Crowds - The thread of Australian whining

I'm sure a rounding chorus of "Hurricanes, Hurricanes" and the Petone Nimbys will sort it all out.

Although obvious it's interesting to see the Rugby guys in the comments complaining word for word about what we complain about which is basically the cost of food and drinks really.

You mean my complaints over the years may actually be accurate regarding the food and drink.

What? That Nixie should go over to your seating block and hand out prizes? :)

Shane Harmon - if you are reading, I am sorry to say that Boundary Road and Speights Triple Hop are not craft beer, therefore the beer choice issue at the stadium is still not rectified.

I usually go to a handful of Hurricanes games but I've not been to a single one this season. Can't put my finger on why really, but there's certainly nothing about the stadium 'experience' that I feel like I'm missing out on.

I went to the Canes vs Highlanders, that loss a few weeks back, I forgot how feral, moronic and scruffy rugby supporters are. Grown men wrestling each other in singlets/stubby shorts/work boots/flat peak NBA hats. My GF wants to go to the next game again too ... sigh 

The hirer decides what is served. I'm sure Shane would love to serve a better variety but that isn't up to him.

craft beer drinkers are the hipsters of beer drinking. Beer is too mainstream if its done by a main brewery, even if its called craft beer. 

Kiwi Craft beer is wanky overpriced IPA. However it is usually wanky overpriced IPA with slightly less sugar in it than other mainstream kiwi beers. 

There is nowhere near the diversity of ales over here that there should be. Mind you the different ciders coming along are quite nice.

Let's have a heated debate!

should get garage project to do some special nix brews.

Tegal, if the mainstream tasted like any of the craft brewery stuff, I'd be happy to drink it. Alas, it does not, and all these pretend craft beers by the big breweries are just that - pretend.

As for "the hirer decides". Shane Harmon is the Chief Executive Officer of the stadium. He can change this.

Napier, if you are actually in Napier, I'm not sure how you'd know anything about the craft beer scene in Wellington that enables you to make such sweeping generalisations?

From talking with Shane, it sounds like "The Hirer decides" is a clause that is put in all the stadium lease contracts, and mostly because the users of the stadium have partnerships with these breweries. Shane would prefer to have a wider range of beers available at all times, but can't just break contract to do it.

Perhaps Mr Dome should be the one we are asking the question then? I wonder how much we really make out of an exclusive deal with Tui?

I imagine its more of a savings thing than a money making thing. Though yeah essentially the same thing. 

Its a decent question to ask, especially since we can't take money from alcohol sponsorship, I imagine the benefit to be fairly limited.

Weigh the cost savings vs money (and intangibles) gained through extra fan enjoyment. Reckon it'd be a close enough thing to consider opening up a better range.  

Lol, I can tell you this though - I was a cellarman/barman for some time in London and often used to hear these twats say" I only drink here because you serve the best real ale in the West End". They would of shit themselves if they knew what I was doing to it int he cellar [nothing rude]. It just showed me what a pretentous bunch of prats they were. Same with wine snobs. FFS, why on earth do you need a craft beer at the football? or a gourmet burger for that matter? If it upsets you so much, don't eat and don't drink while at the game. You'd all rather the caterers cook food that bugger all people will eat and stock beer that bugger all people will drink.

I do agree a bit of variety couldn't hurt though. At least in the mezz or pavilion bar. 

Most pubs get 100s of owople through and stock a variety, the stadium gets 1000s and only stocks one. Doesn't make too much sense you have to admit. 

But then people don't go to the stadium primarily to drink beer. So somewhere between the 1 beer they currently stock and less than what a pub stocks. 

Much like food trucks let the local breweries sell from their own stalls if they want.

Guys you can now get at Westpac any beer you want, just heard it. You can buy any beer you want so long as it comes in a Tui plastic micro miniture bottle for $8.00.

That's good news, you can't normally get beer in a tui can.

*Ba-dom tish*

just for you.

But Napier, I don't eat or drink in the stadium right now for the very reasons I'm talking about.

I still go to Phoenix games as I'm a diehard football fan and type of beer won't stop me going (however it would be NICE to get a decent beer).

However, when it comes to rugby where I'm more of a casual fan, I've stopped going altogether now because I'm not a diehard fan AND I can't even get a decent beer at the stadium, so I just stay home or go to the pub instead.

You can say it's pretentious all you want (I've been there and done it myself) but I want a craft beer because it's infinitely better than Tui / Speights / Macs etc!

The price point doesn't help either, what is it now, $8? Perhaps if it was $5-$6 for the rubbishy plastic bottle of Tui I might even buy a couple and suffer through it! No way I'm paying $8 for 330ml of that rubbish though.

Not sure how we can all want beer that nobody would drink when we are all saying we want to drink it either??

Bring back Lion Red, Lion Brown, Leopard lager and DB. It'll be one way to encourage people not to drink at all.

At least there's no shortage of a good whine.

Leopard Lager - NOW you're talking.....

DB Waitemata !!!

With the Nix testing out PPV for the Football United tour, it got me pondering this. Do you think crowd numbers would be boosted if live coverage of home games were only available via PPV? Away games still shown live and delayed coverage of Home games without a paywall.

I think every sport would have to do it to have any significant impact. Most people would just give up on the nix and watch another sport instead. 

You'd lose more in tv rights than you'd gain in benefits from added attendance. 

It would have the reverse effect and reduce the interest in the Nix.

I guess its kind of like the American system where in some sports if the ticket sales aren't good enough in the city the game is in then its not shown there

I'd be all for that. But it'd have to apply to all sports, otherwise it wouldn't work. 

I don't see that happening unless the government intervened and made it law, which won't happen either. 

To small a market too. In the states it works because if you dont show it in Detroit you still have the other major markets which can see it live. Here we cant just switch off wellington

Are you sure about that? I would suggest its probably available to SKY, technically via subscriber address details and/or geo-location data of set top boxes or some such thing.

The problem will be the majority of the Sky viewing audience will be Wellington based.(Love to have access to THOSE stats!) and Sky won't want that happening.Maybe those locals with a mild interest in the Nix watch from habit now but can't be arsed actually going..with the multi excuses for not going listed in pages above.

Does the Nix management have stats of people interested in WP in the Wellington region, indicating levels of interest and reasons for going/not going? What other considerations are there?i.e.Would there be a financial impact from ad views marketing lost without live coverage in the Wellington region, for instance?

Be a balsy call, but if the FFA and Nix said to Sky at a date in the future this is what's happening and trialled the concept I'd be for it.

The success or otherwise of local blocking of live games on Sky would depend on what other measures the Nix use to maximise attendance too. It would need to be part of a concerted campaign.

other sports like rugby would also have to get involved. Otherwise people will just give up on the nix and watch the rugby or whatever instead. 

Its a nice idea in theory, but without government intervention to make it a blanket law for every sport, its not going to happen. 

Plus it'd make the tv rights worth a lot less. Which means the nix become less attractive to sky, and to the FFA. 

I spoke to four different people at work today about the Nix. I did have my stripey on... but nevertheless I detected a heightened level of interest. These were non hard core Phoenix/football fans. They had picked up on the fact that something was bublling away with the Phoenix and they might be exciting to watch this season. There questions were along the lines of "So, are they really looking as good as people are saying?"

Allegedly 2880 at the Lions v Turbos game.