It "has been blamed" for the National Rugby League’s worst start to a season in a decade, but shifting games to ANZ Stadium "is the key to attracting more fans, rather than less," according to Stuart Honeysett of THE AUSTRALIAN. The newspaper obtained figures that show the decisions by South Sydney and Canterbury to move their home base to the Olympic venue "has resulted in their home crowd figures spiking" by more than 34% since '00. Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson used the figures "to hit back over concerns that the NRL’s opening-round crowd figures were the worst in a decade." Richardson: “I don’t care about the crowd numbers. I care about the yield. Who cares about the look? What’s important is what you’re bringing through the gate. People want to highlight how many seats were empty. The whole mentality makes me puke. The other night we only missed budget by A$30,000 or in your terms 1,500 people. We still made over A$200,000 ($180,000) net so of course it’s profitable." Richardson said other measures could help, including free public transport (which the NRL has implemented this season for games at ANZ) and free Wi-Fi. Richardson: “Everybody is panicking about these crowds but it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 3/12).
