Year of the Phoenix: a potent mix of business and leisure
February 25th, 2008For the Wellington Phoenix, 2007 was potentially more like a burning building than a fiery rebirth, and if you just look at the results, then the former is possibly quite fitting. It’s been a long hard road for the Wellington Phoenix thanks largely to the failures of their predecessors. The Kings were in constant disarray, and the Knights were little better.
However, if you want to get into comparisons – and I do – then the first year of The Phoenix has been a flaming success (alright, I’ll stop with the fire metaphors now).
Why a success you ask? Well, I’ll give you two little words – business smarts.
Professionalism in New Zealand sport has been a bit of a Trojan horse since Rugby players started to ramp up their pay packets after the ‘95 World Cup. Now that we’ve let it in, every sporting organisation making the jump, seems to have had trouble dealing with some of the problems coming out of it.
There’s a constant battle in trying to balance the commercial factors of pro sport with, well… the sporting ones. Each code, from bowls to badminton, must compete for audience numbers. The entertainment factor must reach the heights of spectacle (leading to higher expense), and even some of the more popular codes have trouble competing.
The Phoenix had a couple of things going for them. The most important was owner and local businessman, Terry Serepisos. His commercial savvy helped negotiate what should have been extremely treacherous waters. Any resemblance to the Kings and Knights was obliterated - some thoughtful re-branding and a powerful marketing campaign being crucial in getting the ball rolling.
Another sizeable contributor was the supporters club, Yellow Fever. The Fever boys and girls were a hugely vocal presence and grew in numbers as the season progressed. They would have turned up win or loose, in sunshine or hurricane, and were always on hand to motivate the casual fans and/or observers. They are now ranked amongst the most passionate supporters in New Zealand sport, alongside the Crusaders, Warriors and Southern Sting fans.
The pinnacle of the Phoenixes first year had to have been when almost 32.000 people turned up to an exhibition match to watch the boys in Yellow play the LA Galaxy (and some guy called Beckham).
Record crowds, record merchandise sales and an attractive, attacking style of football prompted even the head of the A-League, Rob Abernethy, to call the Phoenix one of the success stories of the year. Who am I to argue?
Bring on next season.
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The mighty Phoenix may not have finished at the top of the table errrr they finished top if the table was upside down… BUT they where the sporting team to watch in Welly this year. Perhaps I am supersaturated with rugby and perhaps it is a feeling of local pride but the Phoenix drew me to watch each home game. Often I watched in a living room at a friend’s place with a group of us shouting at the TV and having a laugh. It has been a long time since rugby has been little more than a place to stop for ten minutes while I flick between the channels and I hope the law changes will reignite the interest.
Go the Phoenix - you’re not a real city unless you have a real football team.
I gotta agree with jaysin. You are not a real city unless you have a real football team. Forget American Football. There’s a reason why Football is the best and most popular sport in the world. Best of luck next season!