How can AFL increase game attendance?

[Mitchell Madness]

Less of the same old fixtures
It would be better if you saw a 5-10k drop for teams like pies, Carlton, essendon Richmond (which have inflated attendance due to games vs each other) if it meant a 20k increase accross other games

 

[Alberton]

1. Let Brereton commentate every game - no way in hell people would watch from home then.
2. Bring back the biff
3. Lower the ticket price
4. Play reserves games before each match
5. Play more games at Adelaide Oval
6. Provide decent free wifi at all grounds
7. Sell decent food at the grounds at reasonable prices rather than at monopoly markups

(some of these are serious - you can interpret it however you wish)

 

[Bleeeeeeeeep]

Honestly dont care about the crowd numbers, i'd rather see a fair fixture.
Also bring back arden st, western oval, moorabbin, visy park, victoria park.
Kick out Essendon.
ummm....thats it for now.

 

[Augustine]

Our crowds are bloody good. One of the best attended leagues in the world in a country with 22 million people and very crowded/competitive sporting market.

Having said that it does something that annoys me is aot of Vic fans attitude to games vs interstate teams. If Victorians would turn up in the same numbers when they vs interstate teams as they do when they vs each other crowds would be much better.

Surely Carlton vs Port Adelaide season opener should have drawn 40k

 

[Topkent]

Reduce congestion, you cant see a ****ing thing when 40 of them crowd around the footy and you end up watching the big screen anyway

How would you do that? Remove the interchange and have full time subs that can only be changed once each quarter (so 4 per quarter) or reduce it to 16 on the field , I dont know but its visually gross sometimes from the top of the MCG

 

[Concussion]

Anyone notice the correlation between 2010-2014 crows numbers compared to Collingwoods ladder position?

 

[Experimental]

Cheaper tickets and no booking fees. It's ****ing ridiculous that ticket companies can throw on a $6 fee per transaction anyway, but when you combine that with tickets each time you buy them, it's ludicrous.

Every stadium on the east coast fails to fill, yet the ticket prices always go up. If the tickets were cheaper, more people would go, more people would spend money on food and drinks, and more people would be likely to take an interest in live footy.

Even the MCG only fills up a few times a year, and even with a blockbuster like Geelong vs. Hawthorn, it fails to fill to anywhere near capacity. If kids tickets were free (or even more heavily reduced), if adult tickets were 30% cheaper, or if less popular games had a 'buy one get one free' ticket program, then we'd be seeing far more people going.

Quite honestly, the AFL is getting greedy with what they expect of fans. They complain that not enough people are going to live games, yet they schedule the games around TV audiences, not live audiences. They complain that blockbuster games aren't selling out, yet sell adult tickets at $50+. They complain that people 'just aren't going to live games anymore', and continue to hike prices for everything.

It's about time the league's bigwigs got their heads out of their arses and actually took an interest in what the fans want.

 

[GC2015]

Time slots I think. Get that right and people will flock to the stadiums.

 

[Hawkers]

Grand final club ticket ballots should be weighted towards who went to the most games. That might make members go to the game more

Not fair for supports that live in places other than the city where the team resides

 

[Sir Priddis]

Gold Coast and GWS entering the comp would have put a big dent in the attendance averages, so I don't think comparing 2011/12 onwards to 2010 really works. I think for obvious low attendance games like some we see at etihad, free or low cost kid entry if it doesn't already exist would be a good start. More kids means more food/drink and merch bought at games so it can be offset.

 

[hawkman]

Not fair for supports that live in places other than the city where the team resides

Put a distance filter on it. If it is a requirement that you must go to at least 8 or 9 home games to be in the ballot then I'm sure you will be seeing more members turning up.

 

[Cyrillicious]

Make Hawthorn and Geelong play each other every week.

 

[bombersfan4000]

Continuing to expand into NSW and QLD should help.

thats what GWS & GCS are for. but you would want GWS to start being at least half competitive some time soon

 

[bombersfan4000]

Make Hawthorn and Geelong play each other every week.

get Essendon vs Collingwood to play each other each week bigger crowds

 

[Balance]

Larger ground capacity at some grounds would definitely help.

 

[bombersfan4000]

Hey guys,

What do you think are some ways the AFL can increase attendance to games in 2015?

Attendance over the last 5 seasons has been trending down.

2014 - 6,974,488 (33,693 per match)

2013 - 6,931,085 (33,484 per match)

2012 - 6,778,559 (32,747 per match)

2011 - 7,139,272 (36,425 per match)

2010 - 7,145,488 (38,417 per match)

What are your motivations to continue to go to games (even when your team is average/bottom 8 team)?

And does anyone know any teams who were consistently performing average/poor over a good period of time, but the club managed to keep their fan attendance high?

NFL gridiron USA 68,776k population 316 million
Bundesliga German Soccer League 43,501k population 80 million
English Premier League 36,657k population 53
AFL 33,598k population 23 million

fourth highest attended sport in the world on average & per population the highest

the AFL crowds were up around the 38k average mark a few years ago but with the introduction of GWS & GCS & some games in tassie has made the overall average drop include the traditional bigger clubs Essendon, Carlton & Richmond have been basketcases for the last 10 years. the AFL is doing a great job crowd wise
2014 33684k
2013 33461k
2012 32748k
2011 36428k
2010 38423k
2009 37758k
2008 38287k
2007 38108k

 

[Pessimistic]

Average always decreases for a few seasons after new trams added

 

[Tiger2709]

get Essendon vs Collingwood to play each other each week bigger crowds

Wouldnt it get bigger crowds if Collingwood played one of the other big clubs though ?

 

[Richo83]

Hey guys,

What do you think are some ways the AFL can increase attendance to games in 2015?

Attendance over the last 5 seasons has been trending down.

2014 - 6,974,488 (33,693 per match)

2013 - 6,931,085 (33,484 per match)

2012 - 6,778,559 (32,747 per match)

2011 - 7,139,272 (36,425 per match)

2010 - 7,145,488 (38,417 per match)

What are your motivations to continue to go to games (even when your team is average/bottom 8 team)?

And does anyone know any teams who were consistently performing average/poor over a good period of time, but the club managed to keep their fan attendance high?

According to afl tables, your figures are slightly off. 2014 is 33,684, 2013 is 33,461, 2012 is 32,748, 2011 is 36,428 and 2010 is 38423

The answer really lies in the low attendance figures from Gold Coast and GWS, remove them and the decrease isn't that steep.

2014 36,184
2013 36,036
2012 35, 187
2010 38,423

 

[blue harvest]

More campaigners on the field would help.
Lake, Crowley, Buddy, Bazza, SJ etc really get the crowds in from both sides.

 

[seysearles]

Hey guys,

What do you think are some ways the AFL can increase attendance to games in 2015?

Attendance over the last 5 seasons has been trending down.

2014 - 6,974,488 (33,693 per match)

2013 - 6,931,085 (33,484 per match)

2012 - 6,778,559 (32,747 per match)

2011 - 7,139,272 (36,425 per match)

2010 - 7,145,488 (38,417 per match)

What are your motivations to continue to go to games (even when your team is average/bottom 8 team)?

And does anyone know any teams who were consistently performing average/poor over a good period of time, but the club managed to keep their fan attendance high?

By doing everything they possibly can to make sure that the non-Victorian clubs are winning games and contending for the flag. A successful GWS Gold Coast Sydney and Brisbane with full stadiums every weekend is a major area for growth.

 

[Hawkers]

Put a distance filter on it. If it is a requirement that you must go to at least 8 or 9 home games to be in the ballot then I'm sure you will be seeing more members turning up.

Also not fair for other segments of supporters and members such as families, different types of workers, economic fortunes etc. Plenty of reasons why the amount of games you attend shouldn't be a deciding factor to the chance to get a GF ticket

 

[Hawkers]

Also - MultiBall would get the crowds rocking in

 

[PurpleWizard]

AFL needs to bring entertainment to the ground. Give an experience that can only be found live at the ground and not on TV. A few ideas...

- Team organised chants and celebrations. Like if Walters gets a goal for freo, Boney M's Sunny comes on the big screen and everybody sings along. Port did this well last year with bringing the fans together. I know seeing that Port stuff made me want to have that experience with my club.

- Pre game entertainment and reserve games

- More mascots

- More competitions for kids - like win a kick with your favourite player

- Clubs bringing former players to the ground for Half time interviews.

- Music in between goals

 

[Hawkers]

AFL needs to bring entertainment to the ground. Give an experience that can only be found live at the ground and not on TV. A few ideas...

- Team organised chants and celebrations. Like if Walters gets a goal for freo, Boney M's Sunny comes on the big screen and everybody sings along. Port did this well last year with bringing the fans together. I know seeing that Port stuff made me want to have that experience with my club.

- Pre game entertainment and reserve games

- More mascots

- More competitions for kids - like win a kick from your favourite player

- Clubs bringing former players to the ground for Half time interviews.

- Music in between goals

No. No more noise at the games. We're bombarded as it is with 'energy' (fake and manufactured as it is)

Just do a pre-game, auskick kids at half time, and kick to kick after the game
No blaring ground announcers, music, advertisements