I think membership drives have been very good, but I also think the NRL needs to look at things like tonights doubleheader in Brisbane, and replicate that in Sydney.

4-5 double headers every year at the SFS and Stadium Australia are things that will get people to go to a game as there is value, and hopefully with a good 30-40K turn out, and once they realise how cheap membership is for those clubs, especially if the clubs make an effort on those days to sell say 3 game passes. You will get return visits.

But why would clubs do double headers? Well in Sydney you see enough games like Panthers vs Cowboys, Cronulla vs Gold Coast etc which don’t attract many punters. But if you put some value in how you combine these games, say a Manly vs Cowboys & Cronulla vs Broncos on a Friday night at the SFS, you get two things out of it. A way to ensure that you are on TV, which for teams like Cronulla must be good in attracting sponsorship money, as well as getting 2 games which may attract 12K each at most, into potentially a much more improved atmosphere which such a large crowd (I’m thinking 30K at a min).

Not to mention it’s not hard to get combinations of teams which fit together to be involved in these doubleheader games, Penrith and Parra, Bulldogs and Souths, Tigers and Roosters, Manly and Cronulla who could give up one game a season to be involved in a double header like this, and the game itself will benefit with larger crowds, and hopefully more people signing up to be part of the action.

Another benefit is if the NRL does move to a fixed scheduling draw, TV exec’s would have some control over which game to show first on a Friday night, or if scheduled on a Sunday, which one to show on the day (and thus the order of games), which then allows a little flexibility that wouldn’t exist otherwise.

The SFS is fine. Especially once light rail is implemented so that those with Families find it much easier to get to the games.

I think another thing that would improve crowds is the NRL working with the state govt to include transport to the games as part of the ticket price (Bus, Train or Ferry). If negotiated well, it may add say $1-2 to the cost of a ticket, but the savings for all people attending would be tremendous, not to mention how many cars it would take off the road at that time (I used to live in Nth Strathfield, anything happening at Stadium Australia caused the worst traffic jams ever. My 15min trip from work to home, would take over an hour).

The other part, is that anyone taking games to the larger stadiums, should go down the AFL path of very cheap tickets for children. Maybe not he $2.50 they offer, but say $5 each. This is the generation of people you want to get used to attending games, and enjoying themselves, and hopefully becoming club members down the track.

I don’t think we can go down to two stadiums like Melbourne straight away. I do think that clubs like Sharks and Dragons could share say Kogarah for there smaller games (which would entice more money to be put into upgrading that ground), with all Sydney clubs required to nominate at a min 3 and to steal an AFL term “Blockbuster” games that must be played at one of the two main grounds.
This would get all clubs supporters used to attending these venues, as well as allowing as many supporters into the ground (It’s always disappointing when the Dragons play the Dogs at Kogarah and no tickets are available).

I don’t see why you want the Bulldogs to move away from Stadium Australia. You may not like it, but us Bulldogs supporters have embraced it, because we realise that it can be a good stadium, especially once you get 25K+ people into it (the the more the merrier!). The Bulldogs tried Parramatta stadium in 1995 as a home ground. It was just not the same.

Fun fact : Parramatta played at the Bulldogs home ground in 1982 and 1983, they won competiotn both times. Bulldogs won in 1995 playing out of Parramatta stadium in there only year playing there.

I added Paragraphs, and now I will read it!

______________________

Well OIKEE I Read your comment and you are the only person I’ve heard make a favorable comment with regard to our present day scrums .

To say that they contribute a considerable amount to our possible TV Rights bargaining power leaves me cold . I have no Idea with what credentials you come with to the debate , however mine are as follows, I played the game from school age to age 25 , winning premierships with Wondai , Kingaroy , and Dalby Waratahs , a total of 5 in all .

at age 25 I injured both shoulders and could no longer play , however my love for the game pushed me to Refereeing and moving around I refereed to Agrade level in Dalby , Gympie , and South Burnet before moving to North Queensland where , based in Mount Isa , refereed for the next 15 years , controlling countless Arch Foley Shield matches along with the local competition matches each weekend .

I also was fortunate enough to control two International teams in Great Britan and New Zealand when they played Northwest Queensland and North Queensland respectively . While President of the MIRL Referees Assoc. I served with the Mt Isa Junior League and coached representative sides in the N.Q COMP winning the N.Q Championship with the Mt Isa U16 side in 1977 , so I feel I have a fairly reasonable grip on what is and is not good for the game , and I am not stupid enough to let pigheadedness get in the way of reason when it comes to change .

To succeed , long term , our game has to grow to be a genuinely National sport , and that means teams in Adelaide , Pearth , and , perhaps Darwin , and probably places in between . This will mean that teams will go in Sydney and this is hugely unfortunate , however growing will cause pain , and possibly unbearable pain for some , and it will be hard not to feel remorse for them .

Also possibly changes to some aspects of the game may be necessary to accommodate those who wish to broadcast it , and while I would not be favorable to wholesale changes , nor would I consent changes that altered the way in which the game is played , but changes to stoppages and or breaks could be accommodated without any alteration to the way in which the game is played .

Also one who commented said that they wanted four games free to air , what is wrong with every game free to air , with adds , and all games live on Fox , and this can be achieved . We are along the track further with some things than others and we may have to wait another five years to get more advances , hover long it takes I would like to know that those in control of our game are going forward with the interest of the Fans and Players in mind first and fore0most .

Many thanks for the opportunity to put forward an opinion in this most important debate . Those doing the negotiating have a grave responsibility to handle these negotiations in the best way they can , and I feel sure they will .

Yeah, and given there form this year. If you did the draw for next season now, and had a full schedule done, then you would not be playing Parra in any of the TV slots in the last 6 rounds. At halfway (lets say you do the first of the 6 floating weeks then), you would start to see the pattern that could mean you could gamble of the Friday night when you have 2 games to play with, if you want to schedule a crowd favourite club who is coming along. Or even if you had the flexibility to choose which Sunday game (out of the 2 available on the day), gets played in the TV slot only a few weeks beforehand.

I am sure there are ways to make both couch surfers, and those who like to attend games happy.

There would be a stop clock as soon as the scrum is ready to be fed but the TV ad is not over. From what they explained a normal scrum takes 27 secs. So 3 more secs to wait to feed it!

Added time is horrible, I don’t want our game going down that path. Just stop time when it is needed.

Noel, I tried to read this, I really did. It is missing Paragraphs. Please in future use them otherwise it’s just a big wall of text. I feel like I am in the matrix.

Ian about halfway through the season you should have a good idea who will be thereabouts and those matches can be scheduled. You will still get some wrong, but it should be enough of a lead in to get in 75% right.

Why shouldn’t they? If they body build isn’t suited to AFL, but suits NRL, then obviously you should get them playing your sport. Not to mention that their AFL career is effectively over. If you want to make some money out of playing sport, then you may have to consider alternatives.

You need to train your wife better, or the Dog, to get your refills for you Oikee.

Titus, has more ads in the AFL devalued there brand?

So why would the NRL’s be devalued if there are more opportunities. Lets say you charge 5K for an ad with 20 ads per game. Now you can have 30 ads per game. You can reduce the price to 4k an ad, making it more affordable for people to get into that slot. But overall the broadcaster makes more money from the game.

Given the changes involve current stoppages, if anything you just have edited out scrums forming, and dead ball time. Not sure watching people run up to take the kickoff after a try is scored is all that interesting. As well given it’s only 30secs, people are more prone to watch the ad as they know that it is only 30secs.

No need to change my name to try and discredit me either. It’s the lowest form of argument there is.

Man you must live a sad life if you all you do is troll websites and message boards that talk about a sport you despise.

Pauly that person is at least is getting things from the horses mouth, and has said many times that these things change in an instant. Unlike most of us who are just going on what we read in the press, and take little points out of that to spruik our opinion on how it will all unfold.

Hopefully after today we can start reading about other TV stations given the Channel 9 exclusive negotiation period is over. I would love to hear about another Channel taking over, which means a fresh approach to broadcasting the game, especially on the broadcast side of things (Though please sign Sterlo whomever gets the rights!).

I agree with the assessment of the Panthers. It will take a few years to see there current restructuring pay dividends. Gould has the right pieces in play, you only have to look at how Cleary brought juniors through the Warriors setup, but also ensured he played the market bringing in guys with a good work ethic.

Panther by 2015 will have a top 8 lineup for a few years to come. Whether they can build there crowds of this is another thing.

I know many people with these devices, and I don’t know of anyone who uses them this way. At best they will pause a show to go to the toilet which allows them to catch up by skipping one ad break. Just cause you do it this way, doesn’t mean the majority of people do.

It will take 30 secs either way even if there is time off. So you can flick to the ad, just the scrum can’t be fed until 30 secs have passed. If anything it makes the game more attractive in that aspect as we don’t have to watch the farce that is the scrum.

Jaceman, you could say that about any program on TV. Thing is, not everybody has to go to the toilets every 20mins, or flick over etc. If they did, then TV stations wouldn’t exist. There are obviously enough people who don’t change channels that make advertising worthwhile.

Prepare for you ego to take a beating.

How about this. If the NRL gets $100mil + more than your “predictions”, you stay out of all NRL threads, so those of us who enjoy talking about the game, can actually enjoy it.

Hmm, now the NRL is getting telecast on GEM at a normal time, I think that is new markets (well compared to getting shown after midnight, it will take time). The NRL has introduced many new things since the last contract, including the All-Stars game, U20’s, Monday night football.

So there are new products, and as well with expansion on the horizon, there could be even more changes.

Seems you just came here with your head in the sand to comment on a game you don’t care for, and don’t have knowledge about.

Who do you post as on a “certain RL forum”, cause this isn’t it.

As much as I hate the NBN, if it does go through as planned (which I doubt as soon as the govt changes hands!), it will be the death nell for cable TV, as Internet broadcasts will be the status quo. Most TV’s are now coming with this sort of connectivity, and I am sure a decent set top box to deliver this wouldn’t cost much to produce anyway.

Oikee is a mad scientist. Get it right!

Origin players missing seems to be the only chance anyone has in beating the Storm (or injuries to their spine).

Don’t forget the classic, This Sporting Life (1963).

As for League movies, I don’t think ones about true events would be that good. I just don’t see how you do the build up to winning the grand final, unless someone had something very tragic happen. Lets say John Mannah recovers from his current condition, and then goes on to win a grand final. That is a movie! Overcoming all the odds. Newcastle beating Manly in 1997? ZZzzzzz…..

Poor Boy Blues you haven’t changed from the stuff you posted on LU. I believe you will be as popular here, as you were their.