GA and the Russians

[pjennings]

Without repeating my post on the previous page ... the answer lies in the crowd we get .. assume $ 20.00 a ticket ... 50, 000 tickets equals a million plus the extra sale of shirts etc... so say 1.1 million...

With 16 home game if we count ACL matches that ... 50, 000 / 16 = 3, 125 extra people tho the gate per match and we are sweet as... how do we grow our crowd from 9.5 K to 12.75 K...

That part is simple.

1) We only have to win the right to host the Grand Final
2) FFA has to allow us to host the Grand Final
3) We need a fine day for the Grand Final
4) We pack the stadium, a live site opposite in Leagues Club park, carnival and food stores on the waterfront.
5) We win the Grand Final.

If you have somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 in the precinct at a winning Grand Final I can see crowds of 13,000 next year becoming commonplace and larger crowds for the derbies.

Okay ... it isn't simple.

 

[adz]

On boosting the crowds to bring in more money, one thing I noticed looking through the Collingwood annual report was the percentage of income from matches was a pretty low percentage, despite having an average crowd of about 60,000.

Figures from 2010:

Social club and gaming ............... $20,756,542 (28%)
Marketing and sponsorship ............ $21,139,732 (28%)
Membership ........................... $11,769,403 (16%)
AFL distributions and match returns .. $16,167,955 (22%)
Pie in the Sky Travel ................ $ 5,006,456 (7%)
Other .................................. $ 354,034 (0%)
Total revenue ........................ $75,194,122

I couldn't find AFL distributions for 2011, but found Collingwood received $10,291,860 in 2010, leaving $5,876,095 from match returns, or approx 8% of total revenue.
"Pie in the Sky Travel is Collingwood Football Club's official travel agency"

The main ones for me are sponsorship and membership, and these are the areas that the Mariners seem to not really give a toss about. I'm sure we've all heard stories about sponsors being neglected, and we all know first hand how the members get shafted every season, and that's a shame because they could be making big money in these areas.

Their plan appears to be chase the big fish and get them to pump dollars in and get (???) in return?

 

[dibo]

The problem with sponsors is that you have to service them. That doesn't come for free, and so for a $100k sponsorship you're going to spend a fair whack of money on servicing. That also means you need significant resources that aren't already directed at other things. If you don't have the resources to service the sponsors (or if your sponsors expect more than they're really entitled to for a given spend... just spitballing...) then it's almost not worth doing.

 

[bikinigirl]

... how do we grow our crowd from 9.5 K to 12.75 K...

. i think all they need to do is sell two lots of tickets to each match ... one labelled/marketted as a football match; the other labelled/marketted as a rugby league match - that should improve the crowd numbers (might only work once though )

. heard on the radio today ... and still can't really understand it - apparently there were 17.5k at the 'tongue last night to watch a bunch of big blokes ruin our pitch. 17.5k!

 

[Atomic]

. i think all they need to do is sell two lots of tickets to each match ... one labelled/marketted as a football match; the other labelled/marketted as a rugby league match - that should improve the crowd numbers (might only work once though )

. heard on the radio today ... and still can't really understand it - apparently there were 17.5k at the 'tongue last night to watch a bunch of big blokes ruin our pitch. 17.5k!

It's pretty easy to understand... The Central Coast is a rugby league heartland. Until that is understood by everyone that supports the Mariners, you'll continue to bang your head against a brick wall.

Like it or not, there is no wide spread knowlege or appreciation of any football heritage on the Coast. Speaking in VERY broad terms to illustrate my point, football has only existed for 7 years on the Coast. RL has existed for over 100 years. People think when they compare RL with football on the Central Coast, that they're comparing apples with apples... It's just not the case.

To further illustrate my point, look at pjennings last post at the top of the page. His idea of increasing crowd numbers revolves around the Grand Final. The football die-hards, purists and tragics bleat on about the Premiership being THE most important trophy... but if you want to win the hearts and minds of the Central Coast, it is the Grand Final win that will succeed Why? BEACAUSE THIS REGION IS A RUGBY LEAGUE REGION, and GF wins are what the average joe on the street can relate to.

Simple.

 

[dibo]

It might be a rugby league region, but people send their kids to the local football club rather than rugby league club.

 

[pjennings]

This area is not a rugby league heartland!!!

This area is a heartland for people that have moved here with previous NRL allegiances.

If you have the Tigers, Parra, Souths or Saints playing you will get a big crowd. Equally, if you have Penrith, Cronulla, Nth Qld, Warriors, Storm, Rossters or Canberra you will get a small crowd.

The remainder of the teams will pull an average crowd.

 

[true believer]

. i think all they need to do is sell two lots of tickets to each match ... one labelled/marketted as a football match; the other labelled/marketted as a rugby league match - that should improve the crowd numbers (might only work once though )

. heard on the radio today ... and still can't really understand it - apparently there were 17.5k at the 'tongue last night to watch a bunch of big blokes ruin our pitch. 17.5k!

yeah, i was one of them. my boy wants to know when we can see another game.
his mates all follow league. it was a great game.

 

[true believer]

It might be a rugby league region, but people send their kids to the local football club rather than rugby league club.

they always have .but the phyiscally superior kids always played league expect for the ski's and papadopolis

 

[Atomic]

This area is not a rugby league heartland!!!

This area is a heartland for people that have moved here with previous NRL allegiances.

If you have the Tigers, Parra, Souths or Saints playing you will get a big crowd. Equally, if you have Penrith, Cronulla, Nth Qld, Warriors, Storm, Rossters or Canberra you will get a small crowd.

The remainder of the teams will pull an average crowd.

Ha, ha, ha... what ever.

I knew no matter how I phrased it there would be some pedantic so-and-so that would have a go. 3 exclamation marks after your opening statement? Suggests you vehemently disagree. Personally, I don't think I'm too far off the mark.

 

[Atomic]

It might be a rugby league region, but people send their kids to the local football club rather than rugby league club.

Why's that? Because the parents believe that football is a better game or is it because it's a safer game?

Do the kids buy into the football scene or do they talk about their favourite NRL team when they are mucking around at training?

You kind of hit in the point I was trying to make. The kids have only had 7 years of players to idolise at the Mariners whereas their parents and grandparents have spent decades idolising their rugby league heroes. Kids look up to their parents, they want to be like them. When dad gets fired up over a Tigers - Sea Eagles match, what effect do you think it will have on their child?

It will take time before football becomes more entrenched in the peoples psyche than the NRL. 7 years isn't long enough. I think there are too many people on here that are expecting miracles and expecting football to drive the NRL out of town. It's not going to happen anytime soon and the sooner we accept that, the better.

 

[dibo]

Agree with all that.

 

[pjennings]

Ha, ha, ha... what ever.

I knew no matter how I phrased it there would be some pedantic so-and-so that would have a go. 3 exclamation marks after your opening statement? Suggests you vehemently disagree. Personally, I don't think I'm too far off the mark.

West Tigers average 19,111 at BlueTongue over the years - I've been at many of the games. Cronulla average 9,826 - I don't think I'm far off the mark.

That said - please fell to keep posting - I always like seeing Mariana smile at me.

You kind of hit in the point I was trying to make. The kids have only had 7 years of players to idolise at the Mariners whereas their parents and grandparents have spent decades idolising their rugby league heroes.

...

It will take time before football becomes more entrenched in the peoples psyche than the NRL. 7 years isn't long enough. I think there are too many people on here that are expecting miracles and expecting football to drive the NRL out of town. It's not going to happen anytime soon and the sooner we accept that, the better.

This I agree with and the bolded part was the point that I was trying to make. People aren't simply pro-NRL - they are following long held allegiances. That's why the sides like the Tigers, Souths, St George and Parra draw so well.

TBH - if the Bears did get into the NRL I think that there would be plenty of under 10,000 against the lesser teams and plenty of sellouts or near sellouts against teams like the Tigers, Souths, St George and Parra.

 

[bikinigirl]

. oh shit ... i'm sorry people, didn't mean to start another RL debate. i know all the arguments and understand the thinking behind it all

. i was simply surprised to hear the numbers, on a friday night, for two out-of-town teams

. one thing i will say is that i think football (soccer) is far better to watch live than RL because it is more dimensional

 

[krusty]

we should play a double header play league first then followed by a mariners game might convert a few fans

 

[dibo]

Think about that for a moment, and then tell us the reasons why that won't work.

 

[Nathan Byrn]

Think about that for a moment, and then tell us the reasons why that won't work.

May take a few moments...

 

[Nathan Byrn]

Nothing new, all well known (like Lowie's interest in SFC).
Although I now thought his Mariners shares were now held by his wife.

I meant the other links I attached.
The article mentions a few points that if you then reference the links, have some gravity. Rather than summarise, take a look.

 

[midfielder]

All other issues aside ... how do we increase our crowd by a third ... and if we have a slack year how do maintain that level of interest...

As for RL heartland stuff ....... HHHHHHHMMMMMMM maybe ... BUT being on Ch 9, and with daily news on TV, Radio and maybe 100 pages weekly in the TerrOR helps a little as well ... add many of the fans travel from Sydney ...

But all of this is outside our control... what we do have is 15, 000 players up from 10, 000 when the Mariners first arrived [I have read these figures so correct if wrong] with RL player numbers falling [again what I have read] ....

BUT we have 15, 000 park players, plus their extended families, the common factor used 6 [no idea how 6 was arrived at] made up of Mum, Dad, brothers, sisters, grand parents, cousins and close friends... meaning 15, 000 * 6 is 90, 000 locals involved or knowing someone involved in some way with football...

My experience is after a match I am often asked what the score was by locals who see me in a Mariner shirt... I often feel like saying why don't you come and watch you obviously feel the Mariners represent the CC...

It is a paradox that at park level the game can be so well received and yet at the professional level the support falls away... While the Socceroos are considered by many as Australia's main sporting team...

So I repeat my original question how can we grow the crowd.... I guess the problem is A-League wide as well not restricted to the CC... however unlike most A-League teams we are part of a an area we can define and manage unlike SFC were the number of park teams is so great to touch and feel is almost impossible ...

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I meant the other links I attached.
The article mentions a few points that if you then reference the links, have some gravity. Rather than summarise, take a look.

Terror muck raking.

May be a hint of truth, but suggest their sources are probably Fraser and Jabba, with a touch of Tinkler having a lash.