Super XV attendance figures for 2013

The average attendances for 2013, relation to 2012 in brackets.


1. (1) Stormers 33,545 (-4,578)
2. (2) Reds 31,837 (-862)
3. (-) Kings 31,783 (–)
4. (3) Bulls 29,134 (-2649)
5. (8) Blues 20,354 (+4,424)
6. (6) Cheetahs 19,986 (+2,622)
7. (4) Sharks 19,491 (-4,125)
8. (5) Waratahs 17,036 (-3,610)
9. (7) Crusaders 14,908 (-1,572)
10. (14) Brumbies 14,290 (+354)
11. (12) Chiefs 14,081 (-714)
12. (10) Highlanders 13,334 (-2,532)
13.(15) Force 12,240 (-1,169)
14.(12) Rebels 11,947 (-2,104)
15. (13) Hurricanes 10,934 (-3,045)

Total per country.
SA 1 071 512
OZ 698 800
NZ 588 888

So 11 from 15 saw a decline in attendances compared to previous year.

As a neutral, I have to say that the current format seems to have diluted the quality of the tournament.

Why not have the national provincial championships first with say the top two from australia, top 3 from south africa and new zealand then playing in a home and away super 8 championship.

There are too many easy games at the moment.

I don't think it is the easy games, more to do with the scheduling.

If you go to a match in SA you are guaranteed to miss at least one or two matches.

The time it takes to get to the ground, park, get to your seat and then out again is the issue.

But I do agree something has got to give.

Loving the bump in the Auckland Blues attendances. Amazing what a decent looking team can do at the start of the season.
 
Would love to know how much the average attendance is increased for an intra-country match - i.e. do Tahs fans regard a trip to Perth as much as an 'away' game as a trip to Cape Town? A plane ride either way. Don't know how travelling fans can afford a S15 season. Or is that why living in Australia is so expensive these days?

I think travelling fans is neglegible in Super XV

George, Its a good point. But I wonder if a Waratahs fan would find it easier to get to Auckland or Christchurch rather than Perth.

Looking at the attendance figures, it certainly seems a shame that the Kings, who drew the third most supporters in Super Rugby will be relegated to................what? Of course, some of their supporters attended the matches as a spectacle, but this season certainly showed their drawing power.

Not bad for a per capita basis- we had 1 in 7 kiwis attend a match...far higher ratio than the other two who have 5-6 times our population...

Yeah, but 75% of our population doesn't watch or care about rugby.

I must admit as a watching neutral I thought the general quality of the comp was a little down on previous seasons. It just seemed to miss something I can't put my finger on.

I missed maybe 10 matches this season, and overall I thought the quality was on par with other seasons.

The difference however this season was Australia as a collective was much more competitive this season.

The break in the season did however impact the teams on their return.

I think any perception on poorer quality is most likely due to that, teams who were on a roll before the June test break took a few matches to get back to form.

Not really, I just thought the general quality of the rugby played wasn't as good as previous seasons.

Yeah well, I suppose it is in the eye of the beholder, eh?

Guess so, hopefully it was just a blip.

I think thats possibly due to the conference matches being tighter, more like for like affairs. I think its made our sides stronger overall for our weakest to be the Highlanders with more than half the side current or recent AB's.

Will have to see when the RC starts. With the disjointed selection policies and coaching arrangements of the other two sides another 6-0 is a real option this year. Wouldnt have said that pre Lions tour...just putting it out there...

Biltong wrote:Yeah, but 75% of our population doesn't watch or care about rugby.

Yes I know biltong, same as Oz. Still a relevant factor when considering audiences- its not like we dont have the support, we just dont have the numbers to go along- I mean remove most of the aged over 65 (half a mill of those) the babies and probably 60% of all women and youre left with a fairly staunch suppot group.

Its that group youre mostly referring to- those who would watch the sport but are watching other sports- that would be the Oz factor mainly...perhaps SA an additional, more socio- economic factor in not being able to watch a lot of sport at all.

I am referring to cultures within South Africa.

Traditionally our ethnic population outside of the western cape and eastern cape do not follow or care about rugby.

The 25% I am talking about that does follow rugby includes the aged amongst them.

If you look at our population breakdown then you will understand what I mean.

Ethnic groups in SA.
79.2% Black African
8.9% Coloured
8.9% White
2.5% Indian or Asian
0.5% other

The only two ethnic groups that enmasse follow rugby and cricket is the coloured and white population.

A very small percentage of the african population do.

Yep thats what I was alluding to. The historical significance of SA has contributed largely to this- keeping rugby 'white' for a hundred years has had a direct impact.

I look at it differently and see it as an untapped resource for the future of the game but I'm well aware its easy to say from where I sit...

the EP kings should get a round of appluase to be honest. The worst team in SR gets the 3rd highest ave. attendance.

Also note that their Currie Cup attendance barely reaches above 5000 on home games so they have really stepped up and PE is significantly smaller than Cape Town, Durban & Gauteng.

yet its all meaningless now. Overall the right decision but such a waste... when I think of the screw up we have seen I can only think of one phrase.... TIA.

FA, sometimes the log defies logic and truth.

The Kings beat three teams just above them, they beat the Rebels, Force and Highlanders.

I don't think they were the worst team to be honest.

Bil what was the lions last year. One would assume that they didn't watch any so that would be another 20k per game.

What is the cost for each of the three countries.

I don't understand why there is such a drop off which is about 10%. In europe attendances are smaller but are still going up. Does this mean that S15 has had its peak. I know each year the ERC set targets for the HC/AMLIN and they were surpast each year, usually by a fair bit. HC is worth more as it continues to grow for sponsers but if S15 is seeing to have hit its peak sponsership money will fall where at current levels only SA teams are making money and the union doesn't top up player wages (as far as i know) unlike the other two.

Less money is less wages.

Biltong wrote:FA, sometimes the log defies logic and truth.

The Kings beat three teams just above them, they beat the Rebels, Force and Highlanders.

I don't think they were the worst team to be honest.

The problem for the kings was 8 of the games were against 4 strong SA teams. As you showed before SA teams do well against other countries teams so having to play them was a disadvantage. Rebels and Force got to play each other twice.

Biltong wrote:Yeah, but 75% of our population doesn't watch or care about rugby.

Try and be a Scottish fan when 98% of the population aren't bothered about the game.
Like some other posters, I thought that something was missing this year but I can't put my finger on it. Being UK based, maybe we just had more focus on the Lions tour.
Out of interest, in NZ and SA does a Lions tour in Aus get more TV time and column inches than the Super season?

It doesn't interfere with anything, but it gets the same attention as any other test series in OZ or NZ

Bil what are the attendances in the currie heard they were about 15k. What was the highest attendance would it have got above 50k for any/many matches.

Brendan the round robin matches probably average around 12 000, the bigger unions get around 15 000, but the smaller unions not more than 10 000. Although Griquas is known to get 15 000 now and then. the final and semi finals usually get quite full stadiums, last year both semi finals had more than 30 000 spectators and the final was near capacity, 48 000 roundabouts.

The 2011 final which was hosted at Ellispark had 58 000 spectators.

If you add in the S15 people you would have the best attended league in rugby.

Well that is why I beleive we can finance our rugby by going it alone if the Suoer XV doesn't work out.

If you consider the Stormers had 260 000 spectators in eight games, at an average of R100 per game then they made R26 million just in gate takings.

Now imagine we go to an 8 team Currie Cup and each team has 7 home games plus the possibility of a semi final or final.

Then add a sponsor, merchandising, tv revenue and beverages for 260 000 people.

Currently SA is getting about R120 million a year for Currie Cup and that is without any Springboks playing.

Devide that by 8 teams and the big teams are likely to have a R50 million budget roughly. That is about 4.5 miilion Euro.

Should be enough to finance a Currie Cup team.

It is also likely if the Currie Cup gains its rightfull place and because it is the only domestic rugby and not being interfered with by Super Rugby that you might get more TV money and also more gate revenue.

That could mean we should easily be able to build 8 pro teams.

Even Griquas with lets say 120 000 spectators (on their current average) will have at least 2 million euros , a lot more than they currently have.

Also our players will play less games, less injuries, less fatigue and more time for the national team to prepare for the Rugby Championship or any other incoming or outgoing tour.

InjuredYetAgain wrote:
Try and be a Scottish fan when 98% of the population aren't bothered about the game.
Like some other posters, I thought that something was missing this year but I can't put my finger on it. Being UK based, maybe we just had more focus on the Lions tour.
Out of interest, in NZ and SA does a Lions tour in Aus get more TV time and column inches than the Super season?

We got about the same coverage I'd say. the midweek matches werent fully covered but the tests were as any other. We had a Lions tour half hour segment every week- borrowed from the UK I think (cant remember if our Scotty did that one or not).

Mind you the NRL and State of Origin get the same if not more coverage with the greater number of teams/ matches. Theres a huge following in NZ in league and I've known some pockets around NZ would rather watch the Warriors weekly round match live than an AB test match live. Wainuiomata in Wellingtons one.

Taylorman wrote:

We got about the same coverage I'd say. the midweek matches werent fully covered but the tests were as any other. We had a Lions tour half hour segment every week- borrowed from the UK I think (cant remember if our Scotty did that one or not).

Mind you the NRL and State of Origin get the same if not more coverage with the greater number of teams/ matches. Theres a huge following in NZ in league and I've known some pockets around NZ would rather watch the Warriors weekly round match live than an AB test match live. Wainuiomata in Wellingtons one.

Is league growing in NZ either in players or supporters. Or is it like the UK where it has balanced out