Reasons for disenchantment / lower attendance

[Gavin Excell]

I do wonder if we the game has moved to the point where the skills are too good and the coaching and game management (rotations etc) is the bigger factor?

In older games, skills were not as good so you couldn't rely on intricate structures as much, there was more contested footy, and when skilful play did emerge in games it was a real highlight.

After watching Essendon v North, skills arent that good

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Make the food more reasonable .



We are at a footy game for 3 hours ffs.

Thats disgusting and a rort. I went to Dubai in 2024 for a cricket match and you could get a decent feed for much cheaper and fulfilling.

tbf, the staff at the Dubai venue were probably getting paid about $5 a day and thankful not to be working on a construction site with workplace safety giving a probable lifespan measured in weeks.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

After watching Essendon v North, skills arent that good

Most matches aren't THAT bad. Even most North matches aren't that bad. From one team at least.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Most matches aren't THAT bad. Even most North matches aren't that bad. From one team at least.

I thought it may have been initial nerves but then it progressively got worse as the game went on.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I thought it may have been initial nerves but then it progressively got worse as the game went on.

One of thsoe games where the three votes should probably go to a boundary umpire.

 

[kickazz]

After watching Essendon v North, skills arent that good

Skills are much better than in the eighties and nineties. That's my point, the game plans we use today just wouldn't be viable with the inconsistent kicking accuracy from those days.

But I get your point too. Back then we saw 14 x 20 = 280 of the best players out there each week. Now we see 18 x 25 = 450 of the best.

 

[ExchangeStatMan]

tbf, the staff at the Dubai venue were probably getting paid about $5 a day and thankful not to be working on a construction site with workplace safety giving a probable lifespan measured in weeks.

OK fair point

Dubai aside, even comparing it to Sydney standards and Ive been to many sporting events here, that pricing from Marvel is a money grab.

Will bring my own food to Marvel should I visit again but you cant be ripping off customers for substandard food at that price. Its a highway robbery.

More pics...........




And they wonder why people stay away from the footy.

We are at the footy for at least 4 hours or 3.5 hours if your talking Big Bash. Lift your game Marvel . For that price I'd want at least a buffet.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Skills are much better than in the eighties and nineties. That's my point, the game plans we use today just wouldn't be viable with the inconsistent kicking accuracy from those days.

But I get your point too. Back then we saw 14 x 20 = 280 of the best players out there each week. Now we see 18 x 25 = 450 of the best.

A number fo the best players in the 80s were not in the same league, a team's worth or more were probably in the SANFL.

However, the draft and lack of fear of finishing last also means the poor teams are often not playing the best footballer sin the country. The 19 year old on your list this year is often no better, right now, than the 23 year old that got delisted last year. They may become better with experience, or they could be the 23 year old that gets delisted in a few years time.

The big difference though is the speed of the game and resulting pressure. The skills are probably higher now, but more often have to be delivered under both actual physical and perceived pressure. More hurried disposals means more missed targets. It can look worse, especially as bias of memory also plays its part, without being worse.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

OK fair point

Dubai aside, even comparing it to Sydney standards and Ive been to many sporting events here, that pricing from Marvel is a money grab.

Will bring my own food to Marvel should I visit again but you cant be ripping off customers for substandard food at that price. Its a highway robbery.

More pics...........




And they wonder why people stay away from the footy.

We are at the footy for at least 4 hours or 3.5 hours if your talking Big Bash. Lift your game Marvel . For that price I'd want at least a buffet.

I haven't got to a game in years, just too costly from here (getting back from a Sunday game can be $500-800 if there is a flight at all). But even when I did, buying food in stadiums was not a live option. Gave up on drinking at sport as well. A couple of pints (proper pints, not those South Australian American things) after a game, if anything.

SCG used to be the worst prices, but those are quite incredible. Its like they decided the chips are cooked in oil, so upped the price to match. Vegetable oil doesn't come from the middle east though.

 

[ExchangeStatMan]

SCG used to be the worst prices, but those are quite incredible. Its like they decided the chips are cooked in oil, so upped the price to match. Vegetable oil doesn't come from the middle east though.

Good food at value for money at NSW/ACT Venues at reasonable cost: North Sydney Oval, Drummoyne Oval, Manuka Oval, Leichhardt oval for sport. I'll probably add Accor /ENGIE in there as well. You aren't paying an arm and a leg, and im convinced the proportions are different by state to state.

I again agree with you on SCG Pricing , its not as good and bang for your buck. Since they were overtaken by that billionaire guy who owns multiple venues across in Sydney (a few of them being Newport Hotel, Mr Wongs and The Establishment) the whole thing has gone to the gutters.

Sad to say, I know the AFL CEO's and higher admin are on high wages but they have lost the feel of the local community out there. Food is a case in point. They are a living in a bubble if customers are paying prices like this at the footy.

 

[Partridge]

Skills are much better than in the eighties and nineties. That's my point, the game plans we use today just wouldn't be viable with the inconsistent kicking accuracy from those days.

But I get your point too. Back then we saw 14 x 20 = 280 of the best players out there each week. Now we see 18 x 25 = 450 of the best.

Maybe, but it works both ways. Take the pampered player of 2026 and plonk them in 1989 - when a defender could absolutely get away with scragging you much more than you're used to, and you cop at least a severe bump as you're kicking the ball with not even a free kick. That player is suddenly not getting rotated to the bench every 5 minutes, and not getting any games off for being "managed", and anyone who avoids physical contact and putting your head over the ball is rightly held in complete contempt - i.e. a receiver.

The tactics were different too. It was still about moving the ball as quickly as possible to your forwards, it wasn't about pinpoint accuracy the entire length of the ground. So of course those skills weren't going to be the same.

 

[Hawkk]

So apart from Rich v Carl and Ess v Haw all other crowds have been above expectation. I suspect the drop had to do with the AFL stupidly making a call on all ticketing ticketed matched and St K v Coll taking the hype out of the Thursday and Friday games.

 

[Hank Scorpion]

Having the Eagles play at 9:30 WA time was a choice.

 

[Eternal Schism]

Don't forget too how many other options exist these days. I work with people who are mostly in their early 20s. Many of them have a footy team but haven't been to a single game in years unless a ticket is gifted to them by someone. There's so many shows on Netflix, streaming services, twitch streams, YouTube, video games, doom scrolling online, social media, lots of other things to do on Friday or Saturday night like clubbing, seeing a band live, going to bars, etc that the footy is not part of the landscape of their entertainment or social life. I reckon this is on the rise & it's drawing away from footy.

Plus the population of immigrants who are living in inner city suburbs, who culturally have their own sports, like Cricket for Indians, who don't engage as much with AFL.

Them urban sprawl, so people living out in places like Botanic Ridge, Sunbury, etc who find the trip into the city for footy to be too long, time consuming. Who the **** wants to come home on a 10:30pm train, arrive at their place at midnight after the footy? Especially with kids. Driving back from the city to such places is also plenty of a handful.

For me, I used to live in Ormond, and go regularly, but moving out to Skye made my interest in attending very minimal. I'd rather go to Frankston & see friends, bar hop, or go see live music at Chelsea Heights hotel of a Friday than the footy. The appeal of watching the game a sport bar or pub whilst sharing a meal and beers appeals a lot more to me & my mates who live down this way.

 

[go_the_dockers]

 

[Orfullrules]

Oh the horror. Might be a boring game on a Thursday or Friday night. AFL conditioning at its finest.

 

[magpielicious]

The AFL have a big problem. 3 games on the AFL's own website, Cats n Crows, Bombers n North, Port n Eagles still have crowds listed as TBC. Are they scrambling to fiddle with the numbers. All 3 were poorly attended. In this cost of living pressure year, maybe give something back to the fans and reduce entry prices by 50%. Better to have full stadiums at 50% the cost than the current situation. Its only going to get worse as the year goes on.

 

[Walshawk]

AFL Crowds | Austadiums

List of AFL crowd attendance figures, including stadium crowds, highest and lowest attendances accross current and previous AFL seasons.

www.austadiums.com

 

[jwikked]

The AFL have a big problem. 3 games on the AFL's own website, Cats n Crows, Bombers n North, Port n Eagles still have crowds listed as TBC. Are they scrambling to fiddle with the numbers. All 3 were poorly attended. In this cost of living pressure year, maybe give something back to the fans and reduce entry prices by 50%. Better to have full stadiums at 50% the cost than the current situation. Its only going to get worse as the year goes on.

Took nearly 2 days to get the figure out for GWS vs St Kilda last weekend

 

[PP34]

OR still ****ing up the fixture even this round.

Any neutrals amped up for the matches after Friday this week?

Take some of the better teams out with byes, and we're left with Essendon v NM dross on a Saturday night.

The fixture's completely ****ed.

Teams with byes after two weeks game. Then playing teams who have played multiple games in a row.

The scheduling is just plain bizarre, I cannot for the life of me work out the logic. Why was Brisbane vs St Kilda on at 12:35pm on a Saturday? Why are West Coast playing at like 9am local time?

Why did the AFL decide to kill off an extra Saturday day game because of overlap, only to have Saturday night games start at the exact time? It's laughable. The other week the only two games of the round worth watching were on at the exact same time. What is the logic?

This weekend was completely comical. The Thursday and Friday game were BOG ordinary games with mediocre crowds and excitement but still the pick of the lot. So the AFL decided to get them out of the way before Saturday had even hit and we're left with a pile of crap from Saturday afternoon through to Sunday.

 

[PP34]

That's probably a good thing for neutrals to be honest.

At least there will actually be some good games on the actual weekend for once.

 

[NetworkNerd]

Make the food more reasonable .



We are at a footy game for 3 hours ffs.

Thats disgusting and a rort. I went to Dubai in 2024 for a cricket match and you could get a decent feed for much cheaper and fulfilling.

Kids meal is a slightly smaller portion of chicken and chips plus a bottle of water for $10
I saw a kiosk on level 3. 3 steamed dummies for $6.50. Tasted alright

Some slightly more reasonably priced options