"Crowd Sizes a Sorry Sight" - S14
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From the story in stuff.co.nz today:
http://stuff.co.nz/4465069a1823.html
As you all know rugby attendances are falling all over the country. Those 16,000ish figures for the 'Canes really look like an achievable average crowd for the Phoenix in a few years time. Imagine if we make say 5th or 6th this year and hit the top 4 next season. Attendances will surely grow after the success and positive vibes from last year and if performances improve on the park (it's hard to see how they won't considering the strength of our squad and the relative decline in some of the others - with the exception of Sydney) then crowd sizes will surely improve as well. Also, I think it's fair to say that the Phoenix probably have a far better chance of winning the A-League than the 'Canes have of winning the S14, at least in the near future anyway.
It seems bizarre to say this but provided that the 'Canes don't start winning the S14 and that the over saturation of the Rugby 'product' continues and the AB's performances decline (this is likely considering the number of defections to Europe of many top players) Football could feasibly become the no1 supported sport in Wellington sooner than we might think. We averaged around 11k last season, the Hurricanes will probably average somewhere around 20k depending on where they end up (thats just a guess on my part) but the attendances are trending down. I think everyone is looking for an excuse to watch something other than Rugby, and cricket is definitely not going to provide an alternative (have a look at the squad we are sending to England, they are in for a thrashing). I am so excited about the prospects for football, and the Phoenix in particular, in Wellington and NZ, and the growing disinterest in Rugby can only help our game!
The Hurricanes were the success story of Super rugby. Sure they are yet to win the competition, but they have always been well supported - till this year.
There were 31,571 at Westpac Stadium for last week's match against the Crusaders, but only 16,000 turned up to watch the Reds in the second round, and 16,900 for the Chiefs match a week later.
It's a far cry from the average crowds of more than 27,000 who watched the Hurricanes in 2000, 2001 and 2002 when they were losers, but entertaining losers.
Hurricanes chief executive Greg Peters suggests the Super competition always starts slowly with interest building as the season developed.
This year was following a similar pattern, but with smaller crowds. Smaller even, than the reduced crowds the Hurricanes had expected to get.
"We are disappointed with the first few rounds especially when compared to the heights of some of the previous seasons," Peters said. "There's no way we'll reach the heights of the last eight seasons unless we host a semifinal and the final."
But Peters said rugby wasn't completely to blame for its plight. He said there were a lot of other things for people to spend their time and money on, and Wellington was a hard market as it was an "event destination".
Read the whole article here:http://stuff.co.nz/4465069a1823.html
As you all know rugby attendances are falling all over the country. Those 16,000ish figures for the 'Canes really look like an achievable average crowd for the Phoenix in a few years time. Imagine if we make say 5th or 6th this year and hit the top 4 next season. Attendances will surely grow after the success and positive vibes from last year and if performances improve on the park (it's hard to see how they won't considering the strength of our squad and the relative decline in some of the others - with the exception of Sydney) then crowd sizes will surely improve as well. Also, I think it's fair to say that the Phoenix probably have a far better chance of winning the A-League than the 'Canes have of winning the S14, at least in the near future anyway.
It seems bizarre to say this but provided that the 'Canes don't start winning the S14 and that the over saturation of the Rugby 'product' continues and the AB's performances decline (this is likely considering the number of defections to Europe of many top players) Football could feasibly become the no1 supported sport in Wellington sooner than we might think. We averaged around 11k last season, the Hurricanes will probably average somewhere around 20k depending on where they end up (thats just a guess on my part) but the attendances are trending down. I think everyone is looking for an excuse to watch something other than Rugby, and cricket is definitely not going to provide an alternative (have a look at the squad we are sending to England, they are in for a thrashing). I am so excited about the prospects for football, and the Phoenix in particular, in Wellington and NZ, and the growing disinterest in Rugby can only help our game!
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