Low Attendance

[Dr. Gonzo 22,415]

15 hours ago, deanox said:

It was only 700 behind the highest crowd for the round (Carlton v north). So maybe ask a different question:

"What is the AFL going to do about lackluster crowds?"

This isn't an MFC issue.

 

 

For context, all year we have been the 2nd or 3rd most attended game of the round, except for the GWS game (no surprises). Again this shows we are actually doing pretty well.

In round 7 we were the 3rd highest crowd (only 5 ppl off being the 2nd).

In round 6, the 2nd highest crowd.

Round 5, we were very low, vs GWS though.

Round 4, away in Adelaide.

Round 3, 3rd highest (pies v cats and blues v hawks were bigger)

Round 2, away in Gold Coast.

Round 1, 2nd highest for the round.

 

 

I'm not sure why people think success means we magic 80k potential attendees over night.

 

This is a furphy. If Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton etc were coming off a flag and undefeated and we were meandering around the middle-bottom of the ladder we would not be looking at the same numbers. You are not comparing apples with apples, we are coming off a drought-breaking flag and sitting on top of the ladder undefeated. Our crowds realtive to club's like Essendon are irrelevant. It is a continual poor turnout from Melbourne supporters who had the excuse of night games, week night games, Easter holiday. Those excuses were not there Saturday so where was everyone? We would've been lucky to have had 25k of the 40k there.

[Kozzie4PM 765]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

This is a furphy. If Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton etc were coming off a flag and undefeated and we were meandering around the middle-bottom of the ladder we would not be looking at the same numbers. You are not comparing apples with apples, we are coming off a drought-breaking flag and sitting on top of the ladder undefeated. Our crowds realtive to club's like Essendon are irrelevant. It is a continual poor turnout from Melbourne supporters who had the excuse of night games, week night games, Easter holiday. Those excuses were not there Saturday so where was everyone? We would've been lucky to have had 25k of the 40k there.

Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon have literally 4-5 times as many supporters as us.

[58er 5,608]

2 hours ago, Grimes Times said:

Seems 39K was bang on ave crowd for both teams.  Nothing lackluster about it.

2021 - Haw - Away 36K

2019 - Haw - Home 40K

2018 - Haw - Away 42K

2017 - Haw -Home 38K

2016 - Haw - Away 41K, Home 38K

Highest Home game against Haw since 1997 46K

what

El Diablo Your analogy of ground capacity is irrelevant. Vary rarely if ever is Marvel capacity threatened as elite match ups snd top clubs games are drawn at the G. 

In actual fact if Sat nights game was played at Marvel about 25/27 would have attended. Both Clubs supporters favour the G demonstrably as do Even Tigers and Pies fans. 

I am a little disappointed that our crowds for games overall seem to be about 5/10,000 light on a real increase due to our success. That's US our membership and supporters not OPPOSITION in my opinion.

Two observations are the MCC has not been near full yet according to a poster earlier in this dialogue bookings are high in reserving ahead. As I don't know of the  conditions of these bookings it looks as though it's the same with our Cotories  groups Roth Level 2 not full but sold out for the season in the Olympic and Warne Stands. 

MCC should  be looking at their on day turn ups and leave a greater area for roll ups on the day. They die may be cast it looks like for this season here. 

Some of Our fans have too much money and a different priority set it appears. I admire their monetary commitment but empty seats won't occur on QB hopefully or our last two Home games in Rounds 21 and 22 vs Pies and Blues,

BTW Covid should be at the lower end of the scale now as ticket bookings issues and I bet all the MCC and our Coterie groups will be expecting and gung ho to attend the Finals. 

[ElDiablo14 3,053]

1 hour ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

39,000 was a good solid crowd for a 4:35 twilight game against a rebuilding side.

We may be getting past the COVID hesitant era.

If Carlton are still in the hunt in round 22, that could be a massive pay day for us. Maybe 60,000 provided it's not a twilight game.

So what's the preference of the majority of our members and supporters? I have read people complaining about night time games and asking for more twilight/arvo games (can't see the club not wanting to be in the prime time slots)

[titan_uranus 22,344]

I continue to believe MFC supporters just aren't used to night games.

We've spent the majority of our supporting lives attending games at 1.10pm, 1.45pm, 2.10pm or 3.20pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Even a Saturday twilight game at the MCG is uncommon, let alone Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (we've had games on all five of those timeslots).

Of course, our first day game for the year is this weekend on Mother's Day, which doesn't help. Our next two MCG home games are a Saturday twilight game and a Saturday night, so we won't get to test my theory for a while yet.

Whilst night time and prime time games are what the club wants from a marketing/sponsorship perspective, I reckon if the club polled its members it would find that, for attendance purposes, members would be asking for day games.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,151]

40 minutes ago, titan_uranus said:

Of course, our first day game for the year is this weekend on Mother's Day, which doesn't help. Our next two MCG home games are a Saturday twilight game and a Saturday night, so we won't get to test my theory for a while yet.

Looking at the remaining home game schedule there is a possibility we could have just one or even no more day games after St Kilda.

The Port game is in Alice so it's irrelevant, and I'm sure at least one of the Collingwood and Carlton games will be at night. 

[DubDee 20,575]

So who is coming on Sunday?

I just arranged to go to the game with my mum.  I will do something with the kids/wife that morning.

Finally an afternoon game, should be cracking clash too with the Saints fast attacking play

[ex52k2 231]

Not exactly about crowd numbers, but I have noticed more very young supporters in DEES jumpers at games. Not surprising, but a lot of hawk adults had young kids in tow with Demons gear on.

Are we now appealing to the very young fans now?

[WalkingCivilWar 31,433]

3 hours ago, DubDee said:

So who is coming on Sunday?

I just arranged to go to the game with my mum.  I will do something with the kids/wife that morning.

Finally an afternoon game, should be cracking clash too with the Saints fast attacking play

🙋‍♀️
I’ll be there. It’s just another Sunday. We don’t do Mother’s Day at mine. I’m blessed - my boys treat me awesomely every day of the year, not just when ‘Hallmark’ dictates.  

[640MD 2,794]

If we get 20,000 I would be surprised 

crap time, no TV , no exposure to our name, club or sponsors 

crap treatment to the premiers.

we should not lose to the saints they had a very hard game. 
pick fit fast players. Run away after half time AS Per Usuall

[DubDee 20,575]

7 minutes ago, 640MD said:

If we get 20,000 I would be surprised 

crap time, no TV , no exposure to our name, club or sponsors 

crap treatment to the premiers.

we should not lose to the saints they had a very hard game. 
pick fit fast players. Run away after half time AS Per Usuall

Mate, It’s our first arvo day game. We’ve had night games and a twilight. What time slots do you want?

I can’t wait for a day game. Bringing the boy along

[Dr. Gonzo 22,415]

5 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

I continue to believe MFC supporters just aren't used to night games.

We've spent the majority of our supporting lives attending games at 1.10pm, 1.45pm, 2.10pm or 3.20pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Even a Saturday twilight game at the MCG is uncommon, let alone Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (we've had games on all five of those timeslots).

Of course, our first day game for the year is this weekend on Mother's Day, which doesn't help. Our next two MCG home games are a Saturday twilight game and a Saturday night, so we won't get to test my theory for a while yet.

Whilst night time and prime time games are what the club wants from a marketing/sponsorship perspective, I reckon if the club polled its members it would find that, for attendance purposes, members would be asking for day games.

Hopefully they remember their priorities down the track when the team isn't travelling well and we have to go cap in hand to the AFL again. Fact is we're not competing with suburban club's anymore it's a national comp with financial behemoths, club's that sell out 60k stadiums with reserved seating and waitlists on their season tickets.

[deanox 8,582]

8 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

This is a furphy. If Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton etc were coming off a flag and undefeated and we were meandering around the middle-bottom of the ladder we would not be looking at the same numbers. You are not comparing apples with apples, we are coming off a drought-breaking flag and sitting on top of the ladder undefeated. Our crowds realtive to club's like Essendon are irrelevant. It is a continual poor turnout from Melbourne supporters who had the excuse of night games, week night games, Easter holiday. Those excuses were not there Saturday so where was everyone? We would've been lucky to have had 25k of the 40k there.

Our crowds relative to everyone else are relevant insomuch as they allow us to compare apples with apples: crowds in 2022.

 

I have just told you that we are currently exceeding our best ever season average, outside of '61-64. So apples v apples says this is the best Melbourne supports have ever done.

 

In 2016 we averaged 31k per home game, this year it's 41k per game. So Melbourne supporters are turning up lots more than previously.

In 2016 we had the 11th highest average home crowd in the comp, this year we are 4th highest. This shows that our improvement outstrips the other clubs, so it isn't just natural increase with time.

 

Would you only be happy if we were first? Because we won't be. Probably never, but at best not for decades until we build the support.

[praha 10,270]

Bit of hysteria in this thread.

Prior to our GWS game we were averaging 50k for home games. Even after that poor turnout of 20k it was still a 41k average, good enough for second behind Carlton.

Currently across home and away we are 7th behind Tigers, Blues, Magpies, Bombers and Hawks. We have a better home average than Collingwood (although they've admittedly had home games against GC WC and Adelaide) and have 40k average, same as Essendon, who have a 84k ANZAC Day home game in their pocket.

Personally I feel like our own supporter turnout has been about the same as past years...internally the club must be a bit frustrated at that. But I wouldn't say our crowds have been bad.

An Essendon supporter friend of mine said it was the first time he felt that Essendon had as many supporters in MCC as Melbourne. Normally he says we have about double. Either more Essendon supporters showed up than usual or MCC is letting us down.

As someone that sits in the AFL Members, the turnout there is probably the lowest I can remember, probably not since 2008/2009. At the GWS game I reckon there was maybe 300 AFL Members there. Looking into the MCC, it doesn't look as full as it used to.

BUT club members GA and Southern Stand GA is busier than it has been in past years. I definitely feel like MCC and AFL Members are the ones keeping crowds below where we expect them to be.

As an AFL member the way we have been treated not just the past two years but the past decade has been shocking. The facilities are [censored] poor, ticketing is ridiculous and prices keep going up. During COVID it reached peak levels and I honestly think some fans are just sick of it. I can't speak for the MCC but I suspect it may be similar. I pay 700 a year which is discounted this year and yeah I am pretty much guaranteed a Grand Final ticket but the "experience" is just decisively average. 

In summary, crowds and growth might be below what we'd expect after a flag, but COVID has shined a light on how uninspiring the league has become from a fan experience perspective. They've just expected fans to return to the same pre-2020 product without realising that many have enjoyed football from home for two years, all the while actually presenting a *worse* product. Given that I'd say it's a miracle crowds are even what they are. And evidently, Melbourne and Carlton supporters are rocking up to home games more than any other team's supporters.

 

 

[WalkingCivilWar 31,433]

21 minutes ago, deanox said:

I have just told you that we are currently exceeding our best ever season average, 

 

In 2016 we averaged 31k per home game, this year it's 41k per game. So Melbourne supporters are turning up lots more than previously.

In 2016 we had the 11th highest average home crowd in the comp, this year we are 4th highest. 

Of course these numbers have risen. That’s what happens when a team wins a PREMIERSHIP.
It’s more about by HOW MUCH they’ve risen.

There’s no room for complacency. Why bust a gut to sign up new members when many of the current members don’t show up. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by WalkingCivilWar

[Wodjathefirst 2,275]

8 hours ago, Kozzie4PM said:

Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon have literally 4-5 times as many supporters as us.

But collectively their IQ is still lower than ours. Go figure!😉

Edited May 2, 2022 by Wodjathefirst
Typo!!

[Dr. Gonzo 22,415]

49 minutes ago, deanox said:

Our crowds relative to everyone else are relevant insomuch as they allow us to compare apples with apples: crowds in 2022.

 

I have just told you that we are currently exceeding our best ever season average, outside of '61-64. So apples v apples says this is the best Melbourne supports have ever done.

 

In 2016 we averaged 31k per home game, this year it's 41k per game. So Melbourne supporters are turning up lots more than previously.

In 2016 we had the 11th highest average home crowd in the comp, this year we are 4th highest. This shows that our improvement outstrips the other clubs, so it isn't just natural increase with time.

 

Would you only be happy if we were first? Because we won't be. Probably never, but at best not for decades until we build the support.

It's not about how we are tracking relative to other teams. I don't care if we're first, seventh or thirteenth.

WA has just allowed 100% capacity this week after starting the season at 50% capacity. Once that takes effect those club's will exceed our average.

You say we are having our best season crowd wise since the early 60s - so we should be! We just broke a 57 year drought. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be expecting or pushing for more.

Comparing our crowds to others is irrelevant because crowds are often dictated by performance. We are the standout team. Many others who typically draw good crowds are performing average to poor. You also need to exclude those games in smaller locations like Tassie, Cairns and Ballarat to get a true reflection. Just like we would typically exclude Alice Springs and Darwin games, it's not a true reflection.

If you think we are only capable of drawing 20k-25k that's fine. I think we are capable of a whole lot more and the supporters are letting the club down.

[ElDiablo14 3,053]

I for one will not miss one single home game, unless I am not in the country.

I guess each to his own, but our players definitely deserve better.

GO DEES!

[WalkingCivilWar 31,433]

27 minutes ago, ElDiablo14 said:

I for one will not miss one single home game, unless I am not in the country.

I guess each to his own, but our players definitely deserve better.

GO DEES!

A flimsy excuse!

😝

[Macca 16,173]

Looks like Dr Who has re-entered the building!  haha

Actually, there might even be 2 guises of the incarnation here

[old dee 22,850]

19 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

I continue to believe MFC supporters just aren't used to night games.

We've spent the majority of our supporting lives attending games at 1.10pm, 1.45pm, 2.10pm or 3.20pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Even a Saturday twilight game at the MCG is uncommon, let alone Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights (we've had games on all five of those timeslots).

Of course, our first day game for the year is this weekend on Mother's Day, which doesn't help. Our next two MCG home games are a Saturday twilight game and a Saturday night, so we won't get to test my theory for a while yet.

Whilst night time and prime time games are what the club wants from a marketing/sponsorship perspective, I reckon if the club polled its members it would find that, for attendance purposes, members would be asking for day games.

Spot on tu. I think what a lot on here forget is that the MFC have a lot more high age group supporters than most other clubs. Older age groups don't like night games. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by old dee

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,397]

12 hours ago, praha said:

Bit of hysteria in this thread.

Prior to our GWS game we were averaging 50k for home games. Even after that poor turnout of 20k it was still a 41k average, good enough for second behind Carlton.

Currently across home and away we are 7th behind Tigers, Blues, Magpies, Bombers and Hawks. We have a better home average than Collingwood (although they've admittedly had home games against GC WC and Adelaide) and have 40k average, same as Essendon, who have a 84k ANZAC Day home game in their pocket.

Personally I feel like our own supporter turnout has been about the same as past years...internally the club must be a bit frustrated at that. But I wouldn't say our crowds have been bad.

An Essendon supporter friend of mine said it was the first time he felt that Essendon had as many supporters in MCC as Melbourne. Normally he says we have about double. Either more Essendon supporters showed up than usual or MCC is letting us down.

As someone that sits in the AFL Members, the turnout there is probably the lowest I can remember, probably not since 2008/2009. At the GWS game I reckon there was maybe 300 AFL Members there. Looking into the MCC, it doesn't look as full as it used to.

BUT club members GA and Southern Stand GA is busier than it has been in past years. I definitely feel like MCC and AFL Members are the ones keeping crowds below where we expect them to be.

As an AFL member the way we have been treated not just the past two years but the past decade has been shocking. The facilities are [censored] poor, ticketing is ridiculous and prices keep going up. During COVID it reached peak levels and I honestly think some fans are just sick of it. I can't speak for the MCC but I suspect it may be similar. I pay 700 a year which is discounted this year and yeah I am pretty much guaranteed a Grand Final ticket but the "experience" is just decisively average. 

In summary, crowds and growth might be below what we'd expect after a flag, but COVID has shined a light on how uninspiring the league has become from a fan experience perspective. They've just expected fans to return to the same pre-2020 product without realising that many have enjoyed football from home for two years, all the while actually presenting a *worse* product. Given that I'd say it's a miracle crowds are even what they are. And evidently, Melbourne and Carlton supporters are rocking up to home games more than any other team's supporters.

 

 

Good post, Praha, but I wonder what you mean by the fan experience being "worse"? I'm scared that someone from the AFL will read your post and decide that what's necessary is louder music, a kiss-cam at every break and a Wurlitzer organ being played after every goal.

[Dwight Schrute 16,751]

For me personally it's been a time thing, work schedule doesn't really permit going to the footy and the risk of covid is kinda the icing on the cake, when you can watch it on Kayo and not have that risk, it's pretty appealing. 

Having said that i'll probably go this weekend and make a complete hypocrite of myself

 

[Dr. Gonzo 22,415]

10 hours ago, Macca said:

Looks like Dr Who has re-entered the building!  haha

Actually, there might even be 2 guises of the incarnation here

Jesus Macca how dare you tarnish me with that brush! I thought I'd been posting here for long enough to know I'm not a troll who crawled out from the gutter like Who 🤣

[Dr. Gonzo 22,415]

21 hours ago, Kozzie4PM said:

Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon have literally 4-5 times as many supporters as us.

That's not really true, at least according to the latest Roy Morgan poll.

https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8799-afl-supporter-ladder-june-2021-202109210357

Anyhow, I'm not expecting us to get 60k to games against clubs like GWS/GC like the Pies and Tigers do when they're up and about (the Tigers drew 90k plus to the Prelim against GWS!). 35k-40k is not unreasonable for us I would have thought.