Are The Giants Worth it For Canberra?

The AFL’s newest team, the Greater Western Sydney Giants, will play four games a year in Canberra for the next ten years as part of a new $26million deal with the ACT Government.

Having produced some of the AFL’s lowest ever crowd attendances when playing in Canberra, the Giants must aim at increasing fan support in the nation’s Capital if they wish to renew their deal in ten years time.

Most AFL fans in Canberra have pre-existing allegiances to other teams that they have followed for their entire lives and will not support the Giants simply because they play here. The problem then becomes the issue of converting people to become fans of the sport, rather then the team.

The Giants took on the Swans in the NAB challenge at Manuka Oval on the weekend, producing a crowd of just over 7,000. In this crowd, it was apparent that the Sydney Swans were the most popular team on the day. The stands looked like a sea of red Swans shirts, hats, scarves and flags.

Giants fan Liam was at the game on Sunday and said that he believes the Giants will gain a greater following when they become top successful side. “The team isn’t too popular at the moment, but when they start to succeed, people will get on board and support the Giants”.

Liam, like many other Giants supporters did not support a team before the Giants existence and has gained an interest in the sport of AFL due to their involvement with Canberra.

“It is really cool that we have a team that is committed to playing here a certain amount of times every year, they even changed their song to mention Canberra when they play here”.

One would think that the Giants must somehow improve their fan base in Canberra and their attendance to games for the Government to justify paying another hefty sum to renew their contract in ten years.