Our Crowds This Year

[Eastdog]

Last year our crowds were quite disappointing eg: 14,000 odd against Fremantle Round 11. This really needs to step up and improve. We have a more favourable fixture in regards to scheduling this year so hopefully we see our crowd numbers rise. It is an interesting period for our club and we need to get as many people through the gates as we can and create a lot of noise.

[boydogs]

We have a favourable fixture in terms of opposition too, particularly early. Hopefully we can get a few wins on the board and generate some excitement

[Eastdog]

We have a favourable fixture in terms of opposition too, particularly early. Hopefully we can get a few wins on the board and generate some excitement

Yep that would huge boost that's for sure.

[Eastdog]

Hoping we get a decent crowd in for our opening home match of the year against West Coast.

[LostDoggy]

Hoping we get a decent crowd in for our opening home match of the year against West Coast.

It depends on how we go in the NAB Challenge I guess.

[Eastdog]

It depends on how we go in the NAB Challenge I guess.

By the way cool signature BornAScragger :D

[Eastdog]

Was a great twilight game today with us having a huge win but one thing that was unfortunate was the crowd today. Definitely can understand it for quite a few with the time slot and all. At least that is the only Sunday twilight game we have in Victoria this year. When we were doing good in the late 2000s we certainly drew the fans in.

[F'scary]

20,000 tonight was ok I thought given the day and the start time, last week's result and the fact we were playing an interstate team.

[Eastdog]

20,000 tonight was ok I thought given the day and the start time, last week's result and the fact we were playing an interstate team.

Yes taking those factors in it was to be expected.

[Ozza]

I can understand the sub-20,000 crowd....just a shame so many missed out on a spectacular show....and Bonti didn't even have to turn it on!

[Eastdog]

Despite only getting 18K in today I thought the passion from the crowd was great.

[GVGjr]

Despite only getting 18K in today I thought the passion from the crowd was great.

Reflection on the standard of the game Easty. 4K more there today would have been vastly better.

[always right]

Seemed very loud....or perhaps the noise was simply the echo in the stadium.

[LostDoggy]

18K is an indictment on our supporters. No good bitching about Friday night games with that turnout.

[GVGjr]

18K is an indictment on our supporters. No good bitching about Friday night games with that turnout.

No wonder we have to look at Ballarat. When perfect conditions, an exciting team and a family friendly time slot can't draw a crowd in excess of 20k against a quality opponent we will just have to look at alternative venues. Freo had a decent share of the crowd as well.

[jeemak]

Has anyone thought about the fact that junior football happens between 9am and 12pm, and as kids keep playing keeps going through to 2pm?

Rep basketball training used to kick off at 10:00am and go for an hour and a half on a Sunday, leaving not a lot of time to do anything else before 2pm.

13:15 on a Sunday is a bullshit timeslot. Just because it isn't a twilight game isn't any excuse to pretend it's reasonable.

[Eastdog]

Has anyone thought about the fact that junior football happens between 9am and 12pm, and as kids keep playing keeps going through to 2pm?

Rep basketball training used to kick off at 10:00am and go for an hour and a half on a Sunday, leaving not a lot of time to do anything else before 2pm.

13:15 on a Sunday is a bullshit timeslot. Just because it isn't a twilight game isn't any excuse to pretend it's reasonable.

For me 2:10pm is the best timeslot. 1:10pm is just a bit too early for me. At the end of the day thats what we get for live football.

[jeemak]

For me 2:10pm is the best timeslot. 1:10pm is just a bit too early for me. At the end of the day thats what we get for live football.

Well Easty, it might be a good research project for you to do for Sunday footy. See which teams get the 13:10 timeslots and see if there's a correlation between them and the pasting teams get about poor attendances and poor tv ratings.

[Ozza]

I can't tell you how out of my mind bored I am with time slot debates.
Football has been played at various time slots outside of 2pm on a Saturday, for 30 years.

[Drunken Bum]

I can't tell you how out of my mind bored I am with time slot debates.
Football has been played at various time slots outside of 2pm on a Saturday, for 30 years.

To be fair though they are not shared equally between all the clubs, pretty sure that is where the debate stems from, i'm sick of it too to be perfectly honest but not as much as i'm sick of getting shafted more often than not with our FIXture, it becomes a self perpetuating cycle where we wont get better timeslots until we get bigger crowds but we struggle to get good crowds with a rubbish FIXture

[jeemak]

I can't tell you how out of my mind bored I am with time slot debates.
Football has been played at various time slots outside of 2pm on a Saturday, for 30 years.

And crowds have fluctuated accordingly.

Why do you think every team in the competition lobbies for 2pm on a Saturday, Friday night or Saturday night?

It's not pure chance that the other timeslots garner lower crowds and exposure.

[Eastdog]

I can't tell you how out of my mind bored I am with time slot debates.
Football has been played at various time slots outside of 2pm on a Saturday, for 30 years.

Yes you do have a point Ozza. I attend most matches when I can regardless of the time slot. Went to the Crows game a few weeks ago and that game was at 4:40pm on a Sunday which most would agree is a bad timeslot. I much prefer today's timeslot to 4:40pm Sunday anyways I think people may not be able to go for various reasons. We have got 40K to Etihad in the past so there is evidence that we can pull crowds. Even though it was against Collingwood Round 1 2010 our home game at Etihad attracted 49K.

[LostDoggy]

Has anyone thought about the fact that junior football happens between 9am and 12pm, and as kids keep playing keeps going through to 2pm?

Rep basketball training used to kick off at 10:00am and go for an hour and a half on a Sunday, leaving not a lot of time to do anything else before 2pm.

13:15 on a Sunday is a bullshit timeslot. Just because it isn't a twilight game isn't any excuse to pretend it's reasonable.

We had two soccer games yesterday morning, one in Avondale Heights and one in Northcote. Daughter got changed into her Doggies gear on the back of my ute.

I agree that Sunday's aren't ideal but if supporters really want the better times, better stadium deals, etc. we have to put in for it.

[BulldogBelle]

Has anyone thought about the fact that junior football happens between 9am and 12pm, and as kids keep playing keeps going through to 2pm?

Rep basketball training used to kick off at 10:00am and go for an hour and a half on a Sunday, leaving not a lot of time to do anything else before 2pm.

13:15 on a Sunday is a bullshit timeslot. Just because it isn't a twilight game isn't any excuse to pretend it's reasonable.

You are spot on with this. My youngest son plays at 10.20am on Sundays. By the time we wrap up with the kids after the game it is after 12. We rushed home changed and got to the footy half way thru the 1st quarter. We also have footy training friday nights which would make getting to friday nights hard.
The my oldest plays in the under 18 Geelong colts comp saturdays at 10am. He does not finsh until after 12 and if the game is in Geelong (all away games) it is hard to get to Saturday games at 2.10.
Then my youngest plays basketball Saturday at about 4pm.
So you see how it can be hard to get to games.

[GVGjr]

I know in the area I go to there were a lot of kids which is why I was surprised on our numbers. Even on the train in and back home there were a good number of parents with kids.
Perhaps we just have to accept that 2pm on a Sunday is the time slot we should be pushing for or maybe the 3.40pm option.

[Ozza]

I know in the area I go to there were a lot of kids which is why I was surprised on our numbers. Even on the train in and back home there were a good number of parents with kids.
Perhaps we just have to accept that 2pm on a Sunday is the time slot we should be pushing for or maybe the 3.40pm option.

That timeslot doesn't exist anymore.
Sunday matches are 1.10, 3.20 and 4.40. Those are the only times Sunday matches have been fixture to be played this season.

[G-Mo77]

Excuses are starting to wear thin with me. Bandwagoners watched last weeks game and saw that we were playing the #1 team this week and didn't bother. I travel over a 3 hour return trip each week to go and watch them play and there are people who can't even bother who live 20 minutes away because of a perceived loss. People have reasons to not go, football isn't #1 priority in life we can all relate to that. What gets up my nose is people who have the attitude of they'll lose or it's not a certain win, don't show up and are all over Facebook, Twitter and forums laying the boots into players, coaches and selectors.

[GVGjr]

That timeslot doesn't exist anymore.
Sunday matches are 1.10, 3.20 and 4.40. Those are the only times Sunday matches have been fixture to be played this season.

Maybe the 3.20pm slot would work well for most families.

[Greystache]

Maybe the 3.20pm slot would work well for most families.

It's also the channel 7 game.

[Ozza]

For me, the argument of timeslots is for the most part a red herring.
I can accept that some people with young kids will choose to not attend the 4.40pm games - so I'll leave that one alone.
But apart from that - the time is not a significant factor in the crowd numbers ON THE WHOLE.

We could go around and around on this forum about how some individuals can't make 1.10, and some can't do Friday nights etc etc. But the discussion is about the overall mass of people, not the individual examples.

[LostDoggy]

Has anyone thought about the fact that junior football happens between 9am and 12pm, and as kids keep playing keeps going through to 2pm?

Rep basketball training used to kick off at 10:00am and go for an hour and a half on a Sunday, leaving not a lot of time to do anything else before 2pm.

13:15 on a Sunday is a bullshit timeslot. Just because it isn't a twilight game isn't any excuse to pretend it's reasonable.


Under 16s starts at 2 makes a 1:15 time slot a little difficult to make.

[ledge]

We also have been playing interstate sides which bring down the crowds.

[LostDoggy]

Excuses are starting to wear thin with me. Bandwagoners watched last weeks game and saw that we were playing the #1 team this week and didn't bother. I travel over a 3 hour return trip each week to go and watch them play and there are people who can't even bother who live 20 minutes away because of a perceived loss. People have reasons to not go, football isn't #1 priority in life we can all relate to that. What gets up my nose is people who have the attitude of they'll lose or it's not a certain win, don't show up and are all over Facebook, Twitter and forums laying the boots into players, coaches and selectors.
Absolutely. If they just don't care as much as us die-hards on WOOF, sure, I can stomach that, but the vitriol on talkback, BigFooty, Facebook and elsewhere tells me they do care, they just don't want to put in their time or money.

We also have been playing interstate sides which bring down the crowds.
I'd rather an interstate side than a stadium full of Essendon or Collingwood. Yeah it's better for revenue and atmosphere but the issue is the same: not enough Dogs fans.

[Maddog37]

Kids junior footy ruled us out this week.

[Twodogs]

Excuses are starting to wear thin with me. Bandwagoners watched last weeks game and saw that we were playing the #1 team this week and didn't bother. I travel over a 3 hour return trip each week to go and watch them play and there are people who can't even bother who live 20 minutes away because of a perceived loss. People have reasons to not go, football isn't #1 priority in life we can all relate to that. What gets up my nose is people who have the attitude of they'll lose or it's not a certain win, don't show up and are all over Facebook, Twitter and forums laying the boots into players, coaches and selectors.

I can't. :D

[Sedat]

Echo Maddog's thoughts - junior sport (on both Saturdays and Sundays) makes it very difficult for parents with kids aged 6-16 to get to a game on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The occasional Friday night match would be nice.

[lemmon]

I've walked down after work the last few weeks to catch the second halves and have been pretty stunned at the crowd figures. Kick to kick is back, kids are in free on a Sunday and food prices are down. I'm not sure what else the AFL can do in terms of crowd experience.

[GVGjr]

I've walked down after work the last few weeks to catch the second halves and have been pretty stunned at the crowd figures. Kick to kick is back, kids are in free on a Sunday and food prices are down. I'm not sure what else the AFL can do in terms of crowd experience.

Food prices, not being able to have a kick on the ground after the game like they can at the VFL and on field results have often been good excuses not to go to games but as you say, the AFL are at least trying to address that.

For what ever reason I tend to think that if they take footy off Foxtel our crowd numbers would grow. Put us into the finals and that would make a huge difference as well.

We all understand that there are a lot of legitimate reasons why families can't get to games but I'd hate to see us like Rugby League that struggle to draw a crowd just because it's so much easier to watch it on the TV.

[hujsh]

Food prices, not being able to have a kick on the ground after the game like they can at the VFL and on field results have often been good excuses not to go to games but as you say, the AFL are at least trying to address that.

For what ever reason I tend to think that if they take footy off Foxtel our crowd numbers would grow. Put us into the finals and that would make a huge difference as well.

We all understand that there are a lot of legitimate reasons why families can't get to games but I'd hate to see us like Rugby League that struggle to draw a crowd just because it's so much easier to watch it on the TV.

We'll never see another of our interestate games again. Certainly not the Darwin games. I love being able to watch every game every week regardless of whether we're on FTA TV

[Remi Moses]

The Sunday start times are just insane, and I have a novel idea .
2pm Sunday afternoon only . No 1.10 or 3.20,or that ghastly 4.40 slot.
Heaven forbid we may even get a Friday night game!
I could envisage our brethren being completely thrown out of routine with a Friday night game.
It's been that long :mad:

[BulldogBelle]

The Sunday start times are just insane, and I have a novel idea .
2pm Sunday afternoon only . No 1.10 or 3.20,or that ghastly 4.40 slot.
Heaven forbid we may even get a Friday night game!
I could envisage our brethren being completely thrown out of routine with a Friday night game.
It's been that long :mad:

Sorry Friday night games are reserved for the teams that play the most exciting and entertaining footy.:confused:

[Eastdog]

Disappointed with the loss obviously but thought despite a crowd of 30,000 our fans at the Ponsford end where I was made a lot of noise. Would love a home match or two at the G.

[Remi Moses]

I thought it was a good turnout yesterday and we had decent support .

[Eastdog]

I hope we can get over 20,000 this Saturday and try and push for 25,000. While twilight is not the best time it is on a Saturday. If we get over 20K then do we make a profit?

[GVGjr]

I hope we can get over 20,000 this Saturday and try and push for 25,000. While twilight is not the best time it is on a Saturday. If we get over 20K then do we make a profit?

The break even point might be a bit higher than 25k. Hard to know what the crowd might be. The day and time slot should suit more people plus there is the added incentive to win against our former players.

[LostDoggy]

It should be a bigger crowd this Saturday , not a great time for families much better for groups , in the context of the season so far and our current ladder position probably the most important game , really need as many people as possible

[bornadog]

There are no excuses for this.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CMDJAMbWEAANEfT.png:large

or are there?

Home games against:



West Coast Eagles


Adelaide Crows


St Kilda


Fremantle


GWS GIANTS


Brisbane Lions


Carlton


Gold Coast SUNS


Collingwood


Port Adelaide


Melbourne

[bornadog]

Contrast the above to Collingwood with 11 games at the MCG this year and only one against an interstate team

[always right]

The club budgeted for 25k on Saturday and I think that is a realistic target for us even when playing interstate teams. This week will be interesting.....30k should be our goal but not sure Melbourne supporters know where Etihad Stadium is.....and it's a 3:20pm timeslot.

Really hope bulldogs supporters turn up. We need to ride the team home these last four rounds.

[1eyedog]

The club budgeted for 25k on Saturday and I think that is a realistic target for us even when playing interstate teams. This week will be interesting.....30k should be our goal but not sure Melbourne supporters know where Etihad Stadium is.....and it's a 3:20pm timeslot.

Really hope bulldogs supporters turn up. We need to ride the team home these last four rounds.

Is this our last home game for the year?

[AndrewP6]

Is this our last home game for the year?

Yes it is

[Murphy'sLore]

I haven't been able to make it to many games this season (family stuff, unavoidable commitment clashes) but we will all be there on Sunday.

[GVGjr]

The club budgeted for 25k on Saturday and I think that is a realistic target for us even when playing interstate teams. This week will be interesting.....30k should be our goal but not sure Melbourne supporters know where Etihad Stadium is.....and it's a 3:20pm timeslot.

Really hope bulldogs supporters turn up. We need to ride the team home these last four rounds.

We've been poor attenders all season, I even think we were outnumbered by Pies supporters when we played them.
Unfortunately I can't see our last home game being much different.

For St Kilda and Melbourne to be clearly ahead in attendances I think says it all.

Now if we get a Melbourne final it will be a different story and tickets will be hard to get.

[Webby]

I think the figures on us are slightly misleading.

We've had the "honour" of hosting West Coast, Freo, Adelaide, GWS, Brisbane, Gold Coast (in 8k capacity Cairns), St Kilda, a decrepit Carlton and (mercifully - gee thanks oh benevolent ones, the AFL) Collingwood.

Contrast that with Clubs who play at the MCG who get 10,000 bonus MCC members lobbing up before they begin, get to host Collingwood, Richmond, Hawthorn, Essendon, Geelong etc. and there's no comparison.

Richmond hosted the season opener blockbuster against Carlton (before their fans realised they were shit!), us on a Saturday, Melbourne (and their hordes of MCC Members), Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon (when they were still drunk on Kool-Aid).

That was 6 from 6 Melbourne clubs (and all of the big ones) in their first 6 home rounds. Not to mention all the Friday night slots they got!

The list of clubs we haven't hosted this year includes Hawthorn, Richmond, Essendon, North, Geelong & Melbourne.
Contrast that with the glut of interstaters above and you tell me which list our accountants would prefer!

[jeemak]

Thanks for going to the effort BAD.

[jeemak]

How do Geelong get off the hook with only 2.3K more supporters on average coming to their home games?

Are their numbers, which have been horribly affected by home games against equivalent drawing teams we've played in home games able to mitigate their poor performance on this front? They recently cried poor because of over indulgence in football department spending, when matched against diminishing returns from membership and subsequent attendances at a ground that has returned seven home games at a clean return.

Imagine their bottom line if they had to deal with the same bullshit we do at Etihad. This is all after one of the best periods of sustained success a football club has ever put together.

The answer is they get off the hook because their local economy is screwed. Geelong is a town in transition and a town that is hurting. The manufacturing base in the west of Melbourne is also being affected by the same malaise. If I was to hazard a guess, our rubbish fixture versus our record membership shows a loyal crowd willing to sign in blood, but not willing to take on the expense to go to a game.

[GVGjr]

How do Geelong get off the hook with only 2.3K more supporters on average coming to their home games?



They flagged this as a concern a while back. They indicated a lot of their members took lesser game packages and this hurt their attendances which is probably a reflection of your point about the Geelong economy being is strife but also that the team isn't as strong as previous seasons.

The points you raise about us are all valid. For us it's a case of a very good membership numbers but below expected attendances. When compared to St Kilda and Melbourne that have performed a bit better than expected on the field and our performance which was a lot better than expected should we really be giving the Saints a 2,500 head start for home games?

My guess is that we pull about 17,000 Bulldog supporters to most home games. The balance are opposition supporters. Home games against more Melbourne teams will help with the numbers but the question is really more about how we turn our 17,000 into 20,000 and beyond.

When Ballarat comes on board it might improve our profit performance but there will be a hit on crowd numbers.

[Hotdog60]

For you guys in Melbourne don't forget to get to the game early and support the girls.

[1eyedog]

How do Geelong get off the hook with only 2.3K more supporters on average coming to their home games?

Are their numbers, which have been horribly affected by home games against equivalent drawing teams we've played in home games able to mitigate their poor performance on this front? They recently cried poor because of over indulgence in football department spending, when matched against diminishing returns from membership and subsequent attendances at a ground that has returned seven home games at a clean return.

Imagine their bottom line if they had to deal with the same bullshit we do at Etihad. This is all after one of the best periods of sustained success a football club has ever put together.

The answer is they get off the hook because their local economy is screwed. Geelong is a town in transition and a town that is hurting. The manufacturing base in the west of Melbourne is also being affected by the same malaise. If I was to hazard a guess, our rubbish fixture versus our record membership shows a loyal crowd willing to sign in blood, but not willing to take on the expense to go to a game.

Excellent post. I don't know how much weight this carries but I was born and raised in Geelong unfortunately and a lot of the Geelong supporters I know have either not renewed their memberships or have and don't go to nearly as many games as they once did. Their rationale was that they have experienced the ultimate success a number of times and there is little need to sit through a number of years as a middle of the road team, which they now are, which gets back to your point about our members signing in blood.

Further, because Geelong traditionally had such far reaching draft rights (particularly out to the west of the city), the broader area has always been seen as a Geelong area and consequently the club has many regional supporters that have either signed up but don't attend anymore due to the distance or simply haven't signed up again and don't attend anymore due to distance (and probably as per the first point I raised have experienced ultimate success and thus no longer have to buy in for the long term).

This sounds like a bit of an oxymoron because you would assume that Premierships mean an increase in membership, but this was not the case with North in 1999, their numbers stagnated badly for 8 years.

When we win our 2 or 3 I wonder how our memberships will track.

[Webby]

North Melbourne have hosted all of Hawthorn, Richmond, Geelong and Essendon so far this year. The only big fish they've missed is Collingwood. They've also only hosted three interstate teams whilst we've hosted ALL OF THEM!

Point is, from a commercial viewpoint, our draw has been an absolute stinker this year. But don't despair, because next year we'll be demanding some big fish at good timeslots. Reason being we're now one of the best teams in the country and certainly the most exciting. Now to get on with winning some finals!

Now

[The Pie Man]

North Melbourne have hosted all of Hawthorn, Richmond, Geelong and Essendon so far this year. The only big fish they've missed is Collingwood. They've also only hosted three interstate teams whilst we've hosted ALL OF THEM!

Point is, from a commercial viewpoint, our draw has been an absolute stinker this year. But don't despair, because next year we'll be demanding some big fish at good timeslots. Reason being we're now one of the best teams in the country and certainly the most exciting. Now to get on with winning some finals!

Now

* If we finish top 6, we'll have to play Freo, West Coast & Sydney twice next year, so we'll have to host all three of them at some stage. Hawthorn & Richmond twice next year too - you'd imagine the AFL would figure these two as Friday night potentials.

Hopefully we get the opening round v Collingwood @ the G as well.

* That's how it works isn't it?

[Axe Man]

* If we finish top 6, we'll have to play Freo, West Coast & Sydney twice next year, so we'll have to host all three of them at some stage. Hawthorn & Richmond twice next year too - you'd imagine the AFL would figure these two as Friday night potentials.

Hopefully we get the opening round v Collingwood @ the G as well.

* That's how it works isn't it?

No, that's not quite right, here's the explanation from the AFL:


The final ladder will be grouped into the top six teams, middle six teams and bottom six teams with regard to better managing the equality of double match-ups for all clubs the following season.

· Sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder will have a minimum of two double-meetings with other top six sides and a maximum of three meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They will have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides in the 7-12 range. They will have either no double meetings or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 13-18.

· Sides ranked 7-12 on the ladder will have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder and a maximum of two meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They will have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of three double-meetings of sides 7-12. They will have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18.

· Sides ranked 13-18 on the ladder will have either no double meeting or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 1-6. They will have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12. They will have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of three double-meetings of sides 13-18.

So if we finish top 6 we will play either 2 or 3 other top 6 teams twice, 1 or 2 7-12 teams twice and 0 or 1 bottom 6 team twice (for a total of 5 teams played twice).

[Hotdog60]

We'll our first game next year will be a home Saturday game at 2.00pm to unfurl the flag.

[boydogs]

Thanks for that Axe Man

[bornadog]

Hawthorn supposedly have over 70,000 members yet when you compare their final last night against the same opponent as ours there was only 10,000 extra fans there.

I think there are lots of Bulldogs fans that have never signed up a membership but when we play finals they come out.

I can't wait till the day we are in the Granny and win and then watch the membership numbers the following year.

I am also predicting our game day numbers will increase next year as long as we continue improving.

[LostDoggy]

Hawthorn supposedly have over 70,000 members yet when you compare their final last night against the same opponent as ours there was only 10,000 extra fans there.

I think there are lots of Bulldogs fans that have never signed up a membership but when we play finals they come out.

I can't wait till the day we are in the Granny and win and then watch the membership numbers the following year.

I am also predicting our game day numbers will increase next year as long as we continue improving.

I'm pretty confident we'll get a sharp spike next year. As well as attracting more fans organically, we'll surely get a more fan friendly draw, more Fri/Sat nights, 1 or 2 big drawing MCG matches etc. In our best ever years, we averaged 35k per match, I reckon we can push towards that figure.