2018 AFL Crowds & Ratings thread

mxett

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This a very big wake up call for the smug AFL top brass who think the game is in rude health!
It isnt and the poor crowds for some games this season and ratings drop are danger signs that the product being dished up from most matches is just plain boring unless you are a rusted on club supporter.
One problem is that the AFL hierarchy dont have to try hard as the game relies on the billions of TV dollars that actually keeps the AFL afloat and leads to complacency and laziness.

Our unique game over the last 100 odd years was based on one on one contests and high marking and now due to coaching styles borrowed from other sports like soccer and basketball and bad umpire coaching those wonderful traits are in danger of going the way of the dodo.

Its no wonder people esp casual viewers are switching off in large numbers.Who likes to watch a game played only in one half of the ground like an under 12 game and basically over at half time?

A warning, when a sport start to lose core supporters its ten times harder to get them back.
There are plenty of examples of popular sports on TV and live that have died and never recovered their former glory when they lose their basic support. Shield cricket,boxing,horse racing,trotting and basketball are some that come to mind.All those sports had great support and large crowds at one time but not now.
Agree. I think Masters code comparison is disingenuous given both codes are scheduled so differently on TV. However, the AFLs year to year comparison is alarming. Viewers are turning off because most games are either poor quality or too scrappy and low scoring due to congestion. Most people i know dislike the modern game style, and they are life long fans of the sport.

These boring games are taking their toll on the ratings, and if it wasnt for stadium upgrades in perth Adelaide and geelong in recent seasons the crowds would be lower too
 

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precarious

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The Masters' article is of course disingenuous as others have noted though pretty typical of journalism in general. In addition to the other factors mentioned, the NRL has front-loaded its season, so it is probably no coincidence that the Masters' article appeared about now. But none of that changes the fact that AFL ratings are considerably down.

Subjectively (and apart from the boring style of most teams at the moment), my impression has increasingly been that the comp is becoming a bit too Vic-centric. Last Friday night's ratings for instance were poor everywhere but Victoria, and really only so-so in Melbourne considering 2 Vic teams were involved. The Friday and Saturday night fixture seems to be geared towards Seven winning the ratings nationally through a combination of AFL in Melbourne and other programming in Sydney and Brisbane with Adelaide and Perth (compounded by timezone difference) small enough not to matter much. It works for Seven. Just look at the 5-city network shares Friday and Saturday nights. They obliterate the opposition. But it is not working well for the AFL.

I agree with the posters who said it was a mistake to go with Seven. It is a terrible network for the game outside of Victoria. But this is not a criticism of Seven. It is the AFL, and probably Gillon, beginning with the previous rights deal, that have put too much priority on TV revenue, giving up far too much in the process. (The NRL is even worse off, in this respect.)

They've also sold off far too much to Foxtel. Too many of the better games are on pay rather than free-to-air TV and not in the preferred time slots.

One thing that gives me hope is the AFL still does much more on the non-TV fronts than its rivals. If TV money begins to soften across the board, the AFL will be well positioned with its strong attendance and membership culture.
 

precarious

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Bit tangential, but Adelaide ratings seem to be down from extremely strong levels last season. Could just be a matter of an AFL-watching household or two getting replaced with non-AFL-watching households. But I do wonder if the MCG grand final factor is at play here given the Crows' fate last season. Without necessarily questioning the wisdom of the MCG grand final extension, this is one example of the AFL's apparent Vic-centrism referred to in the previous comment. This could contribute to a waning of interest outside Victoria. Ratings in WA have also been soft for a more than a season or two now.
 

Rabman

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Bit tangential, but Adelaide ratings seem to be down from extremely strong levels last season. Could just be a matter of an AFL-watching household or two getting replaced with non-AFL-watching households. But I do wonder if the MCG grand final factor is at play here given the Crows' fate last season. Without necessarily questioning the wisdom of the MCG grand final extension, this is one example of the AFL's apparent Vic-centrism referred to in the previous comment. This could contribute to a waning of interest outside Victoria. Ratings in WA have also been soft for a more than a season or two now.
Must be honest, been disappointed with adelaide ratings so far this year. Last year we wear getting numbers near or over 200k on Friday night matches. It looks like the recent prime time games the numbers are climbing again and will be interesting to see what the numbers are when we play Richmond and Geelong latter this year. In the case of WA they haven't really had any prime time games with there clubs mainly just playing 2:40 sunday games.
 

wagstaff

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The Masters' article is of course disingenuous as others have noted though pretty typical of journalism in general. In addition to the other factors mentioned, the NRL has front-loaded its season, so it is probably no coincidence that the Masters' article appeared about now. But none of that changes the fact that AFL ratings are considerably down.
Don't the AFL front-load its season as well? The various Derby/Showdown/Bridge matches are all in the first 6-8 weeks of the season, plus Pies/Blues, Dons/Pies, Tigers/Blues, Cats/Hawks always playing within the first 6 rounds of the season.
 

wagstaff

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I'm not surprised by the TV ratings news; the reduced enjoyment people feel about the game was always going to be reflected moreso in TV ratings which is reflected in how much neutral fans want to watch a game.

The whole basis for Fox Footy being a viable entity is that a neutral fan could switch on a game and be assured 90% of the time the match they watch will be an interesting and entertaining one. That was pretty much the case in the 1990s imo. These days? Probably only 2 or 3 games per round are really worth watching for a neutral.
 

The_Wookie

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Footyindustry‏ @footyindustryAU 1h1 hour ago
With 10 rounds gone of the 2018 AFL Season, we estimate metro ratings down more than 20%, regional ratings down more than 18%, and total FTA down more than 20%. A lot of data is missing - 15 of 78 games have had no ratings supplied at all, and 57 of them have had no regionals

After 10 rounds of the 2018 AFL season, AFL Foxtel ratings are down 13.68% to an aggregate of 15.06m and an average of 169,000.

AFL Thursday & Friday night TV ratings are down 17% in total, averaging 933,000 per game. Foxtel dropping 50,000 viewers per game (down 17%). Metro dropping 90,000 viewers per game (down 15%)., Regional down 40,000 per game (Down 20%).

Perhaps surprisingly, AFL TV ratings are probably up on Sundays around 4%. Metro ratings are up 3% (Syd -11%, Per -14%, Melb +12%, Bris +19%, Adel +31%). Sunday Fox down -4%

Of the 89 games the AFL has broadcast on Foxtel in 2018, 71 have been shown on Foxfooty at an average of 196,000 per game (down 9% on 2017). Due to conflicts in the AFL schedule 28 have been shown Foxsports 3 at an average of 110,000 per game (down 21% on 2017). (RussellEbertHandball )
 

precarious

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Don't the AFL front-load its season as well? The various Derby/Showdown/Bridge matches are all in the first 6-8 weeks of the season, plus Pies/Blues, Dons/Pies, Tigers/Blues, Cats/Hawks always playing within the first 6 rounds of the season.
Yeah they do, but the NRL ramped that up this year, with lots of the bigger match-ups already played twice.
 

Our Game

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At least one KPI is up!Both Ch 7 and foxtel would be worried by the sharp drop and with nearly 5 years left on the current contract to go they will need combined with input from the AFL to find the reason for the sudden drop so far this season.
 

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The_Wookie

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At least one KPI is up!Both Ch 7 and foxtel would be worried by the sharp drop and with nearly 5 years left on the current contract to go they will need combined with input from the AFL to find the reason for the sudden drop so far this season.
I doubt they'll be worried at all. How about we not freak out over this year, when we arent even 1/3rd of the way through the contract, and when 1/4 of the season hasnt been shifted to secondary channels, or been influenced by Commonwealth Games or Weddings.
 

precarious

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Actually, on reflection, and donning my tinfoil hat for a moment, perhaps this has been somewhat managed to legitimize planned change(s) to the game. The poor ratings haven't hurt Seven because Seven had the Commonwealth Games and wedding stuff anyway. But it might give the AFL and networks PR ammo against possible opponents (coaches?) by winning over some of the "leave the game alone" type supporters who might otherwise oppose change. Would also fit with the media talk of the boring footy this season.

IMO the footy itself has been a mixed bag this year. The best games have been very good, but most have been pretty tedious.
 

madmug

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To answer precarious and Our Game:

"The AFL is interested in money, not development." - Jeff Kennett

If the AFL has to choose between what's best for development or their pockets, you know where they're going to go.
The boys club are always going to look after themselves first of all. Then their mates. The game becomes incidental to their selfishness. A big income, bonuses & trips is the main concern of such cowboy corporates.

None the less the game has a lot of strength. We just hope they pay attention to the warning signs & address the worrying trend towards mediocrity & negative defensive style in the game today.

Skills of kicking & marking & one on one contests & attacking play are what made the game what it is. Not the corporate pretenders running the game. They just come & go. I hope they can start to develop a more positive legacy for the game.

Its not a corporate business. They'll kill it if they continue on that track.
 

Our Game

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Skills of kicking & marking & one on one contests & attacking play are what made the game what it is. Not the corporate pretenders running the game. They just come & go. I hope they can start to develop a more positive legacy for the game.
Its not a corporate business. They'll kill it if they continue on that track.


Im with you 100% and its not only the AFL FTA TV is in trouble with ratings dropping across the board.

This might be the last big payout from TV. Lets hope the AFL are not squandering the windfall.
 

Tassieboy

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Surely Pies draw more than 40 against Freo? 37k feels a little light on
I get everyone isn’t back on the Buckley train, but dam it’s filling quick


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It’d be nice if a 6-4 Collingwood could get 40k at the MCG. 37k would be slightly below their average against interstate opposition but maybe above their average against Fremantle.
 

manicmagpie

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Surely Pies draw more than 40 against Freo? 37k feels a little light on
I get everyone isn’t back on the Buckley train, but dam it’s filling quick


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The ceiling for Freo games in Melbourne seems to be 45k.

Even big clubs that are firing like Collingwood early this decade and Richmond the last few years only just made it over 40k, as did the Grand Final rematch against Hawthorn.

Therefore anytime you get 40k against them is good going. I’d be very happy to get that this week.

Pies fans are mostly cautiously optimistic at the moment rather than jumping on the bandwagon. We’ll need to beat someone good again (Adelaide is literally the only decent team we’ve beaten so far) to get people properly believing.
 

BobbyMorri

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I dont even want to watch Sydney v Carlton. Who thought that was a good idea.

They might need to think about a rotating fixture, espeically later in the year. Have a rough guide of which team is playing Sat or Sunday and then move matches to timeslots 3 months ahead.

If you want Friday night to be a marquee, then you need a good match up. I don't watch footy just because it is on a Friday night.
 

madmug

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Have found the friday night games this year incredibly boring for the most part. When i talk to people there doesnt seem to be that "cant wait for the game on friday night" feel anymore.
Again, I think its the Rugbrawl style of the games which has turned people off.

The excitement of the game is diminishing. The original skills we love are being eroded, except tackle tackle tackle & 20 metre passes across the Halfback line.
 

sverik25

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It’d be nice if a 6-4 Collingwood could get 40k at the MCG. 37k would be slightly below their average against interstate opposition but maybe above their average against Fremantle.
Collingwood's average for MCG games against Freo since 2000 is 37,139.

So long as the weather is decent, 37,000 would be slightly disappointing IMO.
 

Slax

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Do we know what the streaming numbers are like? I watch through the Foxtel app a fair bit and I’m sure using the AFL or Telstra app is becoming more common as well. So people may still be watching, they are just using a different platform.
Would definitely be interesting to know them, but it wouldn't cover the big drop in numbers.

I see quite a few blasting Masters for his article, but he's quoting ratings facts. The fact is also that Ch7 and Foxtel will be worried about it, which means next TV rights won't increase in value and could actually decrease if they don't pick up. Channel 7 wrote off $200mfrpm the value of the rights which is a clear sign they believe they overpaid.
 
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