[VIDEOS] Big Bash League - Attendance and viewership tracking

[cricketindiafan]

Creating this thread to track BBL attendance and TV viewership in matches. There has been debate in Australian media about BBL losing it’s sheen. Numbers will show us whether the assessment is right or wrong.

So far for first three matches, attendance has been below par compared to last year

Match 1. 19th Dec: Adelaide Strikers vs Brisbane Heat at Gabba - 26932 (42000)
Match 2. 20th Dec: Melbourne Renegades vs Perth Scorchers at Marvel, Melbourne- 15011 (55000)
Match 3. 21st Dec: Sydney Thunders vs Melbourne Stars at Manuka oval - 8788 (16000)

Total attendance for first three matches is 50731 against capacity of 11300 ~45% of capacity

Total attendances for first three matches last year on same dates were - 21588, 27433 and 11010 total of 60031 on a total capacity of 85500. That’s roughly 75% of total capacity.

Still early days in the competition but alarm bells must be ringing. TV viewership data is yet to come out but from 75% to 45% gate ticket sales this year is a massive drop. Wonder what could be the reason behind such downslide

 

[Rafa]

Hope BBL remains commercially viable and booms.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Australia's international performances must be a reason.

 

[The Viper]

Not looking good. It might be due to Aus poor LOI performances because the overseas players don’t look bad at all.

 

[Gilly]

Pretty poor performance, only average of 16,910 spectators per match this year so far. Small crowds like that shows how small time this domestic competition is.

 

[Last Monetarist]

CA has burned their house down. It will take some time before they are able to restore some credibility in front of the public. It's a dire failure of leadership perhaps on par with the time the ECB sold out the game to Murdoch 12 years ago.

 

[shane]

After months of the CA telling us that this year's BBL is the most popular thing in cricket history, the SCG was probably about 30% full for today's weekend game. And that is being generous.

 

[Convict]

Creating this thread to track BBL attendance and TV viewership in matches. There has been debate in Australian media about BBL losing it’s sheen. Numbers will show us whether the assessment is right or wrong.

So far for first three matches, attendance has been below par compared to last year

Match 1. 19th Dec: Adelaide Strikers vs Brisbane Heat at Gabba - 26932 (42000)
Match 2. 20th Dec: Melbourne Renegades vs Perth Scorchers at Marvel, Melbourne- 15011 (55000)
Match 3. 21st Dec: Sydney Thunders vs Melbourne Stars at Manuka oval - 8788 (16000)

Total attendance for first three matches is 50731 against capacity of 11300 ~45% of capacity

Total attendances for first three matches last year on same dates were - 21588, 27433 and 11010 total of 60031 on a total capacity of 85500. That’s roughly 75% of total capacity.

Still early days in the competition but alarm bells must be ringing. TV viewership data is yet to come out but from 75% to 45% gate ticket sales this year is a massive drop. Wonder what could be the reason behind such downslide

Way too small a sample size.

1. Melbourne Renegades have a small supporter base.
2. Sydney Thunder have a small supporter base and were playing in a city of only 300,000 people.

Adelaide is the only one of those teams that really has drawn good crowds historically.

 

[Convict]

Actually have to say that stadium capacity is an extremely dubious measure for an Australian competition. Cricket shares stadiums with the AFL in Australia. AFL has much higher attendances than cricket and thus justifies much larger stadium capacities.

This is particularly the case for the 100,000 seater MCG which only has its capacity due to hosting specific AFL matches (and Boxing Day) such as the AFL Grand Final, ANZAC Day etc.

For instance Optus Stadium was built in Perth for AFL. If the Perth Scorchers average attendance rose by 10,000 this season their average % capacity would decrease from >90% to about 50%.

 

[cricketindiafan]

Actually have to say that stadium capacity is an extremely dubious measure for an Australian competition. Cricket shares stadiums with the AFL in Australia. AFL has much higher attendances than cricket and thus justifies much larger stadium capacities.

This is particularly the case for the 100,000 seater MCG which only has its capacity due to hosting specific AFL matches (and Boxing Day) such as the AFL Grand Final, ANZAC Day etc.

For instance Optus Stadium was built in Perth for AFL. If the Perth Scorchers average attendance rose by 10,000 this season their average % capacity would decrease from >90% to about 50%.

% of seats filled is a good indicator and can be compared across seasons. Average attendance is problematic because the stadiums are all not of same capacity and keep changing season to season.

Your point on the sample size being too small is correct. Will have to see the crowds during the next 10 days.

 

[Convict]

% of seats filled is a good indicator and can be compared across seasons. Average attendance is problematic because the stadiums are all not of same capacity and keep changing season to season.

Your point on the sample size being too small is correct. Will have to see the crowds during the next 10 days.

And what consideration are you using to take into account that Perth is playing in a stadium with three times the capacity?

By your logic they will have a massive "concerning" fall in support.