Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA (Part 2)

Some interesting answers from Rob and mostly good to hear.

Q – Will the name change to the NZ Phoenix?

A – The context behind this was that we need a wider NZ presense to connect with a market of 4.5m people. We perform well relatively to the Wellington population but we need to increase our share in NZ in relative terms. The Board is not a fan of more away games as the supporter base in Wellington is very important and passionate, along with the support from WCC. Changing the name of the Club won’t change the public’s level of connection to the Club, we need to try to increase the connection through increasing Sky coverage to engage with a bigger audience. If it was a deal breaker though, Welnix would prefer a football club to no football club. Audience suggestions of names: NZ Wellington Phoenix or Phoenix FC NZ.

How about Wellingtonz Phoenix FC?

and make the z 1 pt font.

No.

Wow! That means there are three of us...

Tell him to get his Yiddo chuff over to the the RoF otherwise I'll go all 'Arry on him. (#notaFaackingwheelerdealer).

Seems to me there is no easy fix,while its easy for some of you to discard sky and go to streaming. I would guess there are quite a few like me who have no idea how to even start doing that and dont have the setup to do it any way.We also cant discard sky easily as there are others in the house who use sky to watch other things. In some households budget constraints would dictate how much than pay to stream this and that.

The only way i get my EPL fix is through sky so either way im not about to get rid of it any time soon

lightbox + FTA would be the way to go I imagine. 

If it's not through sky that is. 

- either free (https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/18736/5-best-free-vpn...
- or a small charge e.g. :( UnBlock :https://www.unblock-us.com/vpn-setup/
2. Buy Chromecast ($60) - can broadcast from phone/laptop to a decent sized screen 
3. Stream away

Good advice but always go paid VPN.

https://www.3news.co.nz/sport/ffa-still-cagey-over-...

Bloody hell Gallop is an arrogant cod

"they're a club in another country and that's not done very often, if at all, in world football"

Actually, it's done quite often in world football. What isn't done at all in world football is a financially stable, well run club being folded. 

Cardiff, Swansea, EPL.

Canadian Teams in MLS

Berwick Rangers

That singaporean team in the Malaysian league, That Liechtenstein Team in the Swiss league, Monaco in the French league...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_association_...

What's also done quite often in football (and other sports) is that leagues are run independently of the governing body, but you won't hear Frank spouting off about that.

Something else Frank is also conveniently ignoring is that there isn't a professional club in the world (especially in Europe) that would turn down the opportunity to play in another country's league if there was money to be made. Celtic and Rangers would join the EPL without a second thought. Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich etc would form a European Super League tomorrow if they could. Clubs are professional organisations, many of them are now on the stock market, so they don't give a flying fudge about national sovereignty. Not that I'm saying that's always a good thing (in fact, a purely commercial view like that is often at the expense of fans) but Frank's in la la land if he's trying to paint the Phoenix as some really weird anomaly. The fact is, we already have what a lot of pro clubs would love to have - access to a bigger market - and I predict that over time we will start to see more movement in that direction around the world. Just look at the way the UEFA Champions League has expanded in recent times. But that's the essence of the problem for Frank and the FFA (and many other national associations) - keeping the clubs firmly corralled within their own little nest, so that they can keep control over the money.

That list is also missing French Polynesian clubs, French Carribean clubs, Renuion, etc. playing in the French Cup even though they are individual nations in other confederations.

Would love some mainstream investigative journo to have a gander at Shirley Bright and this thread and write a balanced article on all the FFA announcements and required metrics and then the comparison with other A-League clubs or how other leagues in the world are run.

Celtic and Rangers joining the EPL being openly discussed in the UK as recently as 6 weeks ago: Celtic and Rangers will join English top flight in next decade

And UEFA also open to the idea (from 2014): Celtic look towards Premier League as UEFA secretary opens floor to discussions

What's driving it all? TV money of course. Which does bring us back to the question of whether the Phoenix are pulling their weight in that respect in the A-League. Fair enough question but a totally different one to whether playing in another country's league should be seen as problematic. Just more fire and brimstone from Frank to justify his shakedown of the Nix, NZF and Sky.

You would think Frank and the FFA might actually want to take credit for pioneering something that is in many ways world-leading rather take a dump on it for the sake of a few more $.

If they literally just came out saying, the Phoenix don't bring in enough money.  We measured it, we shared that with the WelNix, they have tried their hardest to hit the targets and missed, Id be gutted but you'd have to accept it.

But the BS excuses just suck and make the FFA look foolish.

That's why I think we are in trouble, they sound like idiots. They always accuse us with shark arguments. They cut us if we don't bring the money, they are not all interested in us on any emotional level because we are NZ.

Steven (son of Frank Lowy) has to create something bigger, better. My guess they are just waiting for another club to be in place, all our player will get jobs at the new club, what else should they do?

We all know the right plan. FFA should get out of the A-League and the new guys expand with two more teams. One from NZ and another Aussie team. Football in NZ would have a real derby and be more popular than ever = $$

Shirley Bright is my absolute hero, just dropping truth bomb after truth bomb

Oh yes.  I have seriously considered offering to have Shirley's babies.  Even if he is a man the offer still stands.

Can we print some limited-run YF tee-shirts? 

"Je suis Shirley Bright"

They are.

They're aussies.

Can I ask a genuine question

Of those people who currently use free streaming sites to watch A-League games - if the rights were picked up by a company that offered a service like Premier League Pass for A-League, for a simular price to what they charge for PLP would you:

a) subscribe and watch your A-League fix through them

b) continue to free stream

I am genuinely curious as to the motivation behind those who free stream.

I wonder how much has changed since 2012?

https://www.theroar.com.au/2012/02/24/a-league-club...

"The Crawford Report long ago demanded that the A-League should be run independently of the FFA and, crucially, collaborate to collectively exploit the game’s key commercial assets, backed up by the more recent Smith Report. But this is where direct comparisons with the AFL and NRL’s independent commissions are difficult and the FFA needs to retain an element of control.

The AFL and NRL don’t have multiple national teams playing in major senior, junior competitions across both sexes. The A-League needs to be married to the Socceroos to some extent to feed off their commercial success – to a far greater extent than in England where the English Premier League can stand on its own independently given its financial might relative to the A-League.

Only the FFA can help do that and provide some middle ground between the national team and league, so club owners, who require some representation and meaningful role in A-League governance, are not left totally to their own devices yet can feed off the game’s most valuable asset – its national team."

Possibly this is also where the interests of the A-League and FFA part ways. The league needs to have financially solid clubs fielding decent teams playing interesting football that is seen by a lot of people. They should not care if The Nix is across the ditch unless they are also bothered by travelling to Perth. And a league needs to have a broadcasting deal that needs to allow an income from Nix games, here or there.

A good commercial feed should be better quality than a free (pirated) stream.  If it is just the A-League than I would pay for it, as I am not interested in much else on Sky. However, I can already use a good VPN and pay for the subscription service (that normally excludes / geoblocks Australia and New Zealand).

ok good point - so another option would be:

c) continue to subscribe to an overseas paid streaming site

I have no problem to pay for it. I think the FanPass is very good image quality, I buy a weekly pass for the next two Nix Games and stream via iPhone to my TV. Works great. Not that cheap but I ditched the Sky, still cheaper.

Yes - I'd pay and stop streaming. Maybe not the PLP rate for the A-League though. One of the key features I want is on-demand so I can timeshift my tv watching.

I think both Tegal and Jono have hit the nail on the head on this topic in the past. Most of a Sky subscription would be a waste to me. I don't mind supporting a dedicated football content provider as that is all of the content that I am interested in. I was going to pay for the US based foxsoccer2go but they ditched A-League this year and Sling doesn't support my operating system. Other than A-League (and now the ASBP) I wouldn't watch much on Sky.

Is the A-League on FanPass???

Edit: oh... The Sky Sports channels are on FanPass.

My points above still apply in this case.

More amusing yet conscious-shockingly home truths from Shirley Bright.  

Brisbanite it seems.  Huge Rezpek

Shriley Bright = Nick Meredith.

He's been fooling us this whole time.

Also recommend Getflix and I signed up for this deal:

https://stacksocial.com/sales/getflix-lifetime?rid=2374289

$39US for a "lifetime membership" which when you sign up is 30 years. So basically you're paying the amount for 1 year up front for a 30 year membership. It says ending in 5 days but really it's been going since September and when it expires it keeps getting renewed for another week so you don't need to rush into it. Give the free trial a go to test it out.

Luv how ppl are posting in the FFA/SaveDaNix thread how to watch the Nix without making a contribution to our fully sick mektrix. 

Much Lolz.

To be fair, the only other way is to pay like $300 min a year and get Sky.

Stream because I'm in Auckland & don't have sky. Would happily pay to stream, same goes for cricket which is the other sport I watch regularly.

Wouldn't watching the Nix via other means like legal foreign sites contribute to metrics?  Also if they buy an away membership wouldnt they also be contributing to metrics?