Super Rugby Television Ratings 2014

[barbarian]

Let's have a look at the rates charged for our competition this weekend, for a standard adult GA ticket:

Roosters vs Dragons - $33
Swans vs Saints* - $32
Bulldogs vs Panthers - $20

So charging $36 for the pinnacle of your competition is more than reasonable IMO.

*Couldn't see this weekend because GA is already sold out.
.

 

[Omar Comin']

It may well be reasonable, but if it's going to result in a crowd of 55k then it's not ideal IMO. But hey, we will see. Maybe they'll get 70k with the existing pricing. If they do then there would be no need for a cheaper category.

But if it's only going to get 55k then I don't see the problem in trying to sell some cheaper tickets in the worst seats of a huge stadium.

Have you ever sat at the top of ANZ stadium? I have and it's not great.

 

[Omar Comin']

Are you seriously suggesting that someone who won't pay $36 to go to the Super Rugby Final but would possibly go if it was $20 is potentially going to become a fan for life?

I think that is ridiculously unlikely.

I also don't get how the Super Rugby Final should be as cheap as a standard NRL game. Every sport in the world prices their finals at a higher price than the regular games because if you do it the other way around you make it very difficult to sell tickets week in week out.

Why not? People that aren't brought up on the sport have to start somewhere. From casual fan or semi-curious observer they can progress all the way to die hard supporter in a couple of years. Maybe the catalyst for that transition could be attending a super rugby grand final with 80,000 people.

And again, we're talking about a huge stadium that is unlikely to sell out otherwise. It's not like I'm saying half the tickets should be $20. Just the worst 20k or so that seem unlikely to sell. The seats that would never be sold for a regular season match even if they were $5.

 

[Pfitzy]

Have you ever sat at the top of ANZ stadium? I have and it's not great.

Yes, and paid $96 for the privilege. Bledisloe 2000 and it was fucking awesome.

If the view is that bad in the opinion of the punter, then you're never going to sell those seats.

 

[Braveheart81]

I'd be pretty sure ANZ Stadium wouldn't allow the creation of an even lower ticket category that they never normally have because it would reinforce the idea that those seats are terrible.

Most of the events at ANZ are held there with no real intention of filling the stadium. There are very few sporting events that command an 80,000+ crowd.

The teams playing there and the stadium don't completely change their ticketing arrangements just to try and fill the stadium because it has consequences for the rest of their business.

 

[Omar Comin']

I'd be pretty sure ANZ Stadium wouldn't allow the creation of an even lower ticket category that they never normally have because it would reinforce the idea that those seats are terrible.

I'm pretty sure the top seats of the side stands were a lower category than behind the posts for the Lions test. Might be confused on that, but it's what I recall.

Edit: just checked and the very top of the side stands are a different category for the Bledisloe as well (category D...behind the posts is category C).

 

[Floggn']

on this whole 'brisbane pulls 40k so sydney should pull 100k"
let's keep things in perspective. Sydney has 12 professional teams covering the main winter codes (excluding soccer). these teams are relatively well dispersed throughout the main populations of sydney.
that works out to 1 professional team per 400k people.
Brisbane has three for a city with 2.25M people. that works out to one team per 733k.
that is 85% more people per professional team. therefore if the waratahs average 20k per game, the reds should average 37k per game.

.

Sorry disagree with your logic. There are more rugby fans in Sydney than any other Australian City by a fair margin and they don't go the game.

 

[Floggn']

If someone thinks paying $36 for a ticket to the Super Rugby Final isn't worth the money they are not a person you're ever going to win over.

It's ridiculous to suggest that you need to find a price point to attract that person.

You can't attend most regular season games in any Australian sport for $20. Why would the Waratahs be trying to target the pricing at that level?

Discount tickets at the last minute are possible but it also pisses people off who paid full price and is damaging to cash flow because it conditions punters to wait until the last minute to buy tickets because they know it will be cheaper.

It's often done fairly subtly in the music industry for tours that are really struggling but it has less knock on effect because it only affects the reputation of the touring artist, not the promoter.

A sporting team would be very hesitant to start doing that because it cheapens their brand and makes it harder to sell full price tickets in the future.

That is the mentality clearly of NSW Rugby at the moment and its the wrong one. You need to be getting people back and incentivise them for doing so. Charging a couple $72 for rubbish seats in a stadium in the middle of no where doesn't do that.

 

[Braveheart81]

That is the mentality clearly of NSW Rugby at the moment and its the wrong one. You need to be getting people back and incentivise them for doing so. Charging a couple $72 for rubbish seats in a stadium in the middle of no where doesn't do that.

I just don't think the logic holds sway.

Are the rugby fans sitting at home watching the game on Foxtel not going because the seats aren't $20 when they're paying $100 a month for Foxtel? I sincerely doubt it.

Are people attending the Roosters v Dragons game or whatever it is for $33 a seat because they think $36 is too much to pay?

If the Waratahs are missing out on more than a couple of hundred people because the tickets are $36 instead of $20 I'd be highly surprised.

If rugby fans stopped attending because they thought the quality of the product was poor then the way to get them attending again is by improving the product. The Waratahs have done that in spades this season.

If people stopped going because they thought the pricing was bad then a one off cheap ticket isn't going to make a scrap of difference next season.

Look at the turnaround in the Reds crowds from the mid 2000s to now. It was entirely on the back of playing good rugby.

If the situation doesn't improve next season they will start losing that crowd. As happened with the Waratahs, the drop off can be quite severe as we experienced from the 2012 season.

 

[Pfitzy]

Sorry disagree with your logic. There are more rugby fans in Sydney than any other Australian City by a fair margin and they don't go the game.

Ever cross your mind that all those rugby people aren't Tahs supporters?

There are a LOT of Kiwis here who wouldn't go, because they don't support the Crusaders. The South African expats might if they've been here long enough I suppose.

 

[TOCC]

Ever cross your mind that all those rugby people aren't Tahs supporters?

There are a LOT of Kiwis here who wouldn't go, because they don't support the Crusaders. The South African expats might if they've been here long enough I suppose.

And not all rugby fans in Brisbane are Reds fans either, Queensland from memory has the largest population of kiwis in Australia by a significant margin.

NSW/Sydney has the largest population of rugby players/fans in Australia and the Waratahs should by virtue have the largest rugby fan base, like everyone on this forum people want to know why this isn't reflected in crowds and ratings.

 

[Pfitzy]

NSW/Sydney has the largest population of rugby players/fans in Australia and the Waratahs should by virtue have the largest rugby fan base, like everyone on this forum people want to know why this isn't reflected in crowds and ratings.

Well we've tried explaining it about a dozen times now, using actual fucking facts. No-one takes anything we say as more than excuse-making.

So in the interests of efficiency, why don't we put all the Tahs hate and derision here, and save spawning multiple discussions on it?

I'll get it started: the Waratahs are fucking shit and Sydney people are fucking shit and anyone who says otherwise is fucking shit.

 

[TOCC]

Well we've tried explaining it about a dozen times now, using actual fucking facts. No-one takes anything we say as more than excuse-making.

So in the interests of efficiency, why don't we put all the Tahs hate and derision here, and save spawning multiple discussions on it?

I'll get it started: the Waratahs are fucking shit and Sydney people are fucking shit and anyone who says otherwise is fucking shit.

Pfitzy, i wasn't having a dig at the Waratahs, however since you used such eloquent language i will say that just because you think this topic is done and dusted doesn't mean people can't continually talk about it, its obviously an ongoing issue as reflected by ratings and crowds, and the health of the code in Sydney has implications for the greater Australian rugby fan base. So rightfully so people will continually analyse and critique the situation, don't take it to heart if people criticise the situation as the health of the code in Sydney is a reflection or inducement of the health of the code in the rest of the country.

 

[Floggn']

I just don't think the logic holds sway.
......

Look at the turnaround in the Reds crowds from the mid 2000s to now. It was entirely on the back of playing good rugby.

If the situation doesn't improve next season they will start losing that crowd. As happened with the Waratahs, the drop off can be quite severe as we experienced from the 2012.

No doubt BH but as stated previously since being at Suncorp the reds have always averaged over 18,500 even when last! I think maybe it has to do with the stadium. Imagine a millennium style stadium where the SFS is.. The reds have also done a great job of being interactive with the public all through juniors especially and being able to be contacted after the game on either the field for supporters or later in the VIP bar at the stadium for the corporate sponsors. Membership this year is also at an all time high and is well driven by their marketing section.

Pfitzy settle down mate you are taking this the wrong way. The Tahs aren't shit..... well unless they lose on Saturday night. Good luck.

 

[wamberal]

Whenever anybody talks about the numbers of players, spectators, viewers, etc, I am reminded of my wife and my last visit to Chatswood Oval. At half-time in the first grade fixture, which was being totally dominated by the mighty Woods, there was some sort of juniors display. The ground announcer stated that Gordon had the largest number of junior players in the nation. Doesn't seem to do them all that much good, does it? Either on the ground, or in the stands (their crowds are pretty poor, sadly, as well as their recent playing record).

Sydney's population make-up has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Sport in the High Schools, particularly the academically successful ones, has been decimated. Rugby is virtually ignored by FTA, Why is anybody surprised that crowds are patchy, even at big games?

 

[p.Tah]

Tahs final was 350k on FoxSports. Well short of Reds final of 500k.

May be adjusted over the next few days as recorded game watched during the week.

 

[qwerty51]

Wonder why it's so poor compared to the Reds final?

 

[RUGBYGIRL11]

The Waratahs should have made 15,000 tickets available to junior rugby club and school players for a nominal $5

 

[p.Tah]

Wonder why it's so poor compared to the Reds final?

I think the Reds included recorded and replays. The Tahs is just a raw figure from the night.

 

[wamberal]

The Waratahs should have made 15,000 tickets available to junior rugby club and school players for a nominal $5

At the end of the day, as others have suggested, this was probably not possible under the terms of their agreement with the Stadium management.


From my perspective, I would like to have seen the maximum possible crowd. But there are other perspectives.