Why? Look at the crowd at the cricket today, and that's with India playing (and only ODI in Wellington this summer).
It's a part of much deeper pattern, and a lot of people here are looking at the crowd issue too narrowly (i.e. seeing it as a Phoenix problem rather than a cross-code problem).
Absolutely, absolutely, but in the past there were a lot more reasons to say why people weren't turning up. Football wasn't good, team weren't doing great, tickets were quite expensive - all of those have been to a certain extent improved. So the reality is people just aren't going without really having much of a reason, other than they don't want to. Which I think is a bit of a problem
Clearly it's a problem for sporting codes around the country, and I don't think that anyone has really got to the bottom of the problem. I think that's primarily because it's a multifaceted problem, with no magic cure (the kind of which you often see mentioned here - start winning, and crowds will turn up). To a point that is true - but not by as much as gets suggested.
But I think issues such as changes in lifestyle and spending habits, and constant accessibility of live sport on television practically 24/7, have had a massive impact, but aren't really well understood at this point (both by fans, but even more importantly, the clubs and franchises). A study of these issues (and especially the pattern as it's progressed over the past 20 years) is well overdue.
I think there is a general feeling of attendance in NZ at sporting events being "event" driven. People go for a final,or a big game, or a one off game. And that works for most sport in NZ - cricket one or two games per year in each city. Sevens. Rugby, only AB tests really get good attendances, again one or two per year in a city - maybe a final or a semi final as well. NPC attendance is pathetic. International netball the same. People don't see sport attendance as a week to week thing. Partly that's driven by the structure of the competitions - all regular games are just build ups for the "finals" rather than important games in their own right.
But I think with the Phoenix that's exacerbated by taking games away. The home season seems to have absolutely no rhythm this year - there's no narrative for people to follow. If you commit to following a team you want to know that every second weekend you get to watch them!
You're right that it's not just one thing. I personally don't think that crowds will suddenly come flooding back if we're winning. I suppose it comes back to the reality, this is just entertainment - do people consider it good entertainment at the price they charge?
"Phoenix till they lose"