General interest in the Swans in Sydney

[Gezball]

Irrespective of the fox footy figures -which are not broken up by state - being healthy (240k), I think the free to air figures for Sydney (46k) were disappointing.

What they don't indicate is that many people were thinking "it's too hard to get to the SCG so I'll watch it at home instead".

Maybe the unfortunate reality is that the swans will always be very much on the fringe in Sydney.

Did the SOO game on Wednesday night perhaps take some air out of potential promotion / awareness of the swans/Geelong game? Or do Sydneysiders think it wouldn't have been much different if the SOO game hadn't been played the night before?

Its been interesting to read people's comments about general interest around their workplaces, friends etc.

[Zlatorog]

Let's be clear about it. C7 didn't advertise the game a lot in Sydney and that is probably the biggest problem. No, matter what the club does they don't receive much media coverage in NSW that they deserve. To be honest C7 in Sydney has more coverage in their news about NRL than AFL and they paid for exclusive rights to show AFL games in the country. Go figure.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Fantastic story on Swans supporter Nell Cooper in today's Age.

Nell is an old friend of my nans, they were on channel 7 during grand final week 2012 and 2005 , they did a special on them.

[Matt80]

Irrespective of the fox footy figures -which are not broken up by state - being healthy (240k), I think the free to air figures for Sydney (46k) were disappointing.

What they don't indicate is that many people were thinking "it's too hard to get to the SCG so I'll watch it at home instead".

Maybe the unfortunate reality is that the swans will always be very much on the fringe in Sydney.

Did the SOO game on Wednesday night perhaps take some air out of potential promotion / awareness of the swans/Geelong game? Or do Sydneysiders think it wouldn't have been much different if the SOO game hadn't been played the night before?

Its been interesting to read people's comments about general interest around their workplaces, friends etc.

The Swans may be on the fringes in Sydney but that suits the players. They love their privacy. Most people would think that Tippett is a Rugby second rower.

If the Swans players lose their privacy, then the Swans will lose a key selling point.

[Swansinger]

Some conversations I've had over the years indicate awareness , but not rabid support.
Saw people in March wearing Swans shirts around the beaches and asked "So you're going to the Collingwood game?" Not one person said they would go.

But , is that much different from the NRL ? Not too many in Sydney seem that keen on League, either .
Melbourne is different ,though.
It is very rare I speak to anybody from Victoria - even if they don't attend regularly - who does not support an AFL club.

Here are the attendances for our code :

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/attendances

And for Rugby League , last season :

http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/sport/nrl/news/2014/3/nrl-membership-crowd-numbers-2014/

The best-supported team in the NRL , Brisbane , have crowd figures that would get them no higher than 12th in the AFL attendances rankings.

The hackneyed "Sydney is a LEAGUE town , mate ! " may be culturally correct , but it is not really borne out by the average NRL crowd numbers.
If I point out the superior attendances numbers for the Swans vs any NRL team, the standard retort is that it's because there are far more NRL clubs than AFL clubs in Sydney.
There is some truth in that , but it fails to explain why , based on crowds , AFL is far more popular , nationally.
Only reason I can suggest is: it's the greatest game on Earth !

[Danzar]

Difficult to say. Attention in the media never seems to change much (match report, that's it), unless it's a Buddy headline. I haven't really noticed anyone suddenly talking about the Swans who did not before. Maybe a few new faces at the SCG, as much due to the new stands as anything else.

Assuming that home crowd numbers are some sort of guide to "general interest", they're on the rise. It's fun to look at the ebbs and flows on this chart and think about what happened in those years.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1025[/ATTACH]

Here's what I find strange. After the 96 and 2006 grand finals, you can see we had a substantial crowd spike. Not so after 2005 and 2013. Any thoughts on why?

[Mug Punter]

I think the average Sydneysider wasn't as aware about the game on Thursday night because their primary focus is usually on NEAFL games.

Yes, my office at work was abuzz yesterday about the Sydney Uni v Aspley game

[Mug Punter]

For those who live in Sydney, what kind of general interest do you think the city has in the swans at the moment?

We got a good crowd against the Cats (37k) however the free to air TV ratings for the game was only 46k which is pretty low, especially considering there was no NRL game up against it.

Beyond our core of rusted on fans, is there much awareness / interest these days?

From afar it seems that the interest is less than during the Plugger era and '05-06 era.

Any thoughts?

It is a constant battle but I think a sellout against Port will get the bandwagon rolling.

Sydney is such a fickle market and I think the reality is that we will always have a large number of supporters of a casual nature

[neilfws]

Here's what I find strange. After the 96 and 2006 grand finals, you can see we had a substantial crowd spike. Not so after 2005 and 2013. Any thoughts on why?

There's certainly a big spike following 1996. Post-2005 is interesting; the median crowd (50% of games had that crowd or less) rises in 2006, but then drops right down in 2007. You can also see that in 2007, the median line is way down at the bottom of the box. That's because the data are skewed by big crowds at ANZ. The 3 ANZ games in 2007 all pulled in more than 60000, whereas the SCG games were all around the usual 25000 or so.

I think we're seeing a steady and less-skewed rise post-2012; 2014 is of course incomplete just now.

[Zlatorog]

What people also need to understand is that the cost of tickets and memberships had gone up and it's probably one of the most expensive in the country. If somebody has any stats they might compare the price rise of the tickets with the attendance drop. They might match.

[stellation]

Here's what I find strange. After the 96 and 2006 grand finals, you can see we had a substantial crowd spike. Not so after 2005 and 2013. Any thoughts on why?

We've managed to luck into SCG redevelopments falling smack bang around both of our premierships, with significantly limited capacity for any potential new fans (or at least new game attendees) to regularly trot along to.

[Gezball]

What people also need to understand is that the cost of tickets and memberships had gone up and it's probably one of the most expensive in the country. If somebody has any stats they might compare the price rise of the tickets with the attendance drop. They might match.

That's a good point. When I last lived in Sydney -in the late 90's - it was quite cheap to go the footy. Often the general admin tix included public transport. Now it seems a lot more expensive.