Just which team, country and stadium leads the stakes when it comes to attendance figures for the 2013 Super Rugby competition?
Up until Friday night 15 March 2013 a total of 527 529 rugby fans had attended 24 games at 11 stadiums in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Two stadiums have hosted three matches each:
- Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and
- AAMI Park in Melbourne, Australia.
In comparison to AAMI Park, local Mandela Bay Stadium crowds are topping attendance figures and account for 104 134 of the 527 529 fans that have attended live games – at an average stadium capacity of 75%. AAMI Park has hosted 37 173 fans at an average stadium capacity of 41%.
The game attendance figures get interesting when compared by country:
- South Africa – 231 721 at a 69% stadium capacity after 7 games hosted
- Australia – 189 653 at a 49% stadium capacity after after 10 games hosted
- New Zealand – 106 173 at a 46% stadium capacity after 7 games hosted
Taking an average per game hosted the attendance figures look so:
- South Africa – 33 103
- Australia – 18 963
- New Zealand – 15 167
But just who are the most popular home teams with the most support?
If we look at how full the stadiums were for each team’s home games to date:
- Southern Kings – 75.46% (after 3 home games)
- Brumbies – 74.14% (after 2 home games)
- Stormers – 72.67% (after 1 home game)
- Bulls – 67.09% (after 2 home games)
- Reds – 63.62% (after 2 home games)
- Blues – 56.13% (after 2 home games)
- Highlanders – 49.94% (after 3 home games)
- Cheetahs – 49.89% (after 1 home game)
- Chiefs – 46.10% (after 1 home game)
- Rebels – 41.23% (after 3 home games)
- Hurricanes – 32.73% (after 2 home games)
- Waratahs – 25.79% (after 2 home games)
At the time of writing the Crusaders, Force and Sharks had yet to play a home game.
Just what does Super Rugby mean to the economy of Port Elizabeth?
Lets play some more with numbers:
Assume that 10% of the 104 134 attendees came from out of town and that they each spent a conservative R2 000.00 for two days in Port Elizabeth on accommodation, tickets, petrol, entertainment etc. – that would pump R20 226 800.00 into our local economy.
Assume that each of the 104 134 attendees spent just R250.00 each on tickets, parking and refreshments at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. This would give the stadium a turnover of R26 033 500.00 – a huge whack of change that represents great relief to the pockets of ratepayers who can look forward to NOT having to financially support the stadium for much longer.
Think in terms of media:
- Port Elizabeth is showcased in print, television and online platforms as a great destination (The Southern Kings should be monitoring media mentions in order to place a value on the exposure being given to this region!)
Think in terms of jobs:
- More tourists mean more bed nights
- More reporters, photographers and support staff are needed
- More pub and restaurant staff are needed
- More money flows into Port Elizabeth’s shops
We have a magnificent stadium that is a great attraction to people outside of Port Elizabeth and we have the Southern Kings who are raising the bar with attractive rugby.
As a consequence it is now up to each and everyone of us to be staunch ambassadors for Port Elizabeth – we owe it to ourselves and our pockets.
