First game of the season - Swans v GWS

[Big Al]

GWS and the AFL need a good crowd to start the season, and that is why the AFL scheduled the game for Round 1. It is annoying that GWS will not allow people to use their normal seats, but you can live with that. The best thing would have been to include the game in the ticket for an additional cost, but not allow reserved seats to work. This would have made sure a lot of Swans members will attend (and they would get their money earlier). However, it is stupid to require us all to go and buy a separate ticket. This will not happen for a lot of people and will likely cost them thousands of people in the crowd.

Buying a ticket takes a couple of minutes on the net so it shouldn't be an onerous task. The issue will be price. As long as the AFL allow the Swans members in for a nominal fee then I would have thought the majority would jump at the chance to see the Swans play live in what is a 12th "home game".

Also remember the marketing for this game will revolve around getting new AFL supporters to the game especially those from the west. Lots of free tickets will be distributed to the schools and the junior clubs out west. The marketing won't be focused on getting Swans members, who are already AFL fans, to the game.

[erica]

GWS should give free tickets to anyone who asks, just to help fill the stadium. Homebush's capacity of 80,000 certainly won't be reached for this game. Can't see how this will be worth a round all to itself, although it will be talked up. Doubt that anyone in Melbourne (other than our Melbourne-based supporters) will care about it.

[Primmy]

I did a members survey during the season that asked if that were an option would I take it up to which I responded that I would.
As a matter of interest, I have a friend who is a Lions member (whom I consider more an equal comparative to the Swans than any of the other interstate clubs) and he doesn't have entry to Suns games at the Gabba included with his membership and doesn't think it's an option with any Lions membership.

Exactly my point Jewels. Ta.

[jono2707]

If we don't have the option of buying the extra game then it's a big mistake in my opinion. I don't care whether it is or isn't done elsewhere throughout the country. GWS is a very different animal to any other AFL team, Suns included, and the AFL should be working to ensure that as many people as possible get through the gates at the first game. Also if they want a so-called 'rivalry' to develop then they should be encouraging as many Swans people as possible to go to the game. By not including the game as an option in our ticketing will reduce the number of people in the crowd.

I guess the AFL will just print a few thousand more freebies for the schools, the Telly, and some of the local papers in the west....

[Xie Shan]

This is GWS home game. They have priority with seating. We are only just now getting membership sorted for this year, and I am sure GWS are doing the same. Why should they pander to us?

Understand this and I'm not for one minute suggesting that they should, but I'm still a little surprised that some kind of option to make it easier for Swans members to buy a ticket (even if, obviously, we don't get to sit in our regular seats) wasn't considered, given the size of the venue, even if GWS has priority over seating as it's their home game. I know that it doesn't work that way for the other local derbies, but this is a bit different in that neither club has a huge membership base, and it would be in the interest of both clubs and the AFL to have as big a crowd as possible attending this game.

The AFL should set aside some general admission seating at ANZ for on-sale to Swans fans as part of their Swans memberships. Then we, as part of our membership, can opt-in to this for, say, an extra 30 bucks. The AFL cannot forget that the Swans are in this city too, and they need our buy-in as well to help this GWS venture if it is going to succeed.

This is pretty much what I had in mind, it's called shaping the path. It's a motivational technique, which basically says that to encourage people to behave in a particular way or to change their behaviour, by shaping the path you make that behaviour more likely by removing obstacles in their way. It usually involves tweaking the environment by designing procedures to make it easier/more intuitive to do the right thing. Here's an example.

(Granted, I'm drawing a long bow here, since it probably won't make THAT much difference to the overall crowd figure, but every little bit helps!)

[Big Al]

If we don't have the option of buying the extra game then it's a big mistake in my opinion. I don't care whether it is or isn't done elsewhere throughout the country. GWS is a very different animal to any other AFL team, Suns included, and the AFL should be working to ensure that as many people as possible get through the gates at the first game. Also if they want a so-called 'rivalry' to develop then they should be encouraging as many Swans people as possible to go to the game. By not including the game as an option in our ticketing will reduce the number of people in the crowd.

I guess the AFL will just print a few thousand more freebies for the schools, the Telly, and some of the local papers in the west....

Are Sydney based members so bone dead lazy that they would miss the opportunity to see their team simply because they have to buy their own ticket.

I have a bit more faith in our supporters. As long as the price is reasonable, i think our members will be out in force for this game.



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[Xie Shan]

Are Sydney based members so bone dead lazy that they would miss the opportunity to see their team simply because they have to buy their own ticket.

I have a bit more faith in our supporters. As long as the price is reasonable, i think our members will be out in force for this game.



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I hope you're right Al, I'd dearly love to see GWS run out for their first home game confronted by a sea of red and white. I was more thinking of the Swans members who maybe don't particularly like going to ANZ for regular home games, and ways to encourage them to make sure that they do attend.

[Big Al]

I hope you're right Al, I'd dearly love to see GWS run out for their first home game confronted by a sea of red and white. I was more thinking of the Swans members who maybe don't particularly like going to ANZ for regular home games, and ways to encourage them to make sure that they do attend.

Yeah, that's fair enough.

However, I'll still be bitterly disappointed in our supporter base if they don't get out to ANZ in big numbers for this game.






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[Yuri H]

I'm definitely one of those I-hate-ANZ wusses who usually has to be dragged All The Way Out THERE, but I am really looking forward to this historic match. Should be fun. Well, unless there's a spectacular upset, in which case I might become bitter.

[jono2707]

Are Sydney based members so bone dead lazy that they would miss the opportunity to see their team simply because they have to buy their own ticket.

I have a bit more faith in our supporters. As long as the price is reasonable, i think our members will be out in force for this game.

IMHO the answer to the first bit of your post is 'yes' - many Swans fans could be considered lazy and would miss the match - just because many people who are members aren't as into the team as us RWO'ers. Lots of people go for the social aspect, or because the SCG is close, or for various other reasons, and if they have to buy a ticket separately then many would not be bothered to go. I sit with a bunch of people and I would think probably only 50% would make the extra effort to buy a separate ticket and go to Homebush - it's just that some of them aren't as much into the Swans and the foooty as I am. Also note our somewhat disappointing turn-outs to some recent finals appearances out at ANZ, although I do agree that the unreasonable pricing of some finals has also impacted attendances.

I'll be there of course, but it will be interesting to see how many of my group makes the effort.... I would hope the historic nature of the match, the fact that its the first game of the year, and the almost-guaranteed 4 points will get them across the line....

[desredandwhite]

The difference with the Bulldogs game is that essentially that was "sold" to us, so it effectively became our game to do with as we pleased.

GWS will want to sell reserved seats to their own members, and as the away team, we should not get priority over GWS members.

I will probably get a big bunch of tickets as we live out West (in fact we travel about 30 minutes EAST to get to homebush!!) and plenty of our friends will go to have a look. Some people who live in the East won't bother going, and some people in the west will go instead.

[CJK]

ANZ game? Canberra Giants home game?

Pass.