I was going to draw attention to this article too.

There's a bit of a bio-aspect to the article, but it also discusses Smyth's opinion on the game getting too rough (says that the direction of the NBL with regard to this is not good for the game). Says that the Sixers are behind other rosters on talent, and will need to win as a team.

So what was the crowd number for the game?

Not that I'm aware of. The article is by Karen Philips.

I would say 4k MAX. I sit above concourse level & it was blatantly obvious that our area was less than last year's average. The close encounter (premium seating below the concourse) area was at best, on par with last year's average. I'm not looking for an argument, it's what I saw.
I hope this helps.
BTW, $7 for a car park? WTF!!!! While we walked down memory lane (the stretch from Crittendon Rd to the House) of being able to afford a $5 car park to avoid the supposed threat of rain in the winter season, we saw a few brakelights illuminate early , & well before the imminent threat of a collision (Heaven forbid a Commodore driver would check his rear-view mirror). Yep, I swear, they would have done a U'y, had they had the opportunity. If there are any accountants listening, the opening game will be your biggest car-park scalping for the year, & that's taking into account the other excuses for the lower attendance. Blame who you like, but until someone has the Moltens to see what's happening, a lot of people who truly care about the game are going to be ignored again (& I stress, AGAIN) & pay the price .
Sorry for the rant, but the Sixers mean a lot to me.
Cheers,
John (DDFan) Spencer

(Mod: Little basketball awarded, even if just for calling them "Moltens". Nice to have you posting again!)

$7 parking? Bargain!! Parking at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (or anywhere in the region) for a Kings game will set you back $20+. Members get a discount of course - we 'only' pay $15.

As sad as 4,392 is, I think that might have been the league-best for Round 1, and probably beaten only by the QLD derby yesterday?

Not sure where the 6000 or so rumour started, but those in the know (Smyth, Potsie, etc) were saying it, so there must have been a miscalculation somewhere up the chain that spread from there.

One thing that may contribute to this is the way the Tigers are run. Very slim staff (e.g., 4 or so people -- I think Brisbane are similar) and sharing office space with Seamus McPeake's business. And they train at a location besides their game-night venue. Like renting the Dome for games only, without having to pay for the office space and so on.

What's better? 2,500 customers, but making a profit or 6,000 customers and losing money? You'd probably lean towards the former, but I suppose that keeps basketball in Melbourne as a bit of a secondary or tertiary level sport.

The Sydney Ent cent would be a pain to park at ,considering its near or in the CBD.
The dome has heaps of grass to park on around the stadium so $7 seems abit rich.Along with all the other troubles with parking near the dome.

The figure I got of 4,392 was straight from Marc Howard at the NBL.

Someone very high up in Basa (I don't know who it is as I got the 6,000 figure second-hand) was going around telling people that the game was getting close to a sell-out. Not only did they make everyone who believed that person look very stupid but turned a somewhat positive (a plus 4,000 crowd which is still not where the Sixers need to be is better than the 3,800 I was expecting along with others) into a negative (more Basa lies and a disappointed crowd). Hopefully the person who made the figure up won't be as deceitful in the future.

In any case, hopefully the next game against Sydney will get a better crowd. Hope to see ads around stadiums this week. Potsie wrote that the player intros are going to be a regular occurrence with the spotlights and against Sydney anyone coming along will get a great quality game..

MMWipe, what problems have you had parking near the Dome. Usually I park a couple of blocks away as I don't mind walking and have had no problems finding a spot.

There you go, I use my eyes, have a stab at it & blow it by less than 5%. Shame on me. That's 80% better than the Weather Bureau, & they've got University educated employees & a mega-buck computer to lean on. Whoreatio needs to realise that this is a Sixer (spelt SA) forum, & why would we give a rat's what Sydney folk are paying? My guess is that the parks you speak of are mechanised affairs with minimal wages involvement. If they want to sponsore that, then so be it. We're talking about a western suburbs grassed area (no not the Social Security waiting room), staffed by VOLUNTEERS. I repeat. VOLUNTEERS.
Cheers,
Seat 40, row DD North wing (DDFan)

$7 carpark & $20 ticket per game doesn't bother me, but the $1.40 a litre petrol to get there bothers me heaps. Can't blame BASA for that.

Always good to see DD back again. You will be relieved to know Curious isn't on these forums.

It's a bit different to compare parking at the Sydney Ent Centre in the heart of the city to the Powerhouse in the middle of suburbia. Still, I agree with Isaac, it is a very short walk to the surrounding streets which is where I always park. I haven't parked in the actual car park ever in my life.

Just to confirm, the crowd was 4,362 for opening night but over 6,000 tickets were sold. By that, many of our corporate tickets that have been sold for the whole season did not turn up opening night, as did a few of our members. So the word that was being spread around was not incorrect. Just did not have 6,000 people sitting in the sold seats.

1,600 people didn't show?

Are tickets sales going ok for the next match Paul?

The interest in the Crows and AFL is affecting our crowds at the moment. That is why alot of our corporates did not come to opening night as they all had the football the next day (which can be a long night out). We always expected this as we've started our season earlier due to the Commonwealth Games next year. All things considered, we were fairly happy with the crowd opening night and most definitely hope to build on it. An interesting fact is that the Adelaide United had 11,000 on opening night and only 6,000 at game 2. The Kings game should be a cracker and we are hoping to attract a big heap of the Crows supporters that aren't able to go to the AFL Grand Final. I think our crowds will definitely pick up momentum after the AFL.

You've got a thing for "picking up" now don't you Paul...

A couple of observations to the piece in the paper, and the subsequent comments in this erstwhile forum:

1. Notwithstanding the general nature of the article, it was refreshing to see the Coach actually talking the organisation up in a positive fashion  this tone was not evident in much of last season's media commentary from him?

2. Were there "over 6,000" to the first game or 4,362?  I guess as long as the 1,600 plus who 'didn't turn up despite buying tickets' had paid their money, then no problem - publish the 6,000 plus figure. If they have not then who is fooling who; in my view routinely overstating attendance is not 'marketing' the sport - it simply exaggerates what must be a 'gap' between measuring the success of a or the 'marketing' campaigns, and the only numbers that really count, those of the financial performance of the organisation?

3. The cost of car park tickets  this might be more of an issue for the Charles Sturt Council?  e.g. just how much do they charge BASA in terms of rates, maintenance etc. for the use of the large piece of 'western suburbs grass' that is occupied by the Dome  I suspect it would not be cheap? At any rate, not using the car park will not help BASA 'increase' its revenues, nor I suspect will it reduce its costs.

Z

An old point revisited:

If we're missing large numbers of corporate spectators in future games I think those who know people sitting in the top tier should invite them to sit closer to the court. If we can fill the gaps it'll improve the atmosphere closer to the court for both players & spectators and hopefully strengthen our home court advantage.

50122, this forum isn't about to close down...

Actually just to be pedantic I think it was only 8,000 at game 2, (maybe sold 8,000 tickets and 2,000 corporate didn't show). In any case A-league isn't going to kill basketball like I first thought it would (only 5,000 to some games the hype died down quickly).

Thanks for the replies Paul.