Game Day Gather Round 2023

[FR0GGY]

I really think the media in particular are forgetting what was unique to gather round. I think the double header was great.

Games have to be easy to get to and you need to be ablr to see as many teams as possible. The idea of clearing the stadium and going back in would ruin the experience.

Im not really sure of the solution, Mali was talking about finding a way to fill the stadium for both games and that maybe people can register for one or two games and "return" the 2nd ticket if your not going, trouble is you need people to actually scan out and you need them to exit.

 

[Tex Danger]

Im not really sure of the solution, Mali was talking about finding a way to fill the stadium for both games and that maybe people can register for one or two games and "return" the 2nd ticket if your not going, trouble is you need people to actually scan out and you need them to exit.

Could you sell the western as 2 game passes and have a village green for between games

Then you only need to clear the rest of the stadium?

 

[George Kramer]

Im not really sure of the solution, Mali was talking about finding a way to fill the stadium for both games and that maybe people can register for one or two games and "return" the 2nd ticket if your not going, trouble is you need people to actually scan out and you need them to exit.

You dedicate one stand to the double ups, ie the riverbank stand. Every other stand has to evacuate. Sure it will take longer to do so there would be a bigger gap, but if you’re roaming around without a seat wouldn’t take long for stragglers to be found out.

 

[George Kramer]

Could you sell the western as 2 game passes and have a village green for between games

Then you only need to clear the rest of the stadium?

Actually that’s a better suggestion to mine. That would be perfect, gives those patrons a chance to have a drink, bite to eat.

 

[MsTopG]

Im not really sure of the solution, Mali was talking about finding a way to fill the stadium for both games and that maybe people can register for one or two games and "return" the 2nd ticket if your not going, trouble is you need people to actually scan out and you need them to exit.

I think there will be less double headers next year. The Footy Festivus could kick off on Wednesday night running through to Sunday twilight. They are talking about Norwood Oval again but with a closed off food wine festival on the parade. Maybe something down at Glenelg oval and a match at Barossa and McLaren Vale with a food and wine festival in each region. I expect we will see huge numbers coming in next year from interstate. I would start with Adelaide v Collingwood/Geelong and then finish it off with Powaa v Swans/Brisbane at the end of it. That would mean 1 match at Norwood, 1 at Glenelg, 1 at Barossa, 1at McLaren Vale, 1 match on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday night at AO and 1 at Adelaide oval twighlight Sunday. Therefore you have your day games at regional grounds and night/twilight games at AO. They could also do marquee area out the back at Adelaide Oval like they do during the cricket where you could have meals and drinks. A concert on Saturday night and Sunday night after the matches would be good as well. The should change the name to Festivus round.

 

[Redline]

Im not really sure of the solution, Mali was talking about finding a way to fill the stadium for both games and that maybe people can register for one or two games and "return" the 2nd ticket if your not going, trouble is you need people to actually scan out and you need them to exit.

I am sure they will try something like that but in reality its out of everyone's control. Make the gap between games smaller is all they can really do.

There will be more demand next year but it was very easy to get a ticket. I really don't think many Port fans were locked out. The media are making something out of nothing in my opinion.

 

[Tex Danger]

Actually that’s a better suggestion to mine. That would be perfect, gives those patrons a chance to have a drink, bite to eat.

It’s also already usually got a ticket system of having to scan across, limiting access (I’ve never understood why in footy season) to that area.

Any other stand/area doesn’t have that limitation so it makes doing it that way the only viable way.

 

[Redline]

Could you sell the western as 2 game passes and have a village green for between games

Then you only need to clear the rest of the stadium?

Isn't there still a risk that people still only go to the game they want to in the Western stand?

I wouldn't know but I think siren to siren you would need two hours even with half the stadium. An hour to clear out and quick clean and an hour to get the second game crowd in and seated.

 

[treeman]

Was a great time, apart from having to go for the Kangas with a couple of Kangas-supporting mates.

Lovely oval, plenty of food and drink spots meant no queues. Good stuff, would attend again.

And because the BOM is useless, not a drop of rain during the game. I actually got ******* sunburnt!

To be fair to the bom if you understood it.
UV was still over 3 so no wonder you got burnt.
They listed rain as 10% chance of 1mm during game time so that's not certain at all.
Bom got it right.

 

[JP Sauce]

To be fair to the bom if you understood it.
UV was still over 3 so no wonder you got burnt.
They listed rain as 10% chance of 1mm during game time so that's not certain at all.
Bom got it right.

I will never be fair to the BOM.

 

[AFC3000]

I think some of the solution could be around the way the seating is either allocated or general admission.

Remember back in the early days of Adelaide Oval Port were getting big numbers to high demand matches because they'd allocate far more of the stadium as general admission which means they could oversell by a higher percentage than we could and they'd pack them in.

I don't know how it was configured this year but might offer more flexibility.

I'm sure there are also people who reserved tickets as club members just in case they decided to go to gather round as well as people who bought tickets to overlapping games they didn't end up getting to just in case.

There might be benefit in not having one of the local teams involved in the double headers.

Theory being that travelling and neutral fans are more likely to have nothing better to do than watch football while local fans take 80% of the tickets across both games and instead of sitting in boring hotel rooms or walking aimlessly around the city, can just stay at home and go about their day like any other weekend.

Whatever it is, they've got the data and I'm sure will improve on this year's. Must be other examples around the world they can look at now.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I think there will be less double headers next year. The footy Festivus could kick off on Wednesday night running through to Sunday twilight. They are talking about Norwood Oval again but with a closed off food wine festival on the parade. Maybe something down at Glenelg oval and a match at Barossa and McLaren Vale with a food and wine festival in each region. I expect we will see huge numbers coming in next year from interstate. I would start with Adelaide v Collingwood/Geelong and then finish it off with Powaa v Swans/Brisbane at the end of it. That would mean 1 match at Norwood, 1 at Glenelg, 1 at Barossa, 1at McLaren Vale, 1 match on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday night at AO and 1 at Adelaide oval twighlight Sunday. Therefore have your day games at regional grounds and night/twilight games at AO

I doubt Wednesday would happen.

If school holidays ever align well with ANZAC Day (ie. being the week before) then perhaps. (Does it even happen?)

I'd put the house on gather round 2024 being Thursday the 11th through Sunday the 14th

That's 2 rounds after Easter and 1.5 weeks (2 rounds) before ANZAC Day

Wouldn't be able to get Hawthorn/Geelong off 5 day breaks to be ready for a Friday in gather round, so they'd be Saturday/Sunday

And I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to get Richmond/Melbourne into Thursday/Friday, and Essendon/Collingwood into Friday/Saturday

If they go a 6/3 split

Thursday Night - Adelaide Oval - Adelaide vs Melbourne
Friday Twilight - Norwood Oval - West Coast vs Greater Western Sydney
Friday Night - Adelaide Oval - Port Adelaide vs Richmond
Saturday Afternoon - Tanunda - Sydney vs Gold Coast
Saturday Twilight - Adelaide oval - Essendon vs North Melbourne
Saturday Night - Adelaide oval - Collingwood vs Western Bulldogs
Sunday Afternoon - Adelaide Oval - Geelong vs Brisbane
Sunday Afternoon - Glenelg Oval - Hawthorn vs Fremantle
Sunday Twilight - Adelaide oval - Carlton vs St Kilda

If they go a 5/4 split
Thursday Night - Adelaide Oval - Adelaide vs Melbourne
Friday Twilight - Norwood Oval - West Coast vs Greater Western Sydney
Friday Night - Adelaide oval - Richmond vs Collingwood
Saturday Afternoon - Tanunda - Sydney vs Western Bulldogs
Saturday Twilight - Glenelg Oval - North Melbourne vs Gold Coast
Saturday Night - Port Adelaide vs Essendon
Sunday Afternoon - Adelaide oval - Geelong vs Brisbane
Sunday Afternoon - Norwood oval - Hawthorn vs Fremantle
Sunday Twilight - Adelaide Oval - Carlton vs St Kilda

 

[Dirty Bird]

Isn't there still a risk that people still only go to the game they want to in the Western stand?

I wouldn't know but I think siren to siren you would need two hours even with half the stadium. An hour to clear out and quick clean and an hour to get the second game crowd in and seated.

But why would you spend $40 for 2 games, when you could've spent $20 for 1

It's actually pretty sound and logical thinking.

Only concern is to create the time to turnover the rest of the ground, does it make it not worth going in?

Maybe set up something out back, screen to watch twilight game, with good food options. (Or perhaps do a "happy hour" in that stand between the 2 games??)

 

[Dirty Bird]

I think some of the solution could be around the way the seating is either allocated or general admission.

Remember back in the early days of Adelaide Oval Port were getting big numbers to high demand matches because they'd allocate far more of the stadium as general admission which means they could oversell by a higher percentage than we could and they'd pack them in.

I don't know how it was configured this year but might offer more flexibility.

I'm sure there are also people who reserved tickets as club members just in case they decided to go to gather round as well as people who bought tickets to overlapping games they didn't end up getting to just in case.

There might be benefit in not having one of the local teams involved in the double headers.

Theory being that travelling and neutral fans are more likely to have nothing better to do than watch football while local fans take 80% of the tickets across both games and instead of sitting in boring hotel rooms or walking aimlessly around the city, can just stay at home and go about their day like any other weekend.

Whatever it is, they've not got the data and I'm sure will improve on this year's. Must be other examples around the world they can look at now.

Agreed

Remember early on, there was alot of hesitancy.

I doubt tickets will be free for members next season. Probably $30, but have a month or so to get access.

 

[dplggr47]

OK if you're a camel I guess...

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/afl-2023-all-the-news-and-features-from-gather-round/news-story/cfbe950f4ebbc07975b07295983c1df2

But while footy fans were able to enjoy a pre-match beverage with ease, it became a lot harder when they got into Norwood Oval.

With less bars than what was usually operational for a SANFL game lines for drinks quickly snaked around the iconic hill at Norwood Oval.

Punters were left thirsty, impatient and annoyed.

“I’ve been thirsty since quarter time,” Jordan Meseldzija said as he waited in line for a drink as the halftime siren sounded.

“We’ve been waiting a fair while to get a drink.”

Cade Parsons of Salisbury East said he nearly had to wait for two quarters for a drink.

“It has been bloody too long,” he said.

“We pretty much missed the first quarter waiting in line for a drink.

“The only good thing is that we are watching the footy.”

Maybe they could've brought some water then.

 

[FR0GGY]

I heard someone on the radio saying Norwood ran out of pass outs, so they had to wait until someone came back to get their pass out.
Seems a simple issue to fix next time.

 

[arrowman]

This is a really good, positive writeup:

‘Best AFL days ever’: Inside Gather Round’s wild scenes — and one awkward issue that remains

‘Best AFL days ever’: Inside Gather Round’s wild scenes — and one awkward issue that remains

www.foxsports.com.au

Also noting that the players scored $$ too:

To try and make up for this, all 18 clubs were given $750,000 including an extra $500,000 in their salary caps - with players paid pro-rata based on their current contracts - thanks to the financial boon of the weekend.

 

[beartoo]

Talk of McLaren Vale as a venue. Have to do a lot of work on the oval there to bring it up to scratch. Surface not bad, but not to the standard. One small stand and no facilities. You'd need lotsa portaloos. Oval is away from the shops and dining strip.
Beautiful area near the Shiraz Trail. I run there fairly often.


On SM-A115F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[TheRankineFile]

What about WA clubs wanting an extra home game in exchange for Gather Round? Would we be open to playing there and splitting that gate?

I can see their point. They travel far enougj as it is. Can see NM and GWS getting screwed with an extra game there ha.

 

[spexau]

Talk of McLaren Vale as a venue. Have to do a lot of work on the oval there to bring it up to scratch. Surface not bad, but not to the standard. One small stand and no facilities. You'd need lotsa portaloos. Oval is away from the shops and dining strip.
Beautiful area near the Shiraz Trail. I run there fairly often.


On SM-A115F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I was looking at it on Google Maps. Plenty of space but the whole area would need redeveloping to be able to fit in temporary grandstands like they did at Mt Barker.

 

[arrowman]

I was looking at it on Google Maps. Plenty of space but the whole area would need redeveloping to be able to fit in temporary grandstands like they did at Mt Barker.

They must have done a lot of work at Mt Barker in the last few months



But seriously folks...

Summit Sports Park (Mt Barker Regional Sports Hub) | Austadiums

Information about Summit Sports Park (Mt Barker Regional Sports Hub) in Mount Barker including venue layout, history, records, events, map, tickets, directions and accommodation.

www.austadiums.com

Obviously Mt Barker has a head start on both Tanunda and McLaren Vale, but as you say, McLaren Vale seems to be a bit tight for space. The thing about Mr Barker is that not only did they have plenty of room for stands, there was a lot of space around the perimeter for food / drink and activities; very spacious. Looks easier to manage at Tanunda than McLaren Vale.

- I know the Barossa made a big push for this year; did McLaren Vale say anything, or do they know their limitations? I guess they'd want to put their hands up just on the off chance, but looking at the Google images Tanunda has a head start.

 

[chazwazza]

I heard someone on the radio saying Norwood ran out of pass outs, so they had to wait until someone came back to get their pass out.
Seems a simple issue to fix next time.

Even at the Norwood Sturt game the week before there were people complaining about toilet facilities. They had closed the Von Einem Memorial Dunny on the eastern wing (should’ve been closed and replaced 20 years ago TBH) so no idea where people had to go. Seems like some very simple planning went missing.

 

[rocket18]

Im not really sure of the solution, Mali was talking about finding a way to fill the stadium for both games and that maybe people can register for one or two games and "return" the 2nd ticket if your not going, trouble is you need people to actually scan out and you need them to exit.

Make the whole ground GA, bit like the members stand that doesn't have reserved seating, then oversell it by 50%.

A large proportion of supporters will just watch their game as the wait between matches is too long

Scan people who leave after the first game, in the unlikely event capacity hits 52k no more entry.

As someone said Port Powah used to do this with their GA as they knew there would be no shows.

Could you sell the western as 2 game passes and have a village green for between games

Then you only need to clear the rest of the stadium?

This is a good idea, have a couple of big screens setup in the village green showing the other match live from Norwood or the Barossa.

Basically 3 games of footy, two live and the other would be a good atmosphere as well - 5-10k people milling around eating and drinking.

 

[spexau]

They must have done a lot of work at Mt Barker in the last few months

View attachment 1663851

But seriously folks...

Summit Sports Park (Mt Barker Regional Sports Hub) | Austadiums

Information about Summit Sports Park (Mt Barker Regional Sports Hub) in Mount Barker including venue layout, history, records, events, map, tickets, directions and accommodation.

www.austadiums.com

Obviously Mt Barker has a head start on both Tanunda and McLaren Vale, but as you say, McLaren Vale seems to be a bit tight for space. The thing about Mr Barker is that not only did they have plenty of room for stands, there was a lot of space around the perimeter for food / drink and activities; very spacious. Looks easier to manage at Tanunda than McLaren Vale.

- I know the Barossa made a big push for this year; did McLaren Vale say anything, or do they know their limitations? I guess they'd want to put their hands up just on the off chance, but looking at the Google images Tanunda has a head start.

McLaren Vale is mentioned in the press release by the AFL for extending Gather Round.

 

[rocket18]

McLaren Vale is mentioned in the press release by the AFL for extending Gather Round.

Willunga Oval probably more suitable, its only 5 mins up the road. I haven't been there for years but the clubrooms of the footy and cricket clubs would have to be 10x better then McLaren Vales.

Plus there is a school right next door that you might be able to utilise their toilets/facilities, with the bonus of a couple of pubs just across the road.