Bulldogs push for Friday night

[GVGjr]

For the AFL 25K on Friday is the same as 25K on Saturday. The important area is TV Ratings and exposure for clubs. We deserve an equal chance.

I don't believe so, Friday night is the prime spot because of the ratings and exposure you have mentioned and therefore needs stronger attendances.

If we draw good crowds and play good football then we will keep getting Friday night games. The AFL put a lot of faith in Carlton who are vastly down on form and attendances so we need to be a lot better than that in both area's.

[GVGjr]

The criteria for Friday night games is more about television ratings than actual attendance, but we did draw more to our Saturday night game (31,445) v Carlton than Essendon and North did on Friday night 31,025).

Give us a Friday night game against Collingwood or Richmond at Etihad and attendance wont be a problem.

Same would be said for Saturday night games if we were to play those team including Sunday at 4.40pm.

[hujsh]

I don't believe so, Friday night is the prime spot because of the ratings and exposure you have mentioned and therefore needs stronger attendances.

If we draw good crowds and play good football then we will keep getting Friday night games. The AFL put a lot of faith in Carlton who are vastly down on form and attendances so we need to be a lot better than that in both area's.

Why. The atmosphere may add something to the game but surely all that matters is ratings. Channel Seven would prefer a million people watch a game in front of 25k than 800,000 watch a game in front of 50k

[Eastdog]

Why. The atmosphere may add something to the game but surely all that matters is ratings. Channel Seven would prefer a million people watch a game in front of 25k than 800,000 watch a game in front of 50k

That shouldn't be what only matters it should be a balance between the fans attending the games and the TV ratings.

[hujsh]

That shouldn't be what only matters it should be a balance between the fans attending the games and the TV ratings.

If you mean fixtues need to be balance between allowing fans to attend and maximsing ratings then I agree. If you mean that the allocation of prime time games like Friday night games should take into account the crowds the team will draw then I disagree and would still like to hear the reasons why that's the case.

[Eastdog]

If you mean fixtues need to be balance between allowing fans to attend and maximsing ratings then I agree. If you mean that the allocation of prime time games like Friday night games should take into account the crowds the team will draw then I disagree and would still like to hear the reasons why that's the case.

Every team regardless if they are big crowd pullers or not should get an opportunity to play at least once on a Friday night.

[hujsh]

Every team regardless if they are big crowd pullers or not should get an opportunity to play at least once on a Friday night.

I'm still a bit confused as now it appears you're agreeing with what I initially said. When you say 'crowd pullers' do you mean in terms of ratings? My initial point was that it's better for say Dogs vs North to be the Friday game with 30k attending as opposed to say Carlton vs Collingwood with 50-60k attending as more neutrals are likely to tune in and stay with a more interesting match. Do you agree with that or not?

I can get behind every team having at least one Friday night game but at the same time you don't a repeat of this year where there's too much of an under-performing team (Carlton) so I don't mind it being weighed more towards games between likely top 4/8 contenders.

[GVGjr]

I'm still a bit confused as now it appears you're agreeing with what I initially said. When you say 'crowd pullers' do you mean in terms of ratings? My initial point was that it's better for say Dogs vs North to be the Friday game with 30k attending as opposed to say Carlton vs Collingwood with 50-60k attending as more neutrals are likely to tune in and stay with a more interesting match. Do you agree with that or not?

I don't see the logic in that.

[Eastdog]

Has the Friday night footy criteria always been like that.

[bornadog]

Has the Friday night footy criteria always been like that.

they make it up as they go along.

[Greystache]

Has the Friday night footy criteria always been like that.

When the big clubs are up they say it's about earning them through on field performance. When the big clubs are down they say it's about maximising attendances.

When it's about maximising attendances the smaller clubs like ours get 7-8 home games a season against interstate clubs to prevent us from producing crowds that will justify that criteria. Carlton got 16,000 at home against GWS, even Collingwood the biggest club in the AFL only got 36,000 on Saturday night against West Coast. Of course they'll only get fixtured those types of games a couple of times a year so the AFL can point to the average crowd numbers and give them another 7-10 prime time games next year.

The sad thing is a lot of people can't see through their bullshit.

[Eastdog]

I'm still a bit confused as now it appears you're agreeing with what I initially said. When you say 'crowd pullers' do you mean in terms of ratings? My initial point was that it's better for say Dogs vs North to be the Friday game with 30k attending as opposed to say Carlton vs Collingwood with 50-60k attending as more neutrals are likely to tune in and stay with a more interesting match. Do you agree with that or not?

I can get behind every team having at least one Friday night game but at the same time you don't a repeat of this year where there's too much of an under-performing team (Carlton) so I don't mind it being weighed more towards games between likely top 4/8 contenders.

Crowd pullers meaning fans going to the games.

[hujsh]

I don't see the logic in that.

More interesting (even if they're less attended) games would make for a better spectacle on TV and generate higher ratings=pay more for TV rights. Friday night games would present more value to the AFL because of the ratings they bring in rather than attendances at those games. Wouldn't that generate more money?

And wouldn't the Carlton-Collingwood game be likely to get as many spectators on a Saturday arvo as on a Friday Night?

Crowd pullers meaning fans going to the games.

Then I've no idea what you're trying to day.

[Eastdog]

Then I've no idea what you're trying to day.

Confusion

[Webby]

The whole point about Friday night football is that it's the highest rating TV slot. Most AFL TV viewers on Friday nights are neutral fans. Therefore I fail to see the point of people focusing on whether 30k or 50k are at the actual ground?

Surely the 1M plus national TV audience is the main focus!? Some on here need to get with the times. The AFL makes $250M p.a. On TV revenue alone. That's not including the sponsorship etc that comes with ratings.

As most TV viewers are neutral fans (fact), the biggest impact on TV ratings is the quality of the actual game, the relevance to the actual competition and the closeness of the contest, itself.

If we climb the ladder and play good, entertaining footy, we'll get Friday night games. As it is, we played dour footy under McCartney and were cellar-dwellers. Irrelevant.

Now, however, we are playing entertaining footy and should be contending for top 4-6 next year. Carlton and Essendon , for example, will certainly not. Therefore, it's as plane as the nose on your face that we will be playing Friday night footy next year. As the fixture is beginning to be drawn up at the moment, the club is smart to be ramming our case home.