Low Attendance

[PaulRB 6,328]

I live a 5 min walk to the G, and was considering not going (I went) because the crew of 3-5 i'd normally go with, were

1. Out with covid
2. Away for Easter (now lives past Torque)
3. Deceased
4. Away for Easter (family holiday)

MFC has an affluent supporter base, many people have moved permanently to coast or hills to work virtually and commute to town, many are just starting to re-establish family holidays for the first time in 2 years, some have covid, some just don't want to get it.

I ended up going alone, and loving it, but having had covid (and long Covid) just after Christmas, I am not as enthusiastic about big crowds as some on here would like me to be. I try and keep space, and would find the prospect of 100k jammed into the G a little anxiety producing at this stage.

I'll get over it I'm sure (fourth booster and finals will help), but we all have our reasons and they don't necessarily reflect any lack of love for our club or the fantastic team we have at the moment. Just being human stuff..

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by PaulRB

[layzie 33,722]

Not really a short term solution as it wouldn't have helped this week but would help a lot with forward planning, can we boot the floating fixture? This is a real inconvenience for people who want to know scheduling conflicts in advance. I'm dying to do an interstate footy trip but this makes an idea like that incredibly difficult. 

[Supreme_Demon 3,714]

On 4/17/2022 at 2:01 PM, WalkingCivilWar said:

I hope your dad is back to fighting fit in no time. ❤️💙

Thank you for the kind words. My Dad is slowly recuperating. 😎👍

[deanox 9,892]

https://afltables.com/afl/crowds/2022.html

Now that full stats are up, just a reminder that even including Saturday's attendance we are still 2nd in the league for average attendance at home games.

That might bump around a bit if there is a big crowd for Richmond or Hawthorns home game this weekend.

 

[Egg2883 30]

I want to be careful that I'm not complaining here, because I'm not. I went to every game in years gone by. The Bailey and Neeld years were the most attended for my (at the time) future wife and me.

In 2018 we moved to a town 90 mins from Melbourne, 2 hours home with traffic from the G and we have 2 kids; aged 3 and 6. The fact is, we can't get to night games and consider ourselves responsible parents. All 4 of us will be at every afternoon game. I've been to Rd 1 and Rd 3. The wife's annoyed, she hasn't been able to get to a game since Carlton last year.

I know people aren't speaking directly to me when they suggest supporters are doing something wrong by not attending but the fact is, some people's lives don't accommodate it. We'll keep buying our memberships and keep getting to the games we can get to. That should be good enough.

[Macca 16,900]

All things considered a crowd of 60k-70k for next Sunday night against the Tigers could be seen as a very good or excellent result

The game itself (the concept) is seen as our idea so we'll support the idea, H or A

2015 (A) 58,175

2016 (H) 60,867

2017 (A) 85,657

2018 (H) 77,071

2019 (A) 72,704

2021 (H) 56,418 (Covid effected)

2022 (A) ??,??? (Covid effected - still?)

It's not our home game this time but as a blockbuster match-up, it's important to still get a bumper crowd

Be nice if we could outnumber the Tiger fans so you never know

I'll go with the trusty 66,666

[rpfc 28,220]

7 hours ago, Egg2883 said:

I want to be careful that I'm not complaining here, because I'm not. I went to every game in years gone by. The Bailey and Neeld years were the most attended for my (at the time) future wife and me.

In 2018 we moved to a town 90 mins from Melbourne, 2 hours home with traffic from the G and we have 2 kids; aged 3 and 6. The fact is, we can't get to night games and consider ourselves responsible parents. All 4 of us will be at every afternoon game. I've been to Rd 1 and Rd 3. The wife's annoyed, she hasn't been able to get to a game since Carlton last year.

I know people aren't speaking directly to me when they suggest supporters are doing something wrong by not attending but the fact is, some people's lives don't accommodate it. We'll keep buying our memberships and keep getting to the games we can get to. That should be good enough.

There are only rusted on supporters on this site, and that is evidenced by your patronage during the Neeld years. 

This was not meant for individual criticism (especially for those on this site) but collective reflection. Crowds are down and I thought we would weather it through our generational team.

Alas not.

[Guest]

 

Ed’s smile alone should bump up attendance numbers. 😁

Almost deserves a thread of its own. And its own Twitter account and its own FB page. 

He’s got smiling down to a fine art. 💖

[13thFlagIsComing 542]

Anyone who can get to every game is extremely lucky.  

No-one has the right to pot shot members / supports for not going to the games.

Everyone has their own circumstances why they can't go to as many games as they would like to.

Just because finally we have an ultra competitive team on the field for what looks like the next 3-5 years doesn't mean everyone can just drop everything and adapt their life to the fixture of the MFC.

As much as I love the club, unfortunately unless I can get childcare at the footy then I won't be going to a few games this year as I have 2 kids under 6. 

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,665]

Surely Covid is still having both a direct and indirect affect. The indirect affect is the impact it has on people's willingness to be near others. This could be because individuals have health concerns they don't want to risk, a job they don't wish to lose should they become ill or because they need to ensure they stay well to enable a future event to proceed (travel, wedding, etc).

The direct affect is people with Covid or close contacts who have to isolate. A very rubbery back-of-envelope calculation based on what we are seeing with football clubs shows perhaps one player appears to be unavailable in any given week due to the AFL's "health and safety protocols". On a list of, say, 40 players, that's 1.25% of players. If that number is similar throughout the community, a 1.25% reduction in a 50,000 crowd would be 650 who can't attend for this reason alone. I have no idea if the 1.25% estimate is correct, though. Could it be higher than that?

[praha 11,226]

Night games simply aren't as appealing as they used to be. Anyone that thinks lockdowns didn't have an impact are kidding themselves. I used to love going into the city at night but after two years locked down I want to be out and about during the day... waiting a whole day for a game is weirdly more tiring than it used to be. If that game were at 2pm on Saturday afternoon, 100% there's at least another 5k there.

We got 38k vs GWS in 2018 at the MCG. Closer to finals and the crowd is definitely bigger.

IMO COVID still plays a huge role. AFL Members was as dead as I've ever seen it at a Melbourne game and let me tell you the AFL Members is normally quiet at Melbourne games anyway but Saturday night was next level quiet. I'm part of an AFL Members facebook group and you're talking about a highly invested group of football supporters who attend multiple games a year as neutral supporters...if you think the clubs have stuffed around supporters with club membership, trust me they've got NOTHING on how [censored] terrible the ticketing and facilities have gotten for AFL Members. People have stopped caring. Richmond, Collingwood, Essendon supporters....all turning their back on the league.

20k isn't a Melbourne problem. It's a league problem. Confident things will pick up again though. Suspect changes in isolation rules will also have an impact. Read somewhere that it's something like 30k household contacts per day isolating... that's going to have an impact *everywhere* especially on a sport heavily invested in family memberships... one member goes down and you have 3-6 people who can't attend.

My family all used to attend every week, 10-12 people. This year no more than 3 of us on any given night have attended. A combination of night matches, covid caution and isolation rules all impacting the decision. Last week I was the only one from my extended family who went. It wasn't that anyone said they "didn't want to" attend. They literally couldn't because of either COVID, or because they were away for Easter. Easter has an impact on crowds in a normal year. Add COVID and you have double or triple impact. 

The government has been kidding themselves thinking things can get "back to normal" with vaccination requirements and isolation rules still in place.

Edited April 20, 2022 by praha

[Diamond_Jim 12,503]

The ticketing reminds me of when Docklands was first opened.

It was all pre-ticketed and the then ground manager said this is the way of the future and football followers will need to adapt.

Few people came and the manager was sacked within a few months followed by the introduction of walk ups.

Some never learn from history

Edited April 20, 2022 by Diamond_Jim

[daisycutter 29,596]

well all i can say is that all those who couldn't be bothered attending on sat night missed out on witnessing a cracking game of football from the boys

[Jaded No More 68,835]

11 hours ago, Egg2883 said:

I want to be careful that I'm not complaining here, because I'm not. I went to every game in years gone by. The Bailey and Neeld years were the most attended for my (at the time) future wife and me.

In 2018 we moved to a town 90 mins from Melbourne, 2 hours home with traffic from the G and we have 2 kids; aged 3 and 6. The fact is, we can't get to night games and consider ourselves responsible parents. All 4 of us will be at every afternoon game. I've been to Rd 1 and Rd 3. The wife's annoyed, she hasn't been able to get to a game since Carlton last year.

I know people aren't speaking directly to me when they suggest supporters are doing something wrong by not attending but the fact is, some people's lives don't accommodate it. We'll keep buying our memberships and keep getting to the games we can get to. That should be good enough.

There will always be people with legitimate reasons for being unable to attend, and as I noted in my post, I am privileged that I don't work weekends or nights or have kids to take with me to games. There is no doubt that the very large majority of Demonland posters are all crazy passionate and attend as many games as they can.

But equally I think lots of people across the entire competition, not just Melbourne supporters, have gotten very comfortable watching games from their couch. The game is more accessible than ever to stream for very little money, and after 2 years of doing nothing but staying home, some people have probably come to enjoy it.

Personally I hate watching footy on TV. You don't get to see nearly as much, and you miss out on the atmosphere. And I think after 2 years of playing in front of nobody, our players, who are at the peak of the competition and putting on a great show for us each week, deserve to play in front of packed stadiums. They have earnt that right and I feel sorry for them if they can't even get bums on seats when they are 5-0 and reigning premiers. 

 

[whatwhat say what 22,552]

i'd be really pleased if there's more than 55k there this sunday

tigers are off their team following five 'up' years and mfc fans will be away for another long weekend

i can't wait to stroll into level 2a on the afl members' side and sit where i want 😈

[Spargonicus 539]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:31 AM, Rab D Nesbitt said:

One thing I think we can all agree on is that if it wasn't for ...

Rail replacement buses.

Public transport in general.

Uber prices. 

Parking. 

Too long a walk after we've parked. 

Traffic. 

$10 beers.

Mid strength beer. 

Food outlets closed. 

Loud music.

Weather too nice to go.

Weather too bad to go. 

Games on public holidays.

Games at night. 

Games at 3.20pm on a Sunday.

Games at 1.10pm on a Saturday. 

Games on a Wednesday.

Games on a Thursday. 

Games on a Friday. 

Games at Easter.

Games on Mother's Day. 

Bringing the family to a night game. 

Leaving the family to go to a night game. 

Games against interstate teams. 

Games against teams with no rivalry. 

Games at Marvel. 

School holidays. 

Going away for the weekend. 

Can't sit exactly where we want. 

Sitting on level 4. 

Can't stand at the game. 

Spending all our money on the Grand Prix the week before. 

Can't pay in cash at the gate. 

Not being able to access our digital ticket until 72 hours before a game. 

Stupid ticketing system. 

Ticketek

Ticketmaster

Free to air on TV

Kayo

Club not promoting games enough. 

2 years of lockdown.

Covid. 

...we would all crawl over broken glass to watch this Melbourne team right now. 

 

 

 

Thanks - I appreciate the effort that went into this post. (Let alone the wit)

My wife and I had covid last week, so that's two people who weren't there. I was gutted.

[dpositive 1,663]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:08 AM, hemingway said:

Agree on night games. They are a significant deterrent for country fans. There are a lot of Demon fans in the country. Until I moved to the country I had not realised how many committed Dees fans live in central Vic. For most, home is a minimum of 2 to 3 hours from the MCG. Meaning that if you go by car, it’s a 1am return to home. So that’s a problem. The second problem is that public transport/trains is dodgy/unreliable. Most don’t have any faith in the train service. I understood why when at the end of the Doggies game I walked back to Southern Cross only to find that the last train had been cancelled and there was no replacement bus service. No service, no warning, no apology just an empty train station. Fortunately, I was able to find a billet at a friends flat for the night but incredibly frustrating and inconvenient given my plans early the next day. 

Most country fans have given up. They love the club and are probably more passionate than city dwellers but it is all to hard. The TV and the armchair have to suffice. 

With you H. 

We are three hours out and while there are some options to stay a six hour return for a game that can be watched is a big ask. We try and structure in some other activities and visits while we are down to justify the cost of the travel. Train is ok for day games but adds an extra hour plus to the trip.

It was always an effort to attend but I admit it is much more enjoyable when we are the premiers and playing such good footy.

I have scheduled in more games this year than ever including our away games at the G. Would love to take up the WA option but not sure if I can do that with my limited income now retired. Same with Alice match. Might try and schedule Brisbane with a visit to the old man in Sunshine Coast as a pre final fling.

Ski season should not interfere as we aim to Ski only during the week to avoid the weekend crowds. With a generous discount for our season pass as mature skiers and available accomodation on the mountain on weekdays should be able to rest up for the gruelling travel. Again there is an incredible lightness of being as the premiers and the joy of winning which makes life so much more enjoyable. I am also looking forward to this routine for the next ten years.

Does that cover enough MFC stereotypes.

[spalding 1,128]

Last night my 2 sons (both of them MCC provisional and MFC full members) and I (full members of both), were unable to book tickets to sit together in the MCC members for our game this weekend - so that bodes well for a decent crowd. Apparently the MCG members are not taking anymore bookings for 3 seats together (provisional MCC members have to pay $45 as visitors as it is a tier 1 game) because its basically full. That bodes well for a good crowd.

Hoping that more space might be made available in GA parts of the ground for MCC members - as I would prefer this than the 3 of us having to pay GA and make a donation to Peggy and the great unwashed.

[Kick_It_To_Pickett 3,291]

2 hours ago, spalding said:

Last night my 2 sons (both of them MCC provisional and MFC full members) and I (full members of both), were unable to book tickets to sit together in the MCC members for our game this weekend - so that bodes well for a decent crowd. Apparently the MCG members are not taking anymore bookings for 3 seats together (provisional MCC members have to pay $45 as visitors as it is a tier 1 game) because its basically full. That bodes well for a good crowd.

Hoping that more space might be made available in GA parts of the ground for MCC members - as I would prefer this than the 3 of us having to pay GA and make a donation to Peggy and the great unwashed.

I quoted this ticketing issues earlier as a major factor as to why crowds are down. Until the MCC and MCG return to a system of just rocking up and getting a seat together with mates, we will continue to see lower than expected attendances. 
 

With the restriction repeals announced today, which come into effect on Friday night, I hope the MCC update their ticketing policies. In an email received today from the MCC, it looks like things are beginning to be relaxed a little. I hope it continues:

 

General ticketing

 

A reminder to members that to obtain access to the Reserve during the 2022 AFL Premiership Season, matches have been categorised in one of the following options based on the predicted attendance.

1.    Fully Ticketed Matches
Only a small number of AFL Premiership Season matches have been classified under this category for this year. This category is assigned to marquee matches where it is predicted demand to attend will be high amongst our members. For example, the ANZAC Eve and ANZAC Daymatches are Category 1, fully ticketed matches, and are available to Full and Restricted members only. Full and Restricted members and their guests must have secured tickets in advance to attend those matches in the Reserve. 

2.    Members’ Reserve on Demand or Walk-Up Access Matches
For designated Members’ Reserve on Demand matches, the Reserve is available to members to secure a seat and also purchase visitor tickets on a match-by-match basis. Seats are released and sold as required and any seats not sold will be available to those members who decide to walk-up on the day of the match. This walk-up availability will be communicated on the MCC website on the Friday afternoon prior to the round.

[praha 11,226]

2 hours ago, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

I quoted this ticketing issues earlier as a major factor as to why crowds are down. Until the MCC and MCG return to a system of just rocking up and getting a seat together with mates, we will continue to see lower than expected attendances. 
 

With the restriction repeals announced today, which come into effect on Friday night, I hope the MCC update their ticketing policies. In an email received today from the MCC, it looks like things are beginning to be relaxed a little. I hope it continues:

 

General ticketing

 

A reminder to members that to obtain access to the Reserve during the 2022 AFL Premiership Season, matches have been categorised in one of the following options based on the predicted attendance.

1.    Fully Ticketed Matches
Only a small number of AFL Premiership Season matches have been classified under this category for this year. This category is assigned to marquee matches where it is predicted demand to attend will be high amongst our members. For example, the ANZAC Eve and ANZAC Daymatches are Category 1, fully ticketed matches, and are available to Full and Restricted members only. Full and Restricted members and their guests must have secured tickets in advance to attend those matches in the Reserve. 

2.    Members’ Reserve on Demand or Walk-Up Access Matches
For designated Members’ Reserve on Demand matches, the Reserve is available to members to secure a seat and also purchase visitor tickets on a match-by-match basis. Seats are released and sold as required and any seats not sold will be available to those members who decide to walk-up on the day of the match. This walk-up availability will be communicated on the MCC website on the Friday afternoon prior to the round.

They have returned to a system of "just turning up". Big crowd events have always been "ticketed". The ticketing mechanisms in 2022 are back to normal, as they were in 2019 pre-COVID. All three of our home games this year have allowed walk-ups in AFL Members. They only time they don't is if ticketing exceeds 60% capacity. At that point, you must purchase a reserved seat. That's how it was pre-COVID.

Edited April 20, 2022 by praha

[FearTheBeard 1,200]

6 hours ago, spalding said:

Last night my 2 sons (both of them MCC provisional and MFC full members) and I (full members of both), were unable to book tickets to sit together in the MCC members for our game this weekend - so that bodes well for a decent crowd. Apparently the MCG members are not taking anymore bookings for 3 seats together (provisional MCC members have to pay $45 as visitors as it is a tier 1 game) because its basically full. That bodes well for a good crowd.

Hoping that more space might be made available in GA parts of the ground for MCC members - as I would prefer this than the 3 of us having to pay GA and make a donation to Peggy and the great unwashed.

Ah, you should have waited till this morning.

They were selling bays Q48-Q40 up to row X and when they sold out last night they only updated the system this morning.

Now, all bays level 4 MCC Q37-Q48 are available up to the very back (row MM).

Perhaps buy three free junior tickets together so you can sit with each other? 

Hate that this game is category 1 in the MCC, it won't come close to selling out. 

70K looks a reach at the moment.

[Kick_It_To_Pickett 3,291]

7 hours ago, praha said:

They have returned to a system of "just turning up". Big crowd events have always been "ticketed". The ticketing mechanisms in 2022 are back to normal, as they were in 2019 pre-COVID. All three of our home games this year have allowed walk-ups in AFL Members. They only time they don't is if ticketing exceeds 60% capacity. At that point, you must purchase a reserved seat. That's how it was pre-COVID.

I think I was referring to the MCC, not AFL members. There has been a requirement for all our games to reserve seats, particularly if attending with a guest. 

[Lucifers Hero 39,320]

A 70,000 crowd.

Was in the Ponsford stand and from MCC Reserve all the way round to the AFL Reserve it looked like 60% Rich 40% Dee fans.  Obviously couldn't see into the Ponsford stand.  

70,000 would be close to the highest crowd this year.  People are getting used to digital ticketing and more confident re covid and public transport.

It was a phenomenal effort for so many Dees fans to turn up for an away game.

[ElDiablo14 4,990]

I have a feeling the low attendance is mainly the fault of opposition supporters scared of beltings by the Mighty Dees.

[Jaded No More 68,835]

Great attendance last night. Perfect weather helps.

I would say 40/60 split the way of the Tigers. It was obvious once we won as the stands were more than half empty which was fun to watch.