Auckland Pride - Make Auckland Great Again

I used to believe the argument that "this person is a successful capitalist so he understands money better than I do". Until Terry Serepsisos introduced us all to Ahsan Ali Syed.

Doloras

I used to believe the argument that "this person is a successful capitalist so he understands money better than I do". Until Terry Serepsisos introduced us all to Ahsan Ali Syed.

Terry was successful until his tactics for success caught up with him and then he wasn't.

Doloras

anaveragestem

Doloras

coochiee

You very recently yourself Doloras said it wasn't going to happen. 

Yes, because I found it hard to believe (still do, in fact) that anyone has $25 million to throw around in this economy. Not that it wouldn't be a good idea, or wouldn't succeed if set up.

In my defence, I may be spending more time than is good for me on Aussie football forums, where the consensus is that the A-League is doomed to go bankrupt very soon

At this point I'm assuming this Auckland team is a done deal. Apart from the obvious positives this will give NZ football (again assuming the Auckland team is now going to be a thing), does anyone think that this should put to rest at least some of the concerns that the A-League is going to collapse?

No investor is going to put so much money into an investment if it has a chance of completely collapsing right? I would assume that the A-Leagues would have had to open their books to the potential new investors since no one will invest that amount of money without at least checking the financial stability of their investment.

Well, no. The argument being made is that the A-League has become a Ponzi scheme, i.e. the bills of the existing competition are being paid by the increasingly eye-watering fees to be paid by new entrants, which in turn have to be justified by somehow making the money back later. Unless attendances and/or broadcasting fees increase by some megaboss amount, it's unsustainable.

So you think these investors are willfully throwing millions at a Ponzi scheme just for the heck of it? Or you think that the investors aren't smart enough to see that it is a Ponzi scheme? Doesn't really add up.

Yes, rich people always make investment decisions for good financial reasons, which is how Apartheid Clyde ended up having to buy Twitter as the result of a sh*tpost which got out of hand.

The A-League has dwindled in attendances, dwindled in broadcasting fees and dwindled (arguably) in quality of football over the last five years. To make ends meet they've had to do ridiculous things like selling the Grand Final to Sydney for 3 years. This all may turn around in the next year or two, I don't know! 

Welnix have always been open that they're not in the A-League to make money, but to bring economic activity and prestige to Wellington. I have no idea what Marc Mitchell's motivations are. But the Ponzi aspect of the current A-League (i.e. that it is kept financially viable only by attracting new investment) is indisputable.

The A League has improved in quality - look at the amount of players signing overseas and actually being successful compared to 5 years ago.

Look at the higher level of youth players coming through.

No way the standards dropped.

Doloras

Yes, rich people always make investment decisions for good financial reasons, which is how Apartheid Clyde ended up having to buy Twitter as the result of a sh*tpost which got out of hand.

The A-League has dwindled in attendances, dwindled in broadcasting fees and dwindled (arguably) in quality of football over the last five years. To make ends meet they've had to do ridiculous things like selling the Grand Final to Sydney for 3 years. This all may turn around in the next year or two, I don't know! 

Welnix have always been open that they're not in the A-League to make money, but to bring economic activity and prestige to Wellington. I have no idea what Marc Mitchell's motivations are. But the Ponzi aspect of the current A-League (i.e. that it is kept financially viable only by attracting new investment) is indisputable.

maybe you should track down Marc Mitchell and explain to him that he is extremely naive and he's getting Ponzied.

For sure rich successful people are capable of making bad decisions. They ain't immune. They make mistakes. But after 15 years in banking I'd say a constant theme of those who acquire wealth is that every day they mostly make consistently good decisions. That in conjunction with putting in the hours, will go a long way to getting them ahead. Lots of other factors come into it like inherited family wealth, their network, resilence and plain blind luck sometimes etc etc. But the capacity to consistently make the right call more times that not, however small the decision, is key.

One of the few things I remember about Terry S, is a Bob Jones comment about meeting him once (before the fall from grace) and being singularly unimpressed by Terry's smarts.

So without knowing much at all about Marc Mitchell I'm optimistic he has a plan to make an Auckland A League franchise work that isn't part of a ponzi scheme.

Also I'm an outlier and don't think taking the GF to Sydney for 3 years is a ridiculous decision at all. Not when it brings a bit chunk of cash into the clubs, post some very tough years financially. The AFL & NRL have their grand finals always at the same venue (Covid excepted). The FA Cup final is always at Wembley. Plus apart from that controversal loss to Sydney years ago, the Nix have never realistically been close to being in, let alone hosting a GF. Do the 3 years in NSW and then review the financial landscape.

I certainly think Melbourne will be putting a bid in for it next time after it became essentially a Mariners home game!

From a Nix point of view I’m happy that the finals format guarantees a home final en route. But if we had a chance of becoming champions it would sharke me it wasn’t at the RoF. 

I do worry about the competition financials and how the voting happens given the EPL seems to be one club one vote and they do block the big clubs flights of fancy at times. 

Is Mitchell American? Any other members of the consortium known? Not solely real estate money? Do they like cats? Who are the football figures on board? 

I'm assuming no one saw sports news on channel 1? I nearly fell out of my seat because the rumor mill keeps getting more WILD. 
 
Initially they talked about Marc Mitchell and his bid which is understood to be the favourite bid currently, also they mentioned his relationship with the breakers had soured.

Then they said the second bid is lead by ALI WILLIAMS and a bloody toy company 'Zuru' (I think he is married into that toy firm through his Mrs but could be wrong).

And then they said one news understands that there is an expectation of a fudgeing WATERFRONT STADIUM being built for the teams home in the future. WTF. I think they said they were interested in a site for the stadium at 'silo park' or something on the waterfront. 

I think silo park is heavily contaminated land but thats another story...

anaveragestem

I'm assuming no one saw sports news on channel 1? I nearly fell out of my seat because the rumor mill keeps getting more WILD. 
 
Initially they talked about Marc Mitchell and his bid which is understood to be the favourite bid currently, also they mentioned his relationship with the breakers had soured.

Then they said the second bid is lead by ALI WILLIAMS and a bloody toy company 'Zuru' (I think he is married into that toy firm through his Mrs but could be wrong).

And then they said one news understands that there is an expectation of a fudgeing WATERFRONT STADIUM being built for the teams home in the future. WTF. I think they said they were interested in a site for the stadium at 'silo park' or something on the waterfront. 

I think silo park is heavily contaminated land but thats another story...

Have just seen that. Wild is putting it mildly.

New stadium - Yes please!
Can envisage it would be some sort of precinct that would be developed - Like what a lot of developments in America seem to be doing: New stadiums, entertainment and housing in the surrounds. Would be a massive project if it were to go ahead though.

Straight up crazy couple of days though, and I'm very much here for the continuous wild swings and speculation.

Silo Park would be an incredible location for a stadium. Walking distance from Britomart and a shark tonne of bars.

Always been a pipe dream in Auckland to have one but fudge me it would be amazing.

My God, if they're really talking about "waterfront stadium" again, I defy anyone to try to argue that all these rich people must know what they're talking about :D

Doloras

My God, if they're really talking about "waterfront stadium" again, I defy anyone to try to argue that all these rich people must know what they're talking about :D

I mean the only reason the waterfront stadium hasn't happened is simply a lack of $$$. It is actually a fantastic idea and would really make Auckland awesome

Oh Jesus wept, Nick Mowbray. That clown who's most famous for getting dunked on for his out-of-touch political rants on Twitter. Think of what Gareth Morgan used to be like, and triple it.

ZURU is huge. No lack of money there.

Nick Mowbray. Yes very much a clown having built a net worth of $3 Billion (reportedly) from scratch with his siblings. What a muppet he must be.

Actually Ali Williams had quite the unlikeable clown persona as an All Black. Then caught out sniffing coke in Paris. But he's gone on to build a bit of a career post rugby in commercial property. Successful people don't have to be likeable. Wiki says Williams had been in a relationship with Anna Mowbray (sister of Nick) since 2019. Anna having been heavily involved in ZURU with her brothers. All juicy stuff.

But the talk of a new stadium seems a bit mad, when you don't even have a team yet. Surely you'd wait to setup a club and then try and work in with other likely tenants like the Blues & Warriors - plus Auckland Council & national Govt before looking at gandiose ideas like that.

My understanding is the Ali Williams/Mowbray siblings bid as reported by 1News tonight was a thing, but isn't any longer – or at least isn't the preferred bid

Had been talk APL was trying to bring the two together at one stage, which might still be the case https://t.co/cYPqaypC8V

— Andrew Voerman (@andrewvoerman) September 7, 2023

Doloras

Oh Jesus wept, Nick Mowbray. That clown who's most famous for getting dunked on for his out-of-touch political rants on Twitter. Think of what Gareth Morgan used to be like, and triple it.

That's the spirit Doloras! Already getting ready to hate on the Nix's arch rivals for any reason possible ahahah

coochiee

Nick Mowbray. Yes very much a clown having built a net worth of $3 Billion (reportedly) from scratch with his siblings. What a muppet he must be.

Actually Ali Williams had quite the unlikeable clown persona as an All Black. Then caught out sniffing coke in Paris. But he's gone on to build a bit of a career post rugby in commercial property. Successful people don't have to be likeable. Wiki says Williams had been in a relationship with Anna Mowbray (sister of Nick) since 2019. Anna having been heavily involved in ZURU with her brothers. All juicy stuff.

But the talk of a new stadium seems a bit mad, when you don't even have a team yet. Surely you'd wait to setup a club and then try and work in with other likely tenants like the Blues & Warriors - plus Auckland Council & national Govt before looking at gandiose ideas like that.

My understanding is the Ali Williams/Mowbray siblings bid as reported by 1News tonight was a thing, but isn't any longer – or at least isn't the preferred bid

Had been talk APL was trying to bring the two together at one stage, which might still be the case https://t.co/cYPqaypC8V

— Andrew Voerman (@andrewvoerman) September 7, 2023

Yep, and I know Zuru may be worth 3 billion or whatever but honestly building a waterfront stadium would be an ENORMOUS investment. Depending on the issues you encounter at the site it could quite easily sap several billion dollars. Foundations alone i would imagine would cost a couple of billion - trying to claim back highly contaminated land and then making sure its stable enough to withstand earthquakes would cost so much. Much easier to chuck money at Mt Smart and improve transport to/from it.

I love the idea of a waterfront stadium but God, the mind boggles at how hard it would be to pull off such a project

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

anaveragestem

coochiee

Nick Mowbray. Yes very much a clown having built a net worth of $3 Billion (reportedly) from scratch with his siblings. What a muppet he must be.

Actually Ali Williams had quite the unlikeable clown persona as an All Black. Then caught out sniffing coke in Paris. But he's gone on to build a bit of a career post rugby in commercial property. Successful people don't have to be likeable. Wiki says Williams had been in a relationship with Anna Mowbray (sister of Nick) since 2019. Anna having been heavily involved in ZURU with her brothers. All juicy stuff.

But the talk of a new stadium seems a bit mad, when you don't even have a team yet. Surely you'd wait to setup a club and then try and work in with other likely tenants like the Blues & Warriors - plus Auckland Council & national Govt before looking at gandiose ideas like that.

My understanding is the Ali Williams/Mowbray siblings bid as reported by 1News tonight was a thing, but isn't any longer – or at least isn't the preferred bid

Had been talk APL was trying to bring the two together at one stage, which might still be the case https://t.co/cYPqaypC8V

— Andrew Voerman (@andrewvoerman) September 7, 2023

Yep, and I know Zuru may be worth 3 billion or whatever but honestly building a waterfront stadium would be an ENORMOUS investment. Depending on the issues you encounter at the site it could quite easily sap several billion dollars. Foundations alone i would imagine would cost a couple of billion - trying to claim back highly contaminated land and then making sure its stable enough to withstand earthquakes would cost so much. Much easier to chuck money at Mt Smart and improve transport to/from it.

I love the idea of a waterfront stadium but God, the mind boggles at how hard it would be to pull off such a project

As much as I also love the idea of a waterfront stadium, I can't help but feel it's a pie in the sky idea that's been tacked on by these bidder's in order to appear to be the better option.

Ryan

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

I'm actually surprised at how many people here just brown-nose anyone who's got a bit of money. Oh wait, Terry S was actually swindled? Well, Bob Jones said he was kind of dumb, and he's a rich man too, so that explains it, lol

And I suppose it's fine to dismiss Nick Mowbray's Twitter ranting if you're not one of the minority groups / poor people he's trying to whip up hatred against

Doloras

Ryan

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

I'm actually surprised at how many people here just brown-nose anyone who's got a bit of money. Oh wait, Terry S was actually swindled? Well, Bob Jones said he was kind of dumb, and he's a rich man too, so that explains it, lol

And I suppose it's fine to dismiss Nick Mowbray's Twitter ranting if you're not one of the minority groups / poor people he's trying to whip up hatred against

Whipping up hatred isnt exactly an indicator of dumbness though is it?
And in general wealth is a strong indicator of success, which is a strong indicator of some kind of smartness - excluding institutional wealth. Self made billionaires have found a way to take advantage of the system we live in to make massive amounts of money. Call it luck or smarts, it's worked, it doesnt mean we should all respect and love them, but their efforts deserve to be recognised.

Ryan

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

 And if you look at this twitter usage, he dabbles in anti-trans stuff.

I think the nuisance is that these people are smart in their area but that doesn't mean they are smart in all other areas. You don't become a billionaire/millionaire without some smarts (and luck and some help from parents). But you just had to see how many big brain entrepreneurs thought they were also epidemiologists during 2020.

Doloras

Oh Jesus wept, Nick Mowbray. That clown who's most famous for getting dunked on for his out-of-touch political rants on Twitter. Think of what Gareth Morgan used to be like, and triple it.

Gareth Morgan without knowledge but with vibes

theprof

Doloras

Ryan

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

I'm actually surprised at how many people here just brown-nose anyone who's got a bit of money. Oh wait, Terry S was actually swindled? Well, Bob Jones said he was kind of dumb, and he's a rich man too, so that explains it, lol

And I suppose it's fine to dismiss Nick Mowbray's Twitter ranting if you're not one of the minority groups / poor people he's trying to whip up hatred against

Whipping up hatred isnt exactly an indicator of dumbness though is it?
And in general wealth is a strong indicator of success, which is a strong indicator of some kind of smartness - excluding institutional wealth. Self made billionaires have found a way to take advantage of the system we live in to make massive amounts of money. Call it luck or smarts, it's worked, it doesnt mean we should all respect and love them, but their efforts deserve to be recognised.

For what its worth, IQ doesn't correlate with wealth.

No rich person deserves respect just because they're rich. It's is what they do with the money and their personality that matters the most. If they hoard their millions and dodge tax while not helping society at all I say fudge em, they don't deserve a minute of our time. They are often skilled in something but so is everyone else on the planet. Also, it is very easy to make money when you already have fudgeing heaps to start with.

If the Mowbrays want to invest in a football team that is great and I applaud them. But Nick will have to reign in his bullshark opinions because the public are generally very unforgiving of a billionaire owner of a sports team with controversial, stupid or discriminatory social views.

2ndBest

I think the nuisance is that these people are smart in their area but that doesn't mean they are smart in all other areas. You don't become a billionaire/millionaire without some smarts (and luck and some help from parents). But you just had to see how many big brain entrepreneurs thought they were also epidemiologists during 2020.

Plenty of folks who have become successfully wealthy, did so in spite of their parents. Plenty. But yipe for sure having a very smart business acumen doesn't automatically translate into other areas of life. Politics being another obvious example.

If Nick Mowbray is sprouting anti trans stuff he probably shouldn't then be a part owner of an Auckland A League club. But doesn't mean I can't like his story of going to China as a virtual kid from his folks Waikato dairy farm, and creating a massive toy company with his siblings. 

Anyway AV is saying Williams & Mowbray are likely 2nd choice to the Mitchell bid. Hopefully the American has no controversial skeletons in his internet history. I want an Auckland club to happen.

Doloras

Ryan

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

I'm actually surprised at how many people here just brown-nose anyone who's got a bit of money. Oh wait, Terry S was actually swindled? Well, Bob Jones said he was kind of dumb, and he's a rich man too, so that explains it, lol

And I suppose it's fine to dismiss Nick Mowbray's Twitter ranting if you're not one of the minority groups / poor people he's trying to whip up hatred against

Well feel free to fund the team with all of your money then comrade.

I genuinely wonder why you even follow professional football if you have such a problem with rich people? Genuinely, what is your angle?

Only Mother Teresa can get the Akld franchise 

If you built a 10,000 - 15,000 capacity stadium and used it for ALM and ALW games, lower profile international fixtures, and maybe nicked the Chatham and Kate Sheppard Cup finals given the future of NHS has been called into question, you should have 30+ games a year, so at least theoretically a stadium could exist without the need for Warriors or Blues tenancy.

Of course I'm sure it would be very expensive, but this city has spent its entire existence half-assing stadiums and look where that's gotten us.

coochiee

Nick Mowbray. Yes very much a clown having built a net worth of $3 Billion (reportedly) from scratch with his siblings. What a muppet he must be.

Actually Ali Williams had quite the unlikeable clown persona as an All Black. Then caught out sniffing coke in Paris. But he's gone on to build a bit of a career post rugby in commercial property. Successful people don't have to be likeable. Wiki says Williams had been in a relationship with Anna Mowbray (sister of Nick) since 2019. Anna having been heavily involved in ZURU with her brothers. All juicy stuff.

But the talk of a new stadium seems a bit mad, when you don't even have a team yet. Surely you'd wait to setup a club and then try and work in with other likely tenants like the Blues & Warriors - plus Auckland Council & national Govt before looking at gandiose ideas like that.

My understanding is the Ali Williams/Mowbray siblings bid as reported by 1News tonight was a thing, but isn't any longer – or at least isn't the preferred bid

Had been talk APL was trying to bring the two together at one stage, which might still be the case https://t.co/cYPqaypC8V

— Andrew Voerman (@andrewvoerman) September 7, 2023

Monto

Doloras

Ryan

Zuru sued Glassdoor to figure out who reviewed their workplace as toxic, proving how toxic it is.

Just because someone is wealthy doesn't excuse them for being dicks.

I'm actually surprised at how many people here just brown-nose anyone who's got a bit of money. Oh wait, Terry S was actually swindled? Well, Bob Jones said he was kind of dumb, and he's a rich man too, so that explains it, lol

And I suppose it's fine to dismiss Nick Mowbray's Twitter ranting if you're not one of the minority groups / poor people he's trying to whip up hatred against

Well feel free to fund the team with all of your money then comrade.

I genuinely wonder why you even follow professional football if you have such a problem with rich people? Genuinely, what is your angle?

If Nick Mowbray is tweeting against Trans people, most of us wouldn't be so comfortable with him part owning an Auckland club. But that's without doing a full examination of what he's actually scribbled on X.

You are right though Doloras seems to abhor the thought of anyone striving to be wealthy. It's pure evil. But sadly I don't see Marxism bringing a pro football team to Auckland (or anywhere but crumbling Havana) anytime soon.

Feverish

Only Mother Teresa can get the Akld franchise 

She sucks. And she's broke afaik.

Fitzy

Feverish

Only Mother Teresa can get the Akld franchise 

She sucks. And she's broke afaik.

And dead. 

Look at it another way- the club takes our money happily without checking what we think. 

There’s plenty of football knowledge out there that comes with a side salad of sharke political takes. 

As long as he’s not one of the QPR guys. I just caught up with half of what happened to the club. 

And I personally think Morgan is right about cats- but that’s only if we want to save native birds. I know a lot of lefties who let their cats run free. 

I usually prefer stadiums in the suburbs. Downtown after everyone working goes home is a bit of a soulless place imo. But yeh a 20k stadium near sold out quite often with good corporate facilities could see the club make money even. Not sure it should be downtown and it won’t be for next season anyway. 

There was long ago talk about a chap from Giltrap Toyota being keen. Is he involved in either bid? 

Colin Giltrap?  I think it is several years now since his name has been associated with a possible Auckland team.
https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/rich-listers-mount-maunganui-house-price-record-may-not-stand-for-long-41301

I thought Murray Holdaway (chairman Auckland United) might be involved somehow. NBR rich list has his net worth at $50M.

The Mowbrays I see live in Kim Dotcom's old digs!

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/new-faces-among-nzs-richest/JTKLCY2LKUIXPUR43NM4BD67VI/

Buffon II

Silo Park would be an incredible location for a stadium. Walking distance from Britomart and a shark tonne of bars.

Always been a pipe dream in Auckland to have one but fudge me it would be amazing.

If the proposed North Shore Line train tunnel under the harbour goes ahead, the Wynyard Quarter will have it's own train station. As I've mentioned on here before, it really is a great location for a Stadium. However the current plans are for a public park there iirc.