Low Attendance

[Jaded No More 68,974]

I get how frustrating the public transport situation is. I live in Berwick and our trains have been down most weekends for the good part of a year due to level removal works. It’s so annoying and I drive to Caulfield station to meet my dad to go to the game which is incredibly frustrating and a massive waste of time. 
I also recognize that I have that luxury as I don’t work weekends I don’t take small kids with me etc etc and not everyone is in the same position.
But, I feel like a lot of people are using excuses like ticketing and Covid to stay home which is disappointing. You can buy a ticket on the day of the game, walking into the G is no more a bother than it has ever been and literally anything is better than listening to commentators telling me how well Swallow is playing 🙄 

 

Edit; with 20,000 in attendance sitting in the open air your chances of getting Covid is lower than a casual Saturday stroll in Coles to pick up milk. 

Edited April 17, 2022 by Jaded No More

[Rodney (Balls) Grinter 10,878]

Getting some Saturday arvo games in the next part of the fixture to be released would be nice too.  Can play our interstate games during prime time, but live games at the G should be there to maximise crowd attendance, not TV ratings.

[PartyTimeJohnny 537]

At the G AFL clubs start to make lots of profit once they get past around 30k attendance but if you go under that it costs the club quite a bit. 

[Cranky Franky 2,091]

I reckon when we played the Crows on the 90s we got about 7000 there

[IRW 1,387]

2 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

We were playing GWS on Easter weekend coming off being the most lockdwoned city in the world.

It's no surprise our supporters went away. We will all be there in September.

 

Firstly Melbourne wasn't the most locked down city in the world for a starter.  It depends on definitions ..try Singapore or take a look at the on and off chaos of the UK.  I have a regular English customer back to our fine shores last week amazed that " no one wears masks here...you go to sport with 30,000 strangers and take no precautions! How did you do so well the last two years? "Well, intelligent policy ,best efforts to respond to an ongoing issue that no one fully understands yet I guess.

I also went to Tonka in the city with a meal during  the six months virtually restrictions free we had after the first level 4 orders with an Aussie friend out from New York to see her aging parents( you know when no one could come and go...bullsh!)  Her first words when the waiter came up were..."how can you be open ? Why is no one wearing masks ? You can't do this in New York!"

Answer..we had a policy in place and currently there are no covid cases in Victoria.

If you want to run with cliches stick to Essendrug or Richmond car thieves.

I was surprised by the attendance numbers  as well. 

The 3rd quarter alo e would have been worth seeing live 

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by IRW

[Swooper1987 3,322]

13 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

I get how frustrating the public transport situation is. I live in Berwick and our trains have been down most weekends for the good part of a year due to level removal works. It’s so annoying and I drive to Caulfield station to meet my dad to go to the game which is incredibly frustrating and a massive waste of time. 
I also recognize that I have that luxury as I don’t work weekends I don’t take small kids with me etc etc and not everyone is in the same position.
But, I feel like a lot of people are using excuses like ticketing and Covid to stay home which is disappointing. You can buy a ticket on the day of the game, walking into the G is no more a bother than it has ever been and literally anything is better than listening to commentators telling me how well Swallow is playing 🙄 

 

Edit; with 20,000 in attendance sitting in the open air your chances of getting Covid is lower than a casual Saturday stroll in Coles to pick up milk. 

Jaded you have never been more right, and you are right often!  I live in Langwarrin, drive to Caulfield with my son to miss the adhoc train works that seem to happen anytime on the Frankston and Cranbourne lines and as members we have had absolutely no problem getting access.  Your ticket appears through the MFC app a couple of days before the game.  The ticketing issue is overblown.

Our team deserve to run out to a big home crowd whenever and whoever they play.  They have given us reason to proud to be MFC supporters and the least we can do is turn up to watch them put on the show.  

[4_Kent_Watts 892]

What a great position to be in as a footy club when the biggest problem is our own supporters complaining about how many turn up to the game. With transport, ticketing, viruses and holidays contributing to the lack of attendance it doesn't mean those who don't turn up don't care about the team. My Old man had a stroke during the week but didn't stop him ringing me from the Royal Melbourne at halftime last night to discuss the game.

[Jaded No More 68,974]

2 minutes ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

What a great position to be in as a footy club when the biggest problem is our own supporters complaining about how many turn up to the game. With transport, ticketing, viruses and holidays contributing to the lack of attendance it doesn't mean those who don't turn up don't care about the team. My Old man had a stroke during the week but didn't stop him ringing me from the Royal Melbourne at halftime last night to discuss the game.

It is a big problem as it seriously impacts our bottom line, our ability to go to the AFL and demand blockbuster games, sponsorship dollars and so on. 
Being a big club is a big advantage in this competition and you can’t be a big club when 20,000 turn up to watch you win your 12th straight game. 

[rpfc 28,779]

16 minutes ago, 4_Kent_Watts said:

What a great position to be in as a footy club when the biggest problem is our own supporters complaining about how many turn up to the game. With transport, ticketing, viruses and holidays contributing to the lack of attendance it doesn't mean those who don't turn up don't care about the team. My Old man had a stroke during the week but didn't stop him ringing me from the Royal Melbourne at halftime last night to discuss the game.

Im not saying people don’t care about the team - I am implying that Dees fans have a generational team to follow and they are not there to follow them and it is bordering on embarrassing. An illness neutered through vaccine, a mandate to go to a ticketing website or use an app on your phone, a desire to watch on TV - it’s all a bit pathetic.

[Lucifers Hero 40,364]

I doubt there were even 1,000 Giant fans there last night.  So about 20,000 dees fans is a pretty good effort given the issues discussed herein.  With another Vic  team it would have been about 40,000.

It is hard to measure our crowds when we mainly play i/state or small Vic clubs at Home at the G especially if those teams are not performing well. 

But we play Home games vs Pies and Carlton at the G later this year.  By then I suspect a lot of the covid issues will dissipate.  People will be more used to ticketing, barcodes etc. Lets wait and see what those crowds are like. 

Sadly, unless our membership becomes as big as the other MCG tenants (pies, hawks, tigers) we will carry the brunt of hosting i/state and small Vic teams that push the AFL for MCG experience.

Edited April 17, 2022 by Lucifers Hero

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

My opinion is that it's a bigger issue than just last night. Footy crowds generally seem to be down this year. I don't see the usual emotion around football as a must-see, must-talk about event. I wonder if this is something to do with more people working from home and thereby losing the social contact which generates enthusiasm? 

In addition, I have no doubt that many people have taken the opportunity to travel out of Melbourne for this Easter break. I know a few die-hard Demons who usually attend home games who are interstate this weekend.   

Finally, there are too many night games on free-to-air TV. In particular, I think Thursday night football is diminishing the appetite for the game so by the time Saturday night comes around, people have had their fill already for this particular week's consumption. I've said it before, Channel 7 is a corporate mess and does not appreciate the economic value of scarcity. The AFL should be much more resistant to Channel 7's demands and if it costs money in the short term, the product will be better in the long-term. The AFL is the guardian of the product and needs to ensure its sustainability, something Channel 7 does not care about.    

[Kozzie4PM 765]

Crowds are down across the comp. It's not specific to Melbourne. 

The other thing is, we don't have many fans.

[spalding 1,128]

Tigers versus GWS hit 28,813 on a nice sunny afternoon on Sunday 27th March 2022,

given they have 100k members,  It probably  puts a bit more context around last nights “disappointing” crowd.

 

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,496]

It's commendable that we have supporters that buy season tickets when commitments still prevent them getting to many of our games. However I must have heard every excuse under the sun as general reasons for why we're not attracting bigger home crowds. At least we can't be accused of being fair weather fans. This could be the best Melbourne team on record and we still can't get off our collective @rses to cheer them on from the stands. 

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,496]

2 hours ago, Melbournepotter said:

There were probably a lot of small reasons for not being there, plenty mentioned above such as Easter hols with people getting away, Covid, no real local rivalry (apart from Scully) and the ticketing  system which is a shambles. I know a few members that would have been at the game normally but were out of town for the Easter break.

It was strangely quiet on the way to the game,  I come down Rathdowne St to get into the city and the traffic was very quiet. We got to the ground very quickly from the northern suburbs. Even the lady manning the cash register in the MCG food outlet commented how quiet traffic had been on the way in from Portsea.  The weather was great for footy, but also great for a few days away.

I counted around 70 - 80 GWS supporters in their area behind the goal, so they didn't bring many to pump up the attendance. 

 

Hi MP. You know it's a Melbourne home game when even the checkout chicks live in Portsea. 

[4_Kent_Watts 892]

4 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Im not saying people don’t care about the team - I am implying that Dees fans have a generational team to follow and they are not there to follow them and it is bordering on embarrassing. An illness neutered through vaccine, a mandate to go to a ticketing website or use an app on your phone, a desire to watch on TV - it’s all a bit pathetic.

The only thing that disappoints me in relation to the Footy and that's when we lose. If we have disappointing crowds against the teams other than the interstate clubs then we need to worry. Otherwise I'm enjoying the Victory. 

[george_on_the_outer 7,706]

1. Ticketek

     I have had reserved seat entry tickets ( tickemaster) to the MCC for the Richmond game 3 weeks beforehand, yet Trident reserved tickets for last nights game are only available 72 hours beforehand( more like 48). Bloody impossible to manage when you are forwarding them to other people.

2. COVID

Plenty of people still afraid of catching the virus in crowds.  Seems irrational to me, as you are just a likely by mixing with anyone with schoolkids or just going to the supermarket.  But hey, that's the way these people feel, and they are not going to the footy.  Much easier to watch it on the TV and guarantee staying safe.

3.  Middle of Easter Break.

Plenty of people gone away.  St. Kilda only had 18K at their game, and that probably includes the medallion club seats in that total.

4. Giants and Suns

When they can only get 4014 to their game in Western Sydney recently, it tells you exactly how many genuine supporters they have.  

 

[Mr Steve 3,820]

Wondering how many of our Members have the three game membership. If I had one of those I would be picking which game to go to. 

[Dr. Gonzo 24,303]

3 hours ago, rpfc said:

Genuinely curious about the low attendance we are seeing atm. Give the reasons you have heard and/or given.

Public transport another issue. My dad wasn't going to go last night because of it

[Wodjathefirst 2,653]

To be honest, at times over the years I was almost embarrassed being a Melbourne supporter attending games. Sure we were going through decades of hard times but quite frankly for the majority of time we too as supporters were ‘limp’.  Hence all the jokes about us.

I was very fortunate (lucky) to make it to the GF last year (and I might add legally) and it was electric and noisy.  Sure, you would expect that in a GF in a football state, but there was something more.  It was quite apparent the the vast majority of the state got behind us and they got into  it in their own way.  You could sense the Eagles flavour to their barracking for us (including all the booing). But to be honest it felt both noisy and great.

I really think now is the time not only for all supporters to come out of the closet and attend games but also show some passion and make some NOISE!!!.  Not suggesting to mimic the feral supporters that some other clubs have, rather just get behind our team so that are aware of the passion we feel and show for them.

Lets create a new culture of LOUD passionate and dare I say it respectful support that is NOISY! I am sure our players would both love it and feed of it. And it in turn will make more and more of our mob want to attend games and be part of the journey 

GO DEES!!!!

[Supreme_Demon 3,899]

I was there last night by my lonesome.

Unfortunately, my Dad has COVID-19 but he is recuperating.

Otherwise, he would of been there.

The Easter long weekend definitely was a factor too.

My Dad is getting on in years and has openly stated he does prefer games on a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday afternoon.

He thought the Wednesday night Round 1 season opener game which was the Grand Final rematch against the Western Bulldogs was a stupid idea and would of been better on a Friday night or just a Saturday afternoon or Saturday night game. He believes we would of had a larger crowd if we had done that.

I think he is used to all the Sunday afternoon games when Melbourne were hopeless and lucky to win 4 games a year.

I think the issue is we need to also be mindful and respectful of older supporters (who had to wait every one of those 57 years to end our Premiership drought) and don't like games on week nights or at night in general. It also makes it difficult for some families that wish to bring children.

All I will say is that it is definitely a difficult balancing act with the fixture as there will always be someone unhappy.

We also still have be mindful that we have a small (but now slowly growing!) supporter base. Not winning a Premiership since 1964 does that. We need to be patient and hopeful we can have sustained long-term success over the next 20 to 30 years to be up there with the bigger clubs like Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond, Carlton and Hawthorn.

Nevertheless, I have strong faith in the Melbourne Football Club CEO Gary Pert as his experience at Collingwood has been invaluable.

Edited April 17, 2022 by Supreme_Demon

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,909]

I am in no doubt the AFL scheduled us against GWS last night precisely because it was in the middle of Easter when they would have expected a lower attendance.

[dees189227 12,399]

Well we have saints on mother's Day at 1:10. That will be interesting. 

[Little Goffy 14,643]

58k to the Bulldogs game, 45k to the Essendon game, that doesn't seem too bad.

It is the easter long weekend, there are a lot of people with serious visiting family/friends backlogs to clear, and lots of people skipped their usual summer holidays because of the Omicron spike.

We've also got three more consecutive games at the MCG coming, against opponents that some people may even care about.

For me personally, I'm many thousands of kilometers away so definitely the issue is the cost of the Uber.

 

[DeeSpencer 26,082]

It’s disappointing and I think some of the issues are overblown.

The main one is a lot of people are away for Easter and aren’t coming home for GWS on Saturday night.

The demons portion of the crowds for rounds 1+3 were very strong. 

Let’s pack out Anzac eve and dismiss this issue.

In our defence it sure didn’t sound like a 20k crowd. And it was a smart crowd praising a lot of excellent efforts.