Not another attendance record?
The last two years have seen quite astonishing surges in support of women’s sport, above all where it matters, in the arena itself. Even the nay-sayers have to admit that it’s being followed by more and more people, old and young, male and female.
While TV and live stream audiences are welcome and social media claim their own giddy figures, it’s the people who turn up to watch in the flesh who really matter.
Wherever you look new records are being set. Hockey and netball are used to full houses; now other sports are getting in on the act.
The Great and the Small
Source: World Rugby
I can’t guess how often I’ve included news of a new attendance record set in the two sports I cover, cricket and rugby. Suddenly, women are having to accustom themselves to being watched by packed terraces, where not so long ago it was the usual phrase, ‘family and friends’.
Over the past week Rugby Canada has been rolling out figures (literally) of tickets sold for the test matches in Ottawa between the home nation, Australia, New Zealand and USA. A few days ago they were looking at 7,500; the final count was 10,092.
That is another new national record.
There’s nothing like aiming high. The RFU announced a target of a full house at Twickenham for the final of the 2025 World Cup, 82,000. It’s only four years since England experienced its first 5-figure attendance for a Red Roses match, against Italy at Exeter. Such is the speed of advance.
‘Sold out’
That simple phrase can hide different meanings.
Source: Harlequins
How often have we seen grounds with the Sold Out sign revealing vast swathes of empty seats? That is the conundrum treasurers have to unpick for every game they host.
How do Players respond?
From a technical and personal point of view it means players have to adjust to new circumstances; not just the roar of support from a crowd filling all sides of the arena, but learning to concentrate despite the distractions. Unlike all of us who played in front of the proverbial two men and a dog, the worry must be how to react when errors occur. For occur they must; it’s in the very nature of sport.
And for the visiting team the challenge can be that much greater. Those roars of support for the home side can have a sapping effect. Is the world against us?
With cameras covering every twitch they make, players have to learn to mask their feelings – no easy task. And it’s curious how TV producers insist on holding a ‘culprit’ (dropped catch, missed tackle) in frame for many seconds, to see if the camera can capture an emotional reaction. It reaches the point of absurdity when an operator zooms in on the wrong player. What an exclusive missed! What ignorance unwittingly revealed! I for one find excessive use of the close-up tiresome and unnecessary.
Win or lose
It’s excellent news for administrators that growing crowds are not dependent on successful teams. The 10k in Ottawa can hardly have expected their heroes to beat the Black Ferns; they haven’t achieved that in seventeen attempts.
Within the Six Nations it’s the same story. None of Ireland, Scotland and Wales can hold out much hope of defeating England or France these days, yet each of them has returned record attendances.
In the world of cricket, things are slightly different. The Australians are in town, male and female. The media are working overtime to ensure coverage of every catch, every drop, every six. The attendances for the women’s matches have broken all known records. Seeing famous test grounds full of supporters must bring a tear to the eye of past players whose careers were limited to backwater grounds with minimal gates to boast of.
The challenge will be to maintain that following once the Aussies have returned home. In September the Sri Lankans will come calling. Will the crowds and the coverage stay the same as now? I fear the answer will be no. if I prove to be wrong, I shall be delighted, and know I’ll need to book all my tickets well in advance.
And the Future?
Can we assume that these attendance and viewing figures will go on growing? I think so. They appear infectious.
It just remains for the authorities to ensure full and precise forewarnings of matches to be played. Who, where, when, and how do I obtain my ticket, and a what price?
That is where one or two national bodies still have to up their own game. It’s almost as if they don’t have enough staff on call to provide all the information a new audience needs and expects.
