nick1408 wrote:Not good for the supporters but makes perfect commercial sense. If the league is to move forward it need to cash in and this is an obvious way to do it. Clubs will be better off taking more gate money as well.
I imagine the clubs to make noises the supporters want to hear but I feel behind closed doors they will be happy with the extra money being generated.
Will this coincide with the Parramatta Stadium upgrade? I know it's been delayed but weren't the original dates for the upgrade to take place during the summer? Could be a great guise to move games there due to the upgrade. Maybe a contract was signed before the announcement of the delay and there is a legal obligation to play games there?
Hmm that WOULD be an idea. So many of the Wanderers fans voiced opposition against games away from Parra, ESPECIALLY against the prospect of hosting games at Homebush - no matter what the fixture!
I think though, some bending/rationale needs to be forthcoming from the fans, 'given' the demand exceeding supply dilemma, a positive dilemna no doubt, seeing most games technically 'sold out' - even if most times the stadium's actual attendance was a few thousand short of that. The latter, reasons/issues surrounding that, is something we've well discussed around here.
But anyway, one, home, Sydney Derby game out there, one, can't at all hurt. It enables the wider demand to 'flood in' for that one marquee fixture where all other home games most are 'squeezed out'. That should then see, in theory, even greater demand to attend a Sydney Derby at ANZ then would otherwise?!
I can understand Wanderers fans are very concerned over 'precedent' and if they allow one, then it becomes two, three etc... but this massive fixture has drawn 40k attendances recent times, near packing out SFS. And they were SFC's home games, not Wanderer's, so arguably they saw the greater benefit more than Wanderers. A game at Homebush could, if trends in demand continue, realistically push 50k and beyond - the type of crowd figures the Melbourne Derby at it's most appealing, drew at Docklands, if not bigger.
It'd be like a 'Grand Final' game if you like, just during the season. An 'event' even though it's also 'the derby'. Could that work and why not? Less it's too early in the Sydney Derby's history, cycle? But I have an unnerving feeling that Wanderers crowds may hit a 'peak' soon, especially if/when the 'fad' wanes, including level of success flat-lining a bit? They'll still have a strong core and active support, but I'm sad to say there may inevitably be a slight withdrawing, nudging back, on the kinds of figures we've seen, sooner rather than later? Hope I'm wrong though!
So hence it perhaps being a good idea to 'strike while the iron is hot'? :-k
Edited by GloryPerth: 21/4/2014 10:05:24 PM