It's Western... something.

If it was a Melbourne team, we would have got that extra $5m from Foxtel :)

It reeks of urban planning strategic growth report writing i.e. the greater sydney commission calling parramatta the "central river city" and Liverpool the "western parkland aerotroplolis" or some shit.

The greater Melbourne "growthopolis" sounds about right.

12k in Brisbane

Piss poor

Honestly what would you have considered a pass?

First game of the season, Fowler, perfect weather...15k+ easy.

But the new mob totally butchered it.

 I'm okay with the 15k expectation, but I just don't see how you think Fowler is a drawcard.

He's previously played for NQ Fury, then Perth Glory, and now he is here as an unproven manager. If I was a Brisbane Roar fan I definitely wouldn't be pumped about Fowler being signed as manager. 

Overall though I don't think it is shocking to get over 12k at all. 

Explain specifically how this was the fault of the new FFA board.

If you don't answer it is definitive proof you are full of it.

I keep forgetting he's the manager. Who is going to go to a game just to watch a former star player stand on the sidelines as a tracksuit?

Fowler not a huge drawcard, but certainly would have pulled in a few more than usual.

16-17k was achievable on a saturday or sunday arvo

This season's fixturing was made on their watch.

(and not to mention the invisible "marketing" this season...)

20% more than the Friday night game against Victory last year.  New mob must be doing OK. ;)

I agree a Saturday day/night game could easily get between 15k and 17k, however I disagree that tonight's crowd is piss poor as you put it. 

Earlier in this thread I predicted 14,800 and the official attendance was 12,859. Slightly down but not shocking at all. 

I do agree with you 100% about the fixture list not being the best, but it isn't something you could say FFA would have got right in the past considering they had years of fuck ups themselves. 

The previous administration at least knew to put the first Sydney derby on FTA, but this current lot fmd...

Imagine taking paulc *whoops* libel seriously lol

They couldn't even get it on the main channel of free to air, that in itself was embarrassing. 

Who has the higher ratings?

It doesn't matter which has higher ratings. If there's been a drop now that could simply be down to people having lost interest, but nothing to do with what channel. 

I don't think there's an argument to be made about what's better between a main free to air channel compared with one that isn't the main channel which showed commercials during the games.

Err, I think it does.

Your prediction was what Brisbane managed to get for their opener last season against CCM who are hardly a crowd bringer

This was a game against Melbourne. Perhaps it didnt feel like an opener because they had to wait until round 3

It is undeniable the interest in the league is heading rapidly downwards. Dont forget comparisons to last season are comparisons to a season which in itself was down from the season before that one, and so on. You have to go back to season 9 before you actually see an increase

13k for a Brisbane opener isn't seen as poor because you are used to it. Just like how any TV rating on any platform over 50k is now seen as good

I'm not normally one to analyse a single figure but a 20% drop over a 5-6 year period does pose questions

There is for sure an increased amount of negativity around the game and a drop in interest among casual fans, yourself being a prime example, but among Football fans it is pretty much business as usual with perhaps a bit more interest around the independent a-league, new teams and movement towards a second division. The core audience is strong and 12k is about right for Brisbane on a Friday night.

The Brisbane team is hardly promising champagne football and I think Brisbane can really use a second team to give people a choice.

I understand that crowds are down and that it is a slight concern. But I just don't get too caught up in this idea that a 12k crowd is the end of the A-league, while had it been 15k then it is all good. 

My bigger concern is the fact after 15 years or so we still have nothing done in regards to clubs playing in stadiums more suitable to their fan base numbers.

Brisbane Roar shouldn't be playing out of Suncorp. A 52k stadium is too big for any A-league club, even Melbourne Victory. Also I understand that currently there isn't better option, however the problem is that nothing is being done about this. After more than 15 years there should have been moves made to build a new 20k stadium, develope something into a 20k stadium, or at the very least look into putting things in place to close off the top tier of Suncorp and find a way to make it look smaller at least on tv. 

Personally I don't like comparing crowds from previous seasons, yet ignoring performances and circumstances from previous seasons. Brisbane Roar hasn't been good on the field so that too should be considered and because of that alone I see no worries in a crowd of close to 13k. 

I agree with that. 

Ive never understood people who say, for eg, 14k is solid, but 12k is disappointing!

2,000 people. Seriously?

talk about arguing over the scraps

Thats just a template "not bad considering" response

People dont go to the game because of the league ownership or promise of a division that nobody can produce. They go to the game based on what they get for their money on the night. Interesting you mention the new team because Wellington got less for their season opener against WU than the previous season, and the home game of 6k was the lowest of any expansion side, and higher only than CCM's first game

As for Brisbane playing poor football, how did that result in 33k for a Melbourne derby at Marvel instead of 40k? And if Brisbane are playing poor football why then is the attendance good just because it can be understood?

I dont agree the core audience as strong. Even membership numbers are down. The league is uninteresting which is ironic because it was geared towards everything Strayan sports fans are supposed to like and watch indiscriminately

If every team built a stadium like WU are it would cost the league nearly $2 billion

This is the biggest non issue in our game at the moment. Instead of finding ways to make small attendances look good, it would actually be cheaper for all teams to just open their gates for free

robstazzz's prediction of 14k wasnt a prediction of a solid crowd. It was the prediction of a crowd for a team playing poor football and on a Friday night. A "not bad considering" crowd

If he had predicted a 25k bumper crowd, and the result was 23k, then it's splitting hairs

Well don't you agree that ticket prices are way overpriced?

Surprising really, looking at the TV, seemed way less

 Also I never said every team. My only real concern that stands out so much is Brisbane and Wellington. Obviously WU too but that's a whole new topic as I believe they shouldn't have been accepted into the league to begin with. 

^this. Read the match thread for MV v BR and the number of posters saying it was worst game they’d seen tells you what the problem is.

Of course they are

In the first season, which paved way for the next 2 seasons, there was an understanding of the supply demand curve. You could go to a game (including the Socceroos) for $20 or less. The right price for an unproven league for a non mainstream sport

Then after season 3 $20 was added to every Socceroos game and $5 was added to A League prices. Even in season 6 when MV played in their new venue they deliberately charged an extra $2 per ticket than Heart because they were a premium product

The A League needs to get its revenue from the TV deal, sponsorship, and owner investment. This is what Newcastle managed to get right

One more side point: In leagues like the EPL smaller clubs make money by the demand of touring big teams. We dont have that in our league to the extent we could