Rugby attendance

Bubblegummers wrote: »

No we are saying it’s not just for snobs, but more should be done for working class interests. Dry your eyes mate

But what more should be done? schools are attended by development officers, schools entered in competitions and play in blitz days.
There is clubs available for kids to play(and adults).

Dozens of European teams compete in the European championships every year. The Six Nations is just the top tier.

Ruben Sosa wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Dozens of European teams compete in the European championships every year. The Six Nations is just the top tier.

No promotion relegation??

No, those teams aren't ready yet.

There's no point in Italy getting relegated, Georgia gets promoted, Italy wins all of its matches and Georgia loses all of its matches, they switch roles and rinse and repeat.

There's too big a gap between the top teams and the rest, most of which aren't professional.

But there are still over 40 teams in Europe competing every year.

Bubblegummers wrote: »

Any proof?

I went to a CBS in North Dublin and despite numerous petitions/requests, soccer and rugby weren't allowed because they thought they'd hinder the GAA teams. Happens quite regularly.

Ruben Sosa wrote: »

A few years ago sky sports renamed their channels, going from sky sports 1,2,3,4 and 5.
Now it's
1 main event
2 premier league
3 football
4 cricket
5 golf
6 f1
7 action
8 arena
Rugby is on action/ arena along with netball, kabaddi, and wwf wrestling

And?

Bubblegummers wrote: »

Any proof?

Very difficult as wont necessarily be written anywhere but you can see fintans sutton rugby facebook page and comment from a parent saying well done on the growth of rugby in the school especially considering the school once didnt want the sport played there....

Ruben Sosa wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

And?

Shows Rugby isn't as big as some like to make out, don't believe the hype

Sky don't have a dedicated Rugby channel because they don't have exclusive Rugby rights to anything except the Premiership and English Rugby matches.

The reason why they have a cricket channel for example is because it's pretty much the only channel you can watch cricket on, same for F1.

I think attendance issues are due to the competition. For instance, Ulster v Zebre would not be as attractive as Ulster v Glasgow.
The league has problems with the quality of the product.
The S.A teams are very poor and interest would not be high.
Diluting the league with more poor teams will also result with less attendees at the provincial stadiums, because the quality is poor.
Furthermore, looking at the attendance in SA and Wales, the stadiums are almost empty.
The Connacht v Cheetahs match you could count the fans at the game. If the home sides can't attract people, then the product is very poor and the pricing too high.
For rugby to grow in Ireland , there needs to be more exposure for kids at a young age.
My school in north Dublin was a G.A.A stronghold, with many lads going on to play for Dublin. My Commerce teacher was a big rugby man who was associated with Clontarf rugby. On many occasions he tried to get several of us to try rugby and join 'Tarf. But we all wanted to play for Dublin and never really considered it.
I think he attempted to start a rugby programme at the school but the Christian brothers were having none of it.
It's funny, cos we all loved watching the 5 nations and were huge fans of the national team.
The nfl is different as it was set up as a small league with massive rivalries. It has expanded and the marketing is insane. Everyone can play football as there is underage programs in every community and every school has a football team. College football is a business itself and the kids are groomed to try to get to that level.
For rugby to attract large crowds it needs to be accessible and promoted better. The quality of the teams needs to improve. Nobody wants to part with large sums of money to watch Leinster murder the Lions.
I regularly watch top 14 highlights and I have noticed the attendance at the stadiums is very good. The French must market the league better and obviously they have bigger populations and moneybags owners, but the point is, there's bums in the seats.
For the Welch sides, the sides are all poor right now. They all look poorly coached and have no depth. The fans won't come to watch poor sides and the Welch union doesn't have the money to improve things. I think they need private investment as do all the teams.

Morrison J wrote: »

The truth is that a large portion of rugby fans in this country are bandwagoners and instagram hounds. They go to Irish rugby games to be seen or make it known they were there with the result of the game being secondary to them. The Pro 14 product just isn't glamorous enough to reel in that demographic.

People should really stop saying bandwagon and using it so negatively.
Do irish sports fans have any real tradition of supporting and attending games on a bi weekly basis in a large scale?
GAA doesnt really. even with the league

Dubinusa wrote: »

I think attendance issues are due to the competition. For instance, Ulster v Zebre would not be as attractive as Ulster v Glasgow.
The league has problems with the quality of the product.
The S.A teams are very poor and interest would not be high.
Diluting the league with more poor teams will also result with less attendees at the provincial stadiums, because the quality is poor.
Furthermore, looking at the attendance in SA and Wales, the stadiums are almost empty.
The Connacht v Cheetahs match you could count the fans at the game. If the home sides can't attract people, then the product is very poor and the pricing too high.
For rugby to grow in Ireland, there needs to be more exposure for kids at a young age.
My school in north Dublin was a G.A.A stronghold, with many lads going on to play for Dublin. My Commerce teacher was a big rugby man who was associated with Clontarf rugby. On many occasions he tried to get several of us to try rugby and join 'Tarf. But we all wanted to play for Dublin and never really considered it.
I think he attempted to start a rugby programme at the school but the Christian brothers were having none of it.
It's funny, cos we all loved watching the 5 nations and were huge fans of the national team.
The nfl is different as it was set up as a small league with massive rivalries. It has expanded and the marketing is insane. Everyone can play football as there is underage programs in every community and every school has a football team. College football is a business itself and the kids are groomed to try to get to that level.
For rugby to attract large crowds it needs to be accessible and promoted better. The quality of the teams needs to improve. Nobody wants to part with large sums of money to watch Leinster murder the Lions.
I regularly watch top 14 highlights and I have noticed the attendance at the stadiums is very good. The French must market the league better and obviously they have bigger populations and moneybags owners, but the point is, there's bums in the seats.
For the Welch sides, the sides are all poor right now. They all look poorly coached and have no depth. The fans won't come to watch poor sides and the Welch union doesn't have the money to improve things. I think they need private investment as do all the teams.

crowds not attending doesnt necessarily mean the product is poor.
Cheetahs arent helped by playing in stadium nearly same size as the Aviva.

The number of kids who have access to the sport in Ireland is possibly at its highest ever or close to it.
The french have a league that is running over 120 years. It isnt simply the french market the league better. They have 100 years of history, experience, rivalries to build on. Welsh sides have private investment and have for some time.

munsterlegend wrote: »

molloyjh wrote: »

Sky got outbid for most of the rugby they wanted. So if you want to use Sky as a barometer of how popular rugby is, the answer would be more popular than Sky can afford.

Seriously, why are you even here? You’re not even doing a decent job of pissing in our corn flakes.

Sky won’t break the bank for rugby but would for football. That’s their bread and butter and certainly not rugby.

Well yeah, football is a much more popular sport.

But rugby is still very popular.

troyzer wrote: »

Why can't they let the referee explain every penalty like in the NFL?

It's not intrusive and you'd get used to it very quickly.

Just turn to the camera, switch on his mike, do the motions and say something like:

"Hands in the ruck, penalty to team X."

If that sounds too hokey, just open the mic to the stadium PA after each whistle.

It works well in the NFL, although thats a much more stop start type of game so they are used to the interruptions in the game.....that said, the use of the TMO, and touch judges michrophoned up is pushing rugby that way as are the multiple views of decisions

BBDBB wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Why can't they let the referee explain every penalty like in the NFL?

It's not intrusive and you'd get used to it very quickly.

Just turn to the camera, switch on his mike, do the motions and say something like:

"Hands in the ruck, penalty to team X."

If that sounds too hokey, just open the mic to the stadium PA after each whistle.

It works well in the NFL, although thats a much more stop start type of game so they are used to the interruptions in the game.....that said, the use of the TMO, and touch judges michrophoned up is pushing rugby that way as are the multiple views of decisions

I don't think it would slow down the game at all for the referee to say what the call is over an open mic.

It takes about two seconds to say "Blue 6, off his feet, penalty".

Whilst doing the normal motions that the referee does anyway.

The English are looking to ring fence the premiership as it is, never mind adding an additional 4 teams from a different country into the mix.