Mariners vs Wellington at NSO - Game Talk

[bikinigirl]

What is being discussed now is different to the Eagles debacle.

. perhaps, but the concern is valid ... actually it is more akin to the canberra debacle

. i still feel that 'the canberra debacle' was a massive contributor to, firstly, a drop in support ... and secondly, the time it has taken to (not even) recover to previous highs

. a community round is one thing but the mariners had better be promoting it as such. any hint/speculation/rumour that it is anything but could damage support from the ongoing coast. it seems we are a bit funny like that

. so in a way it is like the beagles (although i have/had no interest) ... people will curb their interest if they are uncertain of what they will end up supporting. yes, yes i am not talking about the sort of person that participates on the forum ... i am talking about the supporters we need to 'convert' to 'rusted on'

 

[Bladesman]

. perhaps, but the concern is valid ... actually it is more akin to the canberra debacle

. i still feel that 'the canberra debacle' was a massive contributor to, firstly, a drop in support ... and secondly, the time it has taken to (not even) recover to previous highs

. a community round is one thing but the mariners had better be promoting it as such. any hint/speculation/rumour that it is anything but could damage support from the ongoing coast. it seems we are a bit funny like that

. so in a way it is like the beagles (although i have/had no interest) ... people will curb their interest if they are uncertain of what they will end up supporting. yes, yes i am not talking about the sort of person that participates on the forum ... i am talking about the supporters we need to 'convert' to 'rusted on'

Fully agree, my memberships were not renewed the season following the Canberra debacle in protest. What was interesting was I was then invited to participate in a focus group for members that had not renewed and certainly the group I was in gave very significant feedback that moving games was something that would turn us off again. I don't give a shit what AFL, NRL, Ice Hockey or any other sport does you need to build a CLUB!!! not a franchise. Clubs don't move grounds at every whim for a quick $, franchises chase money. Clubs have loyal, die hard support them through anything fans, franchises have I'll turn up if there is nothing better to do that afternoon and we are winning fans!! We have to decide which we want and act accordingly. Leeds United wouldn't head down the road to play a game in Manchester or Hull to try and attract more fans, if they tried it the board wouldn't get out of the ground alive so I can't believe Charlesworth is even considering it.

I really can't see how it is going to help us attract any more fans as if people can't even be bothered to head over to the SFS from the Northern Beaches there is no chance of them driving up to Gosford for games and potentially we lose more coast fans who are pissed off.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

. perhaps, but the concern is valid ... actually it is more akin to the canberra debacle

. i still feel that 'the canberra debacle' was a massive contributor to, firstly, a drop in support ... and secondly, the time it has taken to (not even) recover to previous highs

. a community round is one thing but the mariners had better be promoting it as such. any hint/speculation/rumour that it is anything but could damage support from the ongoing coast. it seems we are a bit funny like that

. so in a way it is like the beagles (although i have/had no interest) ... people will curb their interest if they are uncertain of what they will end up supporting. yes, yes i am not talking about the sort of person that participates on the forum ... i am talking about the supporters we need to 'convert' to 'rusted on'

If support on the Coast is that fickle, we are truly in trouble.

 

[midfielder]

Just on our crowds and I agree with BG neither of us know what the NS figure is... but it is a group that will stay tho think and thin ... ie NS to the CC ...

What is largely ignore is the CC or some parts of it are home to many senior folk who because of past histories have little to no connection to football, resulting in often unfair crowd watching as the percentage of senior Australians on the Coast is quite large when compared to other areas......

I do agree that areas around Hornsby to Eastwood and Hornsby to maybe Chatswood are markets worth keeping in touch with ... it's more how...

 

[Atomic]

If support on the Coast is that fickle, we are truly in trouble.

Support everywhere is that fickle. Do yourself a favour and graph the crowd numbers of Northern Spirit as they bounced around from NSO, Brookvale, Pitwatter.

 

[adz]

Not sure if people are forgetting that Melb Victory had a community round game in Tassie last season (vs us). We had 14 home games, they had 14 home games plus the community round in Tassie, so I would think this would work out as 14 home games + the community round again.

Maybe the thread title of "Going Home" is a bit off-putting?

 

[Atomic]

Just on our crowds and I agree with BG neither of us know what the NS figure is... but it is a group that will stay tho think and thin ... ie NS to the CC ...

What is largely ignore is the CC or some parts of it are home to many senior folk who because of past histories have little to no connection to football, resulting in often unfair crowd watching as the percentage of senior Australians on the Coast is quite large when compared to other areas......

I do agree that areas around Hornsby to Eastwood and Hornsby to maybe Chatswood are markets worth keeping in touch with ... it's more how...

I agree with you MF, but don't dismiss the elderly as a group that isn't worth the effort to convert. One of my arguments in this thread is that we have no where near exhausted the potential fans that lie dormant on the Central Coast. Yes, lets recruit from other regions, but lets not say that we have to do it because we have no other option.

I was at my football club's trivia night on Saturday. The question was asked "who is hosting the 2015 Asian Cup?". I was the only one at my table who knew... and my table was full of my team mates who all play soccer. My point is that there is an interest in football and we all follow the Mariners, but only a couple of us go to the games. There is an untapped goldmine of local support... we (i.e. the Mariners) need to find a way of mining that support.

 

[Atomic]

Not sure if people are forgetting that Melb Victory had a community round game in Tassie last season (vs us). We had 14 home games, they had 14 home games plus the community round in Tassie, so I would think this would work out as 14 home games + the community round again.

Maybe the thread title of "Going Home" is a bit off-putting?

I find the title of this thread insulting

 

[Big Al]

So the question is what is the community round & is it being mistaken for a CCM initiative. A bit of both. It is clearly an A League enforced event that CCM are looking to take advantage of.

http://tensport.com.au/news/theroar...gional-round-another-pointless-initiative.htm

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/a-league/aleague-will-leave-it-late-to-end-season-20130517-2jryv.html

Some are getting carried away with what is actually happening vs. panic of a club short of financial muscle.

I did some quick sums -
Central coast population just over 300,000 - 10,000 to a game = 3% or 6.6% to fill the stadium of the population at the game
Western Sydney population just over 2m - 10,000 to a game = 0.5% (1/2 a percent) or 1% to fill the stadium of the population at the game
You need 3 times more people from our area to attend games to keep pace.

Is this game bout spreading the A League message, the CCM message for new fans or a revenue driver?

If CCM message for new fans - Great place to start - Hornsby to BT vs. Hornsby to SFS or Parra stadium is pretty much the same travel time so they are fair game lets go get some more while appeasing the A league requirement.

If it's to raise money then why not china - Lippi's team (can't remember correct name) to be exact. Sunday paper said 50m audience watched the game - Just our shirt sponsor like the AFC CL game probably worth more than the whole game at NS oval which will probably run at a loss or break even. I am sure Lippi would recommend the game to the press for us after the respect he has for us and GA. I am sure you could bus in a cheap crowd to. I am sure Lippi would attend.

 

[Blackadder]

As for not exhausting the local market, when you have a champion team, consistently successful over 8 seasons, fighting for the premiership and winning the championship all the while flogging that the mariners are the Central Coast team, the number of bums on seats this year looks to me as though the local market has reached its peak. This is not knocking the local market, as is often pointed out, as a percentage of the population Mariners attract more support than any other club.
This makes me think we have squeezed the local market for all it is worth.

Absolutely spot on Ancient Mariner, despite the success on field from the Mariners with crowd support and sponsorship stagnating, that suggests that a glass ceiling has been reached in terms of support from the Coas tand that ceiling has to be broken if they are going to be viable in the long term, and the best way to break that is to further explore a market where they already have a link.
This is not about a Northern Eagles situation of a token team on the Coast, this is about ensuring the Mariners continue to grow into the future and ensuring there is always a team based on the Central Coast in the A-league.

 

[adz]

Not sure if people are forgetting that Melb Victory had a community round game in Tassie last season (vs us). We had 14 home games, they had 14 home games plus the community round in Tassie, so I would think this would work out as 14 home games + the community round again.

Maybe the thread title of "Going Home" is a bit off-putting?

I fail at counting - it was 13 home games, and 13 home games + a community round (not including finals!)

 

[bikinigirl]

. while the argument - ahh, discussion - rages on ... another thing worth considering is that the club's resources are spread pretty thin at the moment (well all moments actually)

. can we afford to focus our attention anywhere but the coast? depending on where you sit ... we don't even have the resources to do this - saturation vs. untapped potential, etc, etc

 

[hayson]

. while the argument - ahh, discussion - rages on ... another thing worth considering is that the club's resources are spread pretty thin at the moment (well all moments actually)

. can we afford to focus our attention anywhere but the coast? depending on where you sit ... we don't even have the resources to do this - saturation vs. untapped potential, etc, etc

I think we have to 'focus our attention' everywhere that has the potential to increase crowd attendance. 'Bussing in' people from anywhere within the possible 'catchment' area or taking a game to THEM are initiatives well worth exploring. I don't believe the club has even 'cracked the tip of the iceberg' when it comes to marketing itself.

 

[bikinigirl]

I think we have to 'focus our attention' everywhere that has the potential to increase crowd attendance. 'Bussing in' people from anywhere within the possible 'catchment' area or taking a game to THEM are initiatives well worth exploring. I don't believe the club has even 'cracked the tip of the iceberg' when it comes to marketing itself.

. umm ... fair enough. but i am not sure you understood my point

. many would say we have not successfully marketed ourselves to locals (whether due to lack of resources or quality of resources) ... are you suggesting we take a less than adequate marketing budget and a not entirely successful marketing approach and see how it applies to a different catchment?

. oh and 'bussing in' people? seriously?

 

[Big Al]

. oh and 'bussing in' people? seriously?[/quote]

Think you might find he means actual NS CCM fans from Hornsby area - A bus to & from Hornsby station etc. Not necessarily bus loads of Chinese who don't have a clue & only know some sort of Chinese involvement is part of it.

Bit like you could run a bus from the entrance or Terrigal etc

 

[hayson]

. oh and 'bussing in' people? seriously?

Think you might find he means actual NS CCM fans from Hornsby area - A bus to & from Hornsby station etc. Not necessarily bus loads of Chinese who don't have a clue & only know some sort of Chinese involvement is part of it.

Bit like you could run a bus from the entrance or Terrigal etc[/quote]

Thank you Big Al...that is what I meant but why not a 'couple' of buses from Chinatown as well!!! 'Education is the key.'

 

[bikinigirl]

. i kinda figured that was what you meant ... i just can't follow the logic

. correct me if i'm wrong but a bus charter from a-to-b is likely to cost >$20/head for a game costing <$20/head. sounds like an expensive nightmare for me ... with very little to gain

 

[midfielder]

City Rail timetables show a remarkable difference in time between Gosford & Hornsby depending on the time of day but weekend and night games 50 to 60 minutes seems to be about the time ... F3 from Hornsby say 25 mins to the Gosford turn off then another 15 minutes to the stadium [assume not peak hour]...

Car say 40 to 50 minutes from Hornsby and train say one hour from Hornsby .... Meaning we have to make the journey worth while...

Me thinks it kinda almost a community approach... past 9:00 the CCLC it's hard to get a meal... small little coffee shop on level 2... OK lets move onto Main street and the hive of activity it has..The Smurfs and Drive Byes have heaps of places to go before and after the game...Even the Scum have Hamilton just down the road... I have always tho the Gosford Chamber of Commerce could on big nights for both Football & RL suggest places stay open other than the Noodle Bar ... if you look at the comments about Gosford from fans of other teams it is not great..

If we are to engage the good folk of the Northern Districts and Upper North Shore then we need to convince some of the local bars and such to ... hHHHHMMmmmmm not sure but not be as they are... CCLC for a start could sell food and coffee in that food bar where the big screen and lounge is after a match... Keep the Kendal bar open ...

Sorry BG if I upset you with the title ... however I have followed Blacktown Demons ... then NS and could have chosen either the Coast or the Smurfs ... have never been sorry with my choice but one of the driving factors was the NS connection.... and in the early days when I went to Smurfs matches and saw the Cove and heard them sing and I looked at our home support it was a combination of three things that kept me as a Coast supporter ... One the way Lyal talked about how he would set up a COE , second a bunch of mates travelling together, third we where all NS supporters who followed them to the Coast... Spirit Point in the bob shed ... and the other Spirit Point who tho themselves better... also watched Manly V Norths many a time and loved it when Manly killed em..

I don't know how many fans but the journey of our club was born out of the dying days of the NSL and a group of NS folk who went to the Coast ... a yachtsmen and a big club that put the seed money in... So NSO is to folk like me the birth place of our club... very glad it's on the Coast but I do have respect for how it all came about...

 

[bikinigirl]

Sorry BG if I upset you with the title

. didn't upset me ... and i understand and respect the link

. on the forum i don't think it is a big deal ... but i was saying the club needs to be very careful how they approach this - it is not the old spirit fans they need to cater for. they need to make sure they don't put too many existing, potential or fair-weather mariners fans offside

. one of the articles linked above mentions the club is using the 'community round' to gauge interest to make it a permanent fixture ... some of those existing, potential or fair-weather mariners fans may be extremely disheartened by that sort of talk (leading edge of the wedge and all that)

 

[FFC Mariner]

The bitterness over the Canberra debacle is still very real for lots of people.

I'd rather we played a "community" round somewhere new that Charlesworth could never relocate us to.

Orange, Bathurst, somewhere nice

Not 10 mins from another HAL club FFS