The professionalism of the club has taken a huge hit compared to a couple of years ago, and even then it wasn't perfect. So many minor problems that are easily fixed but just aren't.

Has anyone even looked at the pricing for the Apollo Restaurant? Now a Buffet at $40.00 or $30 for a child. There is no way that our family is going there to pay those prices for a get in and out meal. They don't seem to want to cater for their biggest market for the last few years which obviously was families

I've been a member for a number of years now and this off-season was probably one of the worst. I think there was more strife behind the scenes this year than we realised. That's the only explanation I can think of because it has been a total social media blackout up until a month ago.

Two years ago when we got to the Grand Final should have been the springboard. That season was one of the best I've seen as far as fan engagement goes. There were various serial videos on Youtube from the club and players. There were the Boti Nagy wayback articles accompanied by archive footage. They had Mitch on the Facebook and Twitter accounts from time to time. They set that standard and from then on that should have been the bare minimum. We got to a GF we should have kept the off-court momentum going to keep attracting fans that were sparked up by our on-court performance. Of course last year we went back to absolutely nothing. What a let down.

The game-night entertainment has been a bonanza of mediocrity for years. As an outsider I look at the club staff and see that the person responsible has about 10 other jobs on their position description and there's little wonder why nothing much happens at half time. That said though, all it takes is a couple of new ideas and a phone call or two to a local community group or something and suddenly there's something marginally better that may not leave 4500 fans yawning and lolling about in their seats like the patrons of a narcolepsy convention.

This year shows the continued disorganisation in the back office. No doubt woefully understaffed. On the upside, the relaunch of the NBL has seen our social media presence come back from the dead, with all popular platforms (except Youtube) in regular use. The graphics have even come into the 21st century.
One the downside, my member passes came out in separate envelopes (wasteful and unnecessary) with hand-written addressing (wasteful and unnecessary...learn to mail-merge) with a short letter, the passes, and a $20 merch voucher. The letter mentioned that the members packs would be available for collection 2 or 3 rounds in (that's surely a joke, right? How hard is it to organise a lanyard and a fridge magnet?) but no real instructions on how that transaction would occur (no members pack vouchers included like previous years).
The free tshirts, I believe provided via the NBL not the club, were a great idea on paper but we were presented with a blue shirt which was so dark it's practically black, thus defeating the intended purpose of providing a colourful spectacle of united home fans. At least make them Royal Blue so they'll fit in amongst the fans wearing actual club merch and singlets.
The scoreboard is knackered as per usual and i don't think anyone is arguing for it to be fixed either. It should have been taken out into the paddock and torched about 10 years ago. It needs to be replaced and despite murmurs from Stadium ownership about that happening when they purchased the Arena, nothing much seems to be happening. Replacing it with actual video screens will not only service NBL games in a professional manner, it further adds to the usefulness of the stadium as a multi-purpose venue, which it truly now is.

I know it's easy to say as an outsider and a fan, but given the quality of product we've been seeing over the past few years there's not a lot that needs to happen to provide an improvement. Improvements can be made for little or no money and that's what is most frustrating as a fan. Hopefully with the NBL now having a bit of money sloshing about something will filter through to allow clubs to expand the product they offer. That was the promise anyway!

on the plus side, your team won by 20

In regards to the t shirts they were not from the club. The Hard Ball t shirts were made up by the NBL with 5000 for each team. Therefore they were for anyone in attendance, not just members. As per note that came with season tickets the rest of members pack available at a later date.

I sympathise with some of the concerns stated, and agree there are numerous areas where the club could pick up its game.

That said, I hate the sense of entitlement some members think they get for being a member.

Seriously, what you get for your membership is guaranteed seats to every game of the season and priority seats to finals at a cost equivalent to or less than the cost of paying full price to every game, with some minimum and low cost bonuses thrown in (such as a $20 voucher off merchandise, and maybe a sticker).

Why should you get something more than that? Everyone wants something for nothing. The last owners went broke running the club on its current financial model, someone needs to pay for the product on the floor.

Sixers fans are frankly some of the worst whingers.

Certainly membership never came with a car park unless you had a corporate box/platinum seating IIRC.

I would love the scoreboard to be fixed/replaced. We should buy the one that was installed in the Gold Coast stadium which is now presumably not used. But that cost, from memory, $1.5 mil or something, which is more than the value of the whole club, which was just saved from insolvency.

Can't see any solution to the scoreboards being less than $100k minimum. If you know any good sponsors who want their logo up for the next 20 years, get on to them to buy one for the club!

I would love the scoreboard to be fixed/replaced. We should buy the one that was installed in the Gold Coast stadium which is now presumably not used.

Above all though my team must be worth watching and it seems like they are.

All I expect is a seat and reasonable amenities and that they are in good working order. Working scoreboard is more important to me than any members packs. I really missed it last night. Just the ability to look and quickly see the overall stats for the game.

"As said above for a temp solution just use a replay screen for the stats."

That is a good idea but should only be shown when there isn't a replay which might get a bit tricky to handle.

I found the scoreboard without figures and at least names on it very disturbing. The music wasnt up to scratch and the half time break somewhat boring however, i look forward to it.

My $390 gold membership is my Christmas present every year from my immediate family. They know I live for basketball and indeed the 36ers.

The members day I did hear was woeful however I am no child and i dont have children, so i wont comment.

Car parking is what is has always been. There is a choice, enjoy the fresh air and walk a mile and get swooped by the plovers/magpies or pay to park close by.

Im all for whinging but surely the topic could have had a few good points. Its like travellers who whinge about everything, i switch off after the first 3 bad reviews.

I sympathise, and I think most of the above complaints are valid.
I know its hard, running an NBL team is expensive and most lose money, but this is supposed to be a professional league.
This isn't the AFL, there is no money in TV, so the only formula for success is BUMS on SEATS.

Challenge stadium was a crap venue for NBL, but the Cats did everything they could to make it liveable.

NBL teams need to accept that MOST people are not going to put up with shit service. Relying on the few die-hards, who will keep coming nomatter what you through at them, is not going to pay the bills

A move to the city would be a good outcome. Somewhere near the Adelaide Oval in a purpose built stadium that can be used for other sports.Our Entertainment Centre is not suitable for Basket Ball sadly but a good location on the city fringe.

I wasn't at the game but watched it on Fox. It was disappointing that the crowd wasn't a sea of royal blue. That feeling was compounded when watching the game from Cairns last night where their crowd was a sea of orange. It made for a much better backdrop to the game. Other then that though its pleasing to see the games live and to see that the NBL is putting some effort into branding and promoting the league.
It can only improve over the course of the season.

I recognise that alone some of these things are not a big deal and wouldn't be worth mentioning. But when you experience minor issues at pretty much every contact point with the club, that's what's frustrating.

I understand your gripes with the club and the service levels provided. But that has nothing to do with your membership. I still don't understand what you think your membership entitles you to that you are not receiving.

In a perfect world every person coming into contact with the club should be made to feel special, whether they are a sponsor, a member or a walk up one time only customer. Over time, that is what is going to make the difference.

Perhaps this is some of the stuff that needs to be 'legislated' by the NBL. To present a product maybe they SHOULD include in the rules for the NBL that every venue played at has a working scoreboard of a certain dimension.

Again a working scoreboard has nothing to do with the 36ers. They simply rent the venue (as do the Wildcats with Perth Arena and Kings with their Entertainment Centre). The Scoreboard is the property of the company who owns the arena/ stadium in question in this case, and that has been stated that these are 2 Not for profit organisations in the Scouts and SA Church Basketball (?? No clue what this is).

So its on them to replace the Scoreboard. You can tell the 36ers management all you want, but they can only say to the Arena management 'Hey... what gives.. this is costing us some reputation and fans'. Is there another location in Adelaide currently that could provide the same or better level of access to fans with a working scoreboard?

It might come to the point where the NBL codified where the minumum standards where NBL basketball can be played (and there already is to an extent in regards to the dimensions of keys and court size etc). It couple simply read 'Needs a Scoreboard (digital) of such and such size and brightness'. If that happened then the 36ers would have to move from where they are to a place that qualified.

Yes but as far as im aware the seating to court design is not good so you have less "feel" at the games.

It costs a lot, has poor atmosphere unless there's a big crowd, is not really central because you can't really walk from the city centre and PT is limited. What are the pros again?

Ill take the purpose built stadium with a great atmosphere any day. Until there's something suitable in the city centre so should the 36ers.

I really don't mind the powerhouse but location does suck. I just wish we had a working scoreboard and decent sound system. After that i would work on chairs but. Side note i hate how the key colourways are universal at the games now.

if you want to know how many fouls the player has look for foul bat being held out our listen for the court announcer to tell you.

Having a kickass stadium does not guarantee financial success either.

The Wildcats made a loss last year despite crowds of 12k.