Graham Cornes: Why we should sell naming rights at Adelaide Oval and cut food, drink prices
With ever-increasing food and drink prices at Adelaide Oval, Graham Cornes asks if it’s time to sell naming rights to a sponsor and in turn cut costs for fans. TAKE OUR POLL
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Perhaps it’s time to sell the naming rights for Adelaide Oval. I could never accept it when Footy Park was named after a sponsor but times have slowly changed and now most great stadiums have sold out to naming sponsors.
Besides, there has to be other ways of increasing profit than by raising prices. And rising prices is one main reason why the fans will stay home.
All of us who love the game of Aussie rules football have great memories. Personal memories, be they be of favourite players, of epic matches, of last gasp victories, and – if you’re lucky – of grand final triumphs, are forever.
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We can all recall how we fell in love with the game. In most cases, it was because our parents, probably Dad, but occasionally Mum took us to our first game.
To a little kid the football players looked like giants. They towered over us and we gaped in awe at their powerful bodies and rippling muscles.
If you sat by the boundary fence the sounds of the contest enthralled us further. The clash of bodies, the thump of the ball being kicked, the sound of the whistle and, if you were really close to the action, the yelling and snarling of the players as they abused and intimidated their opponents.
If you were lucky enough to be invited into a change-room, the magic escalated further.
However, there will always be one common memory, and that is the adventure of simply going.
Who can’t remember the first time they went to a league game and who took them? And who can’t remember having a pie at the footy?
Country grounds had magnificent hot dogs floating around in an old style copper before being wrapped in a fresh bun and covered with sauce, but it’s the pie that is most synonymous with a day out at the footy. A pie and a Coke.
Of course by today’s standards it wasn’t the healthiest of fare but who didn’t love it? As well as the action on the field, food and drink are vital components of a footy outing – especially for a kid. Unfortunately, the food and drink part of the equation is being priced further and further from the reach of the typical footy fan.
I’m loathe to criticise the Stadium Management Authority, who control everything inside Adelaide Oval.
It’s such an easy target and has constantly been portrayed as a money-grabbing ogre by tenant clubs and their fans.
As well it’s used as a political football by politicians seeking a cheap headline.
The critics have no understanding of the responsibilities of the SMA and the contribution it makes to South Australian sport in general.
BUT – the latest price rises on some food and beverage items at the Oval make absolutely no sense.
It was already ridiculously expensive to buy food and drink at the oval and increasing the price takes the game-day experience further from the reach of a footy family.
Kevin Scarce, the chairman of the SMA, in explanation of the increases, points to higher wages, increased expenses and lower attendances.
However, it’s simply false economy to raise prices. As if that is going to encourage spending and increase attendances.
Australian football models much of its operations on American sport. Accordingly, the SMA would do well to examine the operations of some of the big stadiums in the USA.
For instance, at the Mercedes Benz Stadium, home of the NFL team, the Atlanta Falcons, prices have been lowered on popular concession prices for the second successive year.
A year ago, the stadium dropped its prices on some items by a staggering 50 per cent.
This season they dropped the prices on five of its top-selling items by a further 11 per cent. Like Adelaide Oval, the Mercedes Benz Stadium has converted to a cashless, card-only venue, but its increased efficiencies and reduced prices has been a huge hit with the fans.
Spending inside the stadium increased and the fan experience at the stadium, in a city with a population of half a million people, was again rated as number one of all the NFL franchises. The prices of some of the popular items inside the Mercedes Benz Stadium will make the average South Australian footy fan green with envy.
A hot dog, the American cultural equivalent our Aussie meat pie, costs (prices in US$) $1.50, chips and salsa $2.50. A burger costs $7.50, pretzel bites $4.50, a bucket of popcorn $2 and an ice cream $4.50. A beer costs $5.00.
The CEO of the group that operates the stadium, Steve Cannon, said: “We’ve listened to our fans from the beginning and these new prices are a result of that feedback.”
Despite the drop in prices, the average spend per fan increased by 16 per cent.
The beer prices are interesting. The buying power of the SMA is significantly better than the average hotelier can negotiate. So why are beer prices inside Adelaide Oval significantly higher? And don’t start me on the price of water at the Oval. The prices that are charged for a bottle of water are scandalous.
There is another underlying theme in the American example, however.
Atlanta’s home is called the Mercedes Benz Stadium. Would the South Australian public tolerate the SMA selling naming rights to the Oval if it meant reduced prices?
It’s not rocket science. If you reduce the prices, the fans will spend more. The SMA simply must reduce prices on a couple of the popular items. The big retailers do it all the time. However, the issue is more than profit. The SMA and both our footy teams need more people to come to the football.
Are they listening to their fans? It’s simply too expensive these days and with new technology and giant television screens, cheap food and drink, it’s tempting to stay home.
Attendances are falling steadily at Adelaide Oval. Something drastic has to be done to reverse the trend. Making it cheaper for a family to buy a pie, a bucket of chips and a Coke for the kids and a beer for Dad can only make it more appealing. If that means reaping a windfall by selling the naming rights of the Oval, so be it.