Crowds - The thread of Australian whining

Maybe the novelty has worn off and only the hardcore are attending. I only say this because a good friend of mine recently moved from Auckland to Wellington. He moved into his new house on Wednesday and today I got an e-mail from him asking when the Phoenix are playing in Wellington for the rest of the season. He's never been to a Nix game but is interested now.

Could the issue then be that Welly is a small city and therefore has the hardcore fan base relative to its size. My home town in Europe is about the same size as Wellington (approx 400,000) and while football is obviously the number one sport, there are also others competing with it for popularity. My hometown team ground holds only 18,000.  Over the last ten years the average crowds were (over each season) from 4K (in bad seasons) to 6K (in good seasons). Only twice over that period was the average crowd 10K.

One clear difference I noted while looking over these stats for was the relatively high number of visiting fans of the opposing teams (this is known because they get separate seating by sectors). The opposition fans come by train, bus or they fly, which is not particularly expensive in Europe. Accommodation costs are similar to those here in NZ.  But getting to away games in in A-League is not cheap as a regular thing.

Could it simply be that the way to grow the crowds is to look for an A-League wide deal with an airline to have cheapish tickets for the club fans (as a way of sponsoring the league). These should be fenced-off to ensure people actually have to go to a game to get the cheaper airfare. This would be useful for us flying across the ditch to support the Nix although lots of Kiwis live there anyway, but even more important to the West Island team supporters coming over here, with the NZ dollar moving up close to the AUD lately.

I would not mind seeing more opposing team fans at our game, as long as the security can be educated that this is all good safe fun. Westpac Stadium is much easier to get to for a visitor without having a car than many other grounds around the Australian mainland. if we had a few hundred of hardy souls flying over to the Cake Tin every second weekend there would be more colour and interest as well.

#3SportNixCoverage

A lot of football people don't know that games are on but due other commitments don't know the day or time on any given weekend.

And on Monday you tell them they kick themselves. Don't know how you fix it. 

Very LOL!

Doesn't it make sense that they'd go for the big story? The big story being the one that most people want to hear about. 

Actually I think that theory is self fulfilling. 

I like to give people more credit than that. 

Actually 2ndBest it did. Before the Warriors the Auckland league competition drew big crowds to the old Carlaw Park. Sides like Te Atatu were big. Now look at the domestic league competition outside the Warriors, it's a shadow of its former self. I've had this confirmed by a local league follower fyi.

You've hit the nail on the head Tegal. Just look at the steady decline of TW.

Smithy on next on radio sport to talk crowds

http://www.iheart.com/live/Radio-Sport-6194/?autoplay=true

Novelty of the new league. Same thing happened with Phoenix crowds, high in the first season and then steadily dropped off.

Plus a lot more clubs were involved in TW at that stage.

I'm not denying interest in the ASBP has declined across the board after the initial heady rush. But three sides ACFC, Canterbury and Hawkes Bay have held reasonably steady with crowds of 400-800. The two sides who have really dropped away in terms of local interest are TW and Waitakere (despite their title wins). I mean both now play in below par facilities and draw less than 200 fans.

I think it's no coincident that ACFC, CU and HBU have good facilities, no A League competition, and decent organizations and are still an attractive prospect.

If TW was the only summer game in town I'm sure it would attract a lot more local attention and support.

There is no way that David Farrington Park can be classed as as "below par".

It's pretty annoying to get to though. 

Interesting the talk about the Warriors ruining the local league comp. IMHO the Warriors off the field illustrate what the Phoenix should be aspiring too. Solid supporter base with buy in from the media, good engagement with the community, and a production line of quality players coming through the under 20s set up.

I remember the League days when Wainui ruled the entire country.

It doesn't even have a covered stand, which is still a requirement under the old NZFC rules. 

I remember pre-Warriors when top local league sides would attract 3,000 - 4,000 to Carlaw Park. Now that competition doesn't even exist.

Now the warriors sell out mt smart every 2nd week. And more kiwis are playing professionally than ever before. 

You're right, massive step backward. 

True, but if the Warriors ever fail then domestic league , as a shadow of its former self, can't step back up to replace it.

If we put all our eggs in the A League basket and neglect our domestic national league, then we run that danger in football. Gareth Morgan is even talking of investing in an Auckland A League franchise. That would be the end of ACFC and the summer national league and we'd just be left with the winter club competition which could not step up structurally or financially should the A League involvement hit a brick wall. Personally I don't trust the Australians on this because they are putting unfair obstacles in the way of the Phoenix as it is. They are not going to encourage two fully professional NZ sides and could pull the rug out one day. We have to keep a robust national league going in NZ in case that ever happens.

One option I see, that could balance both needs, is for the Phoenix to become a NZ franchise, rather than Wellington. I know this will outrage ardent Wellington supporters but think about this. If the Phoenix play say two games in Christchurch, three in Auckland and the rest in Wellington, then crowds will be bigger by sheer local interest. In playing only a few games in either Auckland or CHCH the Phoenix will not suck up all the attention and money away from ACFC and CU, key ASBP sides. The Wellington supporters will get half a dozen home games a season and the side could be based there. I know regular supporters like to have regular games but the Wellington base is stuck in the 5,000 - 7,000 bracket which means Welnix is losing a lot of money each season playing most home games in Wellington. This option would make the chances of breaking even more viable. If the Phoenix make the playoffs then it could be split between Wellington and Auckland. This would at least allow the ASBP to soldier on. Having two NZ A League sides won't. We could simply continue as we are but that means Welnix and Morgan must be prepared to lose a lot of money each year, unless they hit the playoff jackpot.

It's vital that a robust summer national league keeps going for the sake of NZ football in case the Phoenix ever lose their license or fail. But it's a difficult balancing act. We can't even rely on Fifa keeping the Club World Cup going in the long term, especially after Blatter goes. Without the O League qualification honeypot I don't think the ASBP is financially viable for most franchises.

Personally I'd prefer if all this money poured into having a NZ A League franchise was spent on the domestic national league. Then it would be a robust semi-pro competition across the country, not dependent on the whims of the Australian football authorities.

By the same logic, if we only had the ASBP and that failed, then there would literally be nothing to replace it. 

IMO the ASBP is failing. While the A-League is very much succeeding.

Not for the top three ASBP sides - ACFC, CU and HBU. But you're right when it comes to the others unfortunately.

Gareth Morgan is offering $millions to revitalize NZ football and is talking of an Auckland A League franchise. Well, Gareth, if you're reading this - then why not simply invest big time in the existing ASBP as well as the Phoenix? It could be either spread out evenly or as prizemoney or half and half. A $1 million a season investment would reap a good reward for the development of NZ football. With South Auckland coming on board there's great potential in the ASBP. It would level the financial playing field and enable all franchises to seriously compete, which would in turn provide a great feeder base for the best NZ players going to the Nix.

Yes, but it wouldn't be across the season. ACFC and CU could still get enough oxygen.

So instead of once a season, you are advacating for 2 or 3 times a season.