People care more about club football and 'their club' than they do about the franchise league in my opinion - much more local rivalry/derbies and association - especially with the kids. I reckon its marketable and broadcastable. With a champions league style format at the end or playoffs.
Exactly. Once any club gets past the first couple rounds of the Chatham Cup the crouds tend to swell and there is a big interest in every remaining cup game. Attendances for a lot of these games probably exceed that at most ASB games (ACFC and Canterbury aside). So throw in an end of season competition where the carrot is an O-League spot, and you'll get fans in.
Also i never got the argument about not going to watch because you don't have an affiliation with the club or they're your rivals. Surely if there's decent (for NZ, anyway) enough football on offer you'll go watch. I've gone to watch a number of different teams in Auckland this season that i have nothing to do with, some who aren't even in the same division as the club i support. And from recognizing who you see around footballing circles up here i can tell i'm not the only one.
People thinking the franchise system is the only answer then point to the A-League or MLS as an example aren't seeing the differences between NZ and those countries. For a start, both those leagues are fully professional, ours is amateur. That creates problems with growing the league financially and also the popularity of the league. It is highly unlikely we will have a fully professional and sustainable national league in either the short-term or long-term future.
The ASB has been dying a slow death for years now, first it was cut from 3 to 2 rounds, thanks to Hekari qualifying for the CWC ahead of Waitak. Since then stories have come out every year about any number of franchises in dire financial straits. The CWC money has kept the league afloat, if another Hekari happened the league would probably fold. And quickly going back to the affiliation debate, i doubt you could convince many people that there will be hundreds out there who are Wanderers SC or Wellington Phoenix Reserves till they die.