Attendances

[Mikel Bee]

Interesting if the club are saying it is a problem. Streaming probably affects us more than most other clubs considering the distance it takes for the majority of our support base to get to the hive from Barnet. It acts as an incentive for fans to stream? Some Tuesdays have brutally low attendances.

[BRFBee]

Streaming has been wonderful for me as a fan abroad but I can see why the club might feel differently.

[PBBee]

I can't bring myself to miss a game now because of the streaming but at least when there's games out of reach we can see them all - I used to listen to the commentary of any game we couldn't attend. I won't miss a home game to utilise it though, however understand why many would. Also it will only get worse if/when the team is not doing so well (point in case my Southend supporting colleague stayed at home last night & he has a ST - got what he deserved though as they actually played well by all accounts).

[thebeekeeper]

If you're the majority why haven't our attendances gone down by more than 50%?

If you'd rather watch a stream than go to the game live, that's fine. But don't dress it up as making you the voice of the ordinary fan or the silent majority while sneering at people for frequenting the same messageboard that you do.

As others have pointed out, attendances generally in the lower leagues are up despite streaming. Maybe you're less ordinary than you want to believe.

Just listen to the Dan Martin podcast. Straight from the horse's mouth, streaming is killing attendances. Most ordinary fans are in the same boat. One £10 streaming pass for a whole family, or 4 tickets, travel time from Barnet, food costs and cold weather.

Streaming is too cheap and convenient. I'm not complaining as until that changes, it is our preferred choice.

Dan is entitled to his opinion, of course, but a look at the midweek attendances in the National League seasons just prior to the pandemic show that the problem existed back then - before streaming was introduced.

Admittedly we weren't as good a side then, and the option to stream may be adding to the problem, but I'm not sure it's as significant as the stadium location.

I suppose the two are linked - as Mikel Bee says, people are more likely to stream if the journey to the stadium is difficult / time consuming.

[barnetpete]

Just a guess but maybe streaming affects attendance by 50. more will be watching, but not sure they would have attended anyway.

Since moving away I watch a lot more games via streaming, but if the stream wasn't there, I still wouldn't attended those games. If anything it keeps me more connected and increase my attendance at actual games. For example I should be making the effort to come down next Tuesday for the York game.

[tpBEE]

Agreed. I think the streaming has been great addition for me personally, it means I can watch away games on a Tuesday I would never be able to see in the past, but would never be the reason I don't attend a home game. It is all about personal preference but I don't imagine it would increase the home attendances by much. If it's cold and wet and people don't want to travel on a Tuesday night, I don't believe removing the option of streaming would encourage them to go. They'd probably just listen to the great club commentary instead

[Uniman61]

If you're the majority why haven't our attendances gone down by more than 50%?

If you'd rather watch a stream than go to the game live, that's fine. But don't dress it up as making you the voice of the ordinary fan or the silent majority while sneering at people for frequenting the same messageboard that you do.

As others have pointed out, attendances generally in the lower leagues are up despite streaming. Maybe you're less ordinary than you want to believe.

Just listen to the Dan Martin podcast. Straight from the horse's mouth, streaming is killing attendances. Most ordinary fans are in the same boat. One £10 streaming pass for a whole family, or 4 tickets, travel time from Barnet, food costs and cold weather.

Streaming is too cheap and convenient. I'm not complaining as until that changes, it is our preferred choice.

Many supporters I imagine feel this way, but if this is correct then playing at the Hive in Edgeware or if and when we move back to underhill attendance won't improve much if supporters would rather pay £10 and watch in comfort of own home than spending £22 and attending the game in person.

[Uniman61]

Our away following this season but let's say take t over last 4 weeks, this I would imagine must be in the top 6 of so, 350-400 at Boston, over 300 at Tamworth. There must be some cover person out there who would know what the increase in away following has been this season ? Jerrol ?

[djhdjh]

If you're the majority why haven't our attendances gone down by more than 50%?

If you'd rather watch a stream than go to the game live, that's fine. But don't dress it up as making you the voice of the ordinary fan or the silent majority while sneering at people for frequenting the same messageboard that you do.

As others have pointed out, attendances generally in the lower leagues are up despite streaming. Maybe you're less ordinary than you want to believe.

Just listen to the Dan Martin podcast. Straight from the horse's mouth, streaming is killing attendances. Most ordinary fans are in the same boat. One £10 streaming pass for a whole family, or 4 tickets, travel time from Barnet, food costs and cold weather.

Streaming is too cheap and convenient. I'm not complaining as until that changes, it is our preferred choice.

I don't need to listen to a podcast. Unlike you I am at these games so I know that while the crowds are lower than Saturdays (as they were long before streaming) they aren't 50% lower. So you remain in the minority.

Look, if you want to stream games then do so for whatever reason. As you say it is your preferred choice. Going to those games is my preferred choice. But for some reason you want to incorrectly smear those of us who make that choice as elitists and yourself as the voice of the ordinary fan. I don't have to accept that and the numbers don't bear that out. Yours is the choice of a small but significant minority.

[DerekRocholl]

Does anyone have any figures for the streaming audience ? I would be surprised if it is more than a couple of hundred for even the most popular of our fixtures.

[Milkfloat]

If streaming has such a big impact, why are gates higher now than before streaming existed?

[rudebwoyben]

If streaming has such a big impact, why are gates higher now than before streaming existed?

Well, the team is rather better and more entertaining to watch nowadays!

[jerroll]

Our away following this season but let's say take t over last 4 weeks, this I would imagine must be in the top 6 of so, 350-400 at Boston, over 300 at Tamworth. There must be some cover person out there who would know what the increase in away following has been this season ? Jerrol ?

if i get time over the weekend i will have a look and let you know.

[erichitchmo]

Our average away following this season is 273 in the league. Last season it was 274. We've a fairly even split of nearby games (Woking, Braintree, Sutton) and further away (Fylde, Altrincham, Oldham, Rochdale) so it should probably stay around that level if we're still at the sharp end of the table.

All historical attendance stats are here - https://downhillsecondhalf.co.uk/Footba ... ances.aspx

[Berlinbee]

Our average away following this season is 273 in the league. Last season it was 274. We've a fairly even split of nearby games (Woking, Braintree, Sutton) and further away (Fylde, Altrincham, Oldham, Rochdale) so it should probably stay around that level if we're still at the sharp end of the table.

All historical attendance stats are here - https://downhillsecondhalf.co.uk/Footba ... ances.aspx

Interesting stats. Does anyone know what contributed to our attendances falling so drastically after 92-93? I’m honestly quite surprised at how low attendances were at Underhill in the late 00’s and it does seem we’ve retained a lot of our core support from Underhill despite moving away. That said, I think moving back to Barnet will see a huge bounce and we could get 3000 plus gates