HoldenV8
Years ago
NBL Attendance - Round 21
Round 21 of the NBL season was the biggest yet in terms of the number of games played. In fact, the 7 games played will be the most in one round for the season.
Breakers vs Crocodiles - 4,000 @ NSEC (91%)
Hawks vs Blaze - 3,016 @ WEC (50%)
36ers vs Wildcats - 4,255 @ AA (53%)
Tigers vs 36ers - 3,500 @ SNC (100%)
Kings vs Crocodiles - 5,824 @ SEC (55%)
Wildcats vs Taipans - 4,200 @ CS (93%)
Blaze vs Hawks - 3,266 @ GCCC (62%)
A sellout in Auckland saw a good crowd of 4K for a Thursday night game and only 571 shy of the crowd the Breakers and Crocs drew for their Rd.8 clash at the Vector arena. The Breakers keep winning don't they...they're 12-1 at home this season, losing only to the Hawks in Rd.6.
Part 1 of the Hawks vs Blaze on OneHD weekend and only just over 3K attended. The Hawks are in a slump again and that wouldn't have helped (neither would both games being on TV). At best it was an average home crowd again for the Hawks in a less than average season.
Considering that Adelaide supposedly has the wood on Perth recently I'm surprised we didn't crack the 5K mark on Friday night. But then again a Friday game clashes with local games which in turn keeps attendances down. Still, 4,255 isn't bad for a team who have no hope of playing the finals.
I'll admit to being a bit surprised that the crowd on Saturday from 'The Cage' was reported as capacity. Not sure if it was just me but I could swear I saw a few empty seats there but TV can be deceptive sometimes. Still, it was a good crowd for 2 teams who have had seasons to forget. Once again it shows that the Netball Centre is just too small for the NBL.
The Kings posted the rounds biggest crowd (by over 1,500 I might add) and that with the team going in having lost their previous 4 games. While it was a bloody good crowd for a team in a slump I'm wondering if the high attendance was in no small way thanks to Shane Heal being the Kings new coach because the Crocs aren't exactly the team everyone flocks to see are they? That fact alone might have pulled a few extra people through the doors on Sunday. But again, it was a great effort from Kings fans
Like Cairns last weekend, Perth have posted their 11th straight 4K+ crowd this season and well done to `Cats fans once more. When will it end though? Not this season, or next I suspect.
Part 2 of the Blaze vs Hawks on OneHD weekend and like Fridays game in the `Gong only just over 3K attended. The size of the crowd was hardly surprising though because the Blaze seem to struggle drawing a straight line let alone a crowd. The game being against the last placed Hawks and both playing each other on TV for the 2nd time in 2 days probably didn't help matters either. Bad bad scheduling IMO but I'm wondering if the crowd would have been any different had it not been on the box or had the teams not played each other twice in the same round?
So there it is again. A tad longer this week since there was a whole extra game. Mostly there were good crowds around the league for the round with the exception of both Hawks/Blaze games. If I was part of the NBL the only team attendances I'd be forever going grey over at those in Townsville, Wollongong and on the Gold Coast. Melbourne too to a point but I think they are limited by the size of their venue more than lack of any support from Tigers fans.
Bring on Round 22.
