WHILE the AFL blames poor team form, scheduling and bad weather for game attendance dropping to its lowest levels in years, the public clearly has other ideas.

Herald Sun readers have shared their reasons for not attending the footy so much this season, and most of it comes down to money.

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Mike on Heraldsun.com.au hit the nail on the head in this list, which has been met with resounding approval by fellow readers.

“The AFL are morons if they don’t think the following aren’t playing a major part of why crowd numbers are down; variable ticket pricing, price gouging in food, beer, drinks and parking, unfriendly timeslots made for TV audiences only, fees for printing your own ticket, a declining standard of match day spectacle, rolling mauls, non-stop noise and advertisements at every possible moment, mid strength beer, rules changes every year, a moronic goal review system, a MRP and tribunal that nobody understands, respects or has any faith in. There is plenty more that I could add but I’m hopeful that with new leadership the AFL may start actually listening to the fans, stop taking us all for granted and fix our once great game before it’s too late.”

Others also voiced their concern on the overall price of attending a game being a key factor.

“It’s because of the new pricing system if they had the same pricing system as they did last year and previous they be the same or up from last year no doubt about it,” Dalton Thomas-Stanes said on the Herald Sun Facebook page.

“My reason: Price. The cost of parking, travel, food, tickets. All add up to an expensive couple of hours,” Michelle Milsome said.

“Fans are feeling cheated and are voting with their feet. Too many fat cats trying to profit unfairly from average wage earners. It costs more this year to gain access to worse seats than last year,” Joe said.

“It costs too much and the night games are starting later than they used to. All makes it hard for families with young kids,” Angela Iliopoulos said.

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Etihad Stadium attendances hit an an all-time low while MCG averages have dipped to totals not seen since 2007.

After 20 games at Etihad Stadium the average crowd is 28,570 — down 11.7 per cent on the same time last year.

The MCG’s average of 50,342 after 18 games is down 6.7 per cent.

The average Carlton crowd in Melbourne is down more than 4500 this year, to 42,585.

The Blues have played on Thursday night, Monday night and twice on Sunday night.

Carlton chief executive Greg Swann said the challenge for the AFL was to find a balance between appeasing broadcasters and fans attending matches.

“Based on this year’s fixture it seems the pendulum may have swung a little too far in favour of the TV broadcaster requests which in turn has made it challenging for our members, especially those with young families and/or those that live in country Victoria to attend all of our games,” Swann said.

Variable ticket pricing has been raised as an issue affecting crowds but the AFL has said it is too early to draw conclusions.

“The mix of matches through the fixture in any point of the season and the form of sides are the key determinants for our crowd totals,” AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said.

“Attendance figures at home matches for clubs do rise and fall historically across our competition and that is largely driven by form, and the mix of opponents.”

Nationwide attendance is down only marginally, largely due to bumper turnouts at the new Adelaide Oval.

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The only time Etihad Stadium has averaged less than 30,000 after 20 games in a season was in its opening year, 2000.

“There’s still well over half a season of footy remaining and we’re optimistic about future games,” Etihad Stadium spokesman Bill Lane said.

“We have a series of Friday night matches coming up ... which will help to turn crowd figures around.”

Only twice this year has a game attracted more than 70,000. There were five crowds above 70,000 in the first 18 games at the MCG last year and seven in 2012.

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MCC chief executive Stephen Gough said the figures “aren’t cause for alarm” yet.

“The general trend we’ve seen this year is slightly down, I agree,” Gough said.

“Whether the variable pricing has had an effect is hard to say, but I think a combination of the form of some of our key teams, a couple of bad days of weather and scheduling has probably had the most impact.”

After eight games at Adelaide Oval the average attendance is 44,792, which dwarfs last year’s AAMI Stadium average of 30,264.

The AFL-wide average crowd after Round 9 is 33,933. At the same time last year it was 34,072.

Gold Coast crowds are up 14.7 per cent and Fremantle’s attendance has risen by 7.7 per cent while West Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney have remained steady.



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