You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a little tired and emotional in this column – the truth is I’m penning this while still pretty exhausted from going out to the footy on Thursday night to watch the Parramatta Eels go down to the Sydney Roosters.
Its round five and this was the Eels’ fourth Thursday night fixture so perhaps I should be used to being tired by now.
I’m not usually one to complain about the draw, but there are a couple of interesting quirks with their schedule. It’s important for me to be clear I don’t think any of these quirks are responsible for Parramatta’s underwhelming 1-4 start to the season.
The draw is randomly selected and sometimes it may be favourable for your team and other times not. I totally accept that and this piece is not an excuse for their form.
They have been the only team to play a rival coming off the bye three weeks in a row. Others face opponents coming off the bye three times, but not in consecutive weeks.
Bryce Cartwright and Eels teammates look dejected after conceding a try to the Roosters. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
In a couple of years we might have the data to do some useful analysis on this and whether it is a benefit or not. At this stage, I don’t know.
But the second quirk is the one I want to dig into a little bit more. In the first five rounds, Parramatta have had four Thursday night games (and the fifth game was played against the Sharks in the dreaded 6pm Friday timeslot).
Forget about the players, the real loser out of that decision is the fans and specifically, the fans that have memberships and like to go watch their teams play live.
Judging by the numbers so far this year there are lots of rugby league fans that fall into that category. In terms of live attendance, Round 4 of the NRL season was up 30 per cent compared to Round 4 in 2022 and in terms of overall attendance, it is up 31 per cent on 2022 after four rounds.
This has no doubt been buoyed by the introduction of the Dolphins, but still impressive figures nonetheless.
How much better could these figures have been if one of those Parramatta games was played at a more fan-friendly time?
Perhaps suggesting Thursday night is not ‘fan-friendly’ is an excuse – there is a generalisation about people in Sydney not wanting to travel and making any excuse not to leave their homes. But we need to accept the reality of the fans we are dealing with, particularly in Sydney.
Thursday night games are not child-friendly. By the time a family gets home from a Thursday night game it is 10.30pm at the earliest. It’s also challenging for people who do not live close to the stadium to commute in and out, especially during peak times.
I also wonder whether this draw has an impact on membership.
Unfortunately the membership conversation in the NRL looks different to how it does in the AFL. My observation is that in AFL, fans buy memberships year after year in an effort to financially support their clubs.
There is a culture of membership in the AFL which potentially explains why most AFL clubs have significantly more members than their NRL counterparts.
In a period where cost of living pressures are beginning to bite, the draw can have a real impact on whether people make a decision to renew a membership.
If you pay for a membership but can only get to a handful of games, would you still purchase one next year?
Other than ensuring that fans are happy, is attendance in person something that we as a game should worry about. Do we care about people watching in person given how much money the broadcast arrangement generates.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
My view is rugby league is a TV sport. It is different to the AFL, which I feel is a much better experience in person as you can see the whole field.
In rugby league, I find watching on television a much more effective way of actually seeing what is going on. The numbers reflect what a good television product it is.
Whilst attendance is up, viewership is also up too. In Round 3, the NRL had an estimated 5.527 million viewers which was up 9 per cent on the same round last year. If you factor in attendances for this round, total live audience for the NRL was 5.687 million, which is up 20 per cent on the same point last year.
The only reason I can think of Parramatta having so many Thursday night games is to appease the broadcast audience. Why else would you put the Grand Final rematch on a Thursday night? In the penultimate round the same thing happens with the Eels and Panthers duking it out on a Thursday.
The goal is to get the right mix round by round to ensure plenty of people watch in person but also at home on the couch.
Fortunately, my sleep habits return to normal this week, with the Eels’ next game scheduled for Easter Monday in the afternoon and hopefully it means we see plenty of next-generation fans in attendance at a much more family friendly time.
Alan
Roar Rookie
Crowds are up this year big time. Its amazing and so are TV Audiences. Yes they would be better with fan friendly times. But when you have 5 million people tuning in for a single round compared to 186,000 actual ndividuals attending then its obvious what they are doing is for the latter. League is back - with a vengance and its good to see. The old girl wont die.
I usually forget Thursday games are even on. For me Footy starts on a Friday night.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
The schedule is driven by Nine's demands for a high profile game for the late Thursday & Friday night slots and the Sunday arvo game, They know if you are at the game you will not be watching TV and do not give flying about you. They want the game to prop up all the other rubbish they serve up like news60minutesfarmerwantsamarriedatfirsttheblock. I would give it all to Fox or Sky and let them liaise with the cubs re best slots for ground attendance, tv viewing and special matches like charity shield, Broncs/Cows, Phins/Roosters
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
Wish they did, I would be home in bed by 9.30 instead of midnight. If you are on the tools or driving a truck work starts at daylight not bank Jonny's time
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Succhi, when you look at the NRL website whenever there's a good crowd it's posted and when poor it takes forever. The stadiums Australia website is the best place to find out crowds .
Succhi
Roar Rookie
I agree the time slots are not fan friendly. I get tired of the NRL rolling out stats that attendance and viewers are up - but compared to the same time slots last year. What if time slots were shifted- perhaps numbers would be even higher?
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I'm not including potential away games against Auckland in the mid 90's that would have been shown on delay on the east coast, btw.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Can anyone tell me if the Broncos have EVER played at 6pm on a Friday?
John Allan
Roar Rookie
Agree. Kick off times are TV friendly not fan friendly. Sunday game finishes just before news. SOO starts ridiculously late for younger viewers. Spare a thought for Queenslanders. Their “derby” kicked off 7pm last weekend.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Albo I think your right the tv channels drive the agenda . I'm probably a bit old school and like to attend matches particularly at suburban grounds where I think the atmosphere is better , but there are certain grounds I just won't go to due to lack of facilities and poor seating . I like going to Newtown as my son lives at Erskineville . Facilities average but a good Saturday/ Sunday afternoon of football.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Seems the crowds are still pretty big in the loungerooms on a Thursday night ! Otherwise decent games wouldn't be scheduled then . The TV stations are paying for the rights, and they will be eeking out the best viewing times to maximise their advertising dollars. Apparently Thursday & Friday nights are best for them . Seems people must be doing more with the families on weekends other than watching footy ?
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Mary, the best time to play these big Sydney derbies is when you can optimise the crowd and its certainly not Thursday night . People have more free time at weekends and to me that's when you target your crowds.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
The AFL are very clever in their match programming . Most Thursday/ Friday matches are scheduled at MCG so easy to get to , good crowd support so interest is high on and off the field . That's why the Broncos matches were always scheduled at Suncorp on a Friday night and to be honest that's what I would be doing . Thursday night is late night shopping at least in Sydney. I would love to see bigger crowds at all matches and more on the traditional Sunday afternoon particularly now the weather is cooling off . It's the scheduling in Sydney that needs to be better .
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
The draw is randomly selected and sometimes it may be favourable for your team and other times not. I'm betting the Roosters never "Randomly" get a draw that followings the team fresh from the bye for a month.
Woody
Roar Rookie
At the Sharks AGM on Wednesday night, this exact same question was asked. The answer was, the club presented its draw and game day options to the NRL, as did the TV rights holders. Who gets what is ranked, TV #1, NRL #2 Club preferences #3. Irrespective of kids wanting to see a local derby on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, they put those on at 8pm on Thursday night so school is a write off next day, or 8pm on Friday night, so Saturday sports is a write off next day. And we wonder why crowds are down. Most Sunday afternoon local derby's would be a sell out.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Mary, I think it has become pretty obvious that the TV ratings have transitioned to be the highest on the Thursday & Friday nights. The free to air commercial channels like 9, along with Foxtel, therefore lobby for the best matches of the round to be scheduled for Thursday & Friday nights. Unfortunately with Parramatta's draw this year, they have found themselves playing all the tough opposition early on, and hence their matches drawing the Thursday & Friday night time slots. Things will change in coming weeks where the "live fans " might get better time slots.