at odds with the limited attention span of today's generation; in essence, it's not a game for the times. And (Lord help me) then there's the simulation... Ultimately, if you line soccer up alongside AFL and consider their merits, the latter is vastly the superior spectacle.
pioneer
Guest
Spotless might be a great boutique stadium (and it is) but have you ever tried to buy a beer there when they're playing the Swans (ie: the joint is nearly full)? Line up at half time and you'll be lucky if your thirst is quenched by the fourth quarter.
Rasty
Guest
Not what I meant. Firstly the AFL play games at around 15 stadia throughout Aus, only 5 are over 40K capacity 3 more between 30 and 40k, the remaining 7 under 30K and the lowest 10K at Alice springs (all be it once per year}. The MCG, AO, Gabbba and SCG are all cricket ovals primarily and the AFL and the management of those grounds sensibly have multi-purpose arrangements in place. These cricket arenas, by there very nature (geometrics) are going to have a greater spectator capacity then your rectangular pitch. EPL last year had, out of 20 teams,7 stadia at capacity over 40K, a further 5 at between 30K and 40k and the remaning 8 below 30K with the lowest around 11.5K. I would suggest with those numbers you might do some recalcs and prob come up with a different view. But then again, maybe not. I suppose it really won't affect much.
Forza Milan
Guest
True, afl is the better watched live and up in at least the second tier (coaches level), to enable you to view the otherside of the ground. Trend around the world though is not to play im cavenous stadiums but to have near capacity crowds for most games. It is a better look for the comp and tv (were most money is now generated). Eg Juventus and Bayern Munich moved to smaller capacity stadiums.
Mickyo
Guest
Yep
Mickyo
Guest
Australian football is easier to appreciate once you have been to live games, then much easier to follow on Tele, that is why stadiums are big with big capacities, the AFL wants as many people who desire to be able to see the game. WCE, Freo and Adelaide all have waiting lists for members, the Swans are not that far behind, neither are that suburban club from Adelaide , Port.
Mickyo
Guest
What!!, there's many codes, footy x 4, hockey, netball, basketball, etc etc