Why aren't you attending NRL games? |
The National
Rugby League’s vision is to be ‘the most entertaining, most engaging and most
respected sport’. This was the guiding statement in the code’s strategic plan that was released at the end of 2012, which was to be a blueprint for the five-years
following until the end of the record broadcasting-rights deal it had just
signed.
As one of six
main objectives’ areas in the strategic plan, the ‘Rugby League Family’
objective encompasses four key focuses: ‘Fans, Members, Volunteers and Code of
Conduct’. Critically, within this focus area, the 2017 ‘Fans’ objectives are
listed as:
- An improved game-day experience will have driven growth in average elite game attendance by 4% to 20,000
- Fan satisfaction will be measured at record levels
- A coordinated plan will have improved supporter facilities at all levels
From these
goals, the NRL outlines initiatives they will pursue in order to reach their targets. One of these is to ‘Grow our fan base’, in which they outline how they
will ‘consolidate the current fan base and generate new fans’ by:
- Improving the game-day experience
- Directly engaging with members and fans
- Targeting specific marketing initiatives at potential fans
- Delivering a five-year membership plan (400,000 members by 2017 end)
- Pursuing a stadium strategy that places matches in optimal locations
With such
professionalised organisational targets and one of the highest paid executive
teams across Australian sport, you’d think these objectives would be attainable
for the NRL across a five-year period beginning in 2013 when the plan was to be
implemented, and culminating at the conclusion of the 2017 NRL season.
However,
after three years NRL crowd figures have tumbled with season averages down by
almost 8.2% over rounds 1 – 26, and 6.86% over the regular season and finals series
combined from 2012 until 2015. Whilst these figures might not resonate with
those of you reading this, they are alarming. The average crowd in 2012 was
16,423 for the regular home and away season, today that figure is down to
15,074. Only just clearing a respectable 15,000 mark.
But why have
crowds decreased? Not only do these figures show the NRL is yet to gain any
news fans, they can be interpreted to show that fans they already had in 2012
have stopped attending games.
Over the
last three years, the NRL has gone about boosting their average fan attendance
by playing the ‘right game at the right venue’, a strategy that understandably
involved moving blockbuster games to bigger stadiums. Designed to ensure fans
weren’t put off attending by having to watch the game from a muddy patch of
grass on hill. It was a twenty-first century idea that you have to give some
credit for, as it has achieved some minor success. Many fans have enjoyed a
big-game experience on Easter weekend, at derbies, or during rivalry rounds.
But this hasn’t got the results the administrators’ were looking for. The root
of the crowd problems for the NRL goes much deeper, and to understand it one
must look at three important events that have occurred during Dave Smith’s
tenure.
Firstly, the
Australian Rugby League Commission banned the shoulder charge from the game.
They did so at the end of 2012 on the advice of a recommendation made from a
detailed report into the effects of the shoulder charge. The ARLC acted, to
protect players of the game and reduce the risk of cooperate liability, which
at the time was under much scrutiny in the American National Football League.
While you cannot label this a bad move, especially considering some of the
recent happenings surrounding the tackle, it’s one of the key reasons behind a
reduced ‘live’ atmosphere at NRL games today. Nothing was better than a ‘big
hit’ that had the visual aesthetics to excite the crowd, the potential to turn
a match, and ability to raise a crowd when they felt down and out.
Secondly,
midway through the 2013 season, the NRL announced it would take a
zero-tolerance approach to on-field punching following Paul Gallen’s one-two on
Nate Myles. In other words, they banned punching and they banned fighting. The
politically correct will list this as a win and it’s hard to argue against when
your talking about mum’s letting their boys take up the sport. Punching died
because of the time it got banned in. Around the same time as the ban, many
‘king-hits’ in Sydney had tragic consequences, and the ban had to come in. But
the game was for 100 years, built on toughness, and those who didn’t want to be
involved in some argy-bargy, didn’t play the game. The banning undoubtedly took
some of the excitement out of the game. You used to go to a game knowing in the
back of you mind that something could possibly erupt, and everyone was out of
their chair as soon as it happened. Take the ‘Battle of Brookvale’ as an
example, the atmosphere that night following the brawl was incredible. Again,
we’ve lost that, and we’ve lost another critical element that adds to the
‘live’ experience.
Last but not
least, the live NRL experience, let alone the experience at home, has been
ruined by the constant referrals to the video referee by on field-officials.
Time and time again we are subjected to decisions being sent up to the man (now
men) in the box. Whether that represents a lack in confidence by referee’s to
make a call on the field, or the secret KFC deal is true and the advertising
targets must be met is debatable, but the fans are sick of it. Well and truly.
No longer can you celebrate a length of the field try with a high five amongst
the group behind you who have annoyed you for the last 65 minutes. Your left
cheering until the ball is put down, but instantly looking for the referee to
see which gesture of ‘Deal or No Deal’ he’ll divulge in. You might think this
is a cliché whinge that’s become perennial for rugby league fans, but when you
think about it, it’s actually taking away from the atmosphere at the ground;
the feelings, emotions and acts you get to experience and take part in.
While three considerations
are not meant to be the sole reasons why crowds have dwindled, they are
observations made that mainstream media continue to make reference to in their
discussions about NRL attendances. You can sight the meat-pie prices all you
want, even the car-parking at suburban ovals, but for me, the problem lies in
the changes to the product. The game has forever been changed with the rubbing
out of the shoulder charge and the much-loved Rugby League ‘stink’ is no longer.
The drastic increases in referee referrals’ has too, changed the way the game
is experienced.
It’s a fact
that NRL crowd numbers have fallen, and surely that is evidence that fans
satisfaction is not a ‘record’ levels. While a ‘coordinated plan’ to improve
supporter facilities could lie in the $1.6 billion to be dedicated to sports
infrastructure in NSW and membership is on the rise, the NRL has seriously
fallen behind on its objective targets. The need to act and improve some of the
aspects of the game-day experience is now, and the in-coming CEO should be
putting it at the top of their agenda. Otherwise it will be too late; fans are
shifting, the A-League is growing, the AFL is a juggernaut. Are any of these
three considerations resonating with you? Have they been overlooked in favour
of food prices and transport?