Do we have an unquenchable thirst and passion for the week-in, week-out commitment that is following your favourite footy team, or are we more likely to get on the bandwagon for big one-off events?

Recent evidence suggests the latter.

Hardly a day goes by when there isn't a story linking Canberra as an expansion team for a national competition.

We've seen the failed bid for the A-League, the proposal to enter the Twenty20 Big Bash League and now the revamped NBL is looking to wine and dine the national capital to get back involved.

I'm not convinced there's the corporate support or a loyal fan base to support any of these teams.

Both of those elements are already stretched to breaking point with the Raiders, Brumbies and Giants, and to a lesser extent, our semi-professional women's teams, the Capitals, Canberra United and the ACT Meteors.

Crowds for the Raiders and Brumbies have come under the spotlight early in the season.

It's hard to be too critical of the Raiders given their one and only home game so far has been against the low-drawing Gold Coast Titans.

But it's interesting to note that in membership figures released by the NRL on Friday, the Raiders are 9 per cent down from last year - 8084 members this year compared with 8898 at the end of last year.

The Raiders have brought in several initiatives to attempt to bring the crowds back, most notably lowering early general admission tickets to an affordable $20.

The Brumbies are eager to find ways to entice their fans to Canberra Stadium after posting their lowest crowd in 15 years.

However, last Friday's game against the Blues was played in bucketing rain.

The biggest shocks have been the lower-than-expected crowds to see the Brumbies take on traditional rivals such as the Reds and the Waratahs.

Perhaps the most disappointing figure was that only about 13,000 turned up for last year's Super Rugby semi-final.

The Giants had crowds of 8000 to 11,000 for their games in Canberra during the past two years.

They will be hoping to crack the 10,000 barrier for Saturday's match with the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval.

It's a big commitment as a fan to turn up to a game every second week, whether that's 12 for the Raiders or eight for the Brumbies, with everything else that goes on in our busy lives.

Perhaps Canberra's best option is to focus all our energy on feature events, sporting or otherwise.

We saw with last year's centenary celebrations the fantastic support for the one-off encounters.

The Kangaroos v Kiwis rugby league Test was a sellout, as was the Australia v West Indies one-day cricket international and the Australia v New Zealand netball match.

We will see it again next year, with six games and a semi-final of soccer's Asian Cup in January followed by three games of the cricket World Cup in February and March.

Canberrans build their year around what's happening in the city.

It starts in January with Summernats; the smell of burning rubber quickly wiping away that New Year's hangover.

February is the multicultural festival (aka meat-on-a-stick day), where seemingly the entire ACT population of 380,000 converges on Civic for three days of gorging on food from around the world.

Enlighten takes over March, we all retreat indoors for winter before emerging from our self-imposed hibernation for Floriade in September and October.

The transient population of the ACT makes it difficult to sustain professional sporting teams.

Most people already have an AFL, an NRL or Super Rugby team they follow before moving to Canberra.

The Raiders and the Brumbies have a dedicated fan base who will stick with their respective sides through thick and thin.

What both clubs need though is a way to drag the fairweather supporters kicking and screaming out of the comfort of their lounge room and through the turnstiles.

One easy solution is the construction of an enclosed stadium in Civic.

This would get rid of the concerns about the dreadful weather we get in winter and give spectators the chance to turn their trip to the football into a total entertainment experience.

How good would it be to grab a beer at a pub or dinner at a restaurant before the game, check out the footy then kick on afterwards?

It has worked well in Brisbane and Melbourne with Suncorp Stadium and the MCG.

The cost of about $200 million for a new stadium with a capacity of about 25,000 similar to the one in Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand compares favourably with the upgrades required for the existing Canberra Stadium.

Until then, it is up to the fans to show we can sustain our national sporting teams.