I didn't even hear about this until it was over. WHich actually proves the gulf between league and union is just as wide in the USA as it is in England and Australia. Leeds beat Souths in front of 12500 yesterday 26-24. The Rhinos have had a 10 day training camp in Florida.
Not to mention, it is the Rabbitohs' preseason as well (the NRL here starts up in a couple of months, at about the same time the AFL does). That's an exceptional crowd number for that match, assuming that it had very little publicity and two teams that wouldn't figure to have that much of a following in a neutral country. U.S. rugby league fans in central Florida are to be commended, greatly.
I wonder if the "Russell Crowe-factor" or the TV series that aired here in the States a few months back had anything to do with US interest in Souths?
Russ is putting pressure on Setanta to show games more regularly in the US. http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...t-go-far-enough/2008/01/28/1201369037039.html
Most definitely -- and echoing what el-capitano is saying, there's surely got to be more room on Setanta Sport USA's weekly schedule to get the NRL on board on at least a tape-delay basis.
Do not accept his (Russell Crowe) statement that AFL has got a fanatical TV following in the US but we will take it. Its got a growing following but not that fanatical yet. Foreign sports in the US have a hard time getting noticed in a crowded sports market.
But if they can get the AFL and the NRL some airtime over there, that's going to make a statement for them and what their blueprint is going to be. I think a good analogy would be that Setanta Sport USA is right now where a fledgling ESPN was once, circa 1981-82-83. They're growing, and adding more international properties can only help them.
I think his point is well taken. I know of at least a few places here in the SF Bay Area that host AFL Grand Final parties (live, not my "tape delayed" version). I've never heard of any local watering holes hosting NRL parties. However, unless Setanta starts gaining more cable clearances, I don't think NRL (or AFL, for that matter) will make any more inroads. As long as Setanta remains satellite-only it will miss a major segment of the available market (for example, I'm on cable and I have no access to Setanta).
From the footage I saw on Channel 9, there looked like a sizable crowd. I thought it looked bigger than what they said, so I'll accept 12,500.
I must admit I took that at face value. USA RL was truthful about the crowd at the Australia v USA game in Philadelphia after the last RL world cup and the Aussies were going home. What do you think the crowd really was?
I'll admit that reaction was unnecessarily smug, considering how bad the Philly crowd was with local TV and Lachlan Murdoch doing the promoting. I saw the pictures on the Florida Union Times website and f*ck me they really did get a good crowd. UNF's stadium only seats 9,000 but even if they only got 9K, that's better than a lot of USA rugby union internationals. Obviously they got a decent number of traveling fans - I'm sure a lot of Leeds fans came on a winter break, and there's no way those Souths fans in the pictures were locals - but counting all of that they probably got 6-7,000 locals to turn up and that's great for them. I think where we go from this is what can the USARFU learn? Obviously having it in Jacksonville was a good idea, people I know who went there for the Super Bowl all said the place doesn't have much to it, and sports wise there isn't much there - just the Jags but their season is over. The local AAA franchise hasn't started yet and UNF isn't a big college. If you are a Jacksonville sports fan, this was pretty much one of the only chances to watch live sports in Jacksonville in January. They got a TON of cooperation from the local newspaper, something USA rugby has struggled with in the past. I don't know if that works for USA rugby though...the problem is that because USA rugby has an actual player base and ethnic base (RL has about 12 clubs in the whole country), you kind of have to have matches in big markets, and that kills media penetration.
I was at this game and 12,500 looked to be pretty accurate from where I was sitting. The lone grandstand was full and it seats 9,000. The four portable stands they brought in were full and there were plenty of people standing on the sidelines. Overall great atmosphere and once the Axemen start up in the Summer, I'll be attending regularly.
Looked like it was also an Australia Day thing. I mean there can't be too many Aussies in Jacksonville but how many Aussies vs how many Jacksonville residents who might see the Axemen again do you think came out.
From everything I have heard, the Axemen have averaged about 1,500 a game. It helps when they promote dollar beer. If I had to take a guess, it was about 60 percent expats and 40 percent local. The locals who did come quickly took to the game and enjoyed themselves.
Ya buck a beer tends to pack them in no matter what the event. The Canadian Football League did that in some markets in the 80's. Buck a beer was a popular promotion for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers especially in the later games in the year when it was getting cold outside. It got banned when some guy had about 10-15 beers and feel asleep during a game and it was snowing, well the snow covered him up and he wasn't found for 10 days. Ya they were cleaning the stadium for the next game using those snow blowers to get the snow off of the benchs and they found his body frozen stiff under a bench. After that the city or the province passed a law that stopped it. Not that drinking yourself to sleep in Florida would be fatal mind you.