SANFL: Are the Commission on the Same Planet?

First SANFL game in a lot of years due to my son playing schoolboys footy.
$14 entry?????????????
$7.20 for a beer?????????????
$9 for a pre-mix?????????????????

I didn't bother getting anything to eat but a mate sent his son off with $10 and got 50c in change back!
Excuse me, but is there any wonder they cant get crowds to SANFL matches.
I remarked to my fellow spectators: "For that sort of money, I'd expect to see Davies, Casey, Bagshaw, Rigney, Nelson, Ebert, Giles, Cunningham, Williams, Buckley, Evans, Haslam, Light etc"

Am I wrong?

No, you're not.

Entry should be $10 and the catering prices reasonable.

Buy a membership mate. Then it all goes to the club and works out better than $14.

However, I agree the beer prices have gotten ridiculous.

Agree...I can go see a top band play for the amount they are charging!!

It is getting beyond a joke.

Chambo, it is not viable for me to buy a South membership at $195 when I do not know if I can make it to every game.

South offer not much options which is very disappointing.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:Buy a membership mate. Then it all goes to the club and works out better than $14.

However, I agree the beer prices have gotten ridiculous.

My son starts playing amateurs this week but I will look at the membership.
Who controls the cost of catering? The SANFL or the individual clubs?

I understand that the costs increase to the clubs so they need to pass some of these on. But I agree they are far too high. Entry fee is definitely excessive and those drink prices are up there with some of the more trendy and expensive establishments in the state. The SANFL used to market itself as the affordable old school alternative but in the last 5 years have blown that.

Scrunch wrote:The SANFL used to market itself as the affordable old school alternative but in the last 5 years have blown that.

They were in the days everyone involved in the SANFL were working towards a common goal.

Yes, totally agree, Scrunch.

I suppose it comes back to whether the SANFL would risk losing $4 a patron (say roughly $40,000) in the hope of getting more people along at $10.

That would make the equation roughly this:

Current 10,000 paying customers at $14 =. $140000.

That would require a 40% crowd increase to be equal, but that doesn't take into account extra revenue from catering, etc. It also doesn't account for club members, etc not paying at the gate.

I listened to Chris Davies on 5RPH last night and he was impressive.

Perhaps we could email him and ask for his comments about this issue, so that we could understand it better?

Clubs would be buying beer at between $1.50 and $2.00 per can depending on the product. That hasn't changed a lot in the last 2 years, with the discounts on offer.

Only 2 seasons ago I was paying $5.50 per can. I can't see that the increase has been proportional to the cost price.

We always have 3 or 4 cans during an arvo.
But that might shrivel back to a couple now.

i know for a fact that my father & uncles stopped going to the games when the price went to $12.00 because they can't afford to pay that much when gas, electricity, water bills etc etc are going through the roof, so there is 3 that went to about 16 matches a year plus all finals, to them it is like 'district cricket' 'read the paper to see the scores' although to be fair ABCTV is watched as well as listening to the radio but they don't go anymore & ''i'll bet london to a brick'' that they aren't the only three

ps,

it used to be ''a game of the people FOR the people''


sadly not anymore

redandblack wrote:Yes, totally agree, Scrunch.

I suppose it comes back to whether the SANFL would risk losing $4 a patron (say roughly $40,000) in the hope of getting more people along at $10.

That would make the equation roughly this:

Current 10,000 paying customers at $14 =. $140000.

That would require a 40% crowd increase to be equal, but that doesn't take into account extra revenue from catering, etc. It also doesn't account for club members, etc not paying at the gate.

I listened to Chris Davies on 5RPH last night and he was impressive.

Perhaps we could email him and ask for his comments about this issue, so that we could understand it better?

I discussed last night with a few people at Kingswood Oval today.
To a man, it was said it's not worth going anymore.
I spent $30 today and had a great day with enjoyable football even though it was only Division 3. I spent $35 last and felt ripped off.
SANFL clubs are under pressure with players being offered big money in the country and low crowds due to ridiculous prices. All does not bode well for the SANFL.

in business or sport when you lose people (customers) it is very very hard to get them back

Correct. Better and easier to keep your existing customers than attract new ones. First rule of marketing really.

The Dominator wrote:First SANFL game in a lot of years due to my son playing schoolboys footy.
$14 entry?????????????
$7.20 for a beer?????????????
$9 for a pre-mix?????????????????

I didn't bother getting anything to eat but a mate sent his son off with $10 and got 50c in change back!
Excuse me, but is there any wonder they cant get crowds to SANFL matches.
I remarked to my fellow spectators: "For that sort of money, I'd expect to see Davies, Casey, Bagshaw, Rigney, Nelson, Ebert, Giles, Cunningham, Williams, Buckley, Evans, Haslam, Light etc"

Am I wrong?

Your not wrong T.D... I know many SANFL footy fans who refuse or can't afford to pay $14 to watch a SANFL game. A normal working class family with 2 kids (kids are free) cost them $28 just to get through the gate, you can't bring your own cans of soft drink or beer so they have to buy or go with out, if they buy food and drinks, add another $20 - $30 makes it a $50 - $60 day, which many cannot afford. I can tell you now it's a real put off for a lot of families.
They day (last year) they announced admission prices were up to $14 a head, i knew attendances would drop dramatically. But the SANFL (Darren Chandler at the time) said it hasn't affected attendances nor will it do in the future.
Drop back the price to $10 and $5 for concession card holders and you will notice more coming to the footy.

To say buy a season ticket is easy, but again i know many who can't afford it. Times are tough!!

howthewestwaswon wrote:Correct. Better and easier to keep your existing customers than attract new ones. First rule of marketing really.

Trouble is, the AFL have been flying in the face of that for years. They don't care that they alienate long standing supporters with the crap they dish up, they just market their rubbish to a newer audience each time.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:

howthewestwaswon wrote:Correct. Better and easier to keep your existing customers than attract new ones. First rule of marketing really.

Trouble is, the AFL have been flying in the face of that for years. They don't care that they alienate long standing supporters with the crap they dish up, they just market their rubbish to a newer audience each time.

Agree. I think attracting new supporters deliberately is a huge mistake from any organisation. If you strive to keep your existing customers, new ones will pop up through word of mouth, curiosity etc.

Unfortunately for us, attendances at AFL level look like they might have gone up, giving room for the AFL to change the brand/concept yet again.

While sharing some of the above concerns, some of the AFL games I've watched last year and this have been superb.

Not as good as Westies yesterday, of course.

It is extremely hard for families going to the footy and denying there kids a bottle of soft drink and a bucket of chips on top of admission prices thats for sure, some of these prices are 5 star restaurant prices, way over the top.

My wife and I are now only on one wage and we take our own food and bottled water, and don't get me going about what you get charged for a bottle of WATER these days, much more than a litre of petrol, just a big RIPOFF.

firstblood wrote:

The Dominator wrote:First SANFL game in a lot of years due to my son playing schoolboys footy.
$14 entry?????????????
$7.20 for a beer?????????????
$9 for a pre-mix?????????????????

I didn't bother getting anything to eat but a mate sent his son off with $10 and got 50c in change back!
Excuse me, but is there any wonder they cant get crowds to SANFL matches.
I remarked to my fellow spectators: "For that sort of money, I'd expect to see Davies, Casey, Bagshaw, Rigney, Nelson, Ebert, Giles, Cunningham, Williams, Buckley, Evans, Haslam, Light etc"

Am I wrong?

Your not wrong T.D... I know many SANFL footy fans who refuse or can't afford to pay $14 to watch a SANFL game. A normal working class family with 2 kids (kids are free) cost them $28 just to get through the gate, you can't bring your own cans of soft drink or beer so they have to buy or go with out, if they buy food and drinks, add another $20 - $30 makes it a $50 - $60 day, which many cannot afford. I can tell you now it's a real put off for a lot of families.
They day (last year) they announced admission prices were up to $14 a head, i knew attendances would drop dramatically. But the SANFL (Darren Chandler at the time) said it hasn't affected attendances nor will it do in the future.
Drop back the price to $10 and $5 for concession card holders and you will notice more coming to the footy.

To say buy a season ticket is easy, but again i know many who can't afford it. Times are tough!!

Good arguments and well said,

We too are on limited funding (pensions) with costs going through the roof it means you have to look at your budget and the first thing that goes is entertainment, and eating out, in this case both are applied at the footy. Gone are the days of paying memberships, all season games and then buying merchandise or maybe playing at the Pokies (not that I have ever spent any time in front of a machine)

The key increases to cost of living that have put us almost in the rubbish bin are Health Funds, Water, Gas and Electricity and we all know these costs have exploded, so it will be a trip to the footy once a month and whilst there buy a coke and that's it. Don't even buy a budget anymore.

Lets look at this way.... not counting those with season passes or free tickets etc.

I'm not sure how many actually pay every week to watch the SANFL but......
lets say we get 500 supporters that pay $14 to any SANFL game..... gate takings are $7,000.

Put the prices down to $10 a game and because the price is lower you get an extra 200 (if not more) walking through which makes 700 paying at the gate and you get $7,000 in gate takings. (sound familiar?)

Result = A larger crowd with the same or even more in gate takings, extra revenue for the clubs through food, drink etc and a better atmosphere.

Now change the prices of admission for concession card holders as well to $5 and the results would be even better.

Chuck in a chook raffle or 2 and every one is happy.

I hope my arithmetic is right.

To add to my theory above, could the SANFL try it for one week? pick a week end, advertise it a little and see what the results would be.
I bet it would be a win win situation for all.