T20 Big Bash League (from 2011/12)

[cam]

Crowds are way down. At the moment it is 11,466. Last year it finished at 17,749 (http://www.austadiums.com/sport/comp.php?sid=17)
Just under 8k at Etihad tonight. Let's see how many rock up to ANZ Thursday night. I've heard from Fox Sports that they are disappointed with the TV numbers. They've put a lot of effort & resources into BBL02.

I don't feel aligned to a team (or should I say, a franchise). I went along to a few Vic Bushrangers games when they played T20. I remember they had 40k to one of them at the MCG. Now we've got the Stars or Renegades. Haven't been to a game, despite being a MCC member.

[IanRitchie]

i've been watching a few games when i get home from work late at night. it's not a bad product, just a bit artificial.

[Boba Fett]

Crowds are way down. At the moment it is 11,466. Last year it finished at 17,749 (http://www.austadiums.com/sport/comp.php?sid=17)
Just under 8k at Etihad tonight. Let's see how many rock up to ANZ Thursday night. I've heard from Fox Sports that they are disappointed with the TV numbers. They've put a lot of effort & resources into BBL02.

I don't feel aligned to a team (or should I say, a franchise). I went along to a few Vic Bushrangers games when they played T20. I remember they had 40k to one of them at the MCG. Now we've got the Stars or Renegades. Haven't been to a game, despite being a MCC member.

Crowds last year really picked up once the holidays started. Let's wait and see at the end of the season before making any judgements. I would actually expect crowds to be down a little, due to the usual second year syndrome that all things suffer.

I've actually heard that the TV ratings are actually going gangbusters this year. So well that FTA networks are sniffing around. Interestingly, TV ratings for the A League have plummented since the BBL has started...

[cam]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/big ... 2bp9v.html

Ratings 29% down. Crowds even more.
Finding it difficult to find a figure from tonight's game at ANZ Stadium but there wouldn't have been many more than 6,000 there. Maybe they should move to the Showgrounds. And the Melbourne Renegades should move to Geelong - next season they'll have lights at Simonds Stadium.

[Boba Fett]

I think the main problem is the scheduling. I've said this on other forums, but I'll repeat it here...

Oct-Jan: Sheffield Shield
Late Nov - early Jan: Tests
Mid Jan - Feb: BBL

This works for a few reasons - players get a few Shield games to prepare for the Test series. Once they get the longer forms of the game done, they can all switch to the limited overs mode. As there is no overlap with the different types of cricket, we don't have to have the ridiculous situation of all the Test candidates being quarantined from the BBL, thereby robbing that comp of all the stars. It also moves the BBL to the holiday season - which is where it can maximise crowds and not confuse the public as to which form of the game is actually happening at any one time.

Won't happen of course...

[Rob]

I think it's a combination of a few things. Firstly, CA has to accept that if you're going to run a competition that only goes for 6 weeks, you're not going to get much fan loyalty like there is in the AFL or NRL. Once you accept that, then you're going to realise that you need to generate hype to get people through the gates - and that's where the poor scheduling comes into it. With all our best players in the test team, the BBL teams look second rate. At least the A-League can rely to a certain extent on a section of fans supporting the clubs, whereas the BBL isn't going to get that because the loyalty factor for the teams are low, and people are more likely to support players than the teams.

They should stick with it, because at the very least there is clearly a demand for it, as demonstrated by the pretty big TV audiences. But if they want it to get big, then they're going about it wrong.

[cam]

Crowds seem to have improved over the holiday period. The crowd looked great at Etihad last night, about 14k or so which surprised me. (Note North Melbourne - close the top tier and the venue looks full!). Will be interesting to see what they'll do next year, my tip is they'll kick it off on the last week of December and run throughout January. They just need to get Australia's best players suiting up and that will improve it greatly.

[Jeffles]

And a massive crowd last night.

I don't think scheduling is as big a thing as people made it out to be for small crowds at the beginning. I mean, a lot of people had time off before Christmas, kids were on holidays and the publicity machine was in overdrive but crowds were still down. The incoherent narrative that is temporarily replacing states with cities interrupts things and means it takes a while for momentum to build. It's not like Ben Rohrer can spend weeks talking up his Melbounre team when he is on duty for NSW. But that ship has sailed. I think the more successful promoters have been rewarded and those that can't suffered accordingly. Sydney Thunder truly is a bag of turd. Chris Gayle is their only talking point but he is too busy at the pointy end of the plane to drum up any excitement. Contrast that with Warnie, who's been having as dreadful a time as Gayle on the park. Warne is a showman off the field. He talks it up. People respond.

[cam]

46,581 - new record crowd for Australian domestic cricket posted last night at the MCG.

[Boba Fett]

46,581 - new record crowd for Australian domestic cricket posted last night at the MCG.

And judging by last night's shenanigans, BBL=T20+WWE

Warnie cops a one match suspension - what a joke that is. Should have been the end of his career.

[Jeffles]

In the highly strung environment of cricket misconduct it was a light punishment. In the football codes it would barely rate a mention.

Still, neither part comes out looking good.

[the crow]

I wonder what samules Liz gag was to fire up that reaction?

[IanRitchie]

my dad and i watched that live. we nearly died laughing.