NRL fans are often preferring to watch games from the comfort of their lounge chairs. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Daily Telegraph
SYDNEY has become a city of couch potatoes when it comes to consuming sport.
Crowds in most major sports have fallen in Sydney in recent years while Fox Sports and Channel Nine ratings have skyrocketed.
Melbourne is also showing us up as a more passionate and fanatical sporting centre with nearly seven million fans attending sporting events each year compared to only 3.6 million in Sydney.
Stay-at-home fans are enjoying watching on the big screen plasmas from a comfortable lounge instead of facing the often exorbitant costs of taking the family to the footy.
The ease of leaving the car in the garage, getting a beer from the fridge over traffic snarls, high ticket prices and queues for food is seriously affecting figures at the turnstiles.
Alarm bells were set off in rugby league when only 9000 fans turned up to watch the Wests Tigers play Penrith at Campbelltown last weekend on a perfect Sunday afternoon.
Other sports are in decline too while the television networks report record figures.
Fox Sports ratings increased by 17 per cent on NRL last year and Channel Nine is up 14 per cent this season.
The A-League is the only sport that bucks the trend - Sydney FC because of Alessandro Del Piero and the Wanderers who offer far more affordable tickets.
The SCG Trust is taking steps to get fans back to the game with a number of innovations, including a new smart phone app that will allow fans to order their food and beverages then have it delivered to their seats.
TELEVISION
IT'S so easy to stay at home given the improvements in broadcasting.
Take last Sunday afternoon for example.
Instead of driving to Campbelltown, fans could use the remote to flick between the Titans v Raiders, the Grand Prix, the cricket Test in India, the A-League or horse racing and then watch Campbelltown on free to air.
Channel Nine's ratings in the first two rounds are up by 14 per cent compared to last year. Fox Sports' are up 17 per cent.
Still, it's a difficult one for Channel Nine because they hate empty seats as much as administrators.
"We're delighted with the ratings but we need big crowds to create atmosphere," director of sport Steve Crawley said.
"There's nothing worse than doing a telecast with a pile of empty seats in the background."
Fox Sports have introduced corner post cam and their FoxCopter this year, bringing fans closer than ever to the action.
Rugby league has always been a great television sport but even more so with this new technology.
The statistical insights are something you can only get on television as well.
THE MAJOR VENUES
OUR major stadiums are taking up the challenge to fill empty seats.
Soon at the SCG and Allianz you will be able to order food and beverages from your seat via your mobile phone. The SCG has successfully completed trials and the app is almost ready to go.
"It's a game-changing approach to spectator attendance at NRL games, says trust chief executive Jamie Barkley. "We are about delivering the ultimate fan experience. Supporters demand a top-quality and comfortable family-friendly match day experience.
"This ranges from the comfort and closeness of their seat to the on-field action, the atmosphere generated by fans at the venue, through to watching action replays on clear, high-definition video screens.
"Venue operators must ensure that the at-ground experience is better than the at-home TV experience."
The SCG is also erecting a new 273 square metre video screen - the largest at any Australian sports venue.
This will be ready for the Swans' season opener on April 6 and the heritage round NRL game between Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra on April 14.
Food and beverage outlets will be far superior to current standards, including the first micro brewery in a sports stadium.
There will be a sports bar and speciality food outlets like Satay House, a sushi bar, as well as a barbecue grill, a signature burger bar and gourmet pizza.
ANZ Stadium has big plans as well.
A $250 million upgrade is on the drawing board, featuring a retractable roof.
It will also involve moving the stands at the northern and southern ends to form a rectangular field to bring fans closer to the action.
More bars and cafes are all part of it.
RUGBY LEAGUE
NRL crowds have held steady without improving in the past two years.
The Wests Tigers v Penrith game at Campbelltown last Sunday attracted only 9715 fans.
Internet chat rooms and social media have thrown up a number of reasons for the poor attendance.
Ticket prices were the major concern with a family pass for four costing $125 to the concourse area only. By the time you buy four meals, drinks and pay for petrol, it's a $200 day out in one of Sydney's lowest income areas.
For half that price you can get a month's subscription to Foxtel and watch every sport and almost every game live. Other fans blamed it on the fact both sides had lost top players during the off-season - the Panthers Luke Lewis, Michael Jennings and Michael Gordon while the Tigers lost cult hero beau Ryan and Chris Heighington. Other Sydney clubs are struggling too.
The irony is that the two biggest crowd pullers of the Sydney clubs - the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs - play out of ANZ Stadium, not the suburban grounds, with the better facilities.
Another example of the stay-at-home mentality is NRL research showing online consumption, readership and merchandise on every level outstrips any other code. Other research shows the major issue for game day experience is leaving the grounds - the time spent exiting the carpark and traffic congestion.
"There is no doubt that the game needs to create fundamental change to take crowd growth on a new trajectory," NRL marketing boss Paul Kind said.
"The strategic plan highlighted goals linked to improvement in the live match experience, generating new fans and building sustainable clubs that have the fundamentals in place to grow their business.
"The long-term strategy is in development and will require the NRL to work with clubs, NSW and federal governments and rugby league fans to drive change to the quality of the match day experience."
He admits our suburban grounds could be the problem.
"Facilities at many of the suburban grounds are not adequate for families and are inferior to Melbourne venues on most standard measures," Kind said. "Ticket pricing too and overall affordability is important for all sport.
"Pricing must be right to allow affordable pricing but importantly sustainability. Low pricing is a short term strategy."
RUGBY UNION
THE Waratahs' crowds in Super Rugby have slumped more alarmingly than any other code,
They are averaging just 12,000 per game this season, compared to well over 30,000 less than a decade ago - a fall of 60 per cent.
So where have the missing fans gone?
That's an easy one. It's pay television. Figures from Fox Sports reveal an extra 35,000 home viewers are watching the Waratahs this year.
Still, it's a concern for the team.
"Sydney is a tough crowd obviously," says skipper Dave Dennis. "If you are not winning games of footy it makes it hard for people to come out."
A-LEAGUE
THE A-League is the only sport growing its attendances Sydney because of the Del Piero factor and the emergence of the Wanderers.
Sydney FC crowds are up by more than 30 per cent. The Wanderers will have an average crowd of 14,000 by the time numbers are counted for this weekend's sold-out Sydney FC derby.
Their ticket prices are easily the most affordable in all codes.
It's possible for a family of four to spend just $40 to get into Parramatta Stadium in the cheapest seats.
Overall, A-League crowds are up 16 per cent this season and the television audience is also up by 24 per cent.
AFL
CROWDS averaged just 17,000 per game in the old VFL before clubs abandoned the traditional home grounds and moved into the stadiums, where they doubled.
Around Australia, crowds dropped to 31,000 a game last year following the introduction of the new teams Gold Coast Suns and GWS, without established fan bases. They were down by an average of more than 3000 per game or nearly 10 per cent, yet subscription and free to air figures remained strong. Swans crowds also fell despite their grand final triumph because of the SCG's refurbishment that cut ground capacity.
Their tickets are the highest priced of any of the football codes.
THE GOVERNMENT
A RECENT State Government report on sporting venues in Sydney signalled the death of suburban grounds for rugby league.
Barry O'Farrell wants to spend funds for ground improvements at the major venues rather than sharing it around the clubs.
Sports minister Graham Annesley admits all sports face a difficult challenge to fill venues.
"Professional sport is increasingly confronting a very difficult balancing act between the need to maximise television ratings and revenue, whilst at the same time growing attendances at venues," Annesley said.
"With the ever increasing quality and saturation of television coverage fans now have a very viable alternative to attending venues. In their favourite living room chair they are assured of the best seat in the house with easy access to food and beverages, a multitude of statistical information available at their finger tips, and no traffic hassles.
"And in the current economic climate fans are also faced with the choice of staying home and utilising their pay television subscription, or going to a venue and incurring the additional cost of travel, ticketing, and catering. Still, I do believe it's possible for sport to have the best of both worlds. We just have to work harder to provide fans at the venue with the same sort of comfort and facilities they have access to at home.
"After all, the one thing that can't be replicated at home is the atmosphere of being at the venue.
"Marketing and promotion can play a role but better quality venues are certainly an important part of the answer. That's why the NSW Government's Stadia Strategy is critical. Over time it will help government and sporting codes to work together on ensuring our major venues keep pace with the ever increasing expectations of fans.
"This will in turn make the value proposition of attending events much more attractive."
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