Administration - The AFL v NRL *Moderator Approved* - Rules in OP

[Gigantor]

The last time the AFL (then VFL) averaged under 20,000 in crowds was 1953.

Interesting stat, and it happened in a Collingwood premiership year.

Australian football fans can have a lot of fun with these sorts of stats.

I can recall one wit giving some positive encouragement to all A-League fans by proclaiming that if they kept up their current growth, within 15 or so years they will be able to match the VFL's average attendances from 1920.

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Aucklander]

30% up in Melbourne is about the only positive in those ratings and especially so since I don't think the Storm have been on FTA this year.

 

[The_Wookie]

30% up in Melbourne is about the only positive in those ratings and especially so since I don't think the Storm have been on FTA this year.

Most of that is due to the late start of the AFL season. This week was the first friday up against the AFL, and the FTA ratings in Melbourne were the lowest for the season - half what they were last week. They'll start leveling off now I think.

 

[Our Game]

Most of that is due to the late start of the AFL season. This week was the first friday up against the AFL, and the FTA ratings in Melbourne were the lowest for the season - half what they were last week. They'll start leveling off now I think.

RL seems to be stagnating and Smiths dream of 20,000 ave seems a long way off.Really the only thing they have going for them is SOO which they pinched from the AFL like many things they have copied from the AFL.

 

[The_Wookie]

RL seems to be stagnating and Smiths dream of 20,000 ave seems a long way off.Really the only thing they have going for them is SOO which they pinched from the AFL like many things they have copied from the AFL.

And they did it better, while the AFL gave up on it. Its time we moved past that. Its also a massive crowd and ratings draw for them. Origin last year outrated the AFL Grand Final - twice! Ticketing for Origin alone is worth 30 million - they doubled the ticket price in a lot of categories and STILL sold out.

Then they introduced the Auckland Nines which rates well, and pulls 49,000 a day to Auckland for it.

On the other hand, NRL crowds arent going anywhere rapidly for the regular season. TV Ratings may be leveling off as well, but they have more than an NRL season to draw on, so they'll surviive quite happily - they have masses of content.

Look at the difference in content that will be on offer

NRL

• Auckland Nines - a proper NRL competition with 9 a side over a single weekend. Promoted and encouraged by the League. Broadcast on Fox.
• Origin - 3 of the biggest rating sports events in the country every year. Brpadcast on FTA.
• The NRL - 26 rounds, 192 Games of top level rugby league
• ANZAC Test
• Four Nations
• City v Country
• QLD Cup
• NSW Cup
• Holden Cup
• NSW Schoolboys

AFL

• Preseason Competition
• AFL season
  
• VFL
• possible womens competition???
• Under 18 Championships
• Under 16 Championships

 

[Our Game]

And they did it better, while the AFL gave up on it. Its time we moved past that. Its also a massive crowd and ratings draw for them. Origin last year outrated the AFL Grand Final - twice! Ticketing for Origin alone is worth 30 million - they doubled the ticket price in a lot of categories and STILL sold out.

Then they introduced the Auckland Nines which rates well, and pulls 49,000 a day to Auckland for it.

On the other hand, NRL crowds arent going anywhere rapidly for the regular season. TV Ratings may be leveling off as well, but they have more than an NRL season to draw on, so they'll surviive quite happily - they have masses of content.

Look at the difference in content that will be on offer

NRL

• Auckland Nines - a proper NRL competition with 9 a side over a single weekend. Promoted and encouraged by the League. Broadcast on Fox.
• Origin - 3 of the biggest rating sports events in the country every year. Brpadcast on FTA.
• The NRL - 26 rounds, 192 Games of top level rugby league
• ANZAC Test
• Four Nations
• City v Country
• QLD Cup
• NSW Cup
• Holden Cup
• NSW Schoolboys

AFL

• Preseason Competition
• AFL season
  
• VFL
• possible womens competition???
• Under 18 Championships
• Under 16 Championships

The Problem the AFL has with SOO is that what States are going to play? Vic v SA Vic V WA?
The huge advantage is RL has the largest and third largest ( 12 million plus pop) play State against each other who dont like each other much thus the big ratings that the AFL cannot achieve with the Vics playing the smaller populated States.

 

[Hoops]

30% up in Melbourne is about the only positive in those ratings and especially so since I don't think the Storm have been on FTA this year.

I believe that has to do with the fact that there has been no AFL for 4 of the 6 rounds this year.

 

[The_Wookie]

The Problem the AFL has with SOO is that what States are going to play? Vic v SA Vic V WA?
The huge advantage is RL has the largest and third largest ( 12 million plus pop) play State against each other who dont like each other much thus the big ratings that the AFL cannot achieve with the Vics playing the smaller populated States.

Im sure the AFL could have found a way to stage three matches a year with proper promotion and player/club enforcement - hell we can do away with International rules and thats a match a year right there at the moment. They barely tried. The old SA v WA v Vic rivalries were discarded in favour of articificially created teams which supposedly replaced state football even as the states best young talent became more and more spread around the country thanks to the draft.

it would be relatively simple to fix IMO - Match 1: WA v Vic (per) Match 2: SA v WA (Adl) Match 3: Vic v SA (melb). If it helps you could always do similar for the tier 2 states (Tasmania, QLD/NT, NSW/ACT). Everyone gets a home game, and it can be swapped around year to year.

Clubs and players want more money, the AFL is going to need more content. Its that simple. Theres no expansion teams this time to inflate the money. Theres reports of some group starting an AFL summer type competition using retired and unsigned players - a program that doesnt involve the AFL apparently, but should.

 

[kaypee]

Im sure the AFL could have found a way to stage three matches a year with proper promotion and player/club enforcement - hell we can do away with International rules and thats a match a year right there at the moment. They barely tried. The old SA v WA v Vic rivalries were discarded in favour of articificially created teams which supposedly replaced state football even as the states best young talent became more and more spread around the country thanks to the draft.

it would be relatively simple to fix IMO - Match 1: WA v Vic (per) Match 2: SA v WA (Adl) Match 3: Vic v SA (melb). If it helps you could always do similar for the tier 2 states (Tasmania, QLD/NT, NSW/ACT). Everyone gets a home game, and it can be swapped around year to year.

Clubs and players want more money, the AFL is going to need more content. Its that simple. Theres no expansion teams this time to inflate the money. Theres reports of some group starting an AFL summer type competition using retired and unsigned players - a program that doesnt involve the AFL apparently, but should.

Problem with SOO is that players and clubs won't commit, and why should they? If you're getting big bucks from a club and the pinnacle is a flag, it's no wonder players will run dead on it.
SOO is good for league, but appears to have done little for nrl clubs.
In terms of more content, they could raise the draft age to 20, and develop the 18/19 year-old comp in to a kind of college bowl (in fact long term they could develop uni teams)

 

[The_Wookie]

Problem with SOO is that players and clubs won't commit, and why should they? If you're getting big bucks from a club and the pinnacle is a flag, it's no wonder players will run dead on it.
SOO is good for league, but appears to have done little for nrl clubs.
In terms of more content, they could raise the draft age to 20, and develop the 18/19 year-old comp in to a kind of college bowl (in fact long term they could develop uni teams)

Why should they commit? Without Origin/viable internationals I cant see where the increase in funds will come from. You cant demand money from a stone. The TAC Cup has been on offer for years with no takers.

 

[Aucklander]

I believe that has to do with the fact that there has been no AFL for 4 of the 6 rounds this year.

A stroke of luck for Rugby league then. At the end of the day 30% up is 30% up and without any Storm games.

 

[kaypee]

Why should they commit? Without Origin/viable internationals I cant see where the increase in funds will come from. You cant demand money from a stone. The TAC Cup has been on offer for years with no takers.

Not saying college bowl is a lay down misere, just it might be something they could look at developing.
I still don't see how SoO in footy could ever get going, particularly if they can get the national comp to truly work.

 

[Our Game]

Interesting reveal about fake NRL crowd numbers in the past. From the SMH April 13 2015

Brad Walter

Are NRL crowds down or are they just being reported more accurately than in the past?

The reality is probably both, with the NRL having introduced uniform and electronic counting methods for measuring attendances by all 16 clubs.

After six rounds of NRL fixtures (not including Monday night's Rabbitohs-Cowboys clash at ANZ Stadium), crowds have totalled 762,950 for an average attendance of 16,232 over the 47 matches.


In comparison, last year's opening six rounds of matches drew attendances of 734,500, for an average of 15,627 per match, but Easter was later in 2014 so no final conclusion can be drawn from the figures, while the NRL has this year scheduled five games on ANZAC Day that are expected to boost crowd numbers.

A more significant reason for why it is so difficult to make a direct comparison is the way crowds used to be counted before the implementation of electronic turnstiles at all NRL grounds, with Pepper Stadium, Leichhardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium and Remondis Stadium among the last to be updated during upgrades of facilities at those venues.

The NRL has also introduced uniform reporting measures to ensure all clubs count attendance figures the same way.

As recently as three years ago, the crowd figures at some grounds were considered little more than an educated guess, while some clubs included all tickets allocated - including members who didn't turn up - rather than number of fans who actually attended the match.

Former Melbourne Storm chief executive Ron Gauci told Fairfax Media in 2011 that the Storm's previous administration had inflated crowd figures and claimed it was a practice that commonly occurred at other clubs.

There are other factors that may affect attendances, such as Channel Nine's decision to broadcast the Sunday match of the day live at 4pm and the shifting of the second 7.30pm Saturday game to a 3pm kick-off for Fox Sports.

Both time slots are less attractive for fans wanting to attend matches but better for television viewers, who now get live coverage of an additional two matches per weekend.

The broadcasters are also benefiting, with Fox Sports developing its Super Saturday coverage into a strong commercial property by building audiences and keeping them engaged from the 3pm match to the 5pm match and then to the 7.30pm match.

Nine executives are also happy with the ratings that the Sunday afternoon matches have been delivering and the flow-on effect it has had for the network's 6pm news program.

Viewing figures for the opening five rounds of Sunday matches on Nine were up 17 per cent in Sydney (average 294,000) and 10 per cent in Brisbane (average 129,000) compared to last year, including the round-four Warriors-Broncos match broadcast from noon because of the Cricket World Cup.

More people are also tuning in on Friday night to both the 7.30pm live match and the delayed coverage of the second match that follows on Nine.

According to Rugby League Ratings, Sydney audiences during the opening five rounds were up two per cent for the first Friday night match to an average of 372,000 viewers, with only the round three Manly-Canterbury match (289,000) attracting less than 400,000 viewers.

Audiences for the second match were up 13 per cent in Sydney to an average of 218,000 viewers.

Under the NRL's $1 billion broadcast deal, the way matches are scheduled has changed significantly, with Nine and Fox Sports now effectively deciding the draw.

The NRL used to schedule blockbuster rounds of matches in the opening rounds but the big games are now layered across the season to accommodate the broadcasters.

The way the scheduling works, Nine choose 52 matches across the season of which the NRL guarantees to deliver 48 into the time slots the free-to-air broadcasters chooses.

This season, 43 of those matches are scheduled for Friday nights and five on Sunday afternoons to help Nine promote its new live 4pm coverage.

Fox Sports then select 52 games for its Saturday night and Monday night time-slots.

Although the draw for the full 26 rounds of the regular season has been pencilled in, the NRL has not announced the schedule for the last six rounds as Nine has the ability after round 16 to re-select matches for those rounds depending on the form of teams and their popularity with viewers.

Poll: Should professional sportspeople have their salaries made public?

1. Yes - greater transparency would be beneficial
2. No - they should be kept private

 

[RodneyMaynard]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-set-to-stay-put/story-fngr8iii-1227306988522

If true, what an absolute shambles.

 

[bigleague]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-set-to-stay-put/story-fngr8iii-1227306988522

If true, what an absolute shambles.

I don't think it's true, it's just managers playing games. Nate Myles has same management company and Titans are dragging their feet with his contract negotiations. It's up to dce to put it to bed but current system sucks. RLPA want it but don't think it will get through the next CBA.

DCE mother has said on twitter that it is rubbish.

 

[bigleague]

Nine Network launches The NRL Rookie
Thu 16 Apr, 2015, 10:30pm
NRL.com

The Footy Show tonight announced that the Nine Network, in conjunction with the National Rugby League and Telstra, will make The NRL Rookie, an exciting new reality series that will give one lucky amateur player the chance to turn pro with an NRL club.

The new series, produced by McGuire Media, will scout Australia and overseas to uncover the NRL's next big star, who will be offered a one-year professional contract with one of the 16 NRL clubs.

Entries are now officially open online, and after state-by-state and Auckland trials the successful candidates will travel to Sydney, living together and undergoing intensive training to become an elite NRL player.

As the 10-part program progresses, the number of rookies will be reduced until the winner is awarded a contract with an NRL club on a special live finale broadcast.

Nine Network Senior Executive Producer, Glenn Pallister, said: "We're thrilled that this exciting new show will showcase some of the best undiscovered footy talent here in Australia and abroad. Each week the guys will be put through their paces in a variety of physical and mental challenges to see if they have what it takes to be the first NRL Rookie."

NRL Head of Marketing, Lewis Pullen, said: "Somewhere out there is someone with great potential who dreams of becoming an NRL star. The NRL are going to help him realise that potential, whoever he is. And, not to forget about where they got their start, we’ll also be giving the winning rookie's local rugby league club $25,000 to use for uniforms, equipment or a clubroom makeover, so we're really excited."

To be eligible to become the first NRL Rookie, players must be at least 20 years of age and must not have played an NRL first-grade game. Also, they must not have played NSW Cup, Queensland Cup or Holden Cup Under 20s over the past three seasons.

Online applications and terms and conditions (including overseas entries) can be found atnrlrookie.com

The NRL Rookie will go to air in 2016 on the Nine Network.

Follow The NRL Rookie journey on Twitter with #nrlrookie

http://www.nrl.com/nine-network-lau...spx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

[RodneyMaynard]

http://www.nrl.com/nine-network-lau...spx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Eddie's AFL recruit show was pretty good, should follow a similar formula to that.

 

[Our Game]

Eddie's AFL recruit show was pretty good, should follow a similar formula to that.

Can the NRL ever think of an idea for themselves?They are forever dragging behind the AFL.

 

[bigleague]

Can the NRL ever think of an idea for themselves?They are forever dragging behind the AFL.

oh please! Both cricket & soccer have had similar shows before the AFL had theirs last year.

 

[Rob]

oh please! Both cricket & soccer have had similar shows before the AFL had theirs last year.

Which was a copy of a boxing show.

Tv networks tend to be very risk averse. If they stumble onto a good idea, they copy it ad nauseum until people tire of it. See the dozens of variations of various reality shows that are mostly pretty much the same.

 

[Our Game]

oh please! Both cricket & soccer have had similar shows before the AFL had theirs last year.

Still johnny come lately second as usual!

 

[papabear]

Still johnny come lately second as usual!

its more like johnny came 9th to the afls 8th.

And tbh there were rumors of ricky stuart doing one at a similar time to the AFL one that just didn't happen for whatever reason.

 

[Gigantor]

The AFL version was a pretty good show, I hope it makes a return.