Football codes struggle with attendances

With the AFL and NRL set to embark on their 2014 finals series, Australia’s major winter spectator sports are reporting a year of sluggish match attendances and TV ratings, amid questions about ­scheduling strategy and stadium costs and comfort.

An Australian Financial Review analysis of ground attendance and television ratings across the three big winter football codes, AFL, rugby league and rugby union, shows declining or plateauing figures.

TV ratings for the NRL regular season matches are down for both Nine Entertainment Co and Fox Sports Australia, although 2014 has seen record viewership for the State of Origin series.

While the second match of the Origin series on Nine attracted a record audience of almost 4.2 million viewers around the country, including regional areas, ratings for NRL games are down 4% to 8% for Nine and Fox Sports this year.

AFL coverage on Fox Sports and Seven West Media is roughly in line with 2013 figures or down by 2% to 3% in certain markets.

NRL crowds are at about the same level as 2013, as are AFL attendances. However, AFL crowds are down at least 10% for many clubs in Melbourne, with overall figures being boosted by large increases for both Adelaide clubs and the Sydney Swans.

Similarly, crowds for big-name Sydney teams, such as South Sydney, and the defending champion Sydney Roosters, have fallen this year.

Those declines have been offset by crowd increases for the likes of the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos.

Meanwhile, crowds for the five Australian Super Rugby franchises were mixed for the 2014 season. The competition’s highest-drawing team, the Queensland Reds, suffered a drop of more than 10% after a disappointing performance on the field.

The NSW Waratahs enjoyed a similar rise in the regular season and managed to draw a record of almost 62,000 for its grand final win against the Crusaders from New Zealand.

The match was the second-highest rating Super Rugby match ever for Fox Sports, attracting an audience of 375,000. However, ratings for regular season matches were down 10% compared to 2013.

Despite the mixed ratings and crowds figures, membership levels in both the AFL and NRL have been rising.

The recent Australian Financial Review story reported that Essendon, mired in the supplements scandal that has sparked legal action, has attracted record membership of more than 60,000.

Many AFL clubs have also increased membership figures despite the falling crowds. Total NRL membership for the year across the 16 teams in the ­competition is just under 254,000, a 12% increase from a year ago.

Both the NRL and AFL will launch programs in the off-season to attempt to increase the crowd numbers, with many members electing not to attend many matches.

Click here to view the original news item in the Australian Financial Review.

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