The Road To Brazil 2014 via Wellington feat. Mexico

Auckland all the way. More people, better seats... It will sell out regardless, there are already 35000 people who are keen to go on the ride once again wherever it is. Also not having to make the last leg of travel could be crucial.

For me it has to be Wellington..because

1, Conditions will suit us. November in Wellington will be windy....like in gale force wind probably...if its not a cold southerly it will be a cold NW. CONACAF countries will be familiar with most conditions but not a typical Wellington gale. Auckland has nice weather in November

2, History, The Bahrain game was an epic event and more so for the crowd as they WALKED back into the CBD and partied all night. Eden Park area is dull as f**k

3, Wellington will sell out 100%....thats 35,000 people. I do not believe for one minute that 55,000 people will go to Eden Park midweek to watch what the NZHerald calls soccer. So the economic advantage does not stack up for me.

4, there is no 4

5, Wellington has missed out on AW games...its our turn

Which ever venue NZF choses I just hope that NZF football promote it properly. There marketing is often so negative.."its cost us heaps to put this on so if people don't come we won't do it here again" Never in the history of sales and marketing has anyone bought anything because they feel sorry for the vendor. If they don't sell the message early that the game is on and its a HUGE deal and it  will be a sell out, then they risk people waiting to see what happens at the first leg and not buying a ticket.....its the exclusitivity and the "you don't want to miss out" message they need to pump

The thing I don't understand is why it is taking so long.  It's obvious what the considerations are - that's not changing.  So just get on with it and lock it in either way and let people start planning on going.  More weak leadership.

My preference is heavily towards Wellington, but I wouldn't mind if it were in Auckland because it would mean we would get another (awesome) White Noise away trip. Also, Eden Park really isn't that bad for football anymore, I was very impressed with the rectangularness of it when I was there for the Nix game.

Was the retractable seating there for that game?

 I don't care where the game is I just need to know in advance so I can get flights etc.

Almost ditto, I prefer Wellington, but just want to book flights

I'm not convinced you'd get the same atmosphere in Auckland. Yeah you'd have (quite) a few thousand more. But the amazing thing about that Bahrain game was the buzz and electricity flowing around the stadium (and it was there even before the game started) of 35,000 people preparing to live and die with every pass, shot and tackle. It really was unbelievable. And I have no doubt that the atmosphere helped the players on the day.

Would you get that to a midweek game in Auckland? I don't think so. Then again happy to admit I have a fairly substantial Wellington bias on it.

This is the key thing for me.  Having missed out on the Confeds Cup money, I think we have to go with the ground that will make the most cash for us, and that will be Eden Park (assuming costs of both are roughly the same, it comes down to the bigger attendance).  The amount of money we would get from the World Cup is irrelevant.

Exactly. ROF! ROF! ROF!

I'd prefer the game was in Wellington but I won't be moaning if it's in Auckland.

It's a pretty close call and I'll be there either way to support my country instead of disappearing up my own self-entitled arsehole.

wtf?

Don't stop believin'

I'd say both venues would be pretty close to selling out before the first leg.

A big exciting game in Auckland could be a boom for local fans and nuetrals and help attendances in Auckland in the future.

Yeah, but the bigger & more important picture still says a night game at the Cake Tin in hopefully crap weather holds the best chance of us getting a result.

I mean there's no way I'll be moaning and saying I'm not going to Auckland if that's what you are wtf'ing about.

If that's not what you are wtf'ing about then wtf are you wtf'ing about?

Hey TM, get over it. My ROF is presently in default mode.

Please hurry and make a decision so I can book the cheap flights!  I can get to Welly for $84 return at the moment! Or Auckland for $100!

 It's the boards decision to make. Have to wait until their meeting.

You can have telephone board meetings

Surely this decision is big enough to push a meeting forward. Quicker the better for ALL concerned. It's a 2 horse race, list the pros and cons and make a call. Done!

I think the small crowds the Nix have got this year have probably hurt Wellington's chances which may have lead to the Auckland bid getting a bit more traction.

Personally I think either option would be a sell out prior to the first leg. Everyone that was there four years ago will go again in a heart beat and will probably remind / tell everyone they know how awesome it was and that no one should miss the chance to live through it again.

NZF is not a rich organisation so should go for Auckland and try to make as much profit as possible. I'd imagine both city councils will be offering their stadiums at cheap rates in hope of capturing the tourist dollar from outside NZ's coming in.

You wouldn't have made that up, would you?

I had a lot of friends who missed out on going to the Bahrain game because they decided to go too late, I also remember running into a lot of people when in Wellington who were gutted they missed out on tickets. Surely the extra 20k seats at Eden is worth it if only to allow 20k more people to have the experience of a lifetime. At westpac potentially a lot of those who went last time will miss out, and be gutted about it.