The Travelling Circus - playing home games around NZ

The Wellingtonians amongst you won't like this but I think with the current 10 team 3 round structure 1 team in NZ format, of the 13 or 14 home games a season, only 9 games (one against each team) should be played in Wellington. The 4 or 5 instances where we have a second home game against a team should be taken out around the country.

Reasoning being to maximise revenue by making the product scarcer., after all who wants to see CCM, or NEW twice? If you want to see WSW or MV you'll only have one chance not two. Sure you lose a little in home ground advantage but with the exception of Auckland, it makes the road trip more demanding on the opposition with the extra flight involved.

With the Wellington home games, split them evenly being family friendly kick offs and corporate friendly kick offs.

To get more club and club player involvement with games, have someone in head office negotiate with the bus companies, and put package together where for each club there is a bus with 50 game tickets leaving from the club carpark. This can work for the senior teams having a night out, or Mum&Dad taking the under 12s, or the 13-18s being independent.

The draw doesn't work that way though, we're not going to be able to get favorable timing in all the stadiums and cities and play every team once in Wellington.

We're also playing four games outside of Wellington this season and we just got 5k people to the first one so that strategy isn't working so far.

Another point is the team is owned by Wellingtonians for Wellington, the traveling circus is a neccersary evil but the ultimate goal is to grow crowds and make it sustainable within this city, if the goal is to change then we'd first need to find new owners.

I think the team should experiment playing a game in one of the regional cities (like Tauranga, Rotorua, Nelson, etc) during the last week of December or first couple of weeks of January and get the holiday crowd, Wellington is pretty empty at that time of year anyway and not only would you get a lot of people who don't have much to do/families who need to entertain the kids/people in party mode, you also reach a diverse range of people who have congregated from around the country rather than just from the area you're in.

[/quote]I've read that a lot in this forum? how true is it really? We only need about 10,000 of the buggers anyway and supplement them with another couple of thousand from the regions. I also question the value of taking the team to holiday destinations - people don't go to holiday destinations to see a game of football, they'd rather stay on the beach or around the barbie surely?

I've read that a lot in this forum? how true is it really? We only need about 10,000 of the buggers anyway and supplement them with another couple of thousand from the regions. I also question the value of taking the team to holiday destinations - people don't go to holiday destinations to see a game of football, they'd rather stay on the beach or around the barbie surely?

I've read that a lot in this forum? how true is it really? We only need about 10,000 of the buggers anyway and supplement them with another couple of thousand from the regions. I also question the value of taking the team to holiday destinations - people don't go to holiday destinations to see a game of football, they'd rather stay on the beach or around the barbie surely?

Auckland is fudgeing great today. Love these home and away trips.

Auckland is fudgeing great today. Love these home and away trips.

I look forward to hearing the autopsy on the traveling circus from Doloras & Jeff Vader!

2014-15 when it looked like a very real possibility that we'd win it our average was 8.5k, the year before that when we finished 9th it was 8.2k, last year it was 8k.

I agree that winning will increase crowds, but it needs to be a team that's competitive over multiple seasons and that can only happen through sustainable development. You say if nothing happens, nothing happens, but we haven't yet seen the results of our investments in the academy system, it's only three years old.

Phoenix still would have had more profit (ie not $0) from that game than one at Westpac.

think this demonstrates that theses days playing football at mount smart is a no go.

Would like to see a game at western springs next time

Costs for games outside Wellington are underwritten by third parties,  so the Nix are actually able to make money on them.

The turnout was clearly in the 8-10k range. The 5702 figure is ludicrous. The ticketing system must have stuffed up.

The turnout was clearly in the 8-10k range. The 5702 figure is ludicrous. The ticketing system must have stuffed up.

Costs for games outside Wellington are underwritten by third parties,  so the Nix are actually able to make money on them.

A few seasons back, in a year when there were just 2 games outside Welly in Auckland and Christchurch, the Phoenix made more money in those two games than in the other 11 games of the season.

If you are looking for an autopsy to say 'you are right' you won't find it here. I'm sure you'll tell me it's poor marketing and I'm going to tell you (as others have more than a few times) that NZ sports fans are band wagoners. Win, and you have fans. Lose and you are dog food. At the moment, the Phoenix are not a winning team/brand and when you look across their 10 years, the facts tell you we have finished at the ass end of the table more often than not. People do not identify the Phoenix with winning but when they do get a good season, as has been shown, they get crowds.

Personally I am disappointed with the number considering the catchment size (your argument) and 10k should have been easily achievable. Why did they not get it - poor marketing? It's more likely cause in the minds of casual fans, the Phoenix are tagged as losers. The words my wife's friend said when we said we were going was 'Phoenix? Don't they suck eggs?'

What worries me a bit is this has for me a slight feel of the Kingz/Knights in that as the team keeps continuing to not get results, fans keep dwindling until what do you have left?

Phoenix still would have had more profit (ie not $0) from that game than one at Westpac.

CCC part funded some games here

I can't remember which ones but certainly Lancaster Park was used.

If you are looking for an autopsy to say 'you are right' you won't find it here. I'm sure you'll tell me it's poor marketing and I'm going to tell you (as others have more than a few times) that NZ sports fans are band wagoners. Win, and you have fans. Lose and you are dog food. At the moment, the Phoenix are not a winning team/brand and when you look across their 10 years, the facts tell you we have finished at the ass end of the table more often than not. People do not identify the Phoenix with winning but when they do get a good season, as has been shown, they get crowds.

Personally I am disappointed with the number considering the catchment size (your argument) and 10k should have been easily achievable. Why did they not get it - poor marketing? It's more likely cause in the minds of casual fans, the Phoenix are tagged as losers. The words my wife's friend said when we said we were going was 'Phoenix? Don't they suck eggs?'

What worries me a bit is this has for me a slight feel of the Kingz/Knights in that as the team keeps continuing to not get results, fans keep dwindling until what do you have left?