Low Attendance

[Sir Why You Little 36,604]

Hey Gill, turn off the Fu.. music at the End of Each Quarter so i can talk to my mates about the game. Then i may consider going to another live game

THE AFL HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT GAME DAY EXPERIENCE. 

WE GO TO WATCH FOOTY

Bring back the 2’s

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,644]

1 minute ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Hey Gill, turn off the Fu.. music at the End of Each Quarter so i can talk to my mates about the game. Then i may consider going to another live game

THE AFL HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT GAME DAY EXPERIENCE. 

WE GO TO WATCH FOOTY

Bring back the 2’s

I often wonder who's decision it is to play music. Is it the ground manager (ie, the MCC for MCG games), the home team or the AFL? We might be blaming the wrong person.

[Billy 2,461]

12 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Hey Gill, turn off the Fu.. music at the End of Each Quarter so i can talk to my mates about the game. Then i may consider going to another live game

THE AFL HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT GAME DAY EXPERIENCE. 

WE GO TO WATCH FOOTY

Bring back the 2’s

You don’t go to the footy because of the music?

[Sir Why You Little 36,604]

6 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I often wonder who's decision it is to play music. Is it the ground manager (ie, the MCC for MCG games), the home team or the AFL? We might be blaming the wrong person.

It is just ridiculous and wrong 

Chatting about great passages of play or marks with a Thermos Coffee and Biscuits or Beers was part of the game. 
Now i am drowned out by no name music I neither know or care about, FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON!!

Pathetic Management 

“oh but they do it in America”

I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY DO

[Sir Why You Little 36,604]

3 minutes ago, Billy said:

You don’t go to the footy because of the music?

It’s a big reason i prefer to watch at my local bar, yes

[layzie 32,787]

1 hour ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Hey Gill, turn off the Fu.. music at the End of Each Quarter so i can talk to my mates about the game. Then i may consider going to another live game

THE AFL HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT GAME DAY EXPERIENCE. 

WE GO TO WATCH FOOTY

Bring back the 2’s

No venue has any idea about this stuff at the moment. So many places I've been lately blast the audio so loud you can't hear yourself think let alone have a conversation with the person next to you. I'm not a 19 y.o at a nightclub anymore turn it down a notch! 

[Sir Why You Little 36,604]

21 minutes ago, layzie said:

No venue has any idea about this stuff at the moment. So many places I've been lately blast the audio so loud you can't hear yourself think let alone have a conversation with the person next to you. I'm not a 19 y.o at a nightclub anymore turn it down a notch! 

Exactly mate. I find it insulting to the great game. The Final Series during the 70’s and 80’s were regularly 90-100,000 attendances. The crowd made the energy. During the quarter breaks it was a chance to reflect. 
Now you can’t do that. The Quarter Breaks are a chance now to Blast SportsBet adverts and Bad music at max decibels 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Sir Why You Little

[Dr. Gonzo 23,699]

9 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

That's not the biggest issue and the AFL is either being extremely ignorant or disingenuous if they think it is. Head in sand stuff.

[Billy 2,461]

2 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

It’s a big reason i prefer to watch at my local bar, yes

Fair enough 

[old dee 23,486]

I agree and you know I am no big fan of the AFL but trying to fit in all clubs requests would be very difficult. The MFC would be asking for as many games at the G as possible. So for a lower member club with a record of low attendance we end up with crap time slots etc. The AFL I believe are happy to accept low attendance at some games. They make motherhood statements to the contrary but their hearts are not in it. 

[old dee 23,486]

What was the number last night?

[gs77 3,915]

3 minutes ago, old dee said:

What was the number last night?

A touch over 50k, allegedly.

[layzie 32,787]

5 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Exactly mate. I find it insulting to the great game. The Final Series during the 70’s and 80’s were regularly 90-100,000 attendances. The crowd made the energy. During the quarter breaks it was a chance to reflect. 
Now you can’t do that. The Quarter Breaks are a chance now to Blast SportsBet adverts and Bad music at max decibels 

The beauty of AFL footy was that the game alone was the entertainment. It was always the other sports in the world like NRL and basketball that needed that stuff and even music in-game to keep people engaged. 

I filled out the MFC member game days experience survey and at the end I just wrote that while I don't mind MFC's gameday experience compared to other clubs, I'd honestly still be coming if there was no entertainment and I had to BYO snacks. 

[WalkingCivilWar 39,256]

2 minutes ago, layzie said:

I'd honestly still be coming if there was no entertainment and I had to BYO snacks. 

I can’t understand why anyone would buy food at the ground. Not just the queuing up, but the cost. Just bring stuff from home. But maybe I’m just bitter coz the one time I did buy food recently (the jam doughnuts queue was the shortest) I paid $15 for six of them. $15!!! And not big doughnuts, either.
Didn’t help that I dropped the bag and four of them bounced out and instantly became pigeon food. So in effect I paid $15 for two (microscopic) doughnuts. 🫤 End of whinge. Thx. 

[Nascent 8,632]

Two Victorian teams in prime time on friday night, with one club boasting over 80,000 members, could only attract 33k in perfect conditions under roof. Just 2k more than our game vs freo on a thursday night.

[dees189227 12,034]

If you could rock up to the ground & buy a ticket then people will come back.

Yeah agree about the music, sometimes even I think Robbo rambles on a bit much. 

[Kozzie4PM 765]

2 hours ago, Nascent said:

Two Victorian teams in prime time on friday night, with one club boasting over 80,000 members, could only attract 33k in perfect conditions under roof. Just 2k more than our game vs freo on a thursday night.

Pathetic crowd. Puts to bed, yet again, the myth about dees fans not turning up.

[Bates Mate 4,422]

6 hours ago, Kozzie4PM said:

Pathetic crowd. Puts to bed, yet again, the myth about dees fans not turning up.

Judging from the telecast last night id say there where more Essendon fans there or at best 50/50. Saints fans don't turn up . Was Spuds game, team are in the eight and played under a roof against a big Victorian club there would have been expected to beat.

[old dee 23,486]

There are lots of issues re low turn up by fans in 2022. I agree with most expressed here especially the ticket fiasco however I still believe the major factor is being locked out of games for the better part of two years. People discovered watching on TV had lots of advantages. I am probably a great example of this, I always preferred  going to a game however over a enforced two year period when the only way was tv I got used to it. Add in the comfort of home, no travel problems, over paying for a drink etc and now night games in the middle of winter are tv events. Not sure if in the short to medium term this is going to change for a lot of members  like myself. We still buy memberships to support our team but we won’t be dictated to by the AFL about when we will go to a game. I fear the days of members and fans turning up to games no matter what are gone. 

[Kent 2,859]

8 hours ago, dees189227 said:

If you could rock up to the ground & buy a ticket then people will come back.

Yeah agree about the music, sometimes even I think Robbo rambles on a bit much. 

He needs to be pensioned off barely  relevant  appalling noise and no body is interested

[censored] him off please

[WalkingCivilWar 39,256]

2 minutes ago, old dee said:

I fear the days of members and fans turning up to games no matter what are gone. 

…but you can bet your b’s they’ll turn up for finals, OD.
This is what grinds my gears: the fans who choose to not attend H&A games for whatever reason/s are largely the selfsame fans who’d attend a final at 3am on a freezing, blustery Monday, and walk over burning coals to get there, in the snow!

Yes, I know it never snows in the CBD. I’m just making a point. 😶

[old dee 23,486]

1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

…but you can bet your b’s they’ll turn up for finals, OD.
This is what grinds my gears: the fans who choose to not attend H&A games for whatever reason/s are largely the selfsame fans who’d attend a final at 3am on a freezing, blustery Monday, and walk over burning coals to get there, in the snow!

Yes, I know it never snows in the CBD. I’m just making a point. 😶

Two things happen in September fans other then those competing go and it ain't freezing cold like June, July and August. Also if you buy a membership to mostly only watch finals that is your choice, don't get too down on them. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by old dee

[WalkingCivilWar 39,256]

6 minutes ago, old dee said:

Two things happen in September fans other then those competing go and it ain't freezing cold like June, July and August. Also if you buy a membership to mostly only watch finals that is your choice, don't get too down on them. 

LITERALLY fair weather fans 😉 😝

JK. You make a good point about the weather.

But the OP’s poll shows the most common reason for not attending is Covid/getting sick (over 30% of responders). Probs indicative of fans in general.

So come September, assuming the Covid status quo is maintained, these same people won’t hold that fear any longer? Methinks not. 

[old dee 23,486]

6 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

LITERALLY fair weather fans 😉 😝

JK. You make a good point about the weather.

But the OP’s poll shows the most common reason for not attending is Covid/getting sick (over 30% of responders). Probs indicative of fans in general.

So come September, assuming the Covid status quo is maintained, these same people won’t hold that fear any longer? Methinks not. 

I am no longer afraid of covid but I don't go to night games in 90% of cases I am too old now for the cold, night Train travel etc. 

[Macca 16,603]

4 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

…but you can bet your b’s they’ll turn up for finals, OD.
This is what grinds my gears: the fans who choose to not attend H&A games for whatever reason/s are largely the selfsame fans who’d attend a final at 3am on a freezing, blustery Monday, and walk over burning coals to get there, in the snow!

Yes, I know it never snows in the CBD. I’m just making a point. 😶

All clubs have roughly the same proportion of fair weather supporters ... all the rest of it is finger pointing & chest beating.  Related to bragging rights

But I'd say our club has a higher proportion of membership in relation to actual supporter numbers. 

So in my view, we have a lot of members who aren't particularly interested in going to the games.  Older types who don't like the cold, can't stand all the noise, prefer to walk up on the day, don't like the ticketing system, don't like night games, don't like public transport and are covid-shy

We'll get bigger crowds once we have a lot more younger members ... and that might take years to achieve

Despite all that, our numbers stack up quite well against the other clubs

Come finals time, we'll get bigger numbers but so will all the other clubs (I'm assuming we will participate in the finals!)

Edited June 18, 2022 by Macca