Crowds - The thread of Australian whining

sorry if this has already been answered, what's with the discrepencies to the crowd number that is announced at the game and the one westpac report on their website?

Instead of the 7,623 that was announced, they've said it was 7,173, a difference of 450.

is the lower figure actual paying customers and the higher paying customers plus comps?

Westpac running two books?

I think the one announced is a number generated based on ticket sales + members etc. The number on the website is the official turnstile number.

A poor Friday turnout. Auckland's turn next and a chance for you Jaffas to show us one-eyed Aussies how to get a crowd - kids tickets are even less than the price of a beer.

I also need a feeble excuse to post this as a proxy message from Ricki (if he was a blonde utterly gorgeous singer/song writer*)

I've been searching
For a pot of gold
Like the kind you find
At the end of the rainbow

I've been dreaming
Thought it was in vain
Ah but now you're here
Can't believe that you're back again

Now I know I can't lose
As long as you follow
I'm gonna win (I'm gonna win)
I'm gonna beg, steal, or borrow
As long as you follow

I've been wandering
Gone away too far
But the road was rough
To get back where you are

And the sun went down
It never seemed to rise
Ah but now you're here
With the light shining in your eyes

Now I know I can't lose
As long as you follow
I'm gonna win (I'm gonna win)
I'm gonna beg, steal, or borrow
Yes I can live today
If you give me tomorrow
As long as you follow

Now I know I can't lose
As long as you follow
I'm gonna win (I'm gonna win)
I'm gonna beg, steal, or borrow
Yes I can live today
If you give me tomorrow
As long as you follow



*Not Stevie Nicks btw, or Harry Kewell

'Heaps of people will come to games once Terry is out of the picture, many boycotted the Phoenix because he owns the team' Tegal2011-11-05 11:45:48

Sounds like a quote for the Frankie Mac game.

What are you like in front of goal, Tony and are your weekends free over the summer months?



C-Diddy2011-11-05 12:08:21

You may remember Tony did once play for the Nix - against a Chinese XI from Christchurch in a pre-season charity game at Newtown park after the Chinese earthquake of 2008.

A-League Pedigree    CHECK!
Phoenix Fan          CHECK!
Current Employer a
Sponsor of the
A-League             CHECK!

SIGN TONY P!!!

True and did score 2 goals as well. No seriously things need to happen at the Phoneix NOW and not wait for next season. By then it will be too late.

Are you hinting that another club is scouting you at the moment?

I was quoting the general consensus among some on this forum. And how the crowd last night was actually worse yet Terry is gone.

Is satire the right word?

This is the Nix' worst ever start to the season in terms of attendance.

Terminator

That's not a good chart .... how can it be turned around .. what will get bums back on seats...

Half decent performances made by a half decent squad.

That chart looks bad but I will wait a while before assessing crowd numbers. The first home game was badly affected by the RWC. Last Friday in Wellington was a miserable day weather wise. Howling gale, very cold and rain on and off all day.

I think the poor crowds can be attributed to a number of factors. After the RWC I'd say there's a bit of sports event fatigue in NZ, with casual fans maybe deciding to stay home because the start of the a-league doesn't seem as appealing in the shadow of all the hype around egg ball.3news even got so caught up in the Hamish McKay rugby manlove scene that Man City's 6-1 win over Man U didn't even get onto the sports news. If casual sports fans aren't hearing about football then they are probably way less likely to fork out some $ to go and watch it. Obviously football fans will still be keen but the angst of the off-season can't have helped matters. Then the season has started with injuries and suspensions all over the show and results haven't come and of course that will always affect attendences. Friday night was the like a perfect storm for a poor crowd: 2nd home game in 6 days; following on from a couple of disappointing losses; Friday night game so families less likely to come; and crappy weather. It was bound to be a bad crowd really, so although its disappointing its not necessarily an omen for the rest of the season. If the Nix can get some results I'm sure there will be bums on seats once more.Of course the the way things are looking thats a big "if"

Pro sport is entertainment and it competes with other forms of entertainment. For an average family to go to a game and get a few drinks and some food it'll cost over $100 and I'd imagine there are plenty of people out there who would think that's not a sound investment for watching a game like Friday's in a cold windy stadium. But a team thats winning matches playing on a warm Sunday afternoon is a different matter altogether

Your analysis might want to recognise the late night family fireworks the following night. For many with kids 10 and I under I wonder if it was a choice betwen the two late nights on the weekend...one being much cheaper too.

Very disappointed in the crowd number on Friday. But not really surprising due to the lack of marketing.

Does anyone know what the ratings are for Phoenix games (home and away)? Are more people choosing to watch at home or at the pub? Have ratings increased over the 5 seasons? Maybe one of our fabulous football reporters can find out.

good point, I didn't even think of that. Its all Guy Fawkes' fault

Yeah, trying to blow up parliament is a move we can all sympathise with, but did he have to do it on a night when it would ruin a Phoenix home crowd 407 years later?

I think also the games just aren't being publicized enough. Is that a fair thing to say?

This. I've talked to a few mates of mine, who are Phoenix fans and love coming to the games, but they just didn't know that the games were on.

People will come to our games when we win, and they will stay away when we are not winning. Especially as there is no money round right now. Add to that the depleted squad issue, and a side that's playing without a top notch striker and midfielder - Only thing people round me were talking about on friday night.  Club needs something majorly positive to announce at some stage. Can't keep playing with these resources, as players will start losing confidence, and it could become embarrassing. 

something's got to be done about this. was it you that put a comment on their facebook page about hoping the downloadable posters weren't the only marketing they were doing?

Zero hype on their facebook and twitter and we've got the 2nd most likes of the other A-League teams on facebook.   It baffles me. And how about giving ample warning if members of the team are going to attend an event where you can meet the lads or get autographs. All well and good to send a tweet as the events occuring but people need to know about these things earlier so they can make plans to get to there.

and would it kill them to thank their fans who come out to see them. Other clubs do it, I can't see why we don't

Do the nix have a marketing manager now or is Nathan still having to do everything including cleaning the office toilet?

If he is still wearing 9 hats then there no wonder that the game was poorly marketedAucklandPhoenix2011-11-06 15:48:15

Hey guys you can add +1 to the Jest game Friday 23 December.

I don't agree with a lack of publicity, well in traditional sources anyway. I've seen a good spread of posters up on walls and bollards through town and a lot of ads in the Dompost (for the game and for competitions and stuff which would increase awareness). Even have the A-League ad on prime most nights. So I don't think there is a lack, for mine it seems better than previous years.

Agree on the Facebook comment though, could be used to engage fans more.

I've heard a few ads on radio, and have too seen the odd poster around. Twitter and facebook costs them nothing, it is a direct line to their fans. I don't understand why these services aren't utilised more.

They do tweet actively. I don't really do FB so can't comment about that.

If they are looking to hire over summer to man the social media to drum up support, I would happily stick my hand up.

sorry Ahmad I disagree. For example in the lead up to the game against CCM, there was a tweet about a downloadable poster, a DB export competition and then the day of the game (not long before kick off) a couple of tweets. And it wasn't much different for Victory and Jets game.

Most clubs on twitter interact with the fans much more, the Phoenix just announce news on twitter.

I do believe that the guy on Twitter has lots of jobs to do aside from that so I guess I just understand the limitations. Definitely active during a game. Outside it yeah.

I agree there is less marketing this season. Don't think I've seen any bus stop posters?

Also, the sign above the road on Aotea Quay is advertising season memberships, while the banner advertising the next game is way over to the left. I think they can swap them over now!

I listen to The Rock quite a lot and I never hear anything about the games on there - surely that is a prime demographic to target?

Pretty sure the Nix have ZM ties. The Rock is a MediaWorks/RadioWorks station and as such in competition with ZM's Radio Network owners.

Fireworks are pretty expensive for what you get (no sky rockets or double happies anymore).