New South Wales Waratahs officials plan to entice fans to home matches

New South Wales Waratahs officials plan to entice fans to home matches

March 02, 2009 New South Wales Rugby Union is ready to deploy a free bus to ferry missing fans from the Sydney CBD to the Sydney Football Stadium this week in a bid to arrest an alarming drop in crowd numbers at New South Wales Waratahs' matches.

Despite claiming their third win of the year and a record ninth in a row at home against the Highlanders last Friday, the unbeaten Tahs drew just 19,492.
It was only the fourth time the crowd at a Waratahs Super 14 rugby match has fallen below 20,000, and contrasted starkly with the 26,000 on hand for the Charity Shield trial between St George Illawarra and South Sydney at ANZ Stadium a night later.

NSW Rugby believe the economic downturn and a string of Friday night games - which traditionally draw poorly - are behind the slump.

But in a drastic move to get more punters through the gates this Friday, Tahs bosses are finalising plans for a free bus service from the city to the ground to grab would-be fans out of pubs and offices.

"Hopefully some people see that as a good opportunity to jump on the bus and come out to the game," NSW Rugby boss Jim L'Estrange said. "There's no doubt we would dearly love a big crowd at the Reds game."

After averaging more than 26,000 a game in 2008, pre-season fears of lean home attendances in the opening rounds have come true for the Waratahs, who drew 21,581 in round two. Only in the dismal 2007 season, in which the Waratahs finished 13th, have the crowd figures been lower. The bottom three crowd figues came that season, against the Chiefs (16,288), Highlanders (17,672) and Stormers (18,409).

Friday night matches are not family friendly and often struggle to lure people off their couches. 100,00 viewers watched the Highlanders match on Fox Sports last Friday.

L'Estrange conceded the crowds were lower than budgeted for, but pre-emptive cost-cutting should help secure them financially. NSW Rugby last week announced a loss of $295,304 for 2008, a year in which they hosted a lucrative home semi-final and made the final.

"There is an economic scenario out there that's affecting everyone. And while we put out a new category family ticket for $50, I think to an extent it's still biting," L'Estrange said.

The Waratahs' dour 11-7 win over the Chiefs a week earlier no doubt kept some fans away, but L'Estrange says that the "ugly" argument doesn't wash.

"They have scored two bonus points and they are winning," he said. "There's no issue there. It is more the economic environment than their style of play."

Despite the low crowds, NSW Rugby's bottom line should ultimately benefit from having an extra home game this season.

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Free buses. Now thats a novel idea.

:)

i dont get this, we already have free buses, this is just an extra route that there adding, hardly cause for an entire story, but then again i dont sell papers for a living!

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Originally Posted by travelling_gerry

Despite claiming their third win of the year and a record ninth in a row at home

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When was the last time the Force won 9 consecutive home games?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Moses

When was the last time the Force won 9 consecutive home games?

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What exactly does that have to do with this story about a lack of bums on seats at Tahs home games??

Despite claiming their third win of the year and a record ninth in a row at home against the Highlanders last Friday, the unbeaten Tahs drew just 19,492

Is that a paid attendence figure?

Do you mean "Did they get paid to go and watch the game" ??

unlikely Larry - a figure like that would include a bucket load of freebie seats that all home teams have to give out.

I thought the busses at the last tahs game we went to were pretty good....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Moses

When was the last time the Force won 9 consecutive home games?

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When was the last time the Tahs won 4 consecutive away games?

If the Tahs want to entice fans they should give out free tickets with a $50 note attached. It's the only way I can see anyone in Sydney bothering with them.

OMG I can't believe that the master plan that they came up with last year didn't work.....the absolute genius of it was astounding. I know many a marketing comapany who were staggered by the shear simplicity of the idea and were convinced it would work wonders in dragging the comic Tahs supporters off their fat lazy asses to go to the game. I am refering, of course, to the incredible TAHMAN!!!!!!!!!!!:iconrofl:

It will be interesting to see the crowd next week to compare with the 15,893 last weekend for the first derby. It would have to have implications for JO'Ns hopes for expanding the S14 using derby rounds.

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Originally Posted by AndyS

It will be interesting to see the crowd next week to compare with the 15,893 last weekend for the first derby. It would have to have implications for JO'Ns hopes for expanding the S14 using derby rounds.

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Surely it will be a big crowd.

Hopefully Aussie Robbie might turn out an opinion piece after seeing both matches too.

Reds matches at Ballymore offer free busses from all the club rugby grounds around Brisbane, they also offer the return trip.. Actually all sporting events(pro-sport) in Brisbane offer free PT