I take your point Smithy about Aucklanders not getting out and buying tickets to Chatham cup, ASB and All whites games. However I don't believe that there are not tens of thousands of Aucklanders who are football fans and potential viewers.
The problem is not that there are no football fans.....the problem is a marketing/promotional/publicity issue. Which brings us full circle to the overall media coverage question. IMO the marketing of football in NZ is a disaster. The promotion always seems to get sidetracked into negative issues like crowd numbers/profit/loss(just like the Nix season already).
Australia has finally overcome the cringe factor over football....pushed by a groundswell from their immigrant community football there has become mainstream. The potential in Auckland is the same IMO. Like most things in little 'ol NZ we are probably a decade or two behind the rest of the world....it will happen. What we see once a season in Auckland(with the Nix) is just the beginning. What we need to do is somehow connect with all those new immigrant kiwis. We need them to stop buying Man U shirts and start buying AW shirts.....or even Nix or Auckland city shirts.
The first step will be to get the NZ sports media behind the game.....how exactly is the million $$$ question. But I suspect there are people in NZF and the FFA looking into it right at this moment
Don't need just football fans though, you need football fans who are A-League fans and are also people who like going to live sport and can get to the stadium easily and who can afford it. If you did a venn diagram of that lot the final result would be surprisingly small for Auckland. Not sure why but I think history has born that out a lot
I don't think "history has born that out" so much as the two previous attempts at an NSL/A-League franchise in Auckland were not particularly well managed. The Knights, in particular, actually did serious damage. I really don't think its fair or wise to hold the Auckland football public accountable for not going to watch The Knights!
That said, you're right that there are still quite a complicated mix of factors that come into play when considering whether to have another go in Auckland. I'm optimistic though, I think it can be done.
One thing that has fundamentally changed the landscape is, of course, the Phoenix, who provide both a template and leverage for the next NZ franchise. That's still a long way from solving the whole problem but it is a massive leg up from what previous attempts had.
It's not Auckland's fault, it's football's? Give me a break.
Auckland and apathy for football go hand in hand.