League vs AFL

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Danni

Norm Smith Medallist
Jun 11, 2000
5,450
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Recently someone asked the question about how long the Brisbane Broncos would have the strangle-hold over the Lions as the sporting team in Brisbane.

I am sorry I couldn't find the topic where it was asked so I am posting this.

The figures are in for 2000!!!

The Lions average attendances were 27,283 ppl per game.

The Brisbane Broncos average attendance was only 22,180.

A difference of more than 5,000 per game!!!!

The Bronco's largest attendance at a home game was 29,849 compared to the Lions largest attendance at a home game being 34,743!!!!!!

Now the Gabba only has a capacity of around 36,000 at the moment (up to 40,000 when they finish the last stage, ie the Lions Social Club area), and some of the current seats are not utilised due to viewing restrictions, so 34,000 plus is a sellout.

ANZ stadium (home of the Broncos) actually can seat up to 60,000.

This is a fantastic result for AFL in QLD!!

Now we have another possiblity next year to show the Gabba off!!

ANZ Stadium is going to host the 2001 Goodwill Games. Lang Park (the home of RL in QLD but quite small) is being re-deveoloped. The traditional State of Origin Match for Rugby League may very well be played at the Gabba!!!

The scene is set, Lions v Hawks on Friday Night, Australia v England in Rugby Union on Saturday night, and QLD v NSW in Rugby League Sunday night.

To be honest, a triple header like this can't help but benefit the Lions. Regular patrons of Ballymore (RU), ANZ (RL) and Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium (RL/RU/soccer) will be very impressed with the facilites at the Gabba, and the viewing experience as a whole!
 

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I think you mean 'forgot to include' same old.

But this shows that even in a time of huge success for the league team, there is not a big difference in popularity.
 
Are Brisbane away games (ie not in Brisbane) shown live?

If so, how do they rate?

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This is a hallucination and these faces are in a dream. A computer generated environment; a fantasy island you can do anything and not have to face the consequences.
 
CJH, it depends on when the 'away' game is being played.

Friday nights - not a chance in hell we would get it live.

Saturday nights - ditto

Saturday Arvo and Sunday arvo games, a majority of them would be live.

The only live football game shown on a Friday night up here in last few years, was the Lions v North prelim in 99. It rated as the 6th most watched show on any channel for the whole year.

This mind you is all on free-to-air, we get Friday night games live on Optus Vision up here.
 
I noticed this article in the Sunday Mail today.

"THE Brisbane Lions are shooting to top 20,000 members in south-east Queensland next year, and boast one of the largest self-managed memberships in the AFL.
The Lions currently have around 18,000 members in south-east Queensland and 3000 in Melbourne, a total which pales against Essendon's 34,000, Collingwood's 29,000 and Carlton's 27,000.

The south-east Queensland component of the membership is double that of the Broncos."

In five to ten years, especially if a Brisbane premiership or two happens, Queensland should be ready for another AFL side at Southport.
 
I think we need to put things in perspective here. The broncos crowds have fallen alarmingly in recent years as a result of the Super League vs ARL debacle. I am sure that the broncos are experiencing a protest vote of some sort. If League picks up its act a little and the Broncos go back to portraying a positive image in the community, I am sure the crowds will come back. At grassroots level, the Broncos have been second to none in discovering and developing new talent but it is their treatment of the ones who miss out that is not helping their profile.

There has always been an anti-Broncos backlash in Queensland as their formation is credited with destroying a very strong local competition whereas the QAFL was hardly thriving as a barely recognised sport in Brisbane. The birth of the Brisbane Bears has increased the profile of Aussie Rules in this state. There is a small anti-Lions pocket in Brisbane but you will always find a group of people fighting the crowds to swim upstream. I am sure WA and SA had a anti-Crows/Eagles minority when they first entered too.

The Lions have managed to woo the swinging people, those who do not generally follow footy or are after value for money, the complete entertainment package. It has become trendy to support the Lions.

If the Lions image in Brisbane does not remain squeaky clean, the crowds will drop off. If the Broncos try harder to get the crowds back, their numbers will rise. I think the Lions have to work harder to maintain the ground they have taken. This is a League state, no question. I am an AFL fan first and foremost so have no reason to back league. The NRL are in dire straits but they still have the grassroots, the schools, the junior clubs all working for them. Lions, one swallow does not a meal make. Personally, I find room for both sports. I hope they can co-exist and thrive up here.

As for the Broncos winning the premiership. That may be the measure of success on field but off field that is far from the case. I would think that that fact alone would enhance the Lions case to be deserving of even more kudos than they have already got.
If they won the flag, what might they be capable of??

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mens sana in corpore sano - a sound mind in a sound body
 
Originally posted by The Old Dark Navy's:
As for the Broncos winning the premiership. That may be the measure of success on field but off field that is far from the case. I would think that that fact alone would enhance the Lions case to be deserving of even more kudos than they have already got.
If they won the flag, what might they be capable of??


Take it easy, ODN, that comment on the Lions not winning the premiership I made was just a tongue-in-cheek comment. It was sort of "funny" that Danni mentioned all those figure's but "failed" to mention that the Broncos won the premiership, which does a lot to promote your club and image.

You must remember that all those figures that Danni posted was when the Broncos wern't premiers. So I would not give the Lions more "kudos" than they normally would.



[This message has been edited by Same Old's (edited 03 December 2000).]
 
That's fine Same Old's. The intention of my post is to point out that the Broncos have had a lot of reasons for poor crowds but there is a lot of people who would come out of the woodwork if the situation changed. The Lions on the other hand have done remarkably well to milk the available support for all it is worth. Simply there is a lot more Bronco fans not attending matches than there is Lions fans.

Having said that, the Broncos have been consistently successful, the comps yardstick. To do as well as they have while the Broncos have been successful (even if they haven't won every year) is a good effort by the Lions.

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mens sana in corpore sano - a sound mind in a sound body
 

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Don't want to rain on the party ....

BUT

.... Australian Football will never surpass rugby league in Qld as the #1 sport. Forget the membership stats and the like, you can make them appear to support any argument you like.

Over the past 5 years, I've been involved with numerous projects regarding the history and effects on local sporting culture of all codes of football. Unfortunately, for the "national code", its not an ingrained part of northern culture, even though its been here for 120-odd years.

The vast majority of people still do adopt RL as their #1 sporting passion, with rugby union also on the increase. The thing is though, that AFL fans here are of a different ilk, and the smaller supporter base appears much more passionate and open than the diehard RL fans.

Here's the test, though .... walk into any pub any yell at the top of your voice that "rules is the #1 sport in Qld" and see what happens ....



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Anyway, that's what I reckon ........

mud n blood
 
Mud n Blood, I agree with you to some extent, and I am not saying that Aussie Rules is more popular in QLD than RL.

What I am saying is that support for AFL in QLD has grown to the point where more ppl are watching AFL at the Gabba than going to watch the Broncos play.

The game is developing very well up here and the crowd support and membership numbers show that.

One of the biggest areas of increased development, is in the junior ranks. With the number of junior clubs at an all time high, Auskick numbers that just keep getting even bigger, and primary and secondry schools playing the game as a school sport, the long term success of the code up here is looking pretty good.

Defunct Clubs from the old QSFL are getting a new breath of life, with junior teams starting to carry their traditions again. And the popularity of the Independent Schools Cup, is fantastic. Some of the state's top Private schools are competing in it, and these same schools only 10 years ago, balked and laughed at the idea of playing Aussie Rules.

As for walking into a pub and saying that:

15 years ago, they would have all looked and you with blank faces and said "huh? what is that?"

10 years ago, they knew what it was and would probably have just put you down to being a looney and thumped you one.

5 years ago, they would have just laughed.

NOW, they say, "oh that is the Lions isn't it? They are travelling alright. When are you lot going to win a premiership?" then inveriably start on the comparisons with how many trophy's the broncos have etc.


But hey, it is progress!!
 
yeah ... prob'ly a coupla fair points there.

I think its just more of an "increased publicity" thing with the Lions, tho'. It seems to be kinda "hip" or "trendy" for a lot of people to follow the Lions (to some extent, anyway!)

Juniors and schools .... fully agree! The private schools bit though, I thought that had been going longer than 10 yrs ??? I was under the impression it started fully about 1987(?), but that Churchie was playing in the U/17 Div.2 from about '85 .... hmmmm ... hafta look into it.



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Anyway, that's what I reckon ........

mud n blood
 
The independent schools cup has been around for up to 20 yrs I think. But it is the number of competing schools, and the profile of some them that has suprised me. Traditional Rugby League and Union schools that are now competing in an Aussie Rules competition.
 
Was it widely covered in Queensland that the number one draft pick was a Queenslander?

If people were to see that a youngster from Queensland was viewed as the best young player in the country, ahead of the traditional football states, that would surely make people stand up and take notice.

And I am also interested if the sport of Aussie Rules is being heavily promoted or just the Brisbane Lions.

The Melbourne Storm attract crowds of 12000 - 15000 each week and that is quite healthy for Olympic Park. But there is hardly enough coverage of the game in general to persuade people to change codes.

The ability to produce top class, champion players like Jason Dunstall is worth promoting. Something the Melbourne Storm can't do.



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Fortius Quo Fidelius
 
Sainter, in my opinion, there really isn't that much 'promotion' as such of either the code of the Lions.

During the season, ch10 would have a news item in their sports report daily, but the same can't be said for 9 and 10. Tv commercials are virtually non-existant, even compared to 1999. At least thye showed the commercials primetime in 1999, this wasn't done in 2000 (or very rarely). The added newspaper coverage has helped. To have a full page devoted to AFL in December in the Sunday paper, was unheard of only 4 years ago, but there it was in black and white yesterday.

As for the Draft, unless you have optus vision, you don't get to see it. And we often get the last half hour of the Brownlow telecast, or a delayed telecast around midnight, if we are lucky. You will find quite a few Qlders will know of Jason Dunstall, but they wouldn't have a clue that he came from QLD.

I think that the new AFLQ Commission is set to start tackling the promotion of the game head on. Tho I wonder who is going to replace M Blight as a commissioner??
 
I don't think it has to do with x-vics at all....I just graduated a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing to see how the popularity of the sport has changed since i began.

In primary i was a fan (bascially because of dad) but anyway there was only 1 other person who followed the code back then. Everyone saw it as a '*** ' sport and was never talked about.

Since the merger, the level of spport has been very noticeable. as I went though high school after a few years it was ok to ask ppl whether they watched AFL.

Anyway....to stop this story dragging on, at the end of this year, we were chatting about what teams and codes we followed and I'm proud to say that the lions had more fans in my grade than all the RL teams in total, in our gr12 year!!!

So I think that the increased support is coming from the younger generation, just look at the ppl who turn up to the lions matches these days, I would say that half of the croud is under 20.

That's what i recon anyway.

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Un'B.Lee'vable

[This message has been edited by joshhem (edited 04 December 2000).]
 

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