Craig
Years ago
Is clashing with afl the reason for 1500 turning up to SEM yesterday and by looks of Tv- not too many more for United today. Sunday arvo United games, usually 10,000 people, where are the other 8,000?
Or is it simply a combo of AFL, NRL, covid uncertainty etc which has caused the the nbl crowds to plummet in Melb and Sydney too?
They probably don't want to have to listen to Vickerman screaming all game.
LV
Years ago
Dunno but I didn't watch either United game this weekend
Summer is bball season, winter is footy, no need to make this complicated.
Bit disappointing they're making me choose tbh!
Hydra19
Years ago
Tickets only went on sale to public for MU and SEM mid week due the NBL schedule after hub. Good luck against the AFL juggernaut in Melbourne if that trend continues.
Anon
Years ago
I think with the nbl cup tickets at $10 for 2 games and 18 days of basketball in 3 weeks everyone is basketball' out. It will take a few weeks for it to restore to normal. The test will be the derby next week
Craig
Years ago
As it stands - what is "capacity" anyway with covid. Am I right it's 7500? It’s a shame, as crowds the last few seasons have been great.
NBL box score shows a crowd of 2550 odd for United v. Illawarra today.
Let's hope things pick up soon.
BigV has started also, so you have many many spectators, parents, etc, who are out of frame for attendance
Losing four straight wouldn't have helped either. United fans are bandwagonners.
Jeff
Years ago
There is no way there was 2500 at MU today.1800 at best.
Were you even there Jeff? 2500 felt like an understatement
VJBL and Big V are in full swing on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday so people are busy doing those things now, and staying local.
Also competing with AFL in Victoria across Thursday to Sunday. I hate LV but he has a point. People only have so much discretionary $$$ and Victoria missed out on the entire 2020 season. It's not really a surprise. Wait till you see the next 3 rounds
FM
Years ago
If one week you pay $40 for the family to watch 2 games, the $10 each is now the value.
Larry got his gov $$$$
Dont think he is concerned
It's a price thing. You could get great seats for $10 for 4 weeks. Today it was about $40 for a seat in the rafters...
Ironically the NBL Cup is going to financial hurt the Melbourne clubs, as it will impact their crowds for a while.
The AFL start probably did not help either.
Make no mistake, Larry is only interested in the $$$$$$$'s.
Exactly!
Early on he almost sold the whole "grass roots" uniting Melbourne BS.
Not fooling anyone
ME
(he/kangaroo)
Years ago
"Make no mistake, Larry is only interested in the $$$$$$$'s."
Yeah, because the greedy guy is making absolute bank off the NBL, and definitely hasn't invested tens of millions of dollars of his own money into it with literally no returns on that investment! Yep!
Wow. So he has lost over $40m out of his own pocket to keep the league afloat, but now he is only interested in the dollars? So many uneducated morons on this forum
Uneducated morons is a very good description. It's a pity because they destroy a lot threads.
Perthworld
Years ago
Another factor for the Melbourne teams would be lower membership numbers I imagine, so every game is starting from a lower base of guaranteed attendance.
alexkrad
Years ago
SEM v Adelaide - 1682
Melb v Illawarra - 2552
Yikes.
Dont either of those clubs have more members than those crowd numbers?
Maffew Dellcomputerova
Years ago
Larry has saved Aussie basketball.
Wouldn't begrudge him if he chased $$$ at any point.
We owe him a debt of gratitude.
Crowd numbers will pick up.
Oh Saint Larry patron saint of basketball. He will be the devil when he walks.
"So he has lost over $40m out of his own pocket to keep the league afloat,"
I thought he was meant to be a smart and astute business man.
Oh and of course he took the money because if he didn't he knew the League would fold and never return. "So many uneducated morons on this forum" Agreed. Some people just don't get it.
You're not making any sense. He’s investing money in the league and at one point he expects to see a return on his investment. What else should he be doing?
Loeliger has said they will be in profit mid next season.
I like how this uneducated moron keeps bagging LK but offers no specific criticism or solutions of what he should be doing differently.
More teams are losing more money under LK than ever before. Not sure Id call that a success. The biggest issue is the players are now over paid vs the revenue of the league. For every Landale and Broekoff have come to the NBL there is Nick Kay and Angus Brandt that have left .
As far as I am concerned there is no measurable difference today than the pre LK era. Teams are still struggling , no decent TV deal etc etc all the same problems exist they have just had a nicer bow wrapped around them.
Cram
Years ago
Was always going to be a slaughter this weekend. Melbourne people havent been able to go to footy for a year, the hoops market was saturated for a few weeks and ticket prices hiked. There was simply no contest. You'd expect that would be the worst of it though and they can gradually build back when its back to business as "usual"
#244 time to probably try a different angle. This one is becoming repetitive and tiresome. If owners aren't happy they can leave. Don’t see that happening across the league so shhhh
Jeremy said they will make protit?
Hahahahahahaaha
#244 said more teams are losing money than ever before, but then said there is no noticeable difference between now and the pre LK era. A bit of a contradiction.
Covid hasn't helped this season, the league was dead before Larry got hold of it. Take your blinkers off, I don’t think Larry got it all right but it’s his money and he has done exceptionally good , certainly the last twelve months in covid climate.
How many members do the melbourne teams have? The ticket price argument doesn't work with members, as they've already paid for their tickets. So does United only have 2.5k members and SEM 1.6k? Didn't the Hawks lose their name for having a low number of members? Can we expect the same for the Melbourne sides too?
TB
Years ago
Perthworld mentioned it, where are the members? I get that AFL was on but unless every United member is also a North Melbourne member (the only game in Melbourne on Sunday) I don't get why only 2500 people went to the game.
Are united membership numbers that bad or did all memberships get refunded?
#257 the product is no better but it costs owners more to get worse financial results. You cant pay the bill with 2500 fans. NBL should work around how to pay the bulls with 5000 at a home game and then incentivise the owners to build sustainable business.
Cram
Years ago
Its not always about whatever game is on at the same time. If you've already taken your family to an AFL game over the weekend, it might be too much to then go out again to an NBL game, especially if you've already seen a bunch recently.
TB
Years ago
But if you've already paid for a membership? Give them to someone?
Cram
Years ago
I think you'll find a lot of United's "record memberships" of the last few seasons have been mini memberships and "community memberships" given to junior clubs for free etc. I'm guessing there's fewer freebies this year
TB across the entire AFL 1st Round there were 5 games in Melbourne:
Richmond v Carlton
Collingwood v WB
Melbourne v Fremantle
Essendon v Hawthorn
Nth Melbourne v Port Adelaide
The North Melbourne game on Sunday coinciding with the United game is actually irrelevant. 8 Victorian teams played in Victoria, it's quite conceivable that by the time the basketball occurred people had already spent their discretionary income for the week going to the AFL for the first time in 18 months!!
This is the issue with "adding" the Hub to the regular schedule of games and pushing the season deep into June where it will compete week in and week out with AFL and NRL for that matter.
You might also find Victorian's are still a bit gun shy about COVID and indoor venues compared to WA who have never really had a COVID care in the world from day 1.
TB
Years ago
But a membership is paid for so their 'discretionary income' is irrelevant. A person or family can go to a game without buying food or drinks so you don't need to try and make that argument. Public transport in Melbourne is well above average so transport costs are low. And if you are sported out why not give the tickets to others?
For the sporting capital of the world 2500 people is a bit embarrassing. There was an Eagles game in Perth yesterday...should we only expect a few hundred people at the game tonight?
How many people go to the footy and dont buy anything? Uber's, public transport, dinner before or after the game. Try and live in the real world.
Because of the lockdowns I imagine they've sold way less memberships this year, how many people are confident to commit to a whole season. For myself it was a tough decision and I'm still wondering if I made the right choice to get it. The membership also went up $100.
For non members we just had a month of double headers for ten bucks, and now a gold seat to MELvILL is $68+bf...
Plus AFL...
Cram
Years ago
I think there'd be a lot of people in Melbourne still wary about buying memberships, but also even going to venues still.
I've got memberships to the Rebels and Victory but havent gone to a game yet. Its partly because of my home situation has changed, but also life here hasnt properly gotten back to normal.
Anonymous
Years ago
People had their NBL fill during the Cup, and at $10 per game. The two-edged sword of a month long campaign here in Melbourne at cheap prices. Will take time to get back to Norma - ie, next year when there's no cup in Melb and the memberships make more sense.
Also suggest SE fans are a bit despondent at the minute. Kids love to watch Creek - he was a real draw card.
Perthworld
Years ago
TB lower membership base due to COVID is what I was implying. Many other good reasons have also been mentioned above.
TB
Years ago
I get that, but I'm sure Utd have more than 2500 members. Those memberships are paid for so to say its a financial hit to go to the games is nonsensical as they have already paid. If anything they are throwing away money by not going or at least getting someone to take the tickets.
If public transport is so expensive how has UTD and SEM not made a deal with the govt to include public transport in the ticket cost like every sport in WA (and I'm sure other states). If you are saying that getting meals before and after the game are the reason people can't afford to go to a game they've already paid for there is an easy solution...eat at home.
I guess Melbourne isn't the basketball capital they make themselves out to be
Perthworld
Years ago
They are at the grassroots level for sure but not in NBL terms.
The state has been smashed financially after the COVID lockdown. It's not a huge surprise especially with the rolling schedule and no vision of when the home games are.
"Loeliger has said they will be in profit mid next season." Where did that fanciful statement come from?
proud
Years ago
Why the hell was the NBL played in Melbourne AFTER the NBL Cup?
Are they that scared of being forgotten about thanks to AFL?
Why two games at elevated prices - that is just fucked. Have a break then increase prices.
Has Mitch Creek situation affected anyone's view of basketball/SEM?
They need to play their official allocated 14 home games :)
not having the next few rounds of the schedule released, for the holiday period, isnt going to help with crowd numbers. I know I was looking to organise for a few people to attend some games, perhaps even interstate as well. Have no made other plans and also start to have more interest in AFL now that has kicked off.
Zodiac
Years ago
Why the hell was the NBL played in Melbourne AFTER the NBL Cup?
If it wasn't for Larry, James Naismith would not have invented Basketball!
Thank you Larry!
KWhite_Rulz
Years ago
Can only have 10k at the moment. Official attendance 9550.
LV
Years ago
Is not so much about money
Economy is recovering, unemployment dropping, house prices sky-rocketing. People are willing to spend.
Is about time. People with families place limits on time at leisure activities
It was madness scheduling more NBL games straight after the NBL cup. And what's more, it was the AFL's opening weekend where most Melbourne teams played in Melbourne.
LV
Years ago
And ppl who don't attend sport are watching on TV so it's still competition for people's time
LV
Years ago
There are other COVID flow-on effects too
Social events. It's wedding season already, but there’s catch up weddings.
Birthdays, everyone who missed out last year wants a big party this year. Shindigs are happening everywhere, plus there’s the usual back again like kids sport. People have never been busier.
Some people are less inclined towards a busy lifestyle after taking time out to refresh and rejig their lives last year, not wanting to return to the previous hectic pace.
Then there’s sickness. Respiratory illnesses are going around (Rhinovirus, RSV), the RCH is full of kids with RSV. Immunity is down after 12 months of isolation, winter viruses are hitting in Feb/March at unusually high levels.
And unlike pre-covid, people are staying home when they’re unwell.
But fundamentally the main problem is over saturation right now. It’s like the BBL, went from 8, to 10, to 14 games. Crowds dropped. Too much. Run the NBL cup, great, but how many NBL games in Melbourne over the past month, and the next week you hold more? Can’t expect crowds there. Regardless whether people have paid their memberships already.
I wonder how many heard of Bitcoin years ago and thought, sounds dodgy, how does crypto currency ever going to take of. Know a few lads that spent a couple of bucks investing, anyone checked how much a Bitcoin is now.
Pre Covid, the Nbl was on a roll. Got top ranked American high school kids forgoing big schools and big pay days in other leagues just to come here. Ranked as one of top leagues, nba players buying part ownership in teams. Then Covid hits, uncertainty of season, pay cuts, 1 less import. A lot of imports cominf7off the bench as role players. Can even say the style of play boring. Apart from some Cam Oliver dunks, the next best is Matt Hodgson creating a few posters. Nbl cup was a weird one.
End of the day the Nbl has had a season when a lot of people thought it would be cancelled. Been a shit season with shit teams, but it's survived. Expect it to bounce back when the normal returns. LK is a legend for following his passion, hopefully the guy starts getting a return on his investment. Done more for this sport surviving than anyone else. But people whinge about his ulterior motives. What about not having a national comp which would have happened without him. Such a bunch of ingrates and tall poppy syndrome.
NBL is at a tipping point...think the ecline from a two year honey moon period is over.
The standard is pretty bad to near on unwatchable with teams full of players the kids can't relate to and I for one as a parent look at the market of "street" "american" type culture that seems to be what the league want to push!
hell listening to the language on commentary/NBL TV is bad enough surely we can craft it to Australian audiences
That said basketball in general has viewership issues if you look at the NBA numbers.
I don't think you'll find many NBL fans that think the standard is near unwatchable.
Cram
Years ago
"I don't think you'll find many NBL fans that think the standard is near unwatchable."
Well thats amazing. People who like a product think that product is good.
Have a look at the crowd at giants v bombers, lucky Essendon got a few in. Be lucky to be 5000 there.
KET
Years ago
Giants don't usually get many fans at their home games, it’s a hardcore soccer area in western Sydney
There is more cheering for bombers and booing for the giants.
Kings doing well re Sydney crowds
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