I’m in the same boat as Garry. I watch every tigers game religiously and even force myself to watch the full 80mins as painful as it is, but the last couple of years I have watched less and less of the other games due to our form. I also definitely read less news or watch any fox sports because of the constant bashing we get.
Surely this is a concern to the nrl that tigers are damaging the game and potential sponsorship. I mean that’s the whole point of a salary cap, to try to ensure each team and their fans feel like they are a chance of winning each week.
When it comes to the media, I get that they post tigers articles because of the broad fan base, but surely they realise there must be a threshold with all this where fatigue and disinterest sets in where and they will lose readers/viewers. It seems they are after short term clicks at the expense of long term subscribers. Or maybe I’m just different and everyone is still buying the tele and watching nrl360.
Also a quick note that I have also forced one of my daughters and my wife to be tigers fans (she used to go for the cowboys), but I’ve lost another daughter to the broncos/dolphins/eels, in that order. Supporting three teams does wonders for her resilience.
On the point that Steve raised about younger fans engaging with the club I think this is a big issue.
My son comes to games and supports the other teams because ‘they win all the time’. He thinks the tigers are a joke and he’s only 7.
I also work with young people all over Sydney and you don’t find many Tigers fans out there. In 15 years or so the growth of the club will come to a standstill as no new supporters are coming through. Most people pick and stick with sports teams.