HoldenV8
Years ago
NBL Attendance - Round 17
Here we (or I) go again. Round 17 of the NBL has come and gone and for from a game point of view only the 2nd time this season that all home teams won but for the first time this season all losing teams scored less than 70 with one team (Cairns) not even reaching 50 (49).
Crocodiles vs 36ers - 3,622 @ TEC (63%)
Breakers vs Kings - 7,979 @ VA (66%)
Hawks vs Tigers - 3,456 @ WEC (58%)
Wildcats vs Crocodiles - 4,000 @ CS (89%)
Blaze vs Taipans - 3,088 @ GCCC (59%)
Back to normal for Crocs home crowds after their 20th Anniversary sellout. But the good thing is that they still got around their seasons average and on a Wednesday night to boot so overall it wasn't a bad effort, though could have been better. Might have been if the Crocs were playing someone in playoff contention and not one sitting near the bottom and continuing to dig...
Before people jump on me about the 66% and the game being a sellout...I'm only going on Vector Arena's actual capacity for the %. I know it was a sellout and from what I read they only intended to sell 7,979 tickets anyway so for that the game was a 100% capacity sellout and it was great to see. Not only did the Kiwi's break their own record crowd they grabbed the highest crowd of the season so far back from Sydney. And the Breakers again didn't let their home fans down either.
When it comes to Hawks home crowds this year the one against Melbourne was a pretty good one and up on their season average. I know a lot would have gone to see Ubaka 'debuting' and to see him play the Tigers but it was still good to see more through the doors than normal. Still not flash but with the Hawks turning the corner and winning games I'd hope that crowds in the `Gong remain at that level or better. Lets hope there are no more less than 3K crowds at the WIN Ent Cent this season.
Business as usual for Perth but I would have thought they'd attract more than just 4,000 for a 2 vs 3 clash. Still, it was the `Cats 9th home game of the season and the 9th time they have posted a 4K+ crowd. Who can argue with that?
I just don't get the fans on the Gold Coast. Last round against an out of form Melbourne they posted 4,170 at the Convention Centre. This round against the hot and cold (and fellow Qld team) Taipans they only got 3,088 through the doors. Crowds in SE Qld are harder to pick than a broken nose. And watching the game on One I just couldn't pick up on any atmosphere, the place seemed dead other than the game on the court.
So, there it is, my take on the Round 17 NBL attendances. Nothing unusual about any of them but it was great to see the Breakers pull in a NZ record 7,979 for their game against the Kings.
Makes me wonder if the Breakers would consider playing their home Grand Final games at the 12,000 seat Arena instead of the 4,400 they could get at the North Shore Events Centre. If they can attract nearly 8K there for a season game a GF game or two should be able to attract that and more...shouldn't it?
