Really Biz, I’m just trying to figure if you had a serious face when writing that it’s not valid to examine two teams that play the same sport, in the same league, in the same city, at the very same venue, to establish some context around crowd attendances?
Surely it’s pretty obvious that they share the same market and enough of the same dynamics to offer a better comparison on crowd sizes than most others. If the crowds fell dramatically and consistently for Freo from 2012, but not for WC, then you might say there's something in the gameplan theory.
But they both dropped a ways in 2008 and have bobbled up and down in the general vicinity since.
Freo’s crowds haven’t really been in a pattern of steady decline since 2012 either, they lifted each year from 2013-2015. Also Freo’s 2012-17 (low of 86.0% market share, high of 105.1%), is very comparable to 2004-2011 (low of 87.5%, high of 104.7%).
The crowd stats just don't support the gameplan theory is all. Feel free to use anecdotal evidence though.
As to why there’s that drop/stagnation in WA crowds post-2007?
While there is steady growth in WA's population, is that growth coming from internal growth or external? If external, as is likely, it'd seem it's mostly due to mining jobs. Being on a big mining site shows the bulk of external growth likely comes from soccer or NRL territory or they simply follow another team already.
Also just possibly, 2007 was a year of peak optimism and prosperity and the 2008 crash, while not immediately sending WA into a crash, it just got a fair percentage of people being a little more circumspect with their spending choices. As Raglan alludes to, there are a number of ways to follow the footy now and spending $200 or more is a big commitment for a family of four. Although, the performance over these past two years, in particular, 2016, would see a drop off in spectators for most teams, TV or live. I might see what sort of data is available if I get a chance.