Hoops

NBL crowds thread

Even during the Groves era to mid 2000s period when they finally were good again after what seemed like forever no one in Brisbane cared.

I think no one cared since the Bullets peaked too early in the late 80s then were an also ran team during the key early 90s period.

AEG that's why.

While Sydney may be loosing on the court, they are making it up in their in-game entertainment, games are a lot more enjoyable the last few seasons compared to earlier in the decade.

Brisbane also has the worst social media presence out of all the teams, no incentives to become a member and 0 media presence and promotion. Kind of what you'd expect really.

Speaking as Brisbane member (if not quite a fan, displaced Taipans tragic) there are some clearly issues in market, suitability of arena, member base, pricing and so on.

2640 however is pretty sad, particularly given that it was a Friday night game with literally no sporting competition that night (Roar played Sunday). The membership base is around 1000 or so from most accounts but the price hike pre-season seems to have cut numbers. However the empty seats were strikingly obvious and seemed more numerous than they were at any point last year.

The arena issue is always going to limit the Bullets until the mooted Brisbane Live project gets up. Playing at the Convention Centre (high rent, low capacity) limits their ability to vary ticket prices, or so management states.

The alternative is the Entertainment Centre, where they're playing four games this year but the extra capacity is countered by the location, outdated facilities, parking costs and traffic pre and post game. Tickets are slightly cheaper to these games, with promos a plenty, but it isn't realistic to play every game there, especially if corporate support is a priority.

It isn't a case of on court success equals bums on seats, the Lions still averaged over 16 000 this year whilst being awful and having been so for the better part of a decade.

I don't envy the Brisbane front office having to negotiate the quagmire of SEQ sport.

I think the NBL would be very happy with turnouts in Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. Brisbane obviously a work in progress.

Sorry, the last game of the previous round was 2,892 which gives me three sub 3k crowds. Still not good.

Crowds last season:

2,732
6,542
2,640
13,039
8,213
4,201
7,210

Three sub 3k crowds. Atrocious!

I think almost any amount will sound small when you show it by percentage of population. The NBL is doing just fine with crowds though, in my estimation, and that will only grow as the season progresses.

Its definately skewed because of the amount of home games Perth have played. Crowd averages will always go up when Perth play at home (and now Melbourne too).

But im glad the NBL have put out a press release promoting this fact. You can guarantee all other sports would do the same thing if they could say they had an 8% increase in the first few weeks of a new season.

This has also been boosted by good crowds in Adelaide, Sydney and Cairns too, and thats probably more encouraging.

Not sure I am buying the propaganda either just yet. Perth crowds are up, which surprises me considering they were big anyway, and I think Melbourne's are up too.

But what's happening elsewhere? Because that's what matters IMO if we are really talking health of the whole league. I'd much rather see increases in places like Wollongong & Brisbane than the teams who already have the biggest crowds.

Does anyone in Brisbane care about the Bullets? None of their fans are on here for example. Every other team is repped on hoops.

No surprizes there, Brisbane never wanted a team,it was forced on them.

The Hawks have priced a few ex-members and casual fans out. There were significant hikes in the "Silver" (second worst) ticket categories, and the back three rows (Bronze) are nearly always full.

Melbourne vs Dandenong WNBL game attracted 3,157 last night. A great crowd.

Good topic. FB likes can be a good indication of how well a club engages with fans, but there would be a small number of people that like a number of clubs. Im a Perth fan, but I also like Melboure and Sydney on FB so those FB likes can be skewed a bit. Plus its very easy to like any team. No effort is required, unlike attending the game.

Sydney had 7200 at their last game on Sunday which I thought was bloody unbelievable considering how bad they've been (again). I have no idea whats going on in Sydney anymore. In years past they wouldn't have gotten more than 4000 for a game like that. They still cant win games (or assemble a good roster) but they seem to have their off court game working for them. Maybe Sydney dont care about winning as much as we think they do? Will be interesting to see if they can keep getting over 6000 regularly despite the losing.

Illawarra may have a good percentage of people attending in relation to their population, but I think they should be getting more than 2700, even if they have improved. They have historically always had the lowest crowds and their 'battler' persona doesnt really work for me, when they made the GF last year ahead of Melbourne and Sydney. They should be getting bigger crowds given their on court success recently.

Brisbane are and probably always wil be the leagues toughest market to gain support. They just struggle for support. NZ are the most fickle supporters - and they need to ditch the North Shore.