And yes, taking some of the games away is about getting cash. Even if 10-12,000 show up to a game in Auckland/Christchurch/Dunedin/Hamilton/Napier/Waikikamucow that's still more than the average 5-6,000 people Wellington is getting.
And game day ticket sales have a big impact on finances for the club. It's no secret that the break-even for costs for the club is around 10,000 tickets per game.
and what if we get 6,000 in Auckland/Christchurch/Dunedin/Hamilton/Napier/Waikikamucow? What was the attendance at the Dunedin game last season?
Also, what if moving these games out of Wellington is affecting the supporters and the attendance here? I would imagine that we will lose a lot of supporters between the first game of the season here and the second one that is about 5 weeks later. There is also the fact that people from Wellington have less affinity with the NZ Phoenix than they would with the Wellington Phoenix.
Last few Dunedin games were poor, which is obvious why they don't have a game this season.
It's getting hard to back up claims of 'taking games away drops our support' when a) the main people that affects is season ticket holders b) season ticket holders haven't significantly dropped away c) game day ticket sales have been poor for all the games in Wellington regardless.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for Rob's comments of wanting to build a home for the Phoenix here in Wellington. And Welnix see that as very important (eg proper training facilities, academy, etc). But we can't tell the club to play all the games in Wellington until the average per-game crowd gets back up to the 10-12,000 mark. They don't see it as a financially sustainable option.