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I thought Sydney was supposed to be the "Rugby Heartland"
The Waratahs suffer in crowded market with fair-weather fans
By Greg Clark
April 21, 2009 .
A lot has been written about the demise of the New South Wales Waratahs in this year's Super 14 and it's hard to argue against the criticism.
They don't score as many tries or make as many linebreaks compared to last year and when they do win games it is usually ugly. Crowds are down at the SFS.
While other Australian provinces won't be feeling sorry for the Tahs, the fact of the matter is they do have one of the toughest 'gigs' in Australian sport. The greater Sydney region is the biggest sports market in Australia and the Waratahs are the only fully professional rugby team in the area.
Sports fans have a lot of choice and they therefore place a lot of pressure on the Tahs to perform.
They want entertainment. Sydneysiders love winners and some fans are renowned for jumping off losers and backing winners, even if it is another code.
They have NRL and AFL at their disposal, and even the Socceroos occasionally.
It is a fact that when the Waratahs are doing well TV ratings go up. Last year ratings were up by 27 percent when they went all the way to the final.
That's because there are many more viewers in the Sydney region compared to other cities. This year ratings haven't increased. All of you Fox Sports viewers know that there is a lot of 'live' sport to choose from and it's easy for some to discard a team when they aren't performing to expectations.
Last season the Waratahs won every home game but this year they've lost three in Sydney.
They look like a team under pressure and some are suggesting that it might be a good thing for them to escape to South Africa for their last three games of the year. I don't agree, but I'm prepared to be proven wrong.
Because they have a bye this week it's now looking like they won't finish in the top two and earn a home semi-final, so that means there will be no 'elite' rugby played in Sydney for seven weeks.
It is impossible to grow your product when your only team is away from home for that amount of time. The next big game of rugby in Sydney is the Wallabies clash with the Barbarians at the SFS on June 6. What do fans do in the meantime?
There's the weekly NRL games. State of Origin is on the way and the AFL rolls on. Sure diehard fans like myself will watch the Tahs, and the other Aussie teams when they are in action even if it is at 3am.
But your general sports fan might take the easy option and record it. That won't be reflected in the ratings.
Towards the end of last Saturday's clash at the SFS I said in commentary that it's going to be a great win for the Western Force but not a good result for Australian rugby.
I certainly didn't mean to take any gloss off the Force's victory as I am a big fan of the team from the West. The game needs the Force to be competitive to grow the sport in Perth. I was simply commenting on the bigger picture.
The Tahs' loss spelled danger for the code for the reasons I outlined above. It meant that Sydney probably wouldn't get any more Super 14 rugby in 2009, unless the Tahs pull off a miracle and finish in the top two.
We're still in April and we probably won't see the Waratahs again until February or March next year. I hope administrators try to avoid having the Tahs away for the last three weeks in future years.
It will be a tough tour of South Africa with matches against the Cheetahs, Sharks and Lions but the Tahs are capable of winning all three if they can just get their backline to function better.
I haven't conceded that we won't have a team in the semis because if the Waratahs, Brumbies and Force can win their remaining games and other results go their way, they can all make it.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...002381,00.html
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Originally Posted by laura
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