How do we get people to games?

You don’t have to devote a lot of time, energy or money to trying to tap into those markets flyers, posters at the backpackers and Vic Uni. No organised appearances by players or whatever that take considerable time organising. Then just get some kid on a volunteer secondment to do some social media stuff. If it works after a couple games continue, if not bin it. 

Game in Medellin I went to had backpacker groups doted all over the place. But yes attending a football game is sort of on the South American tourist bucket list, so for sure different. But if you have a great fun atmosphere with colour and noise, will be surprising who you attract. Aim to attract many folks who may have never been to a football game before, and will be entertained as much by what as happening off the pitch as on it. Nothing wrong with that. Need more than just an imitation of a lower league English game - great job that YF do.

Real pity Waiheke FC crowd are not in Welly, they would bring some real colour to the ROF and be an attraction in themselves.

Next time Nix play in the City of Sails, they should wire 40 free tickets to Waiheke.

Talking of foreign students we could also look as far as Masey in Palmerston North for this. Get 4 in a car and the petrol isn't that expensive. We had a friend from Brazil who lived there and he came down by himself for the two seasons he was there. So people are willing to travel although some game times make this difficult.

It's a real pity there ain't many latinos in NZ, students or otherwise - they bring a great energy to watching sport, add a lot of colour and can be an attraction to watch in themselves (esp if the game itself is a bore) cue Waiheke FC.

There's probably a group of them up there at Vic Uni that could be put together, but they would need to be made to feel welcome (asado BBQ & mate on the concourse?) - plus of course having a latino player in Nix squad as a focal point would be useful.

Yes the tennis in Auckland was best when it had the latino fans coming to see their guys play in the early to mid 00s and I imagine the Nix could get something similar if they had big enough numbers of them and a player in the side.

Second this to getting the club more active on Snapchat. Take Richmond for example in the AFL - active on the club Snapchat - players use it for the day to show a usual training day mid week, then club staff use it on game days to show more behind the scenes etc. If the club could keep a constant presence on Snapchat to give more of a look behind the curtains, will certainly gain more of a connection with fans.

What do the biggest HAL clubs have? 

Derbies.

People will pay to watch a team they despise hopefully lose to their home team. Why does Floyd Mayweather make so much $$ from PPV's? People will pay to hopefully see him lose (of which he never does, so the general audience pays again to hopefully see him lose next time, but alas, he never did).

Hype a transtasman fixture up as the glamour transtasman derby. Hype the footballing rivalry and "hate" - really get the YF crowds going on game day, build it up through coach and players in media interviews all week leading up to the game. Look at Collingwood vs Carlton in the AFL - two teams that absolutely hate each others guts, their fans hate one another, which just leads to more passion on the field and in the stands on game day.

Nearly everything is worth a go, but think this will only happen if there is a real villian in the other team. Say when Muscat was at Victory. Otherwise will just be too manufactured to appeal to many, esp casual fans. 

Collingwood & Carlton are in the same city, and have had a 100 years to despise each other, including various grand final wins/losses, rich history of stealing players etc etc. A full on genuine rivalry.

Of course if Auckland had an A League team......

Can we mimic the Z 'good in the hood' promotion?

Only able to vote at the stadium for a kids team you think would be worthy of a prize from the Nix - training sessions with the players, gear etc?

That'll get those teams/clubs pushing their network to get to the game and vote for them. 

One of the best yet in my humble opinion

That's if there were fans to view it in the first place. But agreed, the more social medias you tap into the better it is to connect with Gen Y-Millennials.

To help get the connection with club footballers going, create some Nix/clubs goodwill, and see if we can generate some ongoing support from the Wellington footballing community:

Offer Clubs a single fund raising match.  Club given x seats at one nominated game to sell at $5($10?), 2 kids accompanied by an adult go free, all takings, less any ticketing costs to Nix, for fund raising for the club.  Offer them their own bay, invite them to wear their club or Nix colours.  Invite them to come back.  Have some of the 'Nix players and academy kids turn up in their bay pre-game.  Do it each week for a different club/clubs.

Maybe offer a discount season ticket deal for new members if taken up within a week of the game (and include the pick six or a special deal pick three and other reduced number of games packages)..

p.s. if you offer them a limted number of seats only, then this is more likely to be kept in club and not just sold to out of club mates canabilising normal ticket sales.  and ask for club's co-operation to keep it within the club, in exchange for the fund raising offer.

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To build relationships with women/families, and help build the target family audience, do a similar thing for women only:

For the opening game of the season (NZ Women's Suffrage Day is 19th Sept) offer free tickets for women, with accompanied up to 2 kids also free and set them up in the centre three bays on the opposite side of the field.  Plus make a big deal of it with women's football teams doing the honour gaurd for the teams coming onto the field, delivering the match ball, and maybe have ex/current NZ womens reps do an appearance and be acknowledged pre-game, announcements re Suffrage Day and welcoming the women in the crowd.

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And cut some of the freebies going around. I have had quite a few people tell me they'd never pay for a Nix game, cause they could always get tickets free.

Give me 100 phone numbers and I'll ring them for free to try and persuade them back. If the club doesn't have the resources, let's help them out. What have we got to lose? A couple of hours? 

Does the club have a database of all previous member's email addresses? Do they have the email addresses of all those that have bought tickets online in the past?

I guess the answer to this is unknown at the moment.

Assuming they do - use those emails and create a Facebook / Insta audience with them. Get a few videos done of individual players on camera for 20 - 30 seconds saying something along the lines of 'hey, we'd like to see you back at a Phoenix game. We've done x y z to improve and we need your support for a b c reasons.' Possibly give them an incentive on match day tickets / membership as the hook (perhaps a small discount or piece of merch or other).

For those we don't have email addresses for, do similar but change up the message to suit the audience.  

Shouldn't take too long to create the videos and cost to run FB ads is fairly low - especially when compared to billboards. It's not as personal as phoning everyone individually but it's a lot more cost effective. 

I think we need to get away from the idea of just giving tickets away for free / massive discounts. People tend to being to expect that and won't go otherwise. If needed, a discount strategy of, e.g. a 'buy one get one 50%' could be a much more sustainable idea (and incentivises people to bring a friend/partner).

Firstly - they have to treat the existing members with some respect.  I dont live local (infact I dont even live in NZ) but I have been a member for a number of seasons.  This last season I had to chase up my own membership pack,  I know that there are most likely not alot of overseas members but surely they can get that part right.

Treat the members with respect,  they will then get friends/family to come along to the games

Player of the Day tickets to all junior teams - as someone said earlier these can be for the upcoming season.  

Promotion at all the local clubs (not just football,  get the club involved with the other sports too,  netball has a huge following)

I'd suggest being more aggressive in getting positive and human interest stories into the media. If stories are being fed to the media consistently, enough will get past the rugby filter, and keep the Nix in people's faces. (TBH, I think this is as much an issue for NZF/Handy Prem, as it is for the Nix). 

The club could make more noise about the community activities they do, and of upcoming milestone games (player X's 50th/100th match, Krishna equalling Ifill's scoring record), or even look at getting a Phoenix player on the cover of Women's Weekly.

I personally wouldn't read want to read about Dura's new love nest, or give a toss who's lounge Alex Rufer is eating KFC in, but it's about creating a profile for the club, and making the players household names and recognisable. At the moment the club's name is about the only familiar part of the brand.

Off-season appearances on game shows, cameos on Shortland Street (a la Henry Tamariki)? Mid-season ones current affairs shows?

The club is lucky to have football-loving mainstream media journos like Piney & Liam Hyslop on their doorstep, & should be using them 9and others) to get the club's profile out there.

What about a campaign around "come and I see the best Indian football player on the planet".

Okay taking a few liberties, but what marketing strategy doesn't contain the odd half truth!

He's gonna be a good un. Nix fans enjoy him why you can.

What about a designated 'Singh' zone, with a big banner of Sapreet supplied by the Nix. 

An attempt to make the Indian community in Wellington welcome to Nix games, where they can wave any flags, play traditional instruments or whatever. Everything to make them feel welcome and embrace the fact that one of their own, is going to be a big NZ sporting success, and he's not a cricketer!!

FFA has banned national flags from matches

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, Tracey will collate your suggestions for the Nix.