Crowd numbers - my perspective

[Katrina Dee Fan 3,249]

So once again the journos and numpties on Twitter spent yesterday having a go at Melbourne about the crowd - where were they? why do they play Melbourne games at the MCG if they can't fill it?  They'll always be a nothing club, blah blah blah. We've heard it all before, right?

Here's my perspective:

- 44,000 is still higher than the 2023 crowd average of 35,000

- the crowd yesterday was overwhelmingly Melbourne, yet no one was saying "where are the Bulldogs fans"?  Why is that?  Oh, because they're the darlings of the league.

- The TV was focusing on the Shane Warne stand, rather than the Olympic Stand which was pretty chockers from where I could see

- Of the 9 games, yesterday's crowd was the 4th highest of the weekend.  No one was criticising the other games that had lower attendances than ours.

My take is this - the media and the meatheads couldn't pick on Melbourne, couldn't pick on Goodwin, couldn't pick on Oliver, so let's roll out the barrel on the usual rubbish.  Because Melbourne.

I'm sick of [censored]....

[whatwhat say what 22,639]

i didn't see anyone slagging off the crowd but i'm going to presume it was sam maclure, again?

i was thinking the crowd would be ~40k so ~45k was slightly above my expectation

footscray don't draw crowds at the mcg; they barely draw crowds at their own dungheap at docklands

[Fritta and Turner 4,318]

44,100 was a good crowd for a dogs game. And it wasn't actually footy weather.

And I think the MCC would have been happy with that number.

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

Only one remedy that will shut these numpties up. Winning, winning, and more winning.

[Dee Dee 1,105]

I was at the game and thought 44+K was a good attendance number. The MCC was packed as was the whole northern section of the ground. It was hot! So I did not envy those patrons sitting in the Shane Warne stand and I’m sure if the weather had been a few degrees cooler the crowd would have been larger. But a good attendance never the less! ( and the cricket club sold a lot of beer)!!!

[Katrina Dee Fan 3,249]

18 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

i didn't see anyone slagging off the crowd but i'm going to presume it was sam maclure, again?

i was thinking the crowd would be ~40k so ~45k was slightly above my expectation

footscray don't draw crowds at the mcg; they barely draw crowds at their own dungheap at docklands

Sam McClure was amongst them, yes, plus the usual Twitter nufties

[godees 858]

There was also public transport issues, e.g. Sandringham line not running. My parents had a tight turnaround from an activity in the morning and weren’t going to be able to make it in time due to traffic/lack of PT so stayed at home. They had fully intended to go though and I’m sure weren’t the only ones.

[Dannyz 2,671]

You're right KDF, we never traditionally fill the Warne stand well. If the broadcast was affixed to the Olympic stand, you wouldn't of been mistaken for thinking it was a 70K crowd. 

[Fritta and Turner 4,318]

Wait till the Tassie team comes in and the crowds are under 15k.

[forever demons 2,219]

24 minutes ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

Sam McClure was amongst them, yes, plus the usual Twitter nufties

Stay calm Katy

[Bring-Back-Powell 14,720]

We could have gotten 60,000 but that would have required 10-15K more Dogs supporters rocking up. Unfortunately the MCC and AFL members are bereft of Dog supporters; and many standard Dogs members aren't rocking up to an away game and paying at the gate.

Add to the fact that both clubs have had a disastrous off season from a PR perspective which may have contributed to a few staying away.

44k is a solid crowd given the history of attendances between the 2 clubs.

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

Nothing wrong with the crowd size yesterday, MCC expected around 50,000. 

[At the break of Gawn 4,460]

7 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

We could have gotten 60,000 but that would have required 10-15K more Dogs supporters rocking up. Unfortunately the MCC and AFL members are bereft of Dog supporters; and many standard Dogs members aren't rocking up to an away game and paying at the gate.

Add to the fact that both clubs have had a disastrous off season from a PR perspective which may have contributed to a few staying away.

44k is a solid crowd given the history of attendances between the 2 clubs.

This sort of detail is always lost on the so called “journalists”. An MCG tenant against the Dogs always gets relatively low crowd numbers because Dogs supporters don’t show up to away games. A similar time last year Richmond vs Dogs got 52k. 

[Kick_It_To_Pickett 3,291]

1 hour ago, Katrina Dee Fan said:

So once again the journos and numpties on Twitter spent yesterday having a go at Melbourne about the crowd - where were they? why do they play Melbourne games at the MCG if they can't fill it?  They'll always be a nothing club, blah blah blah. We've heard it all before, right?

Here's my perspective:

- 44,000 is still higher than the 2023 crowd average of 35,000

- the crowd yesterday was overwhelmingly Melbourne, yet no one was saying "where are the Bulldogs fans"?  Why is that?  Oh, because they're the darlings of the league.

- The TV was focusing on the Shane Warne stand, rather than the Olympic Stand which was pretty chockers from where I could see

- Of the 9 games, yesterday's crowd was the 4th highest of the weekend.  No one was criticising the other games that had lower attendances than ours.

My take is this - the media and the meatheads couldn't pick on Melbourne, couldn't pick on Goodwin, couldn't pick on Oliver, so let's roll out the barrel on the usual rubbish.  Because Melbourne.

I'm sick of [censored]....

Any links to the media criticism of crowd figures? I initially thought it was poor yesterday, until about half time, when it had filled up. Of course it looks bad on TV, as no one sits on the southern stand side at Melbourne games. If the broadcaster shot from the other side it would look far fuller. 

[Dante 2,739]

I was going to the game and left with plenty of time, from Coburg, to get to the G but the traffic was horrendous. I got to the G at 1.15 and was still in a traffic jam in Punt Road. 

After spending 30 more minutes trying to get off Punt road I got on to Toorak Road which was just a wall of traffic, after sitting in my car for ten minutes' did a u turn and went home. If I found a parking spot, which I probably wouldn't have, by the time I got to the ground it would have been half time. Funnily the vehicle in front of me was a Bulldogs supporter bus, so that answers the question about where the Bullies supporters were.

 

[Rab D Nesbitt 8,337]

First and foremost. It is OUR HOME GROUND. That's why we play there. 

I also thought the attendance was poor. Let's say there were 10,000 Doggies supporters there. That means around 40% of our supposed 75,000 membership turned up to watch our opening home game. Both sides have also won flags in the last eight years and are mooted as top four contenders. Could you imagine only 40% of season ticket holders turning up at Anfield / Old Trafford / Ibrox / Celtic Park for any game? 

[Pates 9,658]

One thing that will always make our crowds look worse than what they actually are is that our fans cluster on the broadcast side of the ground. Like always the MCC area was packed, and the melbourne reserved members next to it was pretty solid. As mentioned the dogs fans don’t turn up to MCG games but we’re in no position to be critical of them, our fans don’t turn up to docklands. 

I thought 44k was a decent crowd without saying it was a great crowd. 

[Little Goffy 14,434]

The only thing I took from the crowds on the weekend was that for the second week in a row the stands were empty for the final quarter of a Collingwood game.

They were outta there like the police had shown up with a search warrant.

Pathetic soft as butter club.

[BangBnagBang 673]

Its so F&%ken lazy to go down this path form anyone in the media. 

44K is the 4th biggest crowd outside finals from a Dees v Dogs game in the AFL era. Sure next to Carl V Rich game its a poor crowd but you have got to compare apples with apples.

58K R1 2022

48 R1 2023

45K R7 2010

44 yesterday

 

Edited March 18 by BangBnagBang

[BLWNBA 926]

Can't say I've noted anyone potting the Dees, but from memory the attendance was above what the MFC wanted (40,000 pax) and above what they MCC forecasted (30,000~ pax). 

But what's more befuddling is when grown adults sulk about what the sporting media says, it's hilarious. Who cares? 

[Go the Biff 3,414]

FWIW there's a weekly thread on BigFooty where posters of all persuasions can offer their predicted results and crowd figures. After seeing this thread I went for a look to see what the great unwashed were anticipating. Aside from a couple of outliers, everyone was pretty close to the actual attendance.

The footy media give me the irrits and the simpering twit that is Sam McLure annoys me more than most. The whole lot are best ignored.

On the bright side, Matty Hill is calling footy games and Tom Browne is nowhere to be seen. A rare nett positive

[No. 31 1,178]

44K is a solid crowd against the Doggies who are coming off a poor season. If it was at Marvel and a Doggies home game, probably get 30K there.

[Fromgotowoewodin 1,606]

2 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

First and foremost. It is OUR HOME GROUND. That's why we play there. 

I also thought the attendance was poor. Let's say there were 10,000 Doggies supporters there. That means around 40% of our supposed 75,000 membership turned up to watch our opening home game. Both sides have also won flags in the last eight years and are mooted as top four contenders. Could you imagine only 40% of season ticket holders turning up at Anfield / Old Trafford / Ibrox / Celtic Park for any game? 

You could live in a world where you expect a man united or Liverpool crowd to Dees v Dogs and you will probably be disappointed most weeks, or you could live in reality where our average crowd in 2023 was 5th in the league at 39.5k up from 11th in 2019 with an average of 32.6k.

In that context 44k looks ok to me, above average vs a low drawing team.

Also coming off the back of the highest attendance in rd1, 40k v Swans. Next best in rd1 was 33k blues v lions, and the greatest draw card on the planet, bigger than football itself Collingwood pulled 21k - up a whopping 17% on the average Giants crowd in 2023 of 18k (yes I know capacity is only 23k..)

We’re doing ok.

[biggestred 5,009]

wsa a fair bit of it on reddit. because it looked empty on the tv. as usual. because we are all over the camera side. as usual. mind you, half of all people have below average intelligence....

[Tracca 841]

2 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

First and foremost. It is OUR HOME GROUND. That's why we play there. 

I also thought the attendance was poor. Let's say there were 10,000 Doggies supporters there. That means around 40% of our supposed 75,000 membership turned up to watch our opening home game. Both sides have also won flags in the last eight years and are mooted as top four contenders. Could you imagine only 40% of season ticket holders turning up at Anfield / Old Trafford / Ibrox / Celtic Park for any game? 

its the worst time for a football game ever with kids sport on potentially at that time or in the morning at least.