Crowds

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Canberra sports crowds inflated in the past, Sports Minister Andrew Barr claims

ACT Sports Minister Andrew Barr claims crowd figures to Canberra's professional football codes have been inflated in previous years, leading to lower recorded numbers this year.

Attendances to both the Brumbies and the Raiders at Canberra Stadium have come under the spotlight after the early part of both the NRL and Super Rugby seasons.

Just 7129 fans watched the Brumbies beat the Auckland Blues 26-9 last Friday night in driving rain, the lowest crowd to a Canberra Stadium Super Rugby game since a tiny 4000 in 1999.

The Raiders attracted just 9636 against the Gold Coast Titans last month, however that was an increase of more than 1000 on the corresponding fixture two years ago.

The Raiders are back at home this Saturday at 3pm against the Newcastle Knights, with the GWS Giants hosting the Western Bulldogs an hour and a half later at 4.40pm at Manuka Oval.

"I think they're actually more honest figures, I think the crowd figures have been inflated in previous years, often by two thousand,'' Barr said.

"If you were to go back and look at what the actual numbers were before the inflation of numbers, it wouldn't reflect as much of a downward trend that people might think.

"We've been looking at that data.

"Undoubtedly weather has been a major factor, as is who the local teams are playing against.

"It's clear in the context of Super Rugby, particularly the South African teams but to a lesser extent the New Zealand teams, the players are just not that well known in Australia.''

Barr admitted it wasn't ideal that the Raiders and Giants were playing on the same day, but said the government was using initiatives such as free public transport with a pre-purchased game ticket to entice patrons along.

"You'd prefer they didn't happen, but with the weekends there are in the year there's inevitably going to be a clash from time to time, but you want to avoid that,'' Barr said.

"There was the one weekend when the Raiders and Brumbies were on the same weekend, but different nights.''

The Raiders have lost a club record five straight home games, while the Giants have already doubled their win total from last year with two wins from their first three matches.

"Sucess on the field is a factor and we want to do things to assist,'' Barr said.

"The weather was clearly a factor [for the Brumbies], but I don't discount the commentary about the level of penetration of Foxtel and what that means for people already forking out to watch sport and not wanting to pay again.''

The ACT Government has raised the prospect of building an indoor stadium in Civic within the next decade.

Interim Brumbies chief executive Doug Edwards hoped that still remained on the cards.

''It would have fixed everything,'' Edwards said.

''We would have had 12 or 15,000 if we had an indoor stadium.

''I know the minister's working on that, it's something he's quite passionate about and he's pushing forward with it.

''Hopefully in a few more years we'll have an indoor stadium.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/

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I'd love to see a new stadium built in Canberra, especially a fancy indoor one. If any place needs one it's Canberra.

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Where have the Canberra crowds gone?

ACT Brumbies director of rugby Laurie Fisher believes Super Rugby needs to expand its fan base beyond the "hardcore supporters" with the club's lowest crowd in 15 years set to cost the outfit up to $30,000.

Just 7129 fans watched the Brumbies beat the Auckland Blues 26-9 on Friday night, as dismal weather contributed to the lowest attendance at a Canberra Stadium Super Rugby contest since a tiny 4000 in 1999.

It was the sixth-lowest crowd at Canberra Stadium for Brumbies and Canberra Raiders games in 15 years.

The disappointing turnout will send warnings to the Raiders and AFL's Greater Western Sydney, who go head-to-head with cross-town, cross-code fixtures in Canberra on Saturday.

The Raiders will play their second home game against the Newcastle Knights at 3pm at Canberra Stadium while the Giants will play the first of their AFL matches in the capital against the Western Bulldogs at 4.40pm at Manuka Oval.

The schedule clash could affect crowds at both venues and, when they competed in April last year, the Giants attracted almost 1500 more fans than the Raiders.

The Brumbies had hoped for at least 10,000 supporters, but two days of rain, which forced the ACT government to close all sport venues over the weekend, limited walk-up sales as fans opted to stay at home or watch from the pub.

All codes, including the NRL and AFL, have been down on crowd numbers this year.

The Brumbies are hoping an Anzac Day grand final rematch against the Waikato Chiefs will boost crowd figures and help them recoup the financial losses of the game against the Blues.

"We've got a hardcore group and then there's a group that comes on entertainment and spectacle," Fisher said.

"I guess what we have to do is increase the hardcore rugby supporters so if rain, hail or shine, you get 12,000 instead of 7000.

"We have to work to get that group of people together. One of the challenges of rugby is whether it's more entertainment or to say, 'here's a team representing your region that's showing good character and working hard'.

"In Europe, it's about supporting a team. You're not a fan, you're a rusted-on supporter who's part of the team."

The Raiders have played just one home game this season, attracting 9636 against the Gold Coast Titans, which was more than a 1000 increase on the corresponding fixture two years ago.

They have played four of their first five games on the road, but will return to Canberra to play against the Newcastle Knights this week and are eager to make amends for their disappointing showing in a 24-12 loss to the Titans.

"Hopefully we can make up for our last efforts at home, it was probably our worst performance of the year,'' Terry Campese said.

"We want to get back and make the home crowd proud again.''

The Brumbies rely on walk-up ticket sales to boost crowd numbers with every 1000 fans representing about $10,000.

The Brumbies battled against the Canberra Show and Skyfire for their two big-selling home games against the Reds and Waratahs, attracting 13,670 and 17,016 respectively.

One of the biggest challenges in Super Rugby is selling tickets to games against international teams who don't have supporters in Australia.

More than 11,000 fans watched the Brumbies beat the Cape Town Stormers.

"Watching it on TV is now so good it gives people an excuse to stay home or watch it in the pub," Brumbies chief executive Doug Edwards said.

"We met with one of the hotels and they showed us a video. There were 57 people there wearing a Brumbies jumper during the game. That means people are still proud and want to support their team, but it's easier for them not to go to the ground.

"That's something we have to work on and all sports do. We've put a band on and are trying to increase game-day entertainment. It can be done, they've done it in the Twenty20 cricket."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/

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Good news to see the rise in attendance for Raiders v Titans games.