Zodiac
Years ago

NBL Sets New Season Attendance Record

The National Basketball League (NBL) has set a new regular season attendance record in its 40th season.

688,712 fans attended home and away games during the 2017-18 season, an average attendance of 6,149 per game. This broke the previous record of 5,939 set in 2016-17.

Last weekend's final round attendance of 52,597 was the second highest attendance for a round in NBL history.

The Perth Wildcats recorded the highest ever attendance for a club during an NBL season with 183,689 fans attending their home games.

Melbourne United also enjoyed a 12% increase in attendances this season with average crowds jumping from 7,402 to 8,293.


http://www.nbl.com.au/news/article/40357-nbl-sets-new-season-attendance-record

Topic #42748 | Report this topic


LoveBroker  
Years ago

I would have liked a breakdown of the total crowd attendances by team.

Despite being 1 of 8 teams the Wildcats have more than a quarter of the total attendances. What do the other teams do?

Reply #673692 | Report this post


Zodiac  
Years ago

If they did that they would have to publicise Illawarra's and Brisbane's home crowds and I can understand why they wouldn't want to draw attention to them.

Reply #673698 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

So even a 12 or 14 team NBL season with more regular season games saw less people actually go to games? I find that hard to believe.

I guess Larry's stats can reflect what he likes.

Reply #673700 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

If they introduce a Tasmanian team next year that will double the head count.

Reply #673701 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

Nice totals, but the bulk of the recent growth has been from the teams that need it the least.
It's not something to be satisfied with IMO.

Reply #673702 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Perth and Melbourne and then daylight. So lopsided.

Reply #673708 | Report this post


LoveBroker  
Years ago

"If they did that they would have to publicise Illawarra's and Brisbane's home crowds and I can understand why they wouldn't want to draw attention to them."

But if 2 teams constitute 43.5% of the attendance, that being :

- Wildcats - 183,689
- United - 8,293 x 14 = 116,102

= 299,791 / 688,712
= 43.5%

...wouldn't questions be asked as to what the other teams are doing with their crowds?

Reply #673710 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

NOthing, just surviving. If that.

Reply #673713 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

81,462 for Sydney.

Reply #673714 | Report this post


Perth Wilburs  
Years ago

Couldn't u just get the figures from the box scores?

Reply #673747 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Not all boxscores list the crowd.

Reply #673761 | Report this post


thatguyontheend  
Years ago

This seems a stat for potential new sponsors

Reply #673769 | Report this post


TimberBall  
Years ago

https://imgur.com/a/rN8AC

great work by whoever did this up.

Reply #673773 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Sure is. Just shows how bad the hawks crowds are.

Reply #673776 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

So even a 12 or 14 team NBL season with more regular season games saw less people actually go to games? I find that hard to believe.
The first time there were that many teams you had Geelong, Gold Coast, and Hobart. Illawarra were playing at the Snakepit. Not sure if Newcastle had moved to the larger venue or not. Perth were at the PEC, which was significantly smaller than PA. Some Melbourne sides were still playing out of the Glasshouse.

The second time you had Singapore, which by itself would drop the average significantly. Perth were at Challenge Stadium, and the Tigers were playing at the SNAHC, and the Giants were playing out of MSAC. I can't imagine Hunter drew too much of a crowd.

Reply #673777 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

It's a record for average attendance, not total attendance.

Reply #673778 | Report this post


NBL Fan  
Years ago

No chance the Bullets crowds were as high as reported. Definitely lower than last season.

Reply #673779 | Report this post


Luuuc  
Years ago

https://imgur.com/a/rN8AC

great work by whoever did this up.


Yep, great info there.

Reply #673783 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Dat perth Wildcats graph doe!

Reply #673786 | Report this post


Haz  
Years ago

A little summary on the clubs not called Perth or Melbourne (as it seems all attendance based articles only ever mention those 2 clubs)

Illawarra Hawks:
Every year commentators always say how great the Illawarra Hawks are in the community. Their crowds for years have been horrible and to me don't reflect a great "community" club. They play in a decent sized stadium, are always competitive (even when they're down near the bottom) yet just can't get this so-called great community showing up to games.

They've been on the brink of collapse many times, and could head there again soon. Does something drastic need to happen, such as relocation to Sydney or Canberra? This isn't the broke incompetent NBL of 10 years ago, yet the Hawks are still drawing attendances that reflect those years. Might be time to give up on them I think, unless they are somehow making money from other streams.

Brisbane Bullets:
Still basically an expansion club that has finished bottom in their first 2 years. You can argue that the Bullets have always been around and are one of the great clubs, but they haven't been great - or even relevant - since the 90's. I think there is potential still in Brisbane. Give them a fan-freindly schedule, play more games at the Entertainment Centre, and if they can win more games I'd expect crowds to start showing up. 4000+ average should be attainable. Brisbane is also a very tough sports market. Not many clubs do well there unless you're the Broncos.

NZ Breakers:
Seems they need a bit of a re-build to revitalise them again, as their crowds have been slowly dropping off. Maybe get rid of games at the horrible NSEC and have all matches at Spark? They seem to do OK there. I also don't buy into their Thursday matches being that popular.

Cairns:
Nearly full houses every night. Great result for a community based regional club.

Sydney Kings:
Unbelievable crowds considering how awful they were all year (except towards the end) Maybe they just prefer the entertainment over winning?

Adelaide:
Hardly published their crowds, but it looks like they had a great year.




Reply #673788 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Yep, there are pretty five teams with really good crowds, Breakers with reasonable crowds and Bris & Illawarra struggling.

Reply #673800 | Report this post


Craig  
Years ago

Its weird the Bullets, as there has been a fair bit of media coverage, promotions on main stream radio etc... Lets be real - even when the bullets had a $3M roster in their championship year, did they ever really sell out the "library" known as convention centre?

I think a lot of teams need to stand up and watch very very closely what Melb, Perth and Sydney do for game day entertainment - its first class and replicates a NBA feel.... Look at Sydney last week - playing an out of town bullets team, both running dead last, and they pulled nearly 9500... That is more than a lot of NRL attendances, roosters vs cowboys on a saturday arvo would be lucky to pull that number.

Reply #673809 | Report this post


TimberBall  
Years ago

I Lived in Sydney for 3 years (came back Jan '17) and was able to travel and see the Cats play in Melbourne, Sydney and Illawarra.

Melb has great crowds, however its a Melbourne crowd... Melbournians will come out to watch 2 seagulls wrestling over a chip, much of their crowd had no interest in the game or result. that is not to diminish a large number who were loud and passionate. The real fans are great (many still wearing Tigers tops) but there is a lot of people who just rock up because there is no AFL on (crowds dropped by 3000 from first to second cats games when AFLX was on). Big crowd...50% passion.

Illawarra had a small crowd but big noise. Their fans are as loud and passionate as any in the league, but they sometimes go a bit far. we sat behind the away bench and some of the abuse being throw at Gleeson (warranted abuse I agree) was to a point where I wouldn't want my kid there. There isn't much else to do in the Gong so why don't people come along? maybe a joint Dragons/Hawks NRL/NBL membership deal? or merge them as 1 club?

King fans make Melbourne fans look like NBL scholars who live for the game. No Passion, No colour (Do they sell Kings merch? coz no one wears it). we saw the last game in the city and I reckon it was 70% full with a lot of people carrying paper tickets. when they moved out to Homebush we saw a few games out there as well, pathetic crowd with much of the seating covered. One time we were sitting next to a junior team (they call out the team and they get put on the screen) and I asked the coach if they paid or were given the tickets, they were given by the Kings... there would of been 10 of these teams. good to get the local kids out but its really fudging the crowd figures. an unknowledgeable announcer, an uncaring crowd, a poor DJ and Gimmicks (the sword in the stone??) made for a comical and embarrassing game night experience.

Reply #673822 | Report this post


LoveBroker  
Years ago

"(Do they sell Kings merch? coz no one wears it)"

If I were a Kings Supporter, I would do my level best to hide the fact that I was a Kings supporter.

Reply #673827 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I thought United, like a lot of other clubs, were handing out a lot of freebies, i.e. to local basketball associations.

I will be in Melbourne and went on Ticketek to book a semi-final Game 1 ticket. Cost of cheapest which is bronze for adult $54. Hmmm, I thought Perth were the only ripoff place?

So Melbourne are doing well after all? Real tickets not just freebies? The price seems high because I assumed the following:

I thought over east NBL tickets are cheap as no one cares really. Their fans are fareweather and in it for an "event" not really passion for a team.

Thoughts?

Reply #673835 | Report this post


TimberBall  
Years ago

fareweather fans by definition will come out and pay to watch their team in a final.

Reply #673840 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

That's true.

When I was in Wollongong for the GF series Game 2 vs. Cats in 2010 that's what all their supporters admitted to. Direct quote: "We only come out when there are finals" LOL

Reply #673846 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

But in saying that the Gong used to get 5k-6k for games that were 'big' for them (playoff games and derbies with Kings) for a solid 15 years from the time WIN Entertainment Centre opened.

But that too has slipped away dramatically in recent years. Their overall trend is down and worrying.

Reply #673847 | Report this post


LoveBroker  
Years ago

I think Illawarra / Wollongong / Illawarra lost a bit of it's community appeal in the last few years. There has been a few notable things that stood out, not all the fault of the Hawks. The below are not in any order :

1) When they almost folded, they did 'something' with staff entitlements, I don't know exactly what but Gordie mentioned this on his way out that those actions were not in line with the Hawk's core values.

2) They brought in people like Jahii Carson and even paired him with Gary Ervin.

3) Gordie left.

4) They got rid of Dave Gruber.

5) Campbell and Savs retired.

6) The treatment of Cody Ellis.

Reply #673849 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

I think #5 the end of an era had a lot to do with it.

Reply #673850 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Wildcats released their public prices for finals. Same as Melb Utd's pricing for silver adult. Roughly $50+$5 for the BS Ticketek fees.

How does Adelaide compare?

Reply #673852 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Silver adult for Perth is $76.40. Bronze $50.95 Gold $117.15 Platinum $127.34

Reply #673856 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Too expensive. It's only NBL basketball.

Reply #673867 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

NZ Breakers:
Seems they need a bit of a re-build to revitalise them again, as their crowds have been slowly dropping off. Maybe get rid of games at the horrible NSEC and have all matches at Spark? They seem to do OK there.

Reply #673900 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

NSEC should be blacklisted by the NBL.

Reply #673915 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Sydney is the sleeping giant. If there is a Melbourne v Sydney Grand Final series next year, watch out!

Reply #673930 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Brisbane are an expansion side that have been near the bottom of the ladder both years. I wouldn't write them off as a successful franchise just yet.

Cairns and Illawarra are small market, small budget clubs. We shouldn't expect too much there.

The rest are doing well. LK has said the future is in the big clubs and that is showing true. Sydney and Adelaide's growth this year in catching up to Perth and Melbourne is promising. Hopefully we add more clubs in the big markets in the coming years.

Reply #673931 | Report this post


koberulz  
Years ago

Brisbane have lost a lot of very winnable games, they're not too far off the mark.

I still remember that game against NZ last year where they lost despite never trailing.

Reply #673936 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

So where are these big markets meant to be? Certainly not in Australia.

Reply #674268 | Report this post




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