Crowds

Where have all the crowds gone ?

Couldn't hear a bulldog fan today and yes I know thhere were a few scattered in the outer.

Crowds would have dropped a bit thios year.Probably a range of things.

$14 entry is too high for starters and put that with expensive prices for food and drink inside the ground.

Central support I think is a big concern for the SANFL. They dont seem to attend home or away and you'd expect more considering their sucess. When they fall on field I think they will have big concerns . Souths and the Eagles have been good for a couple of years but they have no support and only South seem to have an opportunity to capitalise if they get some sustained sucess.I ahve seen stats on % increases but those stats are coming from a low base.

West are similar and North is a club that can attract more if winning( as all clubs)

Glenelg are a fickle bunch and dont travel well but whhen up and firing their home crowds are as good as it gets.

Sturt , Port and Norwood hold the key . When these sides are going well , like all sides, they pull big numbers. So Norwood seem to be going OK. Time for Sturt & Port to catch up and the crowds will increase.

A lot of Crows supporters in the north, so I'd say many of them would have been at AAMI today, particularly if they've forked out hard earned money for season tickets.

howthewestwaswon wrote:A lot of Crows supporters in the north, so I'd say many of them would have been at AAMI today, particularly if they've forked out hard earned money for season tickets.

Yep, I was in that category today. Next week, though, I'll be down at Glenelg, but then will miss the Centrals v West game because it clashes with Adelaide v Freo at AAMI. Seems Centrals have copped a fair few clashes with AAMI Stadium games this season.

As a general rule for me, in the event of a clash, a Crows home game takes precedence over a Centrals game, but a Centrals game will take precedence over a Crows away game (except for when I go to that game of course, but that's normally only 1 game a year and I normally try to tee it up on the weekend of a Centrals bye).

Yes for sure today. I am also referring to the last couple of years . I'd like to see a Sunday televised game though and a Fri night game . Just to test it, but that's another topic.

the SANFL are the goose that cooked the golden egg, they put the prices up consistently over the last few years too presumingly pay offthe Port & other debts, surely the 'bums on seats' mentality is a better way to go, i know people that can't afford to go & some that refuse to pay that much when it is all of a sudden $28.00 for a couple plus food, drinks & so on through the day & there isn't much change out of a hundred in what is supposed to be a family friendly form of entertainment, even today i used a free ticket to go to footy park rather than pay the amount for a game when i thought it was a foregone conclusion

I have to agree with the sentiments about the price.

Perhaps the SANFL need to look at implementing an SANFL membership that covers say 30 or 40 matches per year, as some fans do like to go and watch other teams play as a neutral fan if their team isnt playing.

What will happen with the admission price?

will the SANFL cap it at this $14 for a few years or will they keep increasing it just as quick as politicians pay rise?

Sanfl killed it by asking us to pay $14.00.

Add $5.00 to park your car at noarlunga.

Add $4.50 for a steak sanna at the BBQ.

Add 2 drinks ...say $10.00

A footy budget $3.00

Around $38.00 plus your petrol.

Sorry clubs like South and Centrals are low social economic areas and not everyone are going to be forking that or to see a game of footy.

Cut to price back to $8 to $10 and you might get some fans back.

One of the worst decisions the SANFL have made and will kill the local competition very soon!!!

Perhaps the SANFL and the zoological society are linked in regards to admission prices.

$10 Adults
$5 Concession
$2 Kids

If the SANFL had any sense, these would be the MAX prices for their league games from next season.

It reminds me when BASA kept driving up ticket prices because of their debt to the SA government re: Powerhouse.

Should be nothing for kids. They go to the footy, and drag their parents along with them ... who have to pay Issue free tickets at the schools, etc.

I've always thought kids (obvious kids) should be allowed to watch the game for free. No kid can watch a game without needing a pie, or a hot dog and and a drink. Win/win.

I don't think kids should be charged either, but if they had to, then $2 would be max price for me.

They could go with something like this: $10 adults, $5 concession, $2 14-17y.o., Kids u/14 free.

howthewestwaswon wrote:

It reminds me when BASA kept driving up ticket prices because of their debt to the SA government re: Powerhouse.

36ers prices have still gone up and up even after Adelaide Arena and the 36ers were sold off. When the current 36ers ownership structure came in, some ticket prices went from $25 to $80-odd overnight, and with 'Gold' tickets (most of the lower bowl) now $33, it's now just a rip off to go to the games - especially given how poorly the 36ers have played the past few seasons. I used to go to about 5-6 games a year, now I only go to 2-3 a season (and the only reason I went to the second game last season was because I had a free ticket)

howthewestwaswon wrote:$10 Adults
$5 Concession
$2 Kids

If the SANFL had any sense, these would be the MAX prices for their league games from next season.

I would still keep kids free (or $2 for 15-17 years old as you suggested), but 100% agree on the price for Adults/Concession.

To be honest, it was the fact that kids u/18 are free that kept me interested in SANFL football in the late 90's/early 00's - and it was extremely easy to invite a couple of mates to games (even if they didn't necessarily follow football closely) because it was free to get in.

testy wrote:

Perhaps the SANFL and the zoological society are linked in regards to admission prices.

i understand why the Zoo has higher prices & that's because they have to feed & look after the animals etc, as for the footy well surely 2,500 today would have been better than the poultry 1,800 or thereabouts that were there today, that'd be 700 more people spending money at the canteen or bar & heaven forbid buy some merchandise.................Shield cricket now has free entry but who remembers when they made it 'dollar day' on a sunday, they got a crowd & the same thing should happen, keep the supposed family entertainment league at affordable rates & that will bring them back, today i spoke to my dad & i asked him what he was doing he said ''i wouldn't mind going to the footy but i can't afford to go as i have all these bills i have to pay'', i offered to pay but he said ''no don't worry about it as then your paying double to get in''

as mentioned before BUMS ON SEATS is a smarter way to go & the SANFL is cooking the golden goose

I know this thread is more about low crowd figures, but saves starting another thread, here is an interesting post from another site...

I know all clubs have their trouble supporters and some clubs have more issues with fans than others. Central have had their fair share of issues over the time, but there seems to be regular issues with Sturt fans, as well.

MightyEagles wrote:I was attacked by a Sturt fan on North Tce after the game and hurt my back, not sure if the guy is a member.

ME is a volunteer at the Eagles and wouldn't harm a fly. Not sure why the Sturt supporter would have picked on him?

Big Phil wrote:I know this thread is more about low crowd figures, but saves starting another thread, here is an interesting post from another site...

I know all clubs have their trouble supporters and some clubs have more issues with fans than others. Central have had their fair share of issues over the time, but there seems to be regular issues with Sturt fans, as well.

MightyEagles wrote:I was attacked by a Sturt fan on North Tce after the game and hurt my back, not sure if the guy is a member.

ME is a volunteer at the Eagles and wouldn't harm a fly. Not sure why the Sturt supporter would have picked on him?

hopefully it's on cctv (or whatever it's called) & ME takes this COWARDLY D1CKHEAD to the cleaners, it is an embarrassment to Sturt as well & they & the SANFL wouldn't want a coward like that supporting them

I am not so much opposed to the prices, my main beef is the SANFL seem to be doing not a great deal to promote the SANFL. They have some token radio advertising on 5AA, but I feel they should be doing much more to promote the game on other stations, even community stations like CoastFM and 3DDD for example.

I also feel that scheduling of games could be much better and this needs to be looked at, lets see a return to some Double Header games on a Saturday Afternoon / Saturday night. This week Norwood are to play Port and it will be a cracking game, lets see some advertising across the media and lets pump it up to get people along.

I feel the SANFL are cutting back on advertising because of their debt that they chose to put into Port Power. Many companies that stop advertising also lose customers and go bust. Lets hope the SANFL don't do the same....

should the SANFL look at giving budgets to those paying adults?

and if you are a club memeber you also get a budget upon showing your card?

how many budgets go wasted each round or are there shortfalls?

Email from Kym Russell to West Adelaide members on June 29: "Of more concern to the Club is the decline in our match day revenue (down 41%) which includes gate takings and oval catering. This is a direct result of our match day attendances being down 24% on budget and 19.5% down on last year."

The crowds at Richmond for South Adelaide, Eagles and Norwood were disappointing. Picked up for Sturt and Glenelg. May have turned the corner with finals on the horizon.

The maths states that 4000 people at $8 or 3000 people at $10 is better than 2000 at $14.

The fact that the SANFL have not advertised the League like they have in the past isn't helping either.

An increase in Friday night or Saturday night games may do the trick. Unfortunately though, not all the clubs have lights.

Another problem IMO is this farcical idea that a nine team competition has to play the same season length as the 18 in the AFL. IMO its stretching the resources of the SANFL clubs to far. We should simply play each other twice then have the finals. Start the season in good weather play some good night games to high crowds with the right promotion to start it off. Football Park and Thebarton are good options for clubs that dont have lights. Sturt need 3000 to break even at Unley, they might get a pretty good deal opening the season at Thebarton in a "home" game against WWT for example. 6000 there on the night helps them out on a week where they get 1700 at home.

Ben W wrote:Another problem IMO is this farcical idea that a nine team competition has to play the same season length as the 18 in the AFL. IMO its stretching the resources of the SANFL clubs to far. We should simply play each other twice then have the finals.

Spot on, been saying it for 30 years. We haven't had a balanced fixture since 1975.

A 16-game minor round is a bit short for my liking, and would end up costing clubs revenue. If you're going to cut the season by 20% you would have to decrease the salary cap as well (assuming revenue drops), and that means the standard will take a hit.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

Ben W wrote:Another problem IMO is this farcical idea that a nine team competition has to play the same season length as the 18 in the AFL. IMO its stretching the resources of the SANFL clubs to far. We should simply play each other twice then have the finals.

Spot on, been saying it for 30 years. We haven't had a balanced fixture since 1975.

True, but then again that was the only time since the mid twenties.

A bit off topic, but have been curious for a while as to why '75 was a special case. A one off year of specifically allowing for NFL matches perhaps?

StrayDog wrote:A bit off topic, but have been curious for a while as to why '75 was a special case. A one off year of specifically allowing for NFL matches perhaps?

I've always assumed it was because we introduced the Datsun Cup that year which was a departure from night competitions. They needed to find around 4 weeks from somewhere, so it made good sense to trim it back to 18 rounds.