While I applaud the loyal supporters for what they have done in helping establish a credible NZ football club, I think that 1 game that MAY be out of their reach in 3 years is not the end of life - in fact they should be embracing it.
Yes it is the Wellington Phoenix, but if it wasnt for the whole of NZ you wouldnt have this team! The A-League had every right to say 'piss of NZ' after the Kingz/Knights, but why didnt they? Because the A -League wanted the NEW ZEALAND tv income, and the sponsors wanted exposure in the NEW ZEALAND markets. Hence why they extended and extended and extended the bid deadline.
You are quite happy for the rest of NEW ZEALAND to support your team from a distance, and buy the merchandise but don't think they should have easier access to ONE game in 3 years. Heck, the amount of outsiders for the Beckham game helped balance the books. As the Auckland game showed, part of the success of the Wellington game was that the Phoenix have captured the imgination of the NZ football public.
The Phoenix can't survive on local sponsorship - Sony and Interislander, 2 of the main sponsors came in because of the NATIONAL coverage - if they wanted to support a local Wellington team and local football. then they would have gone for Team Wellington.
Some get upset when the Phoenix are hardly mentioned in NATIONAL radio stations or tv news. Can't have your cake and eat it - like I said, can't crave the attention and the income and give nothing back.
I am a supporter from Palmy and attend whenever I can. Does that mean because of where I live, I have less rights to see the team? Or should it be that we are thanked for making that financial , time consuming and enthusiastic commitment?
Sorry if it sounds a rant, but the childish reactions of some on here on this topic have totally disgusted me.
It's called having a loyal fan base and it works both ways. If you want to have that hardcore of fans, you don't want them to feel disenfranchised.
We didn't embrace the Phoenix because we wanted to supply national NZ income to the A-League. We did so, because we had our own team to embrace for the first time.
I'm not sure why you mentioned the Auckland Galaxy match as evidence of the Nix being embraced? The Nix didn't play in that match and that game was not a commercial success anyway.
Why would we embrace the removal of home games? Do you think Man Utd fans would embrace having home games moved to Essex?
Saying Sony (who are no longer sponsors) et al would have sponsored Team Welly if they'd only wanted Wellington coverage is ridiculous. There are television rights etc in the A-League. And you think the sponsors are thinking that they are finally getting national exposure because home games are being taken away? Huh?