The state of the Giants and Suns

Jun 6, 2011
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As I posted in the gameday thread earlier, two Sydney based work colleagues were going to go to the local derby today - only to find that seat tickets prices had doubled to $95, so they ditched that plan in disgust (and no, there were no "free tickets" to be had). Last fortnight we (I was with them for the Pies game) payed $45 for an average seat at Giants Stadium, with the comparatively few GA tickets already sold out. It seems that blatant price gauging and woefully insufficient GA tickets isn't helping the Giants crowds.

The Giants, though, are here to stay.
This exactly.

I travelled to Sydney for the match (from Canberra) and used my membership, but two friends that came with me for the day had to fork out $200 between them for the match which is just ridiculous. A similar thing happened at the Saints match here in Manuka earlier in the season when the only tickets available on the day were reserved at $59 each, despite plenty of space being open on the grass and in general admission areas.

Sure, we have a lot of work to do, and today's attendance was disappointing, but we aren't being helped with some of the ridiculous ticket practices going on which are totally out of our control. It makes it very hard for us to make supporters out of those who show a passing interest in the game, when they're getting ripped off before they even get inside of the ground.
 
Sep 24, 2006
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For those here who might not know, Pippen94 is only an NRL troll (just check out his posting history), who seems to have a particular paranoia of GWS - perhaps with good reason he obviously sees them as a threat to his beloved English code - why else keep posting about them on this Australian Football forum. One can either ignore him or just enjoy replying to his ridiculous posts.
 

Pippen94

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Jun 12, 2019
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For those here who might not know, Pippen94 is only an NRL troll (just check out his posting history), who seems to have a particular paranoia of GWS - perhaps with good reason he obviously sees them as a threat to his beloved English code - why else keep posting about them on this Australian Football forum. One can either ignore him or just enjoy replying to his ridiculous posts.
Where have I stated support for NRL?
 
Apr 12, 2012
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For those here who might not know, Pippen94 is only an NRL troll (just check out his posting history), who seems to have a particular paranoia of GWS - perhaps with good reason he obviously sees them as a threat to his beloved English code - why else keep posting about them on this Australian Football forum. One can either ignore him or just enjoy replying to his ridiculous posts.
Wonder what he thinks about the Dogs Panthers crowd of 10k. A western Sydney derby and 6k less than a club and sport that No one cares about supposedly......
 
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Sep 24, 2006
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Where have I stated support for NRL?
Hahaha, only in your first 30 posts or so, which blew up in your face, and it's all still there in your posting history for all to see.

How many times have you posted on the Swans board (seeing this is your supposed club) and how many times have you posted without disparaging either AFL in general or GWS in particular? - NIL for both. So seeing as you hate our game, why are you bothering posting on an Australian Football forum with your continual hysterical nonsense about GWS if not for your paranoia about them?
 
Jul 2, 2010
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We've heard all the excuses; ticket prices, scheduling, jumping castles out back. Team has no following. Look at the stands & TV ratings. Afl not dumb enough to think game will grow there, gws was just a sell to broadcasters to get most cash. Next deal they're gone - bet on it.

yawn

except the game is growing - demonstrably so in playing numbers, which are just as much of the idea as the professional team. The AFL took the Swans through multiple bankruptcies and decades of issues - they arent blind to this either. bet they survive.
 
May 3, 2007
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Growing off the field every year.
Players, for the most part , buying in.not stealing crowds from the Swans.
Worst coaching department in the league.
Will be a power house in future decades once we get the coaching department with any talent.

That was my biggest concern when GWS came to the AFL. I feared that it would eat into the Sydney swans fan base. Similar to How Melbourne Heart/city ate into Melbourne Victorys fan base in the A-league.

I remember Melbourne Victory averaged 27,000 people per game early in the A-league.

It went down to 19,000 when Heart/city 1st came in. Heart/city averaged 8,000 people a game. It felt like Heart/city was made up of disgruntled ex Victory fans.

Still, some Swans supporters turned to GWS if they live in the Western Suburbs. Fair enough.

Again GWS are only 8 years in. Not bad of an effort that they have 25-30,000 members already
 

Americanpies

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May 16, 2016
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It doesn't really matter. Pro sport isn't growing. It's going backwards.

Go to any high school and do a survey on 500 kids on what they did on Friday night. The numbers would be something along the lines of - 50% online gaming, 20% netflix, 20% out and about, 10% watched the footy.

Back in the 90's it would have been more like 40% watched footy, 40% go out, 20% watched a VHS.

and decades before those numbers would have been higher towards footy.

Back then the masses didn't game or have excess to literally 10,000's of movies and TV shows, games, mobiles, online chat, etc, etc at the touch of a button. AFL's biggest threat is other forms of media. Most sport is in the same boat. Look at the people that are interested in sport - most are over the age of 30.. they grew up with sport. Young kids are becoming less and less interested in it. The AFL thinking they will gain fans from putting teams in big populated areas is very wrong. Sport as we know it will be dead in 10 years, and the downfall will be a decline in TV rights deals, less money, and having to pay players less which could break the league as elite sportsmen look to international sports as kids like soccer, basketball, etc. Case in point - Esports kid wins more than Jokovich won in Wimbledon.. this is only the beginning.
 

skilts

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This exactly.

I travelled to Sydney for the match (from Canberra) and used my membership, but two friends that came with me for the day had to fork out $200 between them for the match which is just ridiculous. A similar thing happened at the Saints match here in Manuka earlier in the season when the only tickets available on the day were reserved at $59 each, despite plenty of space being open on the grass and in general admission areas.

Sure, we have a lot of work to do, and today's attendance was disappointing, but we aren't being helped with some of the ridiculous ticket practices going on which are totally out of our control. It makes it very hard for us to make supporters out of those who show a passing interest in the game, when they're getting ripped off before they even get inside of the ground.
So many fly-in residents of Canberra have, as a profession - screw you. They're called politicians. That's why only the poor pay taxes.
 
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skilts

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It doesn't really matter. Pro sport isn't growing. It's going backwards.

Go to any high school and do a survey on 500 kids on what they did on Friday night. The numbers would be something along the lines of - 50% online gaming, 20% netflix, 20% out and about, 10% watched the footy.

Back in the 90's it would have been more like 40% watched footy, 40% go out, 20% watched a VHS.

and decades before those numbers would have been higher towards footy.

Back then the masses didn't game or have excess to literally 10,000's of movies and TV shows, games, mobiles, online chat, etc, etc at the touch of a button. AFL's biggest threat is other forms of media. Most sport is in the same boat. Look at the people that are interested in sport - most are over the age of 30.. they grew up with sport. Young kids are becoming less and less interested in it. The AFL thinking they will gain fans from putting teams in big populated areas is very wrong. Sport as we know it will be dead in 10 years, and the downfall will be a decline in TV rights deals, less money, and having to pay players less which could break the league as elite sportsmen look to international sports as kids like soccer, basketball, etc. Case in point - Esports kid wins more than Jokovich won in Wimbledon.. this is only the beginning.

Brilliantly insightful post. Cricket is suffering from all of these tribulations, plus the fact that nobody who teaches in schools nowadays is competent or interested enough to coach or supervise the game. Some attribute this to the fact that a huge majority of teachers are women.

That, and the fact that cricket, like footy, suffers from the widely held perception that it is an inherently dangerous game. The insurance industry rules the world. Oh, them and the banks, who are also in on the insurance dodge.

Your comments about seemingly inevitable declining revenue from TV networks exercised my mind too, a couple of weeks ago. It might be that we will return to the 1920s, when money was not the only driving force behind people being interested in playing footy at the higher levels.

Just think of the folding stuff made available when Docklands Stadium, the Adelaide Oval and the MCG are subdivided for the multi-storey slums of the future.
 
Apr 24, 2018
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I've simply posted giants TV ratings & attendance's. Hard reading I am sure.
I've simply posted giants TV ratings & attendance's. Hard reading I am sure.
i wouldn’t worry about it mate I get similar responses as soon as you question there crowds or tv ratings they just refuse to acknowledge it I mean it’s pretty sad when you have to explain to people why averaging 12,000 to home games is bad can you imagine when they eventually fall down the ladder how bad there crowds will be then it scary !
 

Pippen94

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Jun 12, 2019
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That was my biggest concern when GWS came to the AFL. I feared that it would eat into the Sydney swans fan base. Similar to How Melbourne Heart/city ate into Melbourne Victorys fan base in the A-league.

I remember Melbourne Victory averaged 27,000 people per game early in the A-league.

It went down to 19,000 when Heart/city 1st came in. Heart/city averaged 8,000 people a game. It felt like Heart/city was made up of disgruntled ex Victory fans.

Still, some Swans supporters turned to GWS if they live in the Western Suburbs. Fair enough.

Again GWS are only 8 years in. Not bad of an effort that they have 25-30,000 members already
Crowds down from two years ago. TV ratings down. Smallest derby crowd this year. Pure delusion.
 
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