HoldenV8
Years ago
NBL Attendance - Round 18
I'm at it again, boring some of you (most maybe?) but why not? So anyway, Round 18...not an exceptionally good round for attendances but at least all home fans who attended the round saw their teams win. Only the 3rd time this season but the second week in a row that's happened.
Breakers vs Wildcats - 4,000 @ NSEC (91%)
Tigers vs 36ers - 2,216 @ SNC (63%)
Taipns vs Crocodiles - 4,835 @ CCC (91%)
Blaze vs Hawks - 3,122 @ GCCC (59%)
Crocodiles vs 36ers - 3,322 @ TEC (63%)
A 4th sellout crowd in a row for the Breakers, this one a top of the table clash and while its good they got another 4K crowd I'll admit to being surprised that 1 vs 2 attracted less than the centre's seated capacity, let alone its total capacity. But, in saying that I'll stop bagging them because there are some teams in this league who can't even sellout one game a season let alone 4 in a row, and one was almost an 8k crowd. Either way it was a very good turnout again from the people in Auckland.
For two teams on losing streaks I guess I'm not surprised at the crowd for the Tigers vs 36ers. Given that the game was on TV probably didn't help attract people either). The 2nd lowest crowd of the season but the lowest on a teams actual rather than alternate home court. Getting only just over 2,200 isn't good, especially when the venue only holds 3,500.
To the fans in Cairns...take a bow. Yet ANOTHER great home crowd at the Cairns Convention Centre (regardless that it was against 'local' rival Townsville). Still only one of two clubs yet to post less than 4K for a home game this season. If Adelaide's season continues going down the dunny I'd be willing to bet that the Taipans end up with the highest average home attendance for the season.
I still don't know what to make of the Blaze fans. The team is playing a tough, physical and above all winning style and they still struggle to get more than just over 3K to a home game. Sure it was against the (then) bottom placed Hawks but the one thing the Blaze's 41 point win lacked was crowd atmosphere. And is it me or does the Convention Centre have the darkest set of seating lights of any venue in the league? Even on wide angle shots on One its hard to see anything other than the court area.
Considering that Townsville were hosting the 36ers for the 2nd time in 12 days and exactly 300 less people showed on Sunday night than did for the mid-week game the previous round, it wasn't bad. Adelaide on a losing streak wouldn't be a big draw around the league right but more than 500 below their season average isn't flash. With the Crocs being 8-2 at home and 3rd on the ladder I'd like to think they could draw a better average than 3,826. They're being shown up badly by their rivals in Cairns...
So there you have it. Two very good crowds, two lower than average crowds and one piss poor crowd. Sounds about normal to me.
Make of it what you will
