Swans Doing it Tough

[wolftone57]

Thought I'd check

Average attendance this year is 25k so far. Last year it was 27k, which put us ahead of only Port, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Last year our average home game attendance was above those three plus Footscray and North. Which doesn't sound too good, unfortunatly I couldn't find a good enough source of attendance figures for previous years.

So I took a look at our membership figures, last year there were 27k members, above only Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Which is a worry because while we have slightly less members now than we did pre-Edelstun, almost every other club has increased their membership over that time.

It's a bit depressing realy. After 30 years in this city, Sydney seems no more in love with the Swans than they were when we arrived. Although I have no doubt that we're less loathed than we were.

Over the last few years we have been a bit hamstringed by the SCG renovations. Playing the Bullies at ANZ wasn't a good move either, worst crowd in a long time if I remember rightly. Renovations still go on and I know people who were told last week was sold out. That is still a problem and so are the ticket prices if you can't get GE. $41/Head is pretty expensive for the RED Zone. I think that is keeping people away. I know my friends said another time maybe!

[stellation]

I skimmed that article and while there is a core of truth there, I'm not convinced that all the GWS hype is bad for Sydney. More attention for AFL generally in Sydney I think will be good for the Swans.

I wonder how much our crowd numbers have been affected by the redevelopment of the SCG, given that half our games have been there this year? What's the maximum capacity now?

Not too certain currently, but it was supposed to drop to 34k at peak of disruption. I'd say it's about that now.

[Beerman]

I skimmed that article and while there is a core of truth there, I'm not convinced that all the GWS hype is bad for Sydney. More attention for AFL generally in Sydney I think will be good for the Swans.

I wonder how much our crowd numbers have been affected by the redevelopment of the SCG, given that half our games have been there this year? What's the maximum capacity now?

[stellation]

Thought I'd check

Average attendance this year is 25k so far. Last year it was 27k, which put us ahead of only Port, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Last year our average home game attendance was above those three plus Footscray and North. Which doesn't sound too good, unfortunatly I couldn't find a good enough source of attendance figures for previous years.

I'm not overly concerned about crowd figures for this year and last, last year was one of the worst runs I can recall of bad weather on games we'd hope for decent crowds- I can't recall the crowd at the Carlton game, for example, but I bet the club went into the season expecting a hell of a lot more on a Friday night against a team that traditionally helps draw a big crowd in Sydney.

Our home games so far this year have been against two teams that traditionally we get poor crowds for, in Freo and North, at a ground undergoing renovation that I assume has taken away a fair chunk of the cheaper GA tickets that help bolster crowd numbers.

I don't really get all the doom and gloom about the introduction of GWS, particuarly where they suggest that interest isn't booming on TV or at games- I thought that straight from the horse's mouth at AFL HQ this was acknowledged and a part of the whole point of GWS' existence in the first place? They have said that they are trying to address it over, what, 10 years? Yet people fill columns up saying it hasn't worked before it has started?

I don't read her league stuff, but the bits that I've read about AFL by Wilson (is she still putting herself forward as a keen Swans fan?) are, to me, vague and usually come across as gossip columns with little analysis of the game itself. I find it an enormous dissapointment for women in a male dominated media when the female talking heads that get column space roll out gossip and not analysis. I never read a lot of her work because she has always seemed to mainly work on league, but we need more Debbie Spillane's coming through the ranks and getting attention.

[jono2707]

What an excellent article - in my opinion Rebecca really well sums up the current farcical situation the AFL have put this city in and she sums up the Swans' approach very well. I like Rebecca as she's not afraid to challenge things and she obviously hasn't swallowed the rubbishy hype that has been foolishly sent our way from an AFL that obviously doesn't understand this city and what we, Swans supporters, have had to endure over the years.