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DIEHARD
17-04-11, 09:59 PM
Sydney fans defy AFL crowd decline

SYDNEY fans sat in their ponchos, braving the driving rain at the SCG, to send their message to the AFL: Football is alive and kicking in this town.
Across the AFL this year, crowd figures have been down, the expanded competition with the Gold Coast Suns taking time to take root.

The average attendance after three rounds was 37,888. By Round 3 in 2007, the figure was 41,039.

The first warning sign came with the 2009 grand final rematch between Geelong and St Kilda in the opening round, which drew fewer than 43,000 fans.

This year, the AFL and NRL are hoping to attract $1 billion for their next television deal. It's serious business.

While the NRL is enjoying a surge in crowds, the AFL numbers have been a concern.

But last night represented a silver lining as Sydney fans - the last frontier for the AFL - fronted up.

Sydney officials were hoping for a big crowd and would have been delighted with 25,300 under the circumstances. It's a start.

A strong turnout at the SCG considering the conditions.

Sydney needed a show of faith and Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland got it.

"We are confident that the crowds will be strong again this year - we averaged over 30,000 last year and can build on that this season," Ireland said.

"We were disappointed with the rain through the day as we were confident of getting around 33,000 given the strong sales all week.

"Given the conditions, we are really happy with the turnout."

Things weren't looking good when 28,082 turned up at ANZ Stadium for the Swans' first home game of the year against Essendon - the lowest regular-season attendance for a game at Homebush.

While last night's figure was seen as a positive for the Swans, the AFL's overall crowds had dropped in previous rounds.

As the NRL is having a rise in crowd numbers, the AFL's crowds have been steadily slipping since 2007.

If this is a war between the codes, the NRL has had bragging rights after its biggest opening-round attendance figures in history.

All up, 185,051 fans attended the first-round games. It was a huge jump on last year's opening round figures of 165,554.

NRL crowds kept increasing until last weekend, when they dropped slightly, but were up again on last year's comparison in Round 5.

As chief executive David Gallop and his team at the NRL rejoiced, the AFL spin doctors pointed at dodgy train services, part of the West Gate Bridge being closed and even the Formula One Grand Prix for their sluggish start to the year.

The coming rounds will tell if it's just an aberration for the AFL or something more serious.

But Sydney led the revival.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/

DIEHARD
17-04-11, 10:07 PM
Great news for the NRL making steady progress!

Ryan
18-04-11, 04:23 AM
Great news for the NRL making steady progress!

Dont you mean greater news for the ALF making steady decline? :laugh: