Swans still not in league league

[Peace]

I didn't see one advertisement for the essondon game...... i'm sure that had a lot to do with the attendance and rating, i had to remind half my mates when it was on.

[dimelb]

i dont think it has much to do with marketing and/or promotion personally. afl in this town is simply not taken seriously. your average sydney bloke who is primarily interested in league but who is open to having a look at afl is simply not going to have the ability to flick over to afl during the odd boring league game. because the game is simply not on. it is my contention - and i do rant constantly about this - that afl will never happen in sydney until it is taken seriously on tv. there are absolutely no casually interested people who will stay up until 2am to watch a game they arent even sure they like.

of course if they have fox it is a different story. but the sydney market has been screwed over the last few years and the afl will suffer because of it. it has happened to the a-league, which is only available on fox due to some licensing agreements ... there was an early interest for the first few seasons but crowds are in decline there - why? - because your average punter never sees it - if they are already a fan they have fox, or meet their mates at the pub to watch it ... but you dont need to convert these people - they are already fans..

if you want fans in sydney it needs to be accessible - i am a fan because my dad took me out to games in the early days of the swans and it has stuck with me (i have also never really liked league much) ... i am a fan because it was made available to me ...

the consequences of this and the coverage is that "serious" football people deride sydney fans for only knowing (or rather barely knowing) their team .. but seriously there are no other teams on tv at prime times...

i think afl will eventually take off in sydney despite all of this, however I think the AFL needs to force free to air rights holders to show the games live in sydney - and 7 and 10 need to freakin man up and play it head to head with the league on 9 - they will cop a hiding in the short term but it is - in my opinion - an investment in the future ...

-endeth the rant-

Your rant is interestingly backed up by a recent piece from Peter Fitzsimons:

KICK THE BUCKETS
The Age ran an interesting interview with long-time NBL referee Bill Mildenhall, who is retiring after 32 years, this week. Asked what had been the changes to the sport over the years, he replied: "The thing that killed us after the 1990s was that basketball lost its popularity worldwide, and that was largely to do with the Michael Jordan [retirement] factor ? When the league went from free-to-air television to pay, people didn't even know basketball still existed. I've bumped into people and they say, 'I used to go to the basketball.' I usually say, 'Why don't you go now?' They don't know the answer." I reckon I do. All elite sport is like a small fire. Free-to-air sport is like oxygen. Put together, it will flare up and grab everyone's attention. If you take the pay-television option exclusively however, whatever the money, there is no flare, people stop attending, and start to drift away.

From this: Give king of third person a second chance
I hope the AFL is watching and avoids the trap.

[Beaussie]

Does anyone know if our crowd and TV audiences have grown at all ? I get the impression that they're flat, except for the odd final.

The first two rounds of this season have seen our Sunday tv audience numbers increase on most of last seasons Saturday night and Sunday games.

Sydney vs Essendon rated an average of 58,000 last season and 66,000 this season.

Talking Footy - 2010 AFL, NRL, A-League, Super 14 Football TV Ratings

Talking Footy - 2011 AFL, NRL, A-League, Super Rugby Football TV Ratings

I would really like to see more AFL/Swans/GWS news on the Sydney evening news. How many nights do you watch the news and see no AFL news in the nightly sports reports on Channel 7, 9 and 10 yet we get stories about soccer, golf and tennis. I would have thought our consistent crowds of 30k average demonstrate there is a market for AFL news in Sydney. Would certianly help promote up coming games too. Something like this as part of a contra deal along with increased advertising in Sydney should be something the AFL seriously considers.

[Beaussie]

I didn't see one advertisement for the essondon game...... i'm sure that had a lot to do with the attendance and rating, i had to remind half my mates when it was on.

I saw two ads on Satruday night during the Gold Coast vs Carlton replay on Channel 10 and thought to myself, these ads are not very well targetted. Those watching a late night AFL replay are already likely to be attending an AFL game in Sydney yeah? Great marketing...

[Bas]

So who do we blame for the advertising - the Swans or the AFL?

Let's not forget virtually no radio coverage of the game into Sydney.

I suggested a television ad campaign to the Swans last year after I attended the members forum. However filed under B. Instead we get music with snippets of - lets put in some shots of the guys tackling for the Sydney market - Wow hasn't that worked.

So I'm not even going to waste my time anymore with the subject. So much money is wasted on crap advertising campaigns.

[giant]

They are fairly daunting figures aren't they? BUt they are what they are, and I doubt the AFL cares too much either way as long as it can point to a "national" competition of some form.

[dimelb]

... I would really like to see more AFL/Swans/GWS news on the Sydney evening news. How many nights do you watch the news and see no AFL news in the nightly sports reports on Channel 7, 9 and 10 yet we get stories about soccer, golf and tennis. I would have thought our consistent crowds of 30k average demonstrate there is a market for AFL news in Sydney. Would certianly help promote up coming games too. Something like this as part of a contra deal along with increased advertising in Sydney should be something the AFL seriously considers.

That's the bit that puzzles me. You'd think that 7 and 10 would see it as being in their own interests to include AFL in the newscasts, keeping their own programs in the public eye.

[Matimbo]

I grew up a fanatical rugby league supporter and only got on the Swans bandwagon (and AFL generally) when I lived in Melb from 96-98 ... at the time Swans made the GF and Plugger was big news. At that time, rugby league was on a downward spiral - original clubs going broke, the corporate war between Packer and Murdock factions resulting in a split of clubs across 2 competing competitions, expansion into areas where there was no logical basis for doing so (e.g. new manufactured teams in Adelaide, Perth, etc.). I recall strongly even today how I lost interest in rugby league during that time because it no longer represented the sport I had been passionate about. Following a major team sport for me is primarily about being part of one tribe that has passionate rivalries with other tribes. I guess this is a primal instinct.

So what's my point (or points) relating to current TV rating and game attendance?

1. Rugby league went close to the brink during those years, and have actually done a good job reverting back to making the competition much more "tribal" in nature ... foundation teams reverting to their roots, new teams strongly aligned to a logical tribal area with a rugby league heartland (Brisbane, Townsville, Newcastle). League is far from being out of the wood on this, but heading in the right direction. Game crowds are increasing as are TV ratings. I've personally returned to watching rugby league of TV regularly and attending occasional games. I still watch and attend my full quota of Swans games. But wonder how many fringe Swans supporters (i.e. are primarily league supporters but have some interest) have dropped off due to this. It must have some impact on Swans numbers.

2. AFL is heading in the opposite direction on the tribal issue in setting up GWS, and to a lesser extent GC. IMO, GWS will not succeed because there will not be a critical mass of fans who take this team on as their "tribe". Nor will fans of the traditional tribes (Collingwood, Carlton, etc.) ever become passionate about waning to beat GWS. You could also argue they did they same with moving the Swans to Sydney, but being the first team in Sydney only a small slice of the pie needed to be captured. Also, the South Melb fan based was reasonably well preserved.

3. Like it or not, the AFL has to accept that the "tribal" base for the Swans (and AFL) in Sydney is not, and never will be, the greater west. The connection with tribe happens early in life. The chances of the average primary-school kid in western Sydney choosing AFL, let alone GWS, as their passion is low as it will be going against the groundswell of their classmates.

4. The home ground is critical in the emotional attachment fans have to their own team plus the competition overall. Melbourne-ites really have a love affair with the G (rightly so). Swans fans have a similar feeling about the SCG. Many league fans feel the same way about some of their grounds ... Kogarah for St George, Leichhardt for Tigers, Lang Park for Queenslanders. After a decade of games at Olympic Park, there is still not much emotional attachment from me, even though I have enjoyed watching some great wins there for both my AFL and rugby league teams. This attachment can't be manufactured or contrived - it just evolves. So IMO, Homebush will only ever be viable for "big" matches ... (i) Swans need to be well established into the new season (the broader Swans fan-base are familiar with new faces. etc.); (ii) They must be playing against teams whose fans travel; and (iii) it must be a big match ... seen by fans as critical to the season. Last week against Bombers only ticked one of these boxes.