I think your saying it will go one way (people will have no choice but to go to the game,generations of supporters will be grown as a result) and I'm saying it will go the other ( bad publicity,casual fans becoming disinterested due to not being able to follow the team other than going to games which they may not be Ble to do for a number of reasons (or as I suggest,the nature of nz fans is that they're casual).)
It can go either way and the only real way to know for sure is to actually do it.
I think the determining factor is sky however. Cutting the major market for the Phoenix isn't exactly going to make them want to show the nix or the a league,the brand simply isn't that strong and we don't have the population(or current viewer numbers) to make it worth risking a go at it.
I think they should try it for all blacks games perhaps,then sawed what sort of reaction it gets. But again,all blacks games bring big viewer numbers (and therefore advertising) for sky,so they'd want to be compensated for that big time.
No point doing it with All Blacks games as they nearly always sell out anyway.
Got to ask though, how important are 'supporters' that are sitting in front of their TV or in a bar watching home games when they live in Wellington? What are they contributing, and would we notice if they did become disinterested?
When people are not really too bothered about going to the game for whatever reason, the clincher is usually "well I can watch it on TV anyway...", whereas if they didn't have that option, their decision might well go the other way.
It seems to me that the fact every single game is live on TV helps to foster this casual attitude you speak of.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe_B5CzbTJo - Caceres winning penalty v Perth - footage from the Fever Zone
"Phoenix till they lose"
