SANFL Finals Week 1 Crowd revealed.....
Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 12:27 pmhttp://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl ... 6722510870
STOP looking. The figure - just how many passed through the gates at AAMI Stadium on Sunday for the first weekend of SANFL finals - is not even on the league's website.
There has been no media release either. There rarely is when the news to be relayed to the public contradicts the image the SANFL has spun.
For the record, there were 6500 at the double-header of elimination and qualifying finals involving North Adelaide, Central District, West Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens. This equates to four supporter bases each bringing 1600 people to West Lakes on Sunday when there was no AFL, no bad weather and no Royal Show.
The delayed coverage of the two finals had an average audience of 44,000 on ABC television, which still cannot decide if it wants to be the league's official broadcaster next year and beyond.
Why the finals were not played in suburbia, at the home grounds of the highest-ranked finalists, remains an opportunity lost to bond SANFL clubs with their local communities and businesses. This will be the biggest task the SANFL faces in a new era of AFL domination in Adelaide.
These are interesting times for the SANFL - and not just because the treasured state league is to be reshaped with Crows and Power reserves teams next year. Perhaps the weekend's crowd figure underlines the damage done to the SANFL during the reserves debate that offended some hardcore SANFL fans.
The trend suggests the SANFL in quick time will become a "development league" - a genuine feeder to the AFL with very few players aged older than 23. SANFL club finances will be stretched.
Someone may want to start a debate as to whether every SANFL award - such as the Magarey Medal for its best player and Ken Farmer Medal for its leading goalkicker - should be renamed to acknowledge the change to the state league.
Clearly there needs to be a major rethink on how the SANFL is presented next year and beyond. Relying on the Crows reserves to bring 4000 to games and hoping the Crows-run promotional clinics in schools make young kids take interest in their local SANFL club is far from a business plan or strategy for survival, let alone growth.
Critically, the SANFL needs to be a strong base for SA football or both the Crows and Power will suffer through a reliance on interstate AFL draftees who can be picked off with "come home" offers.
But how is the SA Football Commission going to make football fans leave home to watch the SANFL again?
STOP looking. The figure - just how many passed through the gates at AAMI Stadium on Sunday for the first weekend of SANFL finals - is not even on the league's website.
There has been no media release either. There rarely is when the news to be relayed to the public contradicts the image the SANFL has spun.
For the record, there were 6500 at the double-header of elimination and qualifying finals involving North Adelaide, Central District, West Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens. This equates to four supporter bases each bringing 1600 people to West Lakes on Sunday when there was no AFL, no bad weather and no Royal Show.
The delayed coverage of the two finals had an average audience of 44,000 on ABC television, which still cannot decide if it wants to be the league's official broadcaster next year and beyond.
Why the finals were not played in suburbia, at the home grounds of the highest-ranked finalists, remains an opportunity lost to bond SANFL clubs with their local communities and businesses. This will be the biggest task the SANFL faces in a new era of AFL domination in Adelaide.
These are interesting times for the SANFL - and not just because the treasured state league is to be reshaped with Crows and Power reserves teams next year. Perhaps the weekend's crowd figure underlines the damage done to the SANFL during the reserves debate that offended some hardcore SANFL fans.
The trend suggests the SANFL in quick time will become a "development league" - a genuine feeder to the AFL with very few players aged older than 23. SANFL club finances will be stretched.
Someone may want to start a debate as to whether every SANFL award - such as the Magarey Medal for its best player and Ken Farmer Medal for its leading goalkicker - should be renamed to acknowledge the change to the state league.
Clearly there needs to be a major rethink on how the SANFL is presented next year and beyond. Relying on the Crows reserves to bring 4000 to games and hoping the Crows-run promotional clinics in schools make young kids take interest in their local SANFL club is far from a business plan or strategy for survival, let alone growth.
Critically, the SANFL needs to be a strong base for SA football or both the Crows and Power will suffer through a reliance on interstate AFL draftees who can be picked off with "come home" offers.
But how is the SA Football Commission going to make football fans leave home to watch the SANFL again?
