The "atmosphere" in the Aviva Stadium

Kermit.de.frog

Watching the rugby this afternoon the atmosphere seemed really poor and quiet in the stadium. You could practically hear members of the crowd chatting at times.

I've noticed this with the football as well and I wonder why the atmosphere is so poor at the stadium? The old Lawnsdown was a kip but at least there was a great atmosphere for games there.

Some are saying because the rugby team are not underdogs anymore it changes the dynamic because the crowd expects a win so won't be as boisterous.

But the football team are perennial no-hopers now and the atmosphere is just as bad.

I wonder is it the structure itself that's the issue? Maybe it's the open end side of it makes it a bit odd?

Can't put my finger on it but I don't think anyone can say the crowds have been as good since it was rebuilt.

Anyway...

NIMAN

The clientele who go to the Aviva and who went to the old Landsdowne Road are very different punters.

Sport now is for the rich. Its lost its soul.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058341565/the-atmosphere-in-the-aviva-stadium

Some are saying because the rugby team are not underdogs anymore it changes the dynamic because the crowd expects a win so won't be as boisterous.

This has a lot to do with it.

Sometimes the journey is better than the winning.

When Irish rugby were plucky underdogs there was more energy than now when they are heavy favourites in every game.

The same happened with Dublin GAA.

When they were not winning All Irelands they were selling out 82k for stand alone quarter finals, let alone semi finals.

But that all stopped once they started to dominate.

As for the soccer team, they have been just bad for the last few years, playing terrible and not winning games, that's enough to kill any atmosphere.

StevenToast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903350#Comment_121903350

The prawn sandwichers....

ROSSA RYAN

ABC 1'S

mcburns07

I guess enjoying sport doesn't have to mean roaring for 2 hours?

fits

Some difference in the England France game. Much more lively.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903465#Comment_121903465

Sport for many at the Aviva now means walking back and forth constantly to the bar.

If you are really there for a football or rugby match, surely you can sit and watch the action for 90min without needing a pile of drink?

pgj2015

The FAI cup final in 2023 had a great atmosphere, real fans might be the reason? not bandwagoners.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903409#Comment_121903409

Soccer fans just didn’t buy into Stephen Kenny and his teams.

brand of football has been awful, the manager out of his depth, in every manner… tactically, man managing players and in his dealings with the media and fans he has been consistently completely disingenuous….6 wins in 29 under him. 20.69% is our win rate under that fella… around 1 in 5 matches won playing turgid shîte and him spoofing to us…

I live in Dublin but I would not invest 4 hours of my life getting over to Landsdowne, queuing to get in, watching pure crap, queuing to get out and trudging home again, too expensive to buy a ticket and make a reasonable effort to invest watching that rubbish and to listen to Kenny talk them up after, he was 3 years plus in that job 😅…

Now the FAI have us in a situation where we have an interim manager…. But no permanent man announced even though Kenny is gone 4 months almost to the day.

ultimately fans goodwill and support only goes so far…. Kenny and the FAI have sucked both the fun and goodwill out of us…. The fans tried to motivate but the team but Kenny and FAI demotivated everyone….

SuperBowserWorld

Some people (and a lot via the network effect) go to events who don't want to really go, or have no real interest, but hey everyone else is going ... and FOMO ... so they drink and talk, and scroll, and annoy everyone else, and put images on social media telling everyone where they are. Sports events, concerts, cinemas, ... And the prices shoot up.

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121904578#Comment_121904578

The problem is that these kind of people make up the majority of attendees at the games.

The strategies they've been using to create atmosphere in the stadium have been terrible. Fake crowd noise, overplaying a handful of tunes. The real problem is the clientele and the fact they've created a 50,000 seat pub.

Atmosphere will return if they ensure people interested in the game get tickets. They need to get more young people at the games, maybe a singing section and stop people bringing back pints to seats.

They are lucky this is happening while the team is good because if/when performances drop the bandwagon will move on and the stadium will not fill.

Boscoirl

A lot of people hovered tickets up for the “Grand Slam Celebration” earlier in the tournament

had people asking me for tickets that never go to games.

personally I rarely got to home games. Was at the Italy game this year and it was a bit meh

Have probably seen Ireland play in NZ as many times as I have seen them in Dublin.

gym_imposter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903546#Comment_121903546

Get it right

It's the bor

pixelburp

I gave up going to Lansdowne precisely because of the endless traipsing to the bar by people, getting in the way. It drove my poor late dad demented, especially because as a short, old man he couldn't see past the constant wall of backs standing up in front of him, blocking his view.

They need to close the bars while the game is playing, but they won't because it makes money and half the patrons are just on a jolly and not that bothered about the match.

Hard to shout, roar and getting invested in the match when you're trying not to spill an overpriced pint served in the world's thinnest plastic cup, or holding the soggy chips that cost twice as much.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903602#Comment_121903602

Given that LOI grounds only hold a few thousand, by definition most of the 45,000 or so there were bandwagoners (me included) who don't attend LOI games

pgj2015

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121908854#Comment_121908854

Add the 10 LOI grounds together and what do you get? also not all LOI fans go every week.

Hotblack Desiato

Really? Why would someone from say Cork, Sligo or Limerick be arsed to go up to Dublin to watch two Dublin teams play each other?

pgj2015

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121908874#Comment_121908874

well I did and plenty others, league of Ireland fans love the league and will go to the cup final even if their team isn't playing in it.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121904624#Comment_121904624

The 5/6 nations games have sold out going back a century or more.

I don't think they need to worry about the crowds not coming.

Buddy Bubs

Yeah 6 nations sells out every match pretty much, and at high prices

If demand drops they'll still fill it maybe at lower prices but once the corporates are interested and economy doesn't tank again, this is a long way off

It's very dull in the Aviva though for internationals, maybe the Friday night matches coming up might help

Best matches I attended in Aviva were Munster v Toulouse that went to penalties (although I never want to see penalty shoot out in rugby ever again) and Leinster v la Rochelle. Proper atmospheres at those matches even though the french went home victorious both times

Richard Hillman

It is genuinely dreadful for Rugby matches. Even for the England grand slam game last year it was very bad. The team deserve a lot better.

The clientele at the games is very old. Any time they pan to people in the crowd they are in their 50/60s. It must have the oldest average crowd at any sporting event, maybe even up there with bowls 😂

The only thing I can think of is to turn the South and North stand into a terrace. The seating can be removed and put back in for concerts/football matches, with crush barriers put in. They do this at Bayern Munich for the league and champions league games, which have different requirements. It allows groups that know each other to move beside and a create larger groups.

Secondly, ticket distribution. IRFU are being constantly accused of abandoning the club game. Without club distribution, memberships would probably dry up and there will be revolt. When the stadium was built we missed a trick in that the government should have demanded that the % funding on the stadium should leave tickets to be put on general sale. So for example, if the public funded 33% of the stadium then 33% should go on general sale. The same with other stadiums.

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121907847#Comment_121907847

I don't understand it. Whenever I go for Rugby matches, I get a pint for the start of the match and then I'll drink mini-cans of G&T or Captain Morgans for the rest, as I don't want to miss much of the game. It's not like you get searched going into a rugby match.

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121908964#Comment_121908964

That was back when actual rugby fans and people invested in rugby attended the games. These days, games are a jolly, a focal point to build a day out for pints.

A huge proportion of people at the games clearly have absolutely zero interest in on the game. It a place to be and be seen to be. When the team goes through a lull, which it will, those people will move on to something else. Those tickets for overpriced and dull games won't sell themselves anymore

NIMAN

Irish sports followers are known to be event junkies.

They have latched on to the rugby recently cos we are doing well. I'd say half of those at the games don't even know the rules of the game. But sure it'll look great on my Insta or FB.

As said, once ireland go through a bad patch, they won't darken the doors of the Aviva any more.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121903602#Comment_121903602

100%

Best day at the Aviva I had since Ireland New Zealand back in 2013. My two young fellas loved every second of it.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909018#Comment_121909018

One thing I've always remarked on with Irish rugby since a young age is how the attendees have always been older than me. In my forties now and it still seems to be holding true 😁

castletownman

It sums up rugby as a spectacle that so many people are there for the piss up rather than the game itself. And Croke Park don't allow ya to bring your pint into the stand- then again, everyone there are true fans. Pre-match pints, sit down to actually watch the game then.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909241#Comment_121909241

I'd say the true rugby fans are also sitting down for the 80min of the match and watching. They don't want to miss a thing.

It's the casual, couldn't really care one bit fan who is wandering back and forward to the bar constantly. They aren't rugby fans, just bandwagoners who will be no longer interested at the first downturn in our fortunes on the pitch.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909178#Comment_121909178

You’d miss the smell of the pipe smoke, alright, but the hard wooden bench and old lads píssing anywhere they can in the concourse, not so much.

I’d say I’ve only missed a few home games in the last 30 years, I’m just not seeing this fuss around people up and down like whack-a-moles. I’ve sat in various parts of the stadium for Ireland, Leinster and Munster matches and while you might be up a handful of times it’s not something that you’d notice. Haven’t heard the old cry of ‘SIT DOWN!!’ In a long time.

What I have noticed is that if a game isn’t a good contest the crowd start talking and not really paying as much attention, can hardly blame them. Also, for an Italy, or Scotland, match on a Sunday you’re not getting a serious crowd. It’ll be lots of wives/girlfriends bringing the kids for a day out. This applies for a weaker touring side visiting in November or for a World Cup warmup too.

The next “problem” would be the fans that have accrued during Irelands ascendancy in the game don’t remember that it wasn’t too long ago that we were getting hammered year in year out and anything short of perfection isn’t good enough for them. They, also, don’t seem to understand the game very well, at all.

I’m not saying that if someone didn’t tog out for their school, or local club, they couldn’t know the ins and outs, some of the most knowledgable people on the subject I know never played, but these guys are the most vocal. You see them at the matches roaring about the wrong option or at the TV in a pub, they have a way of quietening down the people around them and are almost always wrong.

I don’t think closing the bars or not allowing drink at the seats will change much, Lansdowne is decent venue when a match is good regardless of bar service or influencers taking selfies. There’s just too much money to be made from food and drinks sales, sponsorships and corporate ticketing. I guess we should be thankful the gambling industry hasn’t set up shop in the venue.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121909266#Comment_121909266

Also, for an Italy, or Scotland, match on a Sunday you’re not getting a serious crowd. It’ll be lots of wives/girlfriends bringing the kids for a day out. 

This is the bit I don't get - I'm a member and youth's coach. Never get a whiff of a 6n ticket these days yet lads can dish out tickets for wives/girlfriends and kids...

Last time I went was on the back of a friend who got corporate tickets..