Opinion Why didn't you go to todays game?

Remove this Banner Ad

Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
I come in Peace...

This is not a Troll thread

I was wondering why there was such a low crowd number today. I know 2pm timeslot on a Sat isn't the best. From a Syd point of view Bud's out, and they're going to miss finals, but I wanted to ask what your individual reasons were for not going to the game, or you did go to the game and why your mates didn't.

I've lived in Sydney for 20 years in Lilyfield/ Leichhardt next to the Anzac bridge (no traffic I can drive to George st in the cbd in 5 min. I know the Westcox M4 tunnel means I get get from here to Giants stadium in just over 20 min. I know the train from Central to the ground...

I just couldn't understand why stands were closed and there were empty seats in every bay that was open... in a venue that has a Capacity of only 24,000.

From what I can tell Sydney has about 65,000 members and GWS 25,000.

That's 90,000 members in a hometown derby, yet stands were closed.

Now, I have reached out to a contact at Giants stadium and told them I think their pricing structure is completely out of wack and their charging for seats like they are Manchester United playing at home. I've also heard that GWS members who can get into every game until this one were told they needed to buy a reserved seat just for todays game. These things clearly affected attendance...

I've also heard alot of other stories I won't go into because I don't buy the reasons.

I would like to give a fair overview of feedback if I'm asked, as to why this derby is probably the lowest crowd ever.

(p.s - try to give me opinions not questions, i've put a similar thread on Swans board and I just want to gather evidence as to why people didn't feel like it was worth going... I dont want to debate it here, I'd rather debate it with Giants stadium.

I'd appreciate your specific reasons

Thanks in advance guys.

P.s. close win today, would have been nice to experience in person.
 
Apr 12, 2012
45,861
41,459
AFL Club
GWS
It was poor/Disappointing 100%.

But

2pm Saturday arvo is as bad if not worse than Sunday twilight up here due to local sport.

Swans are terrible at the moment and had their stars out.

We were missing a few to.

There were reports of quite a few people stuck in traffic heading out (the crowd built noticeably in the 2nd and 3rd quarters).

Disappointing but it still is a generational build for the club and we will take steps forward and also back.

Also hearing ticket prices were ridiculously high.
 
Last edited:

Log in to remove this ad.

Ichabod Noodle

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 13, 2011
9,391
14,195
The Riff
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
Raiders, Brumbies
There were reports of quite a few people stuck in traffic heading out (the crowd built noticeably in the 2nd and 3rd quarters).

Was speaking to a couple in the coffee line who said they’d missed most of the first quarter in traffic and that there were still heaps of people walking down from P5 (usually there’s a shuttle, not sure what was going on there) - according to them the traffic was somewhere between chaos and horrendous.

Hugh Jackman at Qdos, with both a matinee and an evening show - P1 was sold out a long time ago.

No excuses, just some other factors to consider.

Still, for a derby it was pretty pi$$ poor
 

GreaterWeStener

Team Captain
Dec 18, 2011
314
96
Western Sydney
AFL Club
GWS
I was at the game, my mate would have loved to use his membership to go but he's undergoing intensive chemo treatment for blood cancer and wasn't up to going.

More on topic regarding Giants stadium, I found the reserving of a seat frustrating because it didn't give me any opportunity to choose the seat I wanted. I usually sit upstairs in the Suttor Stand, but the first couple of times the system allocated me a ticket right down near the fence in row CC, so I thought I'd leave it a few weeks and try again. When I initially tried again, Ticketek was giving an 'invalid discount' error, that was resolved after I reported it to GWS Membership, it may also have lead to the re-sending of the reserve seat reminder emails. I eventually got, what I thought was an upstairs seat in the Suttor Stand, on closer inspection it turned out to be downstairs but was at least row F. I also ended up paying $48 for a ticket I didn't really need. Not sure many would have bothered trying more than once.

Some might love their dogs more than GWS, and gone to the Dog Lovers Show in the Dome, instead.:)
 
Oct 12, 2016
6,682
7,630
AFL Club
GWS
Don't live near Sydney, I'm a Vic member but no longer live in Melb, moved to the NSW side of the border, so haven't gotten to a game since 2017. The club still sends me messages about attending Sydney games, like today I got a txt at midday reminding me to reserve a seat if I was attending today, which I find nice but odd at the same time.
 

Ichabod Noodle

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 13, 2011
9,391
14,195
The Riff
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
Raiders, Brumbies
Comparison to what sorry?

Well, comparison to a local derby in supposedly League heartland between two local western Sydney teams (not even cross-town)

So, in other words, despite there being a local League derby in league heartland our cross-town derby in a sport not supposedly followed or wanted (according to some) out drew them.

Comparison was pretty obviously I would have thought.
 
Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
Well, comparison to a local derby in supposedly League heartland between two local western Sydney teams (not even cross-town)

So, in other words, despite there being a local League derby in league heartland our cross-town derby in a sport not supposedly followed or wanted (according to some) out drew them.

Comparison was pretty obviously I would have thought.

I don't think the comparrison is obvious at all sorry.

Rugby leagues games in Sydney in prime time and between 2 home state teams are usually lucky to get 5,000 and they have far less members per clubs.

A game for the Swans at the SCG usually goes close to beating the entire attendance record for the nrl for their entire codes round in NSW.

I also don't know what you're comparing it too (my original question) because I don't know what the official attendance was at todays game. So in comparison, what was the difference? Was it more, less, the same?
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
To our crowd.

An NRL Sydney derby at the same time between 2 clubs that are over 50 years old drew 6k less.

Not saying our crowd was good.

Thanks mate.

I reckon on Wednesday if you wanted to buy tickets to that game the cheapest one would have been alot cheaper than $52 a pop.

Surprised still our game still struggles to go close to fill a 24k stadium for a home derby. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more at the Q clash.
 

Ichabod Noodle

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 13, 2011
9,391
14,195
The Riff
AFL Club
GWS
Other Teams
Raiders, Brumbies
I don't think the comparrison is obvious at all sorry.

Rugby leagues games in Sydney in prime time and between 2 home state teams are usually lucky to get 5,000 and they have far less members per clubs.

A game for the Swans at the SCG usually goes close to beating the entire attendance record for the nrl for their entire codes round in NSW.

I also don't know what you're comparing it too (my original question) because I don't know what the official attendance was at todays game. So in comparison, what was the difference? Was it more, less, the same?

You can’t have it both f**ing ways.

You can’t complain about our crowds without understanding the context of the marketplace in which we operate - which is absolutely different to the marketplace in Melbourne.

You want to talk about crowds? How many were at the game between Hawthorn and North yesterday? - two teams with a combined 267 years of history in the city at the centre of the football universe in the prime Friday night slot.

I turned it on and saw bucketloads or empty seats.

We are competing in a market place where League is king. When we don’t draw a crowd it’s because nobody wants AFL but when we outdraw them, we don’t outdraw them by enough.

Sick to f**ing death of it.

Take a very long walk off a very short pier and leave us to build our support base and crowds without your input.
 
Apr 12, 2012
45,861
41,459
AFL Club
GWS
Thanks mate.

I reckon on Wednesday if you wanted to buy tickets to that game the cheapest one would have been alot cheaper than $52 a pop.

Surprised still our game still struggles to go close to fill a 24k stadium for a home derby. I wouldn't be surprised if there were more at the Q clash.
It usually doesn't struggle.

But the ticket prices and timing and the weird email they sent out erlierr in the week about reserving seats etc I think may have thrown a few people off.

Was always generational for our club and South fans have never liked travelling West even when they were on top.
 
Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
You can’t have it both f**ing ways.

You can’t complain about our crowds without understanding the context of the marketplace in which we operate - which is absolutely different to the marketplace in Melbourne.

You want to talk about crowds? How many were at the game between Hawthorn and North yesterday? - two teams with a combined 267 years of history in the city at the centre of the football universe in the prime Friday night slot.

I turned it on and saw bucketloads or empty seats.

We are competing in a market place where League is king. When we don’t draw a crowd it’s because nobody wants AFL but when we outdraw them, we don’t outdraw them by enough.

Sick to f**ing death of it.

Take a very long walk off a very short pier and leave us to build our support base and crowds without your input.

Ahhh...Thanks mate!

Please read the opening post of the thread, I'm the same guy.

I'll ignore your previous message... as you obviously ignored reading the OP before you responded to me with that rubbish.

Read the OP and we can start again.

No harm, no foul dude.

Peace
 
Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
It usually doesn't struggle.

But the ticket prices and timing and the weird email they sent out erlierr in the week about reserving seats etc I think may have thrown a few people off.

Was always generational for our club and South fans have never liked travelling West even when they were on top.

What was the wierd email?

Was it telling you you needed to buy reserved seats for that game only?
 
Nov 23, 2015
11,602
16,971
AFL Club
GWS
This is our board buddy, so just take care with the holier-than-thou attitude to GWS posters.

On the question, while I and my family attended from Canberra, I can understand why some wouldn't have come:
- the ticket prices were up compared to other games (need to be careful not to kill the golden goose the derby game seems to have become) and the Ticketek website is painful to upgrade or buy tickets from
- the Hugh Jackman matinee at Qudos increased the car traffic, may have made some wary of the trip (took us 2 hours to get out of P5 at the end of kick-to-kick so they were right if they skipped to avoid that pain!)
- general poor condition of both teams with massive injuries including a bunch of stars (Buddy, Jezza, Josh Kelly etc) missing
 
Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
Wonder how Collingwood will go tomorrow packing out the MCG. 85000 members +
But how many will make it?
Is their club in crisis?
I await the responses to your thoughtful queries on their board.

On SM-N9600 using BigFooty.com mobile app

Ohh dude.

I live in Sydney, if you haven't read the OP and realised I'm actually trying to help people like yourself pack out your stadium at a reasonable price and a culture with your membership that help you grow, without making a member be told they have to buy a reserved seat for only one game at your stadium a year ( against the swans) but every other game no extra cost...

Then you've missed the point mate. once again this is not a troll thread... read the OP...
 
Aug 17, 2006
10,651
6,920
Lilyfield
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Collingwood VFL
This is our board buddy, so just take care with the holier-than-thou attitude to GWS posters.

On the question, while I and my family attended from Canberra, I can understand why some wouldn't have come:
- the ticket prices were up compared to other games (need to be careful not to kill the golden goose the derby game seems to have become) and the Ticketek website is painful to upgrade or buy tickets from
- the Hugh Jackman matinee at Qudos increased the car traffic, may have made some wary of the trip (took us 2 hours to get out of P5 at the end of kick-to-kick so they were right if they skipped to avoid that pain!)
- general poor condition of both teams with massive injuries including a bunch of stars (Buddy, Jezza, Josh Kelly etc) missing

Thanks for the honest feedback.

The "holier-than-thou attitude" comment means I've obviously struck a nerve here or there, which I apologise for to all of you.

I'll leave now, unfortunately I didn't come across to you guys the way I wanted to.

I had the best intentions, all the best for the rest of season.
 
I went to the game however due to City League for Juniors being Saturdays, alot of the families that have kids playing in U10's and U11's wouldnt been unable to go

Numbers for these 2 age groups are thriving in the league

Clubs from Concord, Drummoyne, Easts, Newtown, Wests, Moore Park, Maroubra, Glebe etc etc wouldve been affected

U10's starting time range from 10am start to 2pm start and furtherest game yesterday at Maroubra with finish time of upto 3pm and travel time after that

U11's from 11am to 3pm stating time finish 4pm and travel there after etc

I was lucky having a lunchtime game so went straight from coaching to Homebush where as our other team was at Maroubra so some missed start some couldnt make it due to U11's

Mind you this is for families playing kids sport only for AFL trying to make there is, many other sports wouldve been affected that go to the game as well

We have earnt the right now to have prime time games Saturday night and go against the NRL, especially since Sydney has been below us. If this was Swans home game yesterday it wouldve been 7:20pm on Saturday night at the SCG
 
I'm actually trying to help people like yourself pack out your stadium at a reasonable price and a culture with your membership that help you grow
Right... I'm not sure how exactly. Are you providing this feedback to the club? I don't think a poll of the regular posters on here, most of which would've attended, is going to give you or the club much useful information given they'll do a poll at the end of the year of every single club member.

Stick to claiming you were curious about why the low crowd numbers and it's pretty easy - Sydney are crap = 10% drop in their home crowd numbers. The Giants have about ~12k that show up most weeks and the combination of a drop in opposition fans and the time slot (the last three games have been 4:40pm starts or later, better for Sydney crowds due to lower traffic and sport commitments finishing up - I'm surprised you didn't know that given you're so passionate about living in Sydney) pretty much accounts for the drop from the last three years.

And yes, it's relevant that it outdrew NRL derbies - that and the A-League are the only points of comparison when we're talking about the Sydney market. Other states end up generating unrealistic numbers because of their base AFL following.
 

Bay Giant

All Australian
Jun 20, 2019
679
1,212
AFL Club
GWS
You can’t have it both f**ing ways.

You can’t complain about our crowds without understanding the context of the marketplace in which we operate - which is absolutely different to the marketplace in Melbourne.

You want to talk about crowds? How many were at the game between Hawthorn and North yesterday? - two teams with a combined 267 years of history in the city at the centre of the football universe in the prime Friday night slot.

I turned it on and saw bucketloads or empty seats.

We are competing in a market place where League is king. When we don’t draw a crowd it’s because nobody wants AFL but when we outdraw them, we don’t outdraw them by enough.

Sick to f**ing death of it.

Take a very long walk off a very short pier and leave us to build our support base and crowds without your input.
Ease up mate, he has reached out to a contact at Giants Stadium. He’s connected.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back