One of our readers, Nicholas Woolley, is preparing his Marketing Honours thesis and has chosen a topic that will be rather near to the hearts of many of us here.
Nic is hoping to identify the variables influencing crowd attendance in South Africa, and in particular, Kings Park – an area that enjoys widespread and often rather passionate discussion here on Sharksworld.
Could I ask you all to be so kind as to follow this link and complete a survey that will help Nic to capture some useful statistical data on which to base his thesis? All in the name of science and progress, after all!
Thanks in advance for your help.
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DONE
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This will be fun
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@Seth101 (Comment 2) : the survey itself is pretty generic, but if you have strong feelings on a particular subject, Nic’s email is provided at the end of the survey, so share those with him
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@robdylan (Comment 3) : Thanks, I will do!
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@robdylan (Comment 3) :
I reckon we should make it a discussion on here, Nic will get plenty of material from what I know has been said on the matter previously.
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@Richard Ferguson (Comment 5) : hey – why not?
Plenty of folks have expressed the opinion before that they simply don’t enjoy the Kings Park experience any more.
Important to get the contributing factors out in the open.
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@robdylan (Comment 6) :
My one and only visit so far this year was for the last Super Rugby game against the Stormers.
The experience is great, its awesome to be able to go to the Shark Tank shop and have such a variety of merchandise.
My nephew made it his life mission to try food from every single vendor, he left with a massive smile on his face!
Its just the rugby that was disappointing.
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DONE
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For me the two biggest factors are facilities and quality of rugby.
1) The stadium and facilities are old and not very well maintained. The stadium needs a complete overhaul.
2) The rugby this year was shit, hence I went from watching every game live last season, to 3 and leaving halfway through one while listing to the crowed boo them off.
Another factor is I hate having to deal with some drunken fat old man or tween every time I go. When I was at school rugby would be where all the younger kids who couldn’t get into clubs would go to get drunk, from what I have seen, nothing has changed.
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1. The parking is also an issue. Since they built Moses Mabida the parking is also a major issue.
2. The rugby needs to be more attractive to boost crowd attendance.
3. More of a question, but do they still do club and school games as curtain raisers? This would boost attendance as parents, school/club mates come to watch.
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Done
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Rob, is it possible to get some feedback on here when the thesis is done?
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1. I agree with the point re: State of Stadium Facilities made above.
) that is just not affordable. Even just going once every two months is a stretch on the finances!!
2. The standard of rugby is not such a big issue for me, but I understand that it definitely has an impact on crowd size.
3. The major issue for my family is cost. There are 4 of us, so:
- We pay in the region of R400 for tickets.
- We have a 300km round trip to make. Working on AA rates that brings it to a cost of about R1000 for transport.
- The timing of the trip means we eat two meals on the road/at the Stadium. For the family that is another R500.
Add the costs of drinks, parking and other odds and ends and you get to a cost well over R2000 for the excursion.
For a bloke who doesn’t earn a big salary (we pastors are not all Ray McCauley
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Done
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@pastorshark (Comment 13) : of those costs, how many are in the Sharks’ control.
I think the thing they should be looking to address is why more people who don’t have the t&a costs that you do aren’t going to the games.
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To be honest i dont think stadium quality is the main issue- altho majority of seats need an upgrade and leg room for taller guys sucks. I also dont think the parking and alcohol ban on outer fields is a huge factor.
The biggest factor is monetry.
Majority of supporters are families- add the cost of tickets to drinks and food and game day becomes quite expensive.
Then throw in all the other attractions and distractions in Durban and families have trade off decisions to make.
So when making that decision the weather and current sharks displays result in a pretty obvious outcome.
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My thoughts on this are well documented here,basically they boil down to the fact that the stadium experience is stale.Nothing new has been added in the past 20 years.
When we became the Sharks we were the first union to realise that we had entered an new era,that professional rugby was not about competing on the sports field it was about competing with other forms of entertainment.
A lot of things were introduced that had the stuffy old blazers turning in their graves.There was a serious resistance to the Sharks name and many of these old boys who until then presumed they owned the game wanted us to enter professional rugby as the Banana Boys.
Most 20 year old kids no no difference they have always had it this way,there in lies the danger, it is there parents experience and not their own.
Last years experiences soon becomes a dead experience,and the union seriously needs to start look forward
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Maybe it’s because I don’t get a lot of chances to watch them play live but whenever I’m in Durbs we attend the games. It’s a great experience for us to see and meet the players.
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@JD (Comment 18) : meet?
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Personally I think ticket prices are very fair. Sure other costs around it are not great but not much the Sharks can control.
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@Seth101 (Comment 20) : But the facilities need improving to justify them.
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Done.
Parking hassles and bad behaviour of some spectators put me off.
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@pastorshark (Comment 13) : Loled at ray maccauley hehe
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My main issue with KP these days is the parking/braai facilities. Since Moses Mahbida was built plenty of people that used to come with me and braai before or afterwards, have not come since.
No one wants to braai in the mud, 1 km from the stadium. I say, do something about this and you’ll see an immediate spike in attendance.
1. Braai/Park Facilities (KP experience/culture)
2. Better Big Screen (AMZ Stadium, Watatahs)
3. More Tries/Excitement/Wins
4. New Seating/More comfort
5. Stadium Roof
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@The hound (Comment 17) :
Maybe it’s just because I’ve been going to about every game for the last 15 years, but I’ve never felt change was needed. What really cut attendance was when people couldn’t park right across from KP anymore and couldn’t braai before/after games anymore. Bring that culture back and you’ll see people coming back again.
Just a question, what “new” do you suggest. Aside from maybe the way we play?
I seriously can’t think of a thing.
Unless you’re talking about new facilities?
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@Letgo (Comment 24) : +1 to all of that!
@Letgo (Comment 25) : He is meaning move to Moses.
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@robdylan (Comment 15) : Ja, fair enough. It’s just a factor to take into account when considering decreases in attendance. When I was 15 a LOT of people from our area went to the rugby every weekend. Now very few do…
That is certainly a variable affecting crowd attendance in South Africa…it simply is a factor that much of your target market lives far away from a stadium…
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@Zibbie (Comment 23) :
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Crappy stadium screen (I might as well watch the game on a black and white bubble screen tv).
Crappier facilities (I love the smell of urine in a run down public toilet – NOT)
Crappiest rugby (stale bland losing rugby).
I get more by staying home and watching the game on my own tv, it is so much easier to walk away from the game when we receive our customary hiding from the Saders.
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@Letgo (Comment 25) : For a start,get rid of those ridiculous David Gouldie dancing girls with their 1980′s disco routine,get rid of Dave ”I emphasise every syllable of every word”Mccloud.
Play some of the games that attract thousands as curtain raisers,Michaelhouse versus Hilton,DHS versus Glenwood..
P.A. we have been on about that for 10 years,lower the volume on the dumb ads on the screen that are repeated ad naseum.
Get rid of amateur shit like ”Sharky says”
Come up with some new forms of entertainment,I was once privileged to watch the Chicago Bulls play in Chicago,the cheer leaders the Luvabulls,changed 28 times during the program.
At every stage of the game there was something in it for the spectators,i.e. Bulls go 10 points clear all hotdogs 50% off,at each break there was a serious spectator competition.
Hire someone with the vision to implement something new.Pleas tell me the last time somebody tried something new.
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In fact the last time they tried something new they came up with that arthritic mascot that looked like John Smit after a serious pie binge,thank heaven somebody had the fortitude to retire it.
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There are lots of small things mentioned above that influence the attendance at kings park, but the overarching factor is that the traditional rugby demographic in kzn has and continues to decrease in size.
The socio economic factors of SA mean more and more people from this group are emigrating, possibly a higher percentage from kzn because of more people with dual citizenship.
Kzn universities have gone down the toilet, meaning more of this demographic are heading to other universities. Plus durban itself has slid downhill whilst Cape Town is still pretty decent, making it more attractive to live there.
The only stadium in SA that attracts consistently decent support is newlands, and they have a different demographic attending their games.
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Hey guys,
Its been a while since I last posted here; Ive had some growing up to do and have a full time job now
Just thought and pop in and say thanks to all of you who took part in the survey.
It is a pilot study and I am somewhat limited by survey monkey and their 10 question limit
As it turns out the reasons for a decrease in crowd attendance are pretty well documented as it is occurring around the world.
One big final thanks to Rob for being so accommodating! Legend!
All the best and maybe Ill bump into a few of you at Kings Park in the near and not so near future.
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@Talent (Comment 33) : Hope to read you findings on why there is such a decrease in crowd attendance
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@Ben (Comment 19) : don’t know about now but last time we were there after the game the players came out to sign autographs and take photos with the fans.
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@pastorshark (Comment 13) : Same problem here only for us it’s a 1000km+ round trip so we can only do it when on holiday!!!!
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@The hound (Comment 31) : you talking about the “killer whale” Sharky?!?!?! even my kids hated him!!!
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@Talent (Comment 33) : ja think it’s more than just the Sharks who’s suffering from it. Living in a world where everything is available in HD and in your house going out must be a REALLY good experience to lure people.
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Living in Pretoria makes it pretty difficult to attend games at the Tank. I made an effort this year and bought tickets on the website for the Chiefs game, with hopes of a great day there. Was disappointed with the offerings in food. Obviously the Cage was a great plus, getting gear you can’t find anywhere else. When we got to our seats I was very disappointed – we were seated about 3 rows from the top on the main stand, not nearly representative of the seat map on the website and where the view was MUCH worse than what I would’ve had on a tablet streaming the game. These were the best seats available on the website. That is now one big reason I won’t be making another effort to visit the Tank. I had no better available option, but cannot think that those were the only available seats. Now I much rather go support the team when they play at Loftus, much better parking, much better seating options.
@The hound (Comment 30) : They don’t host the Hilton MHS games because the schools don’t want to. The tradition of the game being played at each school means more than playing at the stadium. Similar to the way the schools don’t take part in the televised school rugby.
I agree with everything else you said.
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@RuckingFun (Comment 32) : Very good points.
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I would love it if someone would go and find Smit where ever he is currently cycling, shove this page in his face and make him read it.
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Strange but I did not pickup one comment on the fact that attendance could be down due to Sharks playing same SA teams at least 4 times a year.
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Nicholas good luck with the studies,but after all is said,above and well traversed over the last year in depth,in summation,its simply a mess,nothing more or less than one huge mess
On a positive note I hear that the trek across the road may happen a lot sooner and this despite Bozo and the circus running/ruining the Sharks
Done
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