Analysis Dwindling Crowds

[SleazySimon]

On the drive down I heard BT predicting less than 20k, and questioning whether Cats fans were a fairweather bunch of supporters.
Hate to admit it, but I think BT was right.

How can he be right when the official crowd was just over 23,000?

 

[SleazySimon]

On the other hand, BT has a history of sticking it to Geelong fans even during the good times. So if you believe anything he says then you need your head read. I agree with SJ though, that a smaller more invested crowd may give the ground more atmosphere than a full house of ppl sitting back expecting an easy win.

I prefer the amount of support we have now. At least we know they are real fans at games not fair weathers.

 

[darren forssman]

I go to the pub first then line up with my 'membership' in the paying queue to upgrade to a standing room ticket that costs... Nothing, zilch, zero, diddly squat.

I cannot scan straight in with my membership as it reads invalid. KP is a fully ticketed venue.

apart from the 3.20 sunday start time this ticketing sounds like it would do my head in.

 

[SleazySimon]

As a Green Bay fan i watch routinely during the NFL season 75,000+ people turn up to Packers games in 5 degree weather (with -20 wind chill) in the middle of a Wisconsin winter, on a Sunday night, for a game that starts at 8:10pm local. I have little sympathy with anyone that says they cant do Sunday night games/Sunday 3:10/Saturday night/Friday Night/Thursday Night etc. Comparatively speaking, we've got it bloody good. You're a supporter, a member even, turn up, especially now when the team needs the fans supporting them most.

Geelong needs to think long and hard about the number of reserved seats it makes available and consider instead making them available to members on game day. By making more seats available on game day you encourage more people to attend who might just be casual members who cant afford a reserve seat. But those casual members are the ones who will barrack and cheer because they dont take the games for granted, unlike the retiree's who make up the bulk of the reserved seat holders in the stands. I had a reserved seat to the Players Stand last year and found myself sitting next to a couple who spent the whole game doing the crossword in the paper and reading Game of Thrones. Only looking up occasionally when people around them started clapping. It's a football game, not a Sunday bloody picnic! I started barracking and actually felt out of place compared to the reading group i had sitting around me, it's just madness. After that i chucked in my Players Stand reserve seat in preference to standing above the Ablett Terrace because thats where you get some actual banter and barracking, the atmosphere up their is light years better than anywhere else ive sat in that ground over the years. And that has a great deal to do with the fact that the people up there are mostly GA members and walk up attendees who actually are there to watch a football game and support the club.

The down side is that for GA members and anyone else, access to games these days means having to not only pay for a membership but also having to pay for a reserve ticket to get through the gate. I had one mate on Sunday try to get in on he's 16 game Home and Away membership only to be told he needed a reserve ticket and had to line up to pay for one. Seriously, what the **** is the point of getting a membership if you still have to pay anyway? And if he wanted to pre-book a ticket to the game he has to pay a bullshit "ticket-handling fee" to ticketek/master on top of the membership cost he's already payed. Not to mention the cost of actually reserving a ticket to a seat he wont use as we always stand, but you cant always pre-book a standing room ticket because it's "unavailable" but then on game day there's more North fans than Geelong fans in the standing section and tonnes of room for more people anyway. But there aren't more people because they've all been told to pre-book a seat and it costs $35+ to do so so they dont bother going, when all you wanted to do is scan your membership in and watch the bloody game. Its no lie to say its easier to attend a game in Melbourne as a Geelong member than it is trying to attend a game in Geelong. And thats just plain wrong. Geelong should be making it as easy as possible for members to attend games at our home. And i mean members, not just reserve seat holders, as far as im concerned, they should allocate the entire Reg Hickey Stand as a members stand and open up the rest of the ground to GA members. If you have to require an additional ticket to avoid lock outs (or if they wanna sit in groups) then fine but it shouldn't cost a Geelong member a cent, regardless of where they sit/stand in the ground.

Additionally, ban opposition cheersquads...i have no real reason for saying this other than i just dont like em in my ground, and they take seats away from the Geelong members who should be sitting in them. Plus, it burns me up inside when they...cheer...for there team...in our ground...it's disgusting and it should be stopped. Dead silence should greet an opposition goal at Geelong and that is all.

There's no point comparing us to an American club for goodness sake, of course they get more support as they have 15 times our population. NFL has something like an estimated 120 million avid followers. Of course they can sell out every game at 80,000.
Im one of those people you are potting in your post. I'm a member and only get to 3-4 games a year because I do shiftwork. Maybe not everyone has as little life responsibilities as yourself

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I go to the pub first then line up with my 'membership' in the paying queue to upgrade to a standing room ticket that costs... Nothing, zilch, zero, diddly squat.

I cannot scan straight in with my membership as it reads invalid. KP is a fully ticketed venue, a fully ticketed venue that doesn't get filled.

FTFY

Up where I sit I could find a seat for hundreds of fans, and not just 2-3 seats here or there which could be a family that hasn't come for whatever reason, I'm more talking rows of seats. Chunks of seats. Too expensive??

 

[Jensen]

Compared to MCG or etihad the price you're paying for an equivalent seat at Simonds is a lot more expensive. I know smaller stadium = higher premium on each seat so there's not too much they can do.

Personally I prefer to sit higher up but it's hard to justify spending minimum $60 ($35 with membership) at Simonds when an MCG/etihad general admin ticket is much cheaper and will get me a decent seat on the upper levels where you can see the whole game.

 

[catman2006]

Again Lots of little issues
Time slot and day ( 3 sundays makes it hard for most supporters from Melbourne)
Membership change
Ability to View on TV
Team performance

Attendance ebbs and flows over the years, if their was a magic bullet would be great for the club

 

[SkittleCats]

There's no point comparing us to an American club for goodness sake, of course they get more support as they have 15 times our population. NFL has something like an estimated 120 million avid followers. Of course they can sell out every game at 80,000.

I pointed out in another post in this thread that as of 2013 the population of Green Bay was less than that of Geelongs, with Melbourne (population 4million+) an hour away there really isnt an excuse for low attendance. Yes obviously people come from all cornors to attend in the States but they do hear as well, and KP's capacity isnt 80,000 it's 32,000. It shouldnt be a big stretch to fill the stadium every week. Culture is the biggest reason for low attendance, not population.

Im one of those people you are potting in your post. I'm a member and only get to 3-4 games a year because I do shiftwork. Maybe not everyone has as little life responsibilities as yourself

As for this, im not potting members who can only attend a handful of games per week. In fact im arguing the opposite (maybe with all those extra "life" responsibilities keeping you busy you missed out on reading comprehension), i want it to be easier for people such as yourself to get to games and not have to pay extra fee's to get inside the ground. Who i am potting is reserved seat holders who either dont turn up and thus leave their seat unused, or do turn up and dont respect the fact that they are attending a football game and not a Sunday brunch at the retirement home. Maybe that is you though, in which case yes, id rather that seat went to someone else.

 

[krisholio14]

Let us also not forget that the three teams we've played down there are not what you'd call high drawing teams.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I think even if you book the standing room ticket online with your membership it's still free, not even a bullshit ticket handling fee. Seems like something the club needs to communicate better.

It's probably not even necessary now with the lower crowd numbers. If I recall correctly the current system was thrown together a few weeks before that first game in 2013 due to the high demand. Otherwise a heap of general admission members who didn't line up early would've been turned away if it was just walk up.

Incorrect. $4 charge.

 

[Partridge]

It's also nice not having to watch where you put your feet across the day, or guard your spot like a dog so nobody else pinches it... yeah, I know Partridge, we're soft.

Not at all. I might have thought that 10 years ago (I definitely did 20 years ago), but not now. Our lives change, our commitments change, our priorities change. I don't judge anyone for not attending as I rarely do myself anymore. As others have said, there are a whole host of different reasons.

 

[Partridge]

As a Green Bay fan i watch routinely during the NFL season 75,000+ people turn up to Packers games in 5 degree weather (with -20 wind chill) in the middle of a Wisconsin winter, on a Sunday night, for a game that starts at 8:10pm local. I have little sympathy with anyone that says they cant do Sunday night games/Sunday 3:10/Saturday night/Friday Night/Thursday Night etc. Comparatively speaking, we've got it bloody good. You're a supporter, a member even, turn up, especially now when the team needs the fans supporting them most.

I enjoyed the post (edited for brevity), but respectfully disagree. Following Geelong isn't a dictatorship. If someone doesn't want to attend, spend money, buy a membership, or attend 4 games a year instead of 20, that's their right.

Anyone who would like to tell me that I have to turn up is welcome to (I'll even give you the work address), be prepared for a less than diplomatic answer however.

 

[catswhiskers]

..................................
Every recent year (even last year during the variable pricing saga) we have managed to get, more or less, on the wing or flanks [as members and at MCG] by getting there a little earlier than usual (last year we had to buy a seat but that discussion was done last year).

This year we were told we couldn't get access to those areas and were told we'd have to sit behind the goals.

As members we both thought that was a little odd and we couldn't understand why we were allocated that area.

This led to the inevitable jokes about "year of the fan" over-riding the benefit of being a member.

I still don't know what the reason was for members being told to sit behind the goals (it may be valid but I didn't really care enough to look into it since I don't bother getting a reserve seat) but others may view it is another way that the AFL (or clubs) are alienating those who are dipping into their pockets to buy a membership.
.........................................................................................

Edited for brevity.

Exactly my experience in Round 1 - could only sit behind the goals in a crowded section when there was much more space elsewhere. Little things make a big difference to the experience. Will make me think hard about travelling next time.

 

[dazbroncos]

I enjoyed the post (edited for brevity), but respectfully disagree. Following Geelong isn't a dictatorship. If someone doesn't want to attend, spend money, buy a membership, or attend 4 games a year instead of 20, that's their right.

Anyone who would like to tell me that I have to turn up is welcome to (I'll even give you the work address), be prepared for a less than diplomatic answer however.

I think, for what its worth and it aint very much, that the supporters who are members and don't use their access or seats at every game are as much involved as those with bums in seats. They have paid their money - they have supported their club. They may not be there that particular day but IMO it does not make them less of a supporter or member.

It also gives another person the chance to sit in those seats. I have taken that advantage on several occasions and both I, and the regulars around me have a had a great time with new faces.

Go Catters

 

[Partridge]

I think, for what its worth and it aint very much, that the supporters who are members and don't use their access or seats at every game are as much involved as those with bums in seats. They have paid their money - they have supported their club. They may not be there that particular day but IMO it does not make them less of a supporter or member.

It also gives another person the chance to sit in those seats. I have taken that advantage on several occasions and both I, and the regulars around me have a had a great time with new faces.

That is a fair point. My father-in-law has reserved seats (and they're sensational - right on the 50m line left of screen, 4 rows from the fence), and he attends every game. The second seat is rotated between my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law and me. It works well. I also agree with others that if a reserved seat holder can't attend, it shouldn't be difficult to reallocate that seat for that game.

 

[iameviljez]

I enjoyed the post (edited for brevity), but respectfully disagree. Following Geelong isn't a dictatorship. If someone doesn't want to attend, spend money, buy a membership, or attend 4 games a year instead of 20, that's their right.

Anyone who would like to tell me that I have to turn up is welcome to (I'll even give you the work address), be prepared for a less than diplomatic answer however.

I could not agree with this more. I think it's pretty fundamental that you should be able to follow sport as you want to follow it (provided of course that you don't ruin anyone else's day while doing it). If you just enjoy sitting there quietly and taking in the atmosphere, that's fine. If you get really emotionally involved, that's fine too. If you want to sit at home and watch it on the telly, that's also ok.

Especially now that AFL has competition for viewers in the winter, and eight suburban Saturday games are a thing of the past, the days of there being some sort of ridiculous social obligation to come along and scream your guts out every week are long-gone. Footy is now a product, not a social contract, and I think that's for the better.

 

[BotsMaster]

Let us also not forget that the three teams we've played down there are not what you'd call high drawing teams.

So we can also blame the opposition for not showing up?

 

[krisholio14]

So we can also blame the opposition for not showing up?

Well they are allowed to come to our games too you know?

 

[Saint]

I pointed out in another post in this thread that as of 2013 the population of Green Bay was less than that of Geelongs, with Melbourne (population 4million+) an hour away there really isnt an excuse for low attendance. Yes obviously people come from all cornors to attend in the States but they do hear as well, and KP's capacity isnt 80,000 it's 32,000. It shouldnt be a big stretch to fill the stadium every week. Culture is the biggest reason for low attendance, not population.

What nonsense, if you include Melbourne to nudge it up to 4 million, you should consider the 8 teams in the same competition competing against Geelong.

While Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings are only a couple of hundred k's away, Green Bay are still the only NFL team in the state of about 6 million people all within 100 km of Green Bay.

Such a comparison is ridiculous.

 

[Catsace]

We have reached point where it's easier to watch it on TV at home than it is to travel out to a game.

I mean, if it's 10 degrees and raining outside, your side ain't traveling that well, you got a couple of kids in tow and a few bills to pay that week, why wouldn't you just whack a six pack in the fridge and a couple of pies in the oven and watch it on your couch on your nice 48 inch HDTV?

I agree 100% there. And in my case it's not just footy, but many things in life. And it think it's a syndrome of what i have allowed myself to become to some extent, and that's just enjoying being home with the creature comforts.

We shop online, we do so much stuff either online of over the phone like banking, insurance, even booking holidays. Physically going out now when everything you would like to see is on Foxtel or TV (or the net) is just something that i have less inclination for. Perhaps in my case working about 65 hours a week and being up before 4am every day has a part to play too, but i just don't actually feel like going out for much anymore. I still love footy and love Geelong, and have the membership but even my last year of having a reserved seat (2011) i only went to a couple of games.

Basically, i think if this is in any way reflected in even a few percent of people, we just find that if we're not working, it's just nice to be able to relax at home and do our thing. Maybe getting older too (47 now for me) but i can honestly my behaviours have sort of changed a bit compared to the times when we physically had to go somewhere specific to do/watch/buy something we wanted. I guess an alarming result of that is if everyone does what i do....nobody will do anything! But in complete contrast to my footy tragic days of the 80's 90's and early 00's....it is a stark difference.

 

[krisholio14]

I agree 100% there. And in my case it's not just footy, but many things in life. And it think it's a syndrome of what i have allowed myself to become to some extent, and that's just enjoying being home with the creature comforts.

We shop online, we do so much stuff either online of over the phone like banking, insurance, even booking holidays. Physically going out now when everything you would like to see is on Foxtel or TV (or the net) is just something that i have less inclination for. Perhaps in my case working about 65 hours a week and being up before 4am every day has a part to play too, but i just don't actually feel like going out for much anymore. I still love footy and love Geelong, and have the membership but even my last year of having a reserved seat (2011) i only went to a couple of games.

Basically, i think if this is in any way reflected in even a few percent of people, we just find that if we're not working, it's just nice to be able to relax at home and do our thing. Maybe getting older too (47 now for me) but i can honestly my behaviours have sort of changed a bit compared to the times when we physically had to go somewhere specific to do/watch/buy something we wanted. I guess an alarming result of that is if everyone does what i do....nobody will do anything! But in complete contrast to my footy tragic days of the 80's 90's and early 00's....it is a stark difference.

That sums it up pretty much.

I certainly don't consider myself to be in that boat, I like to throw off the shackles of the working week and get out amongst it as often I can, but i'd say that isn't the case for a lot of people, especially as they have kids and get older.

 

[catters05]

I am living overseas, I cant even sign up as a member with my credit card hacked as I wanted to sign up as an International Member so I can watch the games on Internet, but also the Geelong Membership ticket master website is blocked from my employers internet security.

So, I am not sure if it is meant to be this year for me.


Seriously though this happens to all clubs, Footy goes in cycles, we went up and stayed up. Some other clubs who have been down are heading up.

Would be nice to keep going, but we will go through the down cycle. What matters is how quickly we can get back up.

 

[corio bay]

That sums it up pretty much.

I certainly don't consider myself to be in that boat, I like to throw off the shackles of the working week and get out amongst it as often I can, but i'd say that isn't the case for a lot of people, especially as they have kids and get older.

That's me. Used to love attending games rain, hail or shine. Now that im running the kids around everywhere, its nice to have 2-3 hours on the couch with the footy on the TV.

That being said, the last few games I attended at KP had ridiculous queues whether you are a reserved seat member or not. I can remember watching the fireworks for the new lights lined up with thousands of others on Moorabool, we didnt get in till halfway through the first quarter. Puts a negative seed in your mind for next time you think about going.

 

[Vdubs]

Let us also not forget that the three teams we've played down there are not what you'd call high drawing teams.

None of the teams we play at Geelong are.

 

[krisholio14]

None of the teams we play at Geelong are.

We always get good crowds for the Swans game.