Roosters have averaged 28,500 per home game this year. That is the highest across 4 home games by any NSW team ever.
the roosters! If we actually experienced success then a ground that only holds <20k would put us at a significant competitive disadvantage
Roosters have averaged 28,500 per home game this year. That is the highest across 4 home games by any NSW team ever.
the roosters! If we actually experienced success then a ground that only holds <20k would put us at a significant competitive disadvantage
Thats actually pretty impressive
@tigertownsfs I guess the club will try and spruiker memberships, if you are a member it will guarantee you a seat, that type of marketing campaign. The clubs aim is memberships not fans
@tigertownsfs I guess the club will try and spruiker memberships, if you are a member it will guarantee you a seat, that type of marketing campaign. The clubs aim is memberships not fans
but there are more members than seats!
If we were a competitive team then the Sydney derby’s, particularly versus Penrith, eels and dogs should be expected to get 30k fans
When we played at the old SFS we regularly pulled crowds well above 20k.
It’s all small time thinking from admin that are more interested in self preservation than greatness.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
When we played at the old SFS we regularly pulled crowds well above 20k.
funny how time plays tricks with our memory. In 40 regular comp games at SFS (during our peak years) we only had 5 games over 20K and we had 4 under 10K. Hardly an endorsement.
EDIT: against all the biggest drawing teams.
When we played at the old SFS we regularly pulled crowds well above 20k.
funny how time plays tricks with our memory. In 40 regular comp games at SFS (during our peak years) we only had 5 games over 20K and we had 4 under 10K. Hardly an endorsement.
EDIT: against all the biggest drawing teams.
Which proves the point that we can pull 20k plus crowds and we would therefore be limiting our potential attendances by playing out of a sub 20k stadium.
In 2010 we had 6,000 members. Now we have over 20,000 spread across 3 Sydney home grounds. If we had one predominant home ground (say CSS) I think we would still have at least 15,000 ticketed members (I think we probably keep the 20k members). Given CSS only holds 20k and if you want to see Tigers play a home game you would need to travel to CSS then it’s reasonable to expect we would have 15k at least per game. If we were regularly filling CSS it would add to the case for investment there alongside MacArthur Bulls and potentially the Bulldogs.
what has changed my mind is listening to the Campbelltown locals on todays pod talk about how the club pays lip service to being part of the community. That is never going to work. To work you need to be a constant presence on most weekends in the area. We are on life support. It’s times like these that hard decisions can and should be made.
As much as the club wants it Campbelltown and Leichhardt are not going to get the upgrades needed to compete in the modern landscape. I’ve got to the footy at Leichhardt for over 35 years however it’s time to move on. The facilities are poor, the corporate areas are poor, the viewing is poor. We need to look to the future and commit to somewhere with a minimum 25k capacity. Being stuck at grounds that hold less than 20K is just hindering any chance of growth.
@tigertownsfs I think if club goes with a 9 css 3 lo split we are doomed unless campbletown can secure an upgraded stadium. Never worked for Magpies and won't work for us. Has to be a 6 css and 6 LO split.
it’s clear that all our juniors will now come from the south west with the occasional player to emerge from the inner west or where a player from elsewhere in Sydney or Qld is placed into the Balmain system due to proximity to the city (eg. Feledy).
but the kids will all come from the south west. I don’t see us being able to hold onto our old identity because those generations are dying out. I don’t know much about the south west but the population explosion out there in and of itself is hugely compelling for a sport that relies on getting value out of players in their system that can find early and develop.
I believe that's all a fallacy: this idea of some kind of exceptional rugby league population in Macarthur.
I've done the numbers before, it can be looked up on the other forum if anyone cares, but the Macarthur LGAs are not necessarily growing at any amazing rate different to other parts of Sydney, including the straight West and North West. Especially with higher-density housing, there are LGAs much closer to the CBD that are growing as quickly as anything in Macarthur. The main thing about the SW is there are areas that used to have nobody, so obviously adding humans to former agistments is a significant growth.
Secondly, specific to rugby league players, the Wests District Rugby League is not specifically large in participants compared to any other local comps - e.g. Canterbury District, Balmain District, Parramatta. It pales in comparison to Penrith District.
Thirdly, the question of whether population growth is equivalent to football growth. E.g. if your population growth is driven heavily by new immigrants, particularly from the Subcontinent (now our largest immigration pool per year) or China, those people are not native league followers and you don't traditionally have many people of that heritage playing first-grade league. So not only do you need to engage the area, you need to have a compelling strategy to convert people who are not from a traditional league background into supporters and players.
The proof I think is in the pudding. If Macarthur is such a special League nursery, why are the junior Magpies teams not in the Grand Finals every year? It's nothing like Penrith who for many years have been prominent in all grades at the end of the season. Often Wests fare no better than Balmain, because the reality is it depends on the crop you have, not necessarily the consistent power of the district. Where are all the Wests juniors in the first grade side right now?
None of this is to say Tigers should not do their best to continue to engage and cement a foothold in the Southwest, and build upon the advantage we have since the Magpies first moved. I believe it is more to recognise that Magpies went out there in 1987 and we are still talking about ways to engage the SW nearly 40 years later. I also think the current crop of Magpies juniors, whilst very promising, are not necessarily indicative of the output we will get year on year.
Lastly, I'm afraid that geographical loyalties are constantly diminishing, particularly in Sydney where there are so many teams and where many allegiances are passed down through family lines. And I don't just mean supporters, I mean specific to players, who are already trending strongly towards placing personal brand and financial advantage way before anything like club or geographical loyalty.
In 2010 we had 6,000 members. Now we have over 20,000 spread across 3 Sydney home grounds. If we had one predominant home ground (say CSS) I think we would still have at least 15,000 ticketed members (I think we probably keep the 20k members). Given CSS only holds 20k and if you want to see Tigers play a home game you would need to travel to CSS then it’s reasonable to expect we would have 15k at least per game. If we were regularly filling CSS it would add to the case for investment there alongside MacArthur Bulls and potentially the Bulldogs.
what has changed my mind is listening to the Campbelltown locals on todays pod talk about how the club pays lip service to being part of the community. That is never going to work. To work you need to be a constant presence on most weekends in the area. We are on life support. It’s times like these that hard decisions can and should be made.
Genuine respect for you having that open mind and changing your point of view based on that. Cards on the table, Im probably in the LO/CSS 50:50 camp but I also cant argue about the difference in facilities between LO & SFS nor can I argue that you are never getting >20K into LO.
IMO (no data really to back this up), I reckon that 20K number only equates to about 6-8K week to week. I dont think that at a LO game or a CSS game that there is 50% of the crowd ticketed members and that 20K includes a lot of categories that dont relate to bums on seats. Personally, I have a LO membership because that suits me (probably only get to 3-4 games a year due to work/life). if we changed to majority at CSS, Im not sure Id commit. If we dont play at LO, I think I'd probably be more likely to buy a SFS membership than CSS but there is a LOT of personal preference going on here and not much club first thinking.
Switching to a club first mindset, there is a lot of merit in your point about a CSS focus but I am very nervous that there has never been any period of success or crowds there. <insert matching argument about LO here>
@tiger5150 If you care to go through the annals I think you’ll find differently.We have drawn big crowds,and sellouts at that,at CSS.The capacity of the ground had since been reduced.
Essentially the greatest problem has been our parlous form over the last decade.Not great inspiration to get bums on seats anywhere.
In the Benji/Robbie heydays the Campbelltown crowds were healthy as we were always a winning chance.
I know this opinion is not popular but from a geography point of view and proximity to COE why wouldn't the club look at Accor stadium if souths leave.
Accor 5
CSS 4
LO 3
Give Magic round and Tamworth the flick.
From my point if view I've been a member since we started I am a season ticket holder at LO and CSS and would probably still go to all games if it wqs a 50/50 split. If we went fulltime to CSS I probably would not bother renewing.
