Crowds - The thread of Australian whining

or even just adults who don't want to be out that late on a Sunday night. Any entertainment provider is quiet that late on a Sunday. I know that Monday's aside it is the quietest night of the week for a cinema, for example. Also many other places close early because nobody goes out. We got 7800 which is bloody good for 7pm on a Sunday, you seem to be expecting us to get 10k, which is unrealistic. 

Public transport back to the Hutt valley is also awful after the game that late on a Sunday. There is a 930 bus which people can rush for which goes to Eastbourne via queensgate. But if you don't live along that particular route (or the train route) you're screwed as there are no other connecting buses. I know of people in Tawa who don't attend for that reason. 

Having to rush back home after the game is also no fun for a lot of people. I personally hate Sunday 7pm kickoffs for that reason. 

It's a time that is less suited to a lot more people for many different reasons. Much in the same way 2am on a Monday would be even more unsuitable for a lot more people. It really isn't a hard concept to understand. 

Sorry Royz but unless you have young kids yourself you are just not in a position to argue with hundreds (rather than thousands) of family poeple who need to weigh up Sunday night entertainment against a working week routine that for many starts not with a Monday morning alarm clock but with a Sunday night downtime.  

It is much easier for me now, with twenty year old children, to have a late Sunday night. I don't need to get out of bed till 7am on Mondays. When my kids were school age I would not have considered making a trip home from a football game around 9pm especially a trip of more than 30 min, as we all had to get up at 6:30am on Monday.

I am sure you are right that many supporters still decided to attend on Sunday night with young kids. However, if the game was scheduled earlier on Sunday, or on a Friday or Saturday night, we might have had 10-11K instead of just under 8K in attendance.

So you aren't in Sydney? Because if you are, you have pretty good eyesight to spot who was at the game on Sunday.

So this. 

Good example: one of mine would be fine for a late game - she would take it like a champ, be fully into it, then crash out big time in the car on the way home, no problems. However another one of mine would be an absolute nightmare. She gets to that over-tired point and just goes into full meltdown mode, kicking and screaming, just nuts about every little thing "NO DAD I said put my chips and lemonade on THIS side of my seat!" - which then turns into a lecture from me about talking nicely to people, which turns into a worse meltdown and an automatic 'time-out' (not possible at the stadium), and usually doesn't resolve itself completely until she actually goes to bed. I would never dream of taking that one to a game that finishes after 7pm. 

Anyone know just how many games in Aus have had 7 pm kick-offs (local time) on a Sunday night, and what the effect on crowds has been? Any Aussie I've spoken to on the subject has been of the opinion that it's complete lunacy to have A League games kicking off at 7 on a Sunday.

And, for the record, I wouldn't take my little fella to the game at Eden Park on a SATURDAY night because the kick-off time was 7.15. Kids, eh!

I guess I would just be interested to find out when the perfect time for a game is. You go to the start of this thread and plenty complained when all our games were 5pm on Sunday.

Dome has consistently said they prefer 3pm games. But know they won't get them.

I think that was actually the best time. I did some figures a while back (less games then, so data was a bit patchy). Maybe someone could dig that thread out. Been thinking about updating it now that the discussion has come up again. 

People are doing stuff during the day on the weekend. I wouldn't have thought that 3pm is a good time, especially if kids are playing cricket, people are having bbq's, going to the beach, etc.

that's a bit simplistic as no clubs (including owners and fans) = no tv deal. So they do have to give a little in terms of kickoff times. But for the most part, yes TV will always get a large say in kickoff times. I don't think 7pm Sunday finds that balance between give and take, it's such an awful time to impose on a club (and its fans). 

petal

I turned up. But whatever. Go ahead and say people should turn up no matter what the time if it makes you feel like a superior fan. 

If 2am NZT was a better time for tv would you still be saying "petal"? Because if you accept that is a bad time, then you should also accept that 7pm Sunday is a bad time for a lot of people too. 

Yep and I think that is an example of a bit of give on fox/FFAs part in accepting that 7pm sunday is a bad kickoff time to burden the Phoenix with. Give and take. 

There are sacrifices being in a Aus comp. There are two games at this time, that's not a lot.

There's generally only one game on a Sunday so execs would want it on primetime, or closest to.

The perfect time for a game is 7-7:30PM on a Friday or Saturday night.

Its accepted you have to get lumped with a few Sunday's etc.  And that's fine but last year we seemed to have way more than average, hence the bitching.

For the kids game to promote families through the gate though 3PM on a Sunday seems fine.  

interestingly when I last checked our Friday night games were amongst the worst attended kickoff times. 

Oh really? Shark.  I thought those were the best, but maybe I was just drunker.

hoping I'm not wrong about that, but do remember it surprising me. Turns out I did attendance based on month in relation to last result rather than kickoff time. Am sure someone did it though, 2ndbest maybe?

This. I don't come in here to read facts. This place is built on conspiracy theories, ridiculous rumours and complete idiocy. It's what we rely on.

Facts? Not even once!

I understand the argument "there's an excuse for every timeslot" to some degree but it does seem there is a consensus that Sundays at 7pm is a bit sh*t. 

For kids it has to be a 3pm or 5pm kick-off surely, on a saturday or sunday.

As for the rest of the games, personally I always enjoyed the 7 or 7.30pm kickoffs on a Friday or Saturday night. Especially Friday - everyone's a bit merrier having been on the lash since work finished - when I used to hang in the zone the chanting would be noticeably louder on friday nights...

yeah I got that. Need to catch up on last 6 months though.

over 50% of Nix's crowds are families. So if you assume that most non-families have more flexibility over when they can attend, you can see why the Nix want family friendly times. Helps to build a next generation of fan too.

Sunday 7pm is just not ideal for any segment of the local market, despite it being a good time for TV. Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm might suck for families too but at least they suit some people - those who want to drink and get raucous. Sunday afternoons suit families but not the drinking raucous types as much. Sunday evenings suck for everyone

I still remember the game Phoenix played on a Sunday night, away in Perth. I doubt SKY got many viewers in New Zealand for a game that finished well after midnight on Monday morning.

so what time can they play at where it won't be an excuse again? genuine question

There will always be excuses for different people at different times. Likewise, some times will suit some people and won't be any good for others. For example, During the day on a weekday would work better for me as then I wouldn't need to take a night off work to attend on a weekend, but then most people wouldn't be able to attend because they'd be at work. 

It's not about making excuses to not attend games, it's appreciating the fact that people have lives outside of the Phoenix, and certain kickoff times are clearly inconvenient for a majority of those people, resulting in lower crowds. 

As people said above, Saturday 7pm is inconvenient for some families (though not as many because it's not a school night unlike Sunday) but really suits those looking to make a big night out of it. 7pm on Sunday is bad for a wider range of people. It's not an all or nothing proposition. 

At the end of the day, we still got 7800 which considering the kickoff time and all the factors working against us having any sort of crowd, was a very impressive effort. I was expecting 6000. 

You can also then take a wider approach to looking at the figure (As Kyle did earlier) and compare the crowd/s to the rest of the league. Where we do very well considering the 'lesser' kickoff times we get lumped with, our smaller population, lack of derbies etc. we are 2nd in attendance per capita. 

We are still arguing over whether it was a decent crowd or not? Bloody hell.

As a matter of interest is anyone aware if any of the clubs in Aussie have a 7pm kickoff on a Sunday as a regular time slot. Yes im aware 7 here is mostly 5 or earlier over there.Im aware they use it on a Friday and Saturday but think Perth might be the only ones who have used it on a Sunday.

They generally have Perth play at 5pm on Sunday, which is 7pm eastern. So generally no games at 7 on the east coast.

If you are holding a special promotion to attract Mormons, you don't hold that promotion on a Sunday do you? Likewise if you holf a promotion for kids, it needs to be at a time that suits kids [or the parents that would be bringing them]