A lot of what people enjoy about basketball is the atmosphere. Winning teams help to create that atmosphere but you need more than that. People also do things because the perception is that it is a popular thing to do. Because it is something that you can talk about with others, either friends or work colleagues. Where you can sit with these people at games. A little controversy at times also help.

This doesn't happen overnight. It has taken Perth many many years, a sound plan and lots of hard work to get to where they are at present and they have been fortunate to have had a rich benefactor to tide them through when the cash wasn't being self generated.

Once you get full houses and winning teams the result is then often self perpetuating. It would be a great social experiment to see what will happen to Perth crowds if they ever have a very poor season in the W column. Not sure going on past history if that will happen any time soon.

fstos above really hit the nail on the head.

I think the major deal with the Wildcats is that at least for the last 10 years, they have really targetd the family market. That is their intention isnt to target the Australian basketball fan.. although by extension the more people go to a game the more they get know about basketball.

Success helps to, Jack Bendat helps (and the cool thing is his kids are very much into bball too) so its a combination of everything.

A Team like Adelaide even if they had a Jack Bendat would have most of the ingredients bar the Location. Its just too far out of a central location and away from train/public transport. People head to the Arena in Perth because its under a 10 minute walk. Thats doable.

A nice shiny venue right where the people are, and a winning environment are huge factors. Just ask Port Adelaide's die hard AFL fans. 2-3 season ago they to put traps over numerous bays of seats so that the 15k - 20k people who turned up woudl ahve to sti together.
Now they are winning and playing in in nice shiny Adelaide Oval, right in the city, suddenly going to watch Port play is the fashionable thing to do and they play in front of 50k people.
So 30,000 people are suddenly loving the footy.

Compare that with the 36ers. Great venue, probably needs a bit of a tidy up - improved sound system and lighting that allwows for black out intros etc. But if Adelaide Arena was at Memorial Drive how much easier would it be to find! How many more would wonder in? You could use public transport to / from matches. You could go into the city after games. Signage around the venue would actually be seen by the general public. I reckon the crowds woudl double

Melbourne have been building over the past few years and last year they almost got it right.

The game Goulding hit 50 points was a Sunday 2pm game during the Moomba weekend at HiSense arena and they drew over 8000 people to that game. The atmosphere was awesome and the product was great. After the game, the bars around Melbourne were buzzing with all the talk of Goulding. The news even ran some stories on the Tigers that week.

And then there was the bullshit change to United...trashing the brand....Goulding left...and sadly, now they are on the nose again without a real identity.

I've been to loads of Wildcats home games as I travel to Perth a lot and I can tell you the game day experience at Perth Arena (and Challenge) is 100 times better than the United product. Entertainment is better, music is better, stadium is better, merchandise is better and the marketing is 100 times better. Walking around Perth CBD there are Wildcats signs on bus stops, the wildcats are on the news sports report each night, the wildcats advertise upcoming games on the tv and radio, the newpapers run the stories as major sports news...sometimes back page.

As a Melbourne resident, you hear nothing of United. The only thing I get is constant emails from United and they bomb facebook with marketing.

Perth are a world class organisation in a city that loves beating the East (the locals have a complex about the eastern states).

I have grave fears for the United teams future. If this new branding doesn't work....it'd be a huge shame.

Over several years they have done everything possible to put themselves in a position to succeed.

The Wildcats are run like a successful business, not a sports club gasping for air. This really ramped up when Bendat bought in and when Nick Marvin was hired to run the club as a business.

NBL clubs cannot be run with the 'build it and they will come' mentality. You need to be active in the community, get out to schools, shopping centres, basketball camps, whatever and if you get a handful of kids to go home and say "I want to go watch the Wildcats play basketball" then you are on the way. This doesn't cost anything but time.

2 kids to the game with 2 parents = 4 bums in seats, now sell them the product again, even though they have already paid, to keep them coming back.

Once you get them to a game you need to capture their imagination and attention. Winning helps alot, but if you have done all you can to try and achieve that, look else where for game night interaction, especially with the kids. One of my most clear memories of going to Wildcats games as a kid was not the GF victory in 95 but the time during the 96 season when I was picked out of the crowd as a "best dressed fan" and I got to go out onto the court and I almost won a bike (stupid cute young girl, the bike was too big for her anyway..). Things like this dont just sell a couple tickets but have turned me into a paying member for decades even though my parents stopped buying my ticket many years ago.

When stuff like the slingshots and t-shirt guns come out people pay more attention to that than the game sometimes, you see middle age men out of their seats jumping up down to try and grab a shirt that's probably 2 sizes too small for them.

If I could change one thing about game night presentation it would be the DJ, I know this is a common theme among most fans. I think the music should be background music, dont get rid of it completely but have no lyrics during game play. The beat should be enough to fill in the silence when chants aren't happening. And not every single play needs a chant or music. Less is more; start of quarters, yeah, close games, yeah. But in between at least 50% of plays should be left without either, unless the crowd starts a chant without the aide of the DJ.

Apart from the competitions and distractions during game breaks everything is run professionally which should appeal to the older people. Staff in uniform, members post game function, merchandise for sale in multiple locations, Nick Marvin walking around in a suit who is very approachable if you want to say hello.

Money helps but is wasted without effort and direction.

"If I could change one thing about game night presentation it would be the DJ, I know this is a common theme among most fans"

Spot on. The d!ckhead announcer in Perth drives me nuts. He even does these "wooooooooooooooooooooo" noises when someone scores. WTF is with that? The Melbourne one is slightly less painful.

Agree 100% with most of what you've written actually.

I think it is an amalgamation of all things people have stated. Important factors;

-Venue location
-Winning culture
-Marketing
-Communication
-Entertainment

The 36ers have a great venue (could do with some minor tweaking but for the most part it is pretty good) but the location isn't ideal.

Last year was a successful year but the success was lean for a good decade before that and this year is 50/50 so far....we dont even have an explosive or exciting import as a drawcard/marketing tool.

Sixers have failed in the marketing department for as long as I can remember.

Communication is lacklustre at best.

Entertainment pre and during games is pretty dire as well.

Obviously the majority of those cost money but you have to spend money to make money sometimes. But then the argument rises that the 36ers owners dont have that money to spend, so what do they do? Well, they need to look at the assets they have and utilise those.

Just off the top of my head the 36ers could raffle off things like the Hollywood seats rather than forfeiting them for no cost to c grade celebs. They could auction off a corporate box (which just sits empty) to businesses with vocal advertising by Jarrod. They could auction off a PT session with Creeky at the 36ers facilities with a meet and greet with some of the players. They could auction/raffle off a training session with the team a travel interstate with the team and sit on the bench, lunch with Gibbo, on the Friday before each game they could run a hoop shooting comp in the mall with the players and advertise each up coming home game and have apparel available for purchase and signing by the players, Be more prominent on Social Media etc etc.

All of those things wouldnt cost the 6ers much at all if anything to set up/offer. Auction them off in the Rundle mall, at games, on social media, door knock businesses...etc. Get out in the community, be visible and accessible, the word will get out and the people will come!

ONE WORD - MONEY

State wealthiest
Government - Stadium
Rich old guy - everything else...

Be humble Perth and stop sprouting, that is the reason everyone is!!@$$@#at you.

Show some respect to the fortunate position you find yourself in and that you even have a league to play in.

There's no doubt they set the benchmark. I think these factors contribute to their success (not in any order)

1. Financial stability off court. Having an owner with deep pockets helps.
2. Corporate support. The WA economy is an interesting one and has been leading the way for some time, albeit it has a little bit of the flu at the moment. When the economy is good and businesses have extra cash to splash around, then they can promote themselves without worrying about it too much. A lot of the businesses in Perth are standalone businesses. In some states, the businesses are "branch offices" and have a branch office mentality which doesn't help sponsorship. Having good sponsors helps.
3. Location. Court location is great being so close to CBD. People can watch a game, then grab a bite to eat before or after the game, or go to the nightclubs if they are keen.
4. Marketing. The Perth marketing is second to none. They feature prominently in the TV news, papers and social media. The product they are selling is a consumer based entertainment. People need to know they are there. They do it well. The AFL are masters at this. Look at how they rule the roost on TV news. For those of us in Adelaide, just watch the TV news tonight and I'll place a $20 on that there's an AFL story (or puff piece). I don't get the Crow-vertiser any more, but I am sure the AFL would account for most of the sports section.
5. The attitude of Sandgropers. Apart from recalcitrant Queenslanders (and they can blame the excess of heat, bananas and Bundy rum for that) (eh, but), Sandgropers have quite an independent attitude in general. Show me a group of Aussies and you can pick the Perth ones a mile off. The years of isolation has built up a level of self reliance and independence that "eastern staters" don't show. Any contest in which a Sandgroper has the opportunity to beat a "eastern stater" and they'll line up in the scorching Perth sun sipping their Dome coffees. That level of patriotism isn't as high in other states. Sydneysiders like to brag to each other how much they make and how much their house on the north shore is worth (how they can afford mortgages is beyond me), Melbournians are too busy stuck in the rain on the Western Ring Road talking about their footy club and listening to Eddie Maguire and Adelaidians are too busy asking each other what school they went to while sipping a cheeky chardonnay on the Parade.
6. Professional Approach. As alexkrad notes, you need to run the organisation like a professional organisation. Everything is all linked. The better sponsorship you get, the better the organisation is, but the organisation needs to be professional.
7. Think outside the square. I know they sent their office staff to the US on a bit of a fact finding mission post season to see how they could improve. You need deep pockets to afford that, but by looking at how others do things, you can improve. By doing the same old stuff time and time again, just gets boring and lessens the excitement. By finding out how other codes or groups do things, you can pick out the best bits and enhance the entertainment package.

6ers could always run a survey in the malls asking why people dont go to the games and what would get them to attend. Then they could raffle off a couple of free tickets to fans that haven't been before. That would not only provide them with plenty of feedback but would also have them interacting with people who might otherwise be unaware and get them thinking, he was funny, cute, whatever...maybe I will check out a game?!

"and they'll line up in the scorching Perth sun sipping their Dome coffees"

I can't even begin to describe the glee I felt when a Dome opened up next door to my office.

Consistency. They have not had the ownership issue interruption that almost every other club (bar NZ?) have had. Every other team has had some form of hiccup involving change of ownership or lapse that spooked players and gave fans an excuse to not renew. I don't know how much Bendat had to weather through some years?

Good structure/management would have got things right before the move.

Then you take a packed smaller venue and bring an established formula to a CBD stadium and you can ramp things up. From there, they've had the resources to up the professionalism and have dedicated staff in various areas. Roughly speaking, your social media and marketing cost the same for 12k fans as they do for 5k.

The most important factor in the Wildcats success has been their commitment and targeting of children and families.

The Wildcats players do double the requirement of community service hours than any other club.

The club specifically contracts players with personal values that align with the club.

Everything else has flowed through because of this commitment to grass roots.

While Bendat has deep pockets, the agreement has always been that whatever Bendat allows the cats to spend, they repay him that money. So yes spending money allows you to make money and the cats have an advantage there, they have to make more money back than other clubs.

The Marketing and advertising you see now is a result of many years hard work building up to this point.

The whole "Wear red" campaign started at challenge and has translated perfectly over to the arena.

The cats built a solid "community" of fans at the 5,500 seat Challenge stadium, and this allowed them to expand to the arena.

Whoever said the Wildcats don't target Australian Basketball fans was also correct. The Wildcats plain and simply don't do that. It's annoying as a basketball fan, but at the same time the families bringing their kids pay the bills.

Basketball is also massive in Western Australia - the media will lead you to believe otherwise, but the City and the State has always had a very strong connection to the sport.

The other statement of the Wildcats not being run like a sports club, but a business is also very true.

Great management and business strategies has lead to the off-court juggernaught that is the Perth Wildcats, but also winning and a winning culture has played a massive factor.

The Perth Wildcats are Western Australia's most successful professional sporting organisation by a country mile.

Also the Perth Wildcats have a squeaky clean image compared to other sporting code clubs in WA. This has allowed them to attract major dollars from "healthy" "politically correct" sponsors. The whole "no junk food" "no alcohol" "no soft drink" ads has been apart of the wildcats for a good 5 to 8 years.

Off topic, but my prediction is with other "bigger" australian sports getting more image and health conscious you will see a lot more organisations like "alcohol think again" start throwing their sponsorship money to those sports, and eventually the cycle will return to the Wildcats being sponsored by a "coke" or "swan gold".

Yet they aren't the team with their own television deal ;)

Just as soon as we secede, Mystro, we'll be in on that ;)

Tornado.

You are spot on with everything you suggested.

When I win 21million tomorrow night and buy the Sixers, I'm putting you in a office up the top floor.

Much like AFL, teams financial success can come down to the stadium deal, ie how much they have to pay for the use of the venue. Don't think any NBL actually owns their own venue.

Adelaide Arena is like the best house in the worst street, again it is like Footy Park in its dasy or even the old Waverly Park. Originally built by the sport for the sport to have some control over its destiny. But in each case, built in the wrong place - well out of the city.

Melbourne are now playing out of bigger, more centrally located venues. If they can get the on court stuff sorted they will rival Perth. IF!

^

Not just salty, but desperate for excuses!

Agree with Marketing and great ideas, etc but you can only implement them again if you have a pit of money...

Anon 0839 : I've lived in 3 cities in Australia (Perth ,Brisb, Syd) and believe me there is plenty to do in Perth :)

Murray Magpie...thanks mate, I look forward to starting my new role. :-)

annon...I disagree! If you look at some of the things I mentioned they would cost very little other than a bit of time & effort.

Ask the people that go to the games in Perth about how many consecutive games the Cats have been in. I am sure the average punters there wouldn't have a clue. I guess so many failures in more to the point.

It's a simple plan. - Take the Game to the People. Wildcats players and staff are everywhere around the city. Even Greg Hire has been nominated for a "Pride of Australia" award.
With so much exposure around town, the people climb over themselves to get to the games, and a great show is put on (not just the game)
Shame about the lack of TV coverage. 3 hours delays DO NOT work.

Those 28 Straight t-shirts probably helped the average punter figure out the number ... <.<

Wouldn't be too sure about that....this IS a South Australian forum.

First thing that comes to mind about this thread is the poor Sydney Kings and how since bring re-admitted to the league it seems that their biggest home crowds each season they seem to get thumped and the extra few thousand that attend leave with a bad taste in their mouth. Winning isn't everything but putting in insipid efforts when you have more eyes on you isn't helping at all.

As for the wildcats and their success and how their advertising is a class above and their on court success is what drives their profits; I'm not certain at what point I'm trying to make but the West Coast waves also play here in Perth and they are absolutely never heard from or of amd im not sure what could change that and I personally would love double headers at Perth Arena but it isn't feasible for the Waves would.