The game day experience for Collingwood supporters

[John Wren]

as many of you know i attend a lot of footy. throughout the season i have a myriad of experiences from the sublime to the ridiculous.

i know clubs and the afl survey fans about what they want to see and hear at the footy when they attend. society in general has made a significant shift to identifying, defining and improving the "customer experience". we know this from the multitude of surveys that get shoved in our faces from a range of providers. some of you may be familiar with the concept of nps (net promoter score usually used in business) which measures how likely someone is to promote a business to friends and family. a shift upwards of an nps score can translate into many millions of dollars in increased profits.

most entities are taking on board what their customers are saying. i sometimes wonder whether the afl and its clubs do actually implement things the fans (aka customers) want. i'd like to think that introducing cheerleaders was not done on a whim because someone got an upskirt look when in the states recently; there is presumably a demand for this.

this latest cheerleader thing got me thinking about all the "game day experiences" that i think are shite.

call me old fashioned but i do not like ...

the blairing music. i do actually like to be able to hear the game analysis on my radio and talking with my mates without having to shout.
the new mcg siren.
the kiss, hug, stick your tongue in someone's ear cam.
the fake roar of the crowd that is played in conjunction with the siren at the start of each quarter.
afl9s being played instead of watching the auskick kids.
james sherry and co crapping on before and during the game.
the fact that the mcg home games do not feel like collingwood home games - i go to etihad and you know instantly whose home game it is.
being made to feel like it is a crime when you wander to another section of the ground where your seat isn't.
being treated like i am an add seppo.

there are some things i do like ...

the new screens at the g
tweet the crowd
the footy. oh yes, that great game we call ours. it's why i go week in week out.


feel free to add yours.

[Albert Parker]

Sympathetic with the views above. In no order I'll add

Likes
- Taking my son to the footy
- Think the activities outside the G on Brunton Avenue where kids can kick goals etc is good. One the Pies always win.
- Auskick at half time
- GF sprint
- Holly McSweeney who wanders around with Glen Moriarty at half time at the G
- Pies destroying their opponents
- My seats on level 1 of the Ponsford stand behind the goals
- While a member, I think non-member ticket prices are pretty affordable (as little as $25 adult, $5 kids up to 14 at the MCG)
- having 2 Stadiums in relatively close proximity to my office and home
- lower free kick count and less obtrusive umpiring this season

Dislikes
- Poor music acts as GF entertainment
- Centre Square bounces and their constant recall
- Kisscam
- Exhorbitant prices for food and drink
- Pies home games at Etihad
- slow responses on goal reviews
- constant rule changes and the ongoing AFL equalisation efforts which I regard as reward for poor admininstration in many cases
- the amount of betting advertising at the ground
- the absence of reserves or TAC games beforehand
- having to pay to access pre-season games when I am a Club5/Legends member
- seeming decline of the Pies Cheer Squad

[didick]

Dislikes:
Sunday twilight games;
High food prices and poor value for money;
Betting advertising.

Other than that I'm pretty happy.

[Stupied]

[Pies4shaw]

I don't like the way the blaring noise (including blaring crowd noise recorded at past games) and the "countdown" take the crowd out of the picture. There's little sense of mass "crowd-anticipation" of the kind we used to experience at old-style home and away games. The constant high-level of background noise from massive PA systems makes the noise about the game directed from the actual spectators seem all a bit trivial.

[Hiss]

Likes:

Not much about the modern piss weak family game atmosphere.


Dislikes:

Excessive food and drink rip off prices
Sanitised atmosphere
Regulated Cheer Squad
Lack of Pies fan passion lately
Dining Prices at our so called Magpies rooms
Lack of proper social club
Not enough Friday night and saturday footy
Too much PA pollution noise with announcements and ads
Crap half time entertainment need more adult stuff
Car parking rip off prices

So AFL and Collingwood in your corporate seats and up ground exclusive car parks, stop treating your fans as someone to make money off and respect us more with some decent affordable prices and value. Makes me sick to see them all driving into the ground and enjoying the best food and seats while we suffer.

[uuuuu..... The LoneSTAR]

I pretty much go to the footy,.... for the footy!
Not too fussed about being 'entertained' at the ground before the game, between quarters AND certainly NOT during any intervals like goals.

My experienced is enhanced by the big screen showing live play, stats and replays. Gotta have a pie & beer. Sitting together with fellow members of the Collingwood army in allocated bays is awesome. The little radio that allows members of the crowd to listen to the umpires microphones live [+ optional match commentary] was a great concept.

Improvements? Well, heated seats at the G would be nice
If they really want me there earlier, I might show up to watch the VFL team or I guess pretty much any game of footy - kids, social teams,

[John Wren]

went along to etihad and had almost the perfect night tonight.

you knew it was an essendon home game. they gave an "experience" to a supporter and allowed her to be a part of the team coming onto the ground.

there was little noise from the pa system. progress stats and game info were flashed up on the screen. the auskick kids were back. the game was competitive.

and, best of all, i got to see mutliple conniptions from both teams sets of supporters. that alone was worth the price of entry.

[swoop42]

[larrylj]

Old fashioned rant from an old fashioned girl:
*Aussie rules is played on a footy GROUND--not a field or a park
*On field adjudicators of the game are called UMPIRES -not referees
* The bloke who teaches the team the game plan is called a COACH--not a Manager
* Players wear a footy JUMPER --not a Guernsey
*Collingwood always wear BLACK and WHITE stripes--not some weird mixture
*Collingwood do NOT have dancing girls!!!

Let's have more footy and less "entertainment" Thanks and Go Pies!

[think positive]

[John Wren]

[Hiss]

[sixpoints]

^ JW. A piss & poo plant?
A Maybloom?

[John Wren]