Waratahs vow to stick with Bankwest Stadium despite poor crowd
The Waratahs remain confident their plans to venture into rugby league’s heartland in Western Sydney will pay off despite a disappointing crowd for their first Super Rugby match at Bankwest Stadium.
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The Waratahs remain confident their ambitious plans to venture into rugby league’s heartland in Western Sydney will pay off despite a disappointing crowd for their first Super Rugby match at Bankwest Stadium.
Just days after more than 29,000 fans packed out the state of the art stadium for the first NRL match at the venue, two thirds of the seats were vacant for rugby’s first venture into Sydney’s most populated area.
But NSW Rugby chief executive Andrew Hore said there were mitigating circumstances that behind the reduced numbers and the expectation was that crowds will improve in the near future.
First #Waratahs game at the magnificent #BankWestStadium pic.twitter.com/3929AqPunE
— Peter Kay (@peter__kay) April 27, 2019
“First and foremost the stadium is outstanding and those that went all had a great experience but it’s still not the crowd we would have liked,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“There’s a whole cocktail of factors but in saying that, there was still a lot of positivity about us being there and we want people to know we’re going to be there for a long time.”
With Allianz Stadium currently being rebuilt, the Waratahs have decided to take their show on the road for the next three seasons rather than stay at one venue, and the official crowd figure of 10,605 was similar to the numbers they have been getting at their other ‘home’ matches this season, which have been spread between the SCG, Brookvale Oval and Newcastle.
The surest way of increasing spectator numbers is by winning so the team’s inconsistent record of four wins and five losses hasn’t helped as did the timing of their first match in Parramatta.
Not only was the game played on the last weekend of NSW school holidays, which prevented the Tahs from promoting the fixture with classroom visits, but the match also coincided with the AFL’s Sydney derby and the Western Wanderers’ farewell match at nearby ANZ stadium.
“Being a nomad isn’t easy so all of those things made it a hard sell,” Hore said.
“Ultimately we couldn’t get into the schools because they were on holidays and drive promotion there.
“But we’ll do that next time and we’ll also continue to engage strongly with our clubs in the area and continue with our general activity in the West because we were a little behind the 8-ball this year with our promotion and marketing.”
The Waratahs have two more matches at Bankwest Stadium this season — against the Jaguares on May 25 then against the Brumbies on June 8 — while the Wallabies will also play there against Samoa on September 7 in their last home appearance before heading to the World Cup.
“There’s no silver bullet but what there is a very strong commitment to continue to play and be involved with Western Sydney,” Hore said.
“We’ve already learnt a lot from this season and the positives still greatly outweigh the negatives.”
Originally published as Waratahs vow to stick with Bankwest Stadium despite poor crowd
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