Wallaby Ticket Prices

[jay-c]

ok im talkin mainly nsw rugby now
i went to a boarding school in sydney, u know what saturday night consisted of almost every week for about 3 years? movie nights with the occasional school dance>
im sure the schools would supply the buses if the kids got in free> there you have a few thousand well behaved kids who will cheer on the tahs and are likely to become part of their target market within a few years>
and who cares if some people didnt use their free tix? its not like they are being used anyway> at least this way theres a chance people will use those seats
im mainly making the point that what nsw rugby has been doing for the last 10 years hasnt worked> this is just one of a number of possible solutions>
the tahs playing more attractive rugby will help too> i for one am happy to see my team go down fighting if they they turn up on the night and give it a go
the tahs have been ugly winning and ugly losing for years and it hasnt won them trophies
if they make it an entertaining night people will want to go>> the aim would be to phase out the free tix over time

 

[Bruce Ross]

ahh but bruce the unwashed are those buying the merchandise> see ANY nrl game
the unwashed are those that are prepared to scream and yell for their team> drink lots of beer and create an atmosphere
and whats the worst that could happen by filling a stadium? what? people would miss out? could this possibly create more demand?
i think i may have just had the rugby supporter equivalent of discovering plutonium- by accident!
my vision would be to fill the unsold tickets to kids in their final years of school and uni kids for about 5 years... give them a pattern then when they enter he work they will want to continue going to the games>but with more money to spend
first fill the stadiums then try make some money off it> sydney does not have the population to justify going just for the elite crowd

You may or may not be surprised to learn that I agree with the points you raise here, jay-c. My previous comment related only to the spend on food and drinks. Sales of team merchandise are important not just because of the revenue raised but also in building people's identification with the team.

Filling empty seats with school kids makes a lot of sense. It appears to be already done to a very limited extent. Allied to this should be a pricing policy designed to make it much cheaper for people to attend, ideally through market segmentation along the lines that Richo suggests is the policy used in the US. And offering patrons a meat (?) pie and chips as a meal on a night out demonstrates an attitude of contempt not only on the part of the caterers but also the stadium owners.

 

[jay-c]

reading my comment again it sounds a bit cheeky>
the dig at filling the stadium wasnt aimed at anyone in particular... unless whoever is reading this is involved in the marketing of nswru

 

[Rob42]

And offering patrons a meat (?) pie and chips as a meal on a night out demonstrates an attitude of contempt not only on the part of the caterers but also the stadium owners.

Sadly all the big stadiums (stadia? I'll check with the Fuse) in Australia were built or planned before "boutique" type stadiums became popular for baseball in the US. Those teams needs to attract fans for ~80 home games a year, each 3-4 boring hours long, so now they've hit on the idea of providing an enjoyable experience for fans in terms of good food, good drink, good seats, a well-located "precinct" rather than a soul-less concrete bowl. They've been very successful, unsurprisingly.

Much nicer than the "get in, sit down, get out" attitude for big stadiums in Australia.

 

[Richo]

Sadly all the big stadiums (stadia? I'll check with the Fuse) in Australia were built or planned before "boutique" type stadiums became popular for baseball in the US. Those teams needs to attract fans for ~80 home games a year, each 3-4 boring hours long, so now they've hit on the idea of providing an enjoyable experience for fans in terms of good food, good drink, good seats, a well-located "precinct" rather than a soul-less concrete bowl. They've been very successful, unsurprisingly.

Much nicer than the "get in, sit down, get out" attitude for big stadiums in Australia.

An NFL team uses its stadium for the same number of games as a rugby team - 8. For baseball it's 81 games, for the NBA and NHL it's 41 games. Stadiums are purpose-built -- with basketball and ice hockey often sharing because they need roughly the same amount of floor space. With the exception of the NFL (which despite being a 16-game season is easily the most lucrative sport in America), most stadiums have a lot of opportunity to see return on investment. While it would be hard to match those numbers, rugby and league teams could join forces and do well.

I don't know that the boredom of baseball is responsible at all. We have cricket, after all, and haven't managed to get it right. I think a big factor is that American instinct to marketize effectively combined with a far superior understanding of what punters want from a night at a game. For example, I almost always go out for dinner before or after the rugby -- if I could get a good feed at the SFS that wouldn't happen.

 

[Travi34]

An NFL team uses its stadium for the same number of games as a rugby team - 8. For baseball it's 81 games, for the NBA and NHL it's 41 games. Stadiums are purpose-built -- with basketball and ice hockey often sharing because they need roughly the same amount of floor space. With the exception of the NFL (which despite being a 16-game season is easily the most lucrative sport in America), most stadiums have a lot of opportunity to see return on investment. While it would be hard to match those numbers, rugby and league teams could join forces and do well.

The following is obviously by a biased Melbournian...

See AAMI Park, Australia (and Le Fuse's) premo stadium. Shared between 2 soccer, a league and a Union team. Great seats wherever you sit, reasonably priced, beer/food close enough - with extra beer "stands" able to be set up if full to the brim. only problem is the 35K max crowd...

Big question is why is there no Wallaby game in Melbourne this year?

Why would you bring Rugby to Melbourne have a ridiculously good year on and off field (bar Cipriani - s'cuse the pun) and not give them a Test of any kind?
Understandably you cant predict on-field success, or that you will consistently get more rock up at a Rebels game than Brumbies or Tahs games (Tahs fans who boo not included in count)... but to build the sport in Melbourne surely a Wallaby game, even against Samoa, or a Trial against Barbarians or something!!!

It's not like Melbourne doenst have enough stadiums, or big enough stadiums. Have a look at 1998 Bledisloe in Melb..(92,000) or even last year at "Tiny" Etihad which filled 51,000+ into it. This is at not so cheap prices as well...

If the ARU is looking for money, take it from the AFL homeland, people rock up in droves to watch sport here... and if people from Bris, or Syd come to Melb to watch a game, they'll have a good night out on the town after, not like Sydders that closes at 1am (or whenever it does)

Why ARU??? Why????

 

[barbarian]

Well the ARU only have three games to play with this season. One has to be in Brisbane, and one in Sydney. The question is where do you put the third, the game vs Samoa. They clearly had a toss-up between taking it to either Perth or Melbourne, or putting it on a Sunday arvo in Sydney or Brisbane and making it a 'family day'. Both options have their pro's and con's, and I think both would be great for the health of the game. In the end they chose the family day. Fair choice, Melbourne are a bit unlucky though.

 

[Rob42]

Melbourne has definitely earned themselves a Wallaby test with their efforts this year.

 

[Scotty]

Give away too many free tickets and you risk 'de-valuing' the experience. Why would anyone want to go and buy tickets at premium prices for wallaby games if a bunch of school kids are sitting next to them for free?

Heavily discounted tickets for students and pensioners are much better.

 

[matty_k]

Big question is why is there no Wallaby game in Melbourne this year?

This years games would have been planned ages ago.

 

[TOCC]

The Melbourne Rugby fans have put in a good showing in 2011, but i think the ARU feel as though they have 'wetted' the Victorian rugby appetite enough with the inclusion of the Rebels in 2011..

I think somewhere like the Gold Coast should be tested for a game like the Samoa test.