Mike Hunt-Hertz Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 47 minutes ago, Kingswood mask said: I found this fact quite shocking regarding the highest participation sport..... Swimming has maintained its position as England's most popular participation sport, with just under 2.9 million people taking part at least once a week. But football has slipped from second to third place in the table, behind athletics.13 Jun 2013 Sport England: Participation down by 200,000, says survey ... www.bbc.co.uk/sport/22806853 Splashing about with water wings hardly counts as sport. Not much of that is competitive swimming I'd wager...bit like angling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 11 hours ago, Maltshoveller said: Rugby a sport invented so fat kids could play Like to see you argue that with some of the Bristol team. The two sports and their fans are like chalk and cheese, but no less passionate about their clubs. I like what I hear and see regarding the rugby more than I do the football, although football will always be my first love. The rugby players mingle with the fans before and after the games. At their successful holiday camp training sessions the players take part with the kids, when there are similar sessions football related you won't find any footballers attending. Recently for a charity week the rugby players were out washing people's cars, can you imagine our footballers doing that! ( im not saying if asked that they wouldnt do it, but they would never be asked would they) Footballers very much distance themselves, or are kept away from fans unless it's a pre-arranged media PR type thing. God, I'm feeling right Bah Humbug today aren't I ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 10 hours ago, Miahdennehy said: Bristol regularly got over 10000 when they were last in the top tier, in fact I think the lowest crowd that season was still 9000 odd., and there were over 20000 when they played Bath at AG on a couple of occasions. As I said, there was 21k on one occasion and 16k on the second occasion. Those crowds would have gone towards their average attendance which is obviously artificially inflated due to the extra Bath supporters which attended. Back at the Memorial Ground there were a few games against the likes of Bath, Gloucester and Leicester which were to full capacity and the rest of the time the games were attended by far less, resulting in averages of 7.4k to 9.4k. Take into account that there are fewer games compared to football and the resulting figures although quite large are not anywhere near comparable to football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 19 hours ago, spudski said: Quiet easily...as you pointed out Bristol Rugby crowds aren't far off the average of league 1 crowds...of which BCFC have spent many years in. It would be ridiculous to just dismiss the Rugby as a stream of revenue...especially beer sales. Ticket prices seem higher too... There are many Rugby fans in and around Clifton...make Bristol a Prem team and people will come. I've heard many fans from around that part of Bristol who hated going to the mem.... Sorry mate, it's not right to make that comparison. Let's compare the attendances for third tier rugby with the top for football then. Bristol rugby have been around for years as a top side, it's not as if they've just been formed, their historical attendances whether in the top flight or not have never been comparable with football, even when you take the top flight of rugby and compare it with the third tier of football. Why not compare top flight football and top flight rugby? Or third with third, whatever is compared it is miles behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudski Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 1 hour ago, Rich said: Sorry mate, it's not right to make that comparison. Let's compare the attendances for third tier rugby with the top for football then. Bristol rugby have been around for years as a top side, it's not as if they've just been formed, their historical attendances whether in the top flight or not have never been comparable with football, even when you take the top flight of rugby and compare it with the third tier of football. Why not compare top flight football and top flight rugby? Or third with third, whatever is compared it is miles behind. Because the comparison is not about what division either team is in...it's about the attendance and possible extra revenue that could be accrued by Bristol sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 On 24/12/2015 at 18:48, spudski said: Because the comparison is not about what division either team is in...it's about the attendance and possible extra revenue that could be accrued by Bristol sport. I'm sorry but you have it wrong. Attendances are relative to the level of success, Bristol rugby at their most successful do not and never have attracted the level of support that Bristol City have and I believe, never will. That is what relates to the revenue which could be accrued by Bristol sport and any possible revenue which you refer to. The only revenue where the rugby out performs football presently, is in the bars, the reason for that is mostly down to legislation, with football supporters being treated as second class citizens, otherwise the revenue from that area would also out perform the rugby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted December 31, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 8 minutes ago, Rich said: I'm sorry but you have it wrong. Attendances are relative to the level of success, Bristol rugby at their most successful do not and never have attracted the level of support that Bristol City have and I believe, never will. That is what relates to the revenue which could be accrued by Bristol sport and any possible revenue which you refer to. The only revenue where the rugby out performs football presently, is in the bars, the reason for that is mostly down to legislation, with football supporters being treated as second class citizens, otherwise the revenue from that area would also out perform the rugby. BUT, lets be realistic short of a big cup draw (and Bristol getting promoted) - there is only one of us that is ever likely to fill the stadium for a league fixture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I am the mole Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Are people really arguing if rugby or football is better football is bigger in terms of popularity in this country! But why is it an issue most sane rugby fans included myself(although I'm not sure I'm sane)do not claim rugby is bigger what does do is fan interaction and of course drinking in your seat which helps! We can learn of the rugby and they can learn from us! Anyway tiddly winks is much better than both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 42 minutes ago, phantom said: BUT, lets be realistic short of a big cup draw (and Bristol getting promoted) - there is only one of us that is ever likely to fill the stadium for a league fixture If you refer to the rugby, then I can only assume you know sweet fa about our football club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted December 31, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 29 minutes ago, Rich said: If you refer to the rugby, then I can only assume you know sweet fa about our football club. Seriously ? You honestly reckon in the near future City are going to sell out for a league game !?!? Clearly I must know sweet fa of the side I've followed home and away since 1987 Bristol Vs Bath - Gloucester - Leicester would all be sell outs next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyderInACan Posted December 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 This wasn't intended to be a slagging off of either football or rugby, but it's entirely conceivable that Bristol could finally get promoted to play Tier One rugby and we get relegated to ply our trade in Tier 3 football next season. Historically we don't bounce back quickly (notwithstanding last season) so I was kind of coming from it at the angle of in 5yrs time we could still be stuck I the 3rd div while Bristol could be champions of Europe. The investment required to do that must be far, far less than to bring success to the football club given the vastly lower wages etc of the top rugby players. I'm pretty sure a successful top flight Bristol Rugby doing well in Europe would provide larger crowds than the team who used to own Ashton Gate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrs Court Red Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Bristol averaged near capacity in their last stint at the top level. The lowest crowd at that level they attracted when played at Ashton was 15k. The lowest average was 4.5k and that was when they were forced to play kids as the money has gone and liquidation looked inevitable. I suspect both clubs playing at top level will have an average approaching capacity. It's silly do have a dick waving contest, but anyone who thinks they won't have huge crowds (assuming they go up) next season are fooling themselves. It will be interesting to see how the pricing structure looks for Both next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted December 31, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 26 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said: It will be interesting to see how the pricing structure looks for Both next season. Interesting point, a friend of mine who sites in the Dolman Stand said if he misses more than 2 games of rugby he makes a loss on what he paid for his season ticket Vs Match day prices Where as for football I could miss 10 games yet still have a better deal in ST Vs Match day price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bemmyredjeff Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 After listening to landsdowns tv interview in the failed play-off final last year I've always sensed that the rugby is his priority and as long as they gain the national exposure that Bristol sport craves and eventually international in the heineken cup , I honestly believe he wont really give two hoots what happens to the city. He'll certainly get more return for his money with Bristol being able to recruit numerous big international names for the price of an average championship footballer ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up The City! Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 On Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 17:19, spudski said: The average attendance in the Rugby Prem last season was approx. 13,500 per game. The average attendance in football league 1 was approx. 7,000 per game. So Rugby is not to be sniffed at. The interest in Rugby and Cricket in this country is massive, especially Internationally. Where I live...it's hard to find football being played in the pubs...but Rugby is on all the time...with people watching. Rugby and Cricket where I live is far more widely played as well over football. I think it depends where you live to get a gauge on interest in football over Rugby. How can you compare the top flight of rugby with the 3rd tier of football? All you are doing is showing that Rugby is at best lower Championship level. A fair comparison is of football's premier league and rugbys premier league and that shows rugby is somewhat behind. But I guess that wouldn't suit your arguement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YorkshireSection Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 On 30 December 2015 at 11:00, nickolas said: I see Bolasie is rumoured for Inter Milan at €27,000,000 ( £20m ). Depending on our supposed sell on clause this should/could surely increase our budget for January by anything from £2-4m. Failing that, it might pay off some of our ground rebuild cost when gates are down next year in League 1! Utter nonsense, sorry I should say misconception. Rugby is not bigger than football, even in Wales, it's only the South East & South West of Wales that play and watch the game, mid and North Wales is like the rest of the principality. Football and cricket lead the way. I lived in Cardiff and honestly it's really not a big thing at all, LLanaff Fields has a few pitches 3/4, Pontcanna fields the same, there's 3 times as many football pitches as rugby fields and that's Cardiffs largest Park. Most schools have 2 football pitches to one rugby pitch and Rumnwy and Trelai fields don't have a single pitch compared to the 15-20 football pitches. (As far as I remember) That's not too say that Rugby isn't hugely popular, it's just not on the same level and by a long way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 2 hours ago, phantom said: Seriously ? You honestly reckon in the near future City are going to sell out for a league game !?!? Clearly I must know sweet fa of the side I've followed home and away since 1987 Bristol Vs Bath - Gloucester - Leicester would all be sell outs next season. You are assuming that Bristol will be successful and City will fail. On the occasions that Bristol previously played at AG in the rugby premiership they got 21k against Bath the first time and 16k the second, not sure what it was against Gloucester. The only reason they'd have decent attendances would be that there is no segregation at rugby and the gates would be boosted by the followers of the opposition as it was on those occasions. As you have indicated, your history of BCFC is somewhat limited to a dire period with limited success, my history goes back a little more and includes the most recent top tier period and many times when the attendance at games was above that currently being developed, this was also in a time when attendances were at an all time low across the country. Yes I believe given a little more success, we will have full houses, as we surely would in 2007/8 season when we were severely restricted by a stadium which effectively held 18,500 due to segregation and restricted views, and a poor ticketing policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Swan and Cemetery Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Imagine that if you're Steve Lansdown, rugby (and basketball) being smaller than football is almost the point. It's significantly easier to become a big fish in a relatively small pond. As a result, it's also perfectly possible (as rugby is still a big sport, just not as big as football) that rugby could be the better attended sport at Ashton Gate. If both teams in the equivalent division, then City can be expected to get higher attendances (as this season), however if (for example) City in League 1 and rugby in the Prem, likely the rugby club will get higher attendances - and should be much easier (despite Bristol calamities in recent seasons) to get into and maintain a place in the top tier of rugby than of football. Given the overall popularity of the two sports, difficult to see a time when rugby has greater potential to have higher attendances, but easy to see a time when they actually have higher attendances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChippenhamRed Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 3 hours ago, phantom said: Seriously ? You honestly reckon in the near future City are going to sell out for a league game !?!? Clearly I must know sweet fa of the side I've followed home and away since 1987 Bristol Vs Bath - Gloucester - Leicester would all be sell outs next season. If 42,000 people were willing to travel 100 miles to watch us play Walsall for a paint pot trophy, then clearly the potential is there for us to sell out league games in the future - particularly for a high profile / high stakes game, and if the pricing is sensible (i.e. not charging non-members £38 to sit in the Dolman). As others have mentioned, Ashton Gate has sold out plenty of times in our recent history for our biggest and most important fixtures, and with a bit of "new stadium bounce" thrown in - as has been seen many times elsewhere - we could feasibly sell out 27k in the near future. Maintaining our Championship status is essential to this however! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ernie goodthing Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 It's not just about gates and money but where football and rugby lie in the heart of the owner. If, as some say, SL is partly doing this for prestige rather than hard cash (and how many actually make money out of owning sports clubs?) which will motivate him more: being the owner of a top rugby club or being the owner of a Champoinship/L1 football club? He also went to the same school as Chris Booy the Rugby Club chairman and it is rumoured, didn't support City when he was young. My worry would be that rugby could replace football as his priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cidered abroad Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 In general terms, and excluding internationals played at major stadia like Wembley, Twickenham and Millenium, football will currently pull in higher average attendances. However it is a fair point that rugby clubs are still comparatively new to a professional game and Premiership rugby club's don't have the stadium capacities of Prem football. However, that gap is slowly closing with rugby clubs sharing with football clubs or as Northampton and Leicester have done by extending theirs. And with the ability to use the national stadium like Gloucester did last weekend against Harlequins and pull in a Gate of 70,000. That is a one off but does show the people are there to attend. The other factor I have noticed at Bristol games this season is that there are a lot more wives, girl friends and young children than at football. Perhaps because it's difficult to get City tickets at present due to capacity. But could it be that attending a football match brings with it the threat of more violence between opposing supporters and also a lot more foul and abusive language. So, given that football fans will not give up bad language and hooligans attach themselves to football clubs, it is a distinct possibility that rugby attendances will continue to grow at a faster rate than football. And finally, I am totally convinced that if City and Bris were in their respective Premierships, we would both fill up 27,000 capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrs Court Red Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 16 minutes ago, cidered abroad said: In general terms, and excluding internationals played at major stadia like Wembley, Twickenham and Millenium, football will currently pull in higher average attendances. However it is a fair point that rugby clubs are still comparatively new to a professional game and Premiership rugby club's don't have the stadium capacities of Prem football. However, that gap is slowly closing with rugby clubs sharing with football clubs or as Northampton and Leicester have done by extending theirs. And with the ability to use the national stadium like Gloucester did last weekend against Harlequins and pull in a Gate of 70,000. That is a one off but does show the people are there to attend. The other factor I have noticed at Bristol games this season is that there are a lot more wives, girl friends and young children than at football. Perhaps because it's difficult to get City tickets at present due to capacity. But could it be that attending a football match brings with it the threat of more violence between opposing supporters and also a lot more foul and abusive language. So, given that football fans will not give up bad language and hooligans attach themselves to football clubs, it is a distinct possibility that rugby attendances will continue to grow at a faster rate than football. And finally, I am totally convinced that if City and Bris were in their respective Premierships, we would both fill up 27,000 capacity. Looking at this website, http://rugby.statbunker.com/competitions/HomeAttendance?comp_id=56 the upward trend in attendances is there - Look at the difference between 98/99 and then look at last season, staggering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyderInACan Posted January 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 And the rugby give away free branded pint glasses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 20 minutes ago, CyderInACan said: And the rugby give away free branded pint glasses Are they free now? I thought people paid a deposit and then got it back when they are returned. I've not had a drink but notice people gathering them up from their mates at the end of the games and heading back into the concourse at the end of the game, also not everyone is using these glasses which they would if they were given out free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murraysrightplum Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 You can have a pint and watch the game at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyderInACan Posted January 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 15 hours ago, RedM said: Are they free now? I thought people paid a deposit and then got it back when they are returned. I've not had a drink but notice people gathering them up from their mates at the end of the games and heading back into the concourse at the end of the game, also not everyone is using these glasses which they would if they were given out free? At one of the bars on Sunday, after HT, all the pre-poured pints were in the Bristol pint cups, so they definitely weren't paid for (but I think the 2pt Steins were charged for though) despite having seen PR around the concourse that they were a pound deposit. Even got City ST discount too so win-win-win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyderInACan Posted January 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 Perhaps one of the unexpected synergies of Bristol Sport might be that we can borrow some of the rugby players? And some of the Basketball players too? Surely a few of those boys might be pretty good at defending/attacking corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoncider Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 On 12/31/2015 at 13:33, phantom said: Seriously ? You honestly reckon in the near future City are going to sell out for a league game !?!? Clearly I must know sweet fa of the side I've followed home and away since 1987 Bristol Vs Bath - Gloucester - Leicester would all be sell outs next season. Correct. I'd also be tempted to add Exeter Chiefs into that list - WCountry derby with Chiefs always travelling well, and the fact that it was Exeter who beat Bristol in 2011 to win promotion - an old score to settle. This part of the world is a rugby stronghold and always will be - bath, gloucester, bristol traditionally and now Exeter Chiefs too. Not to mention the Cornish rabble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 Football is obviously bigger than rugby. But a successful rugby side especially one competing in Europe could offer commercial opportunities...crowds will rise for a start and maybe rugby and football will boost each others crowds with success especially from places like Clifton which have a lot of bandwagon jumpers. Special offers linking football and rugby could benefit City also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Dawe Posted January 27, 2016 Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 How will Bris "compete" in the Premiership? How will they get players to sign for them as a newly promoted club? Why did the Bristol Sport football manager that won promotion get the boot, while the rugby one that keeps cocking up promotion remains employed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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