Great crowd and easily their biggest this year. They've had a pretty rough schedule in terms of nights and times but NYE does tend to draw well.

Great to see them win too, hopefully that will encourage more to return!

A good move by the NBL to give the comp's two regional teams NYE games. It's tradition in Cairns anyway and both teams drew 5k crowds. Fantastic.

Anon #602 - spot on. If I'm reading Austadiums right, largest WEC crowd since March 2009, and the first crowd above 5,000 since March 2012.

Last year’s NYE game (against the Bullets) only pulled a crowd of 3,280. Last January’s game against the Kings pulled a crowd of 4,090 and was the biggest crowd of 2019 prior to last night.

Anon #605 - in the last decade (since making the GF in 2009-10) the Hawks have played finals 4 times and finished 5th twice. Last season they finished 7th, 2 wins behind 4th place. It’s not supportable to attribute their low crowds to playing poorly.

They’ve been poor for most of this season but it seems likely that’s partly due to having to play Ball and Brooks for large minutes. It’ll be interesting to see if teams will be as open to Next Star arrangements with such requirements in the future.

"That's because the hawks teams have been absolutely trash,"

They have made the finals 5 times in past 10 seasons (on a shoestring budget).

As a fan, I would like the attendances be better to help with the finances and keep the NBL off their backs, but, for whatever reason, it is difficult. One reason might be that, despite the population of the Illawarra, it is geographically dispersed along the coast. Being a regional area, public transport is shyte. So getting to and from games can be a barrier. Unless you live in Wollongong, it can be hard to get to games unless you have a car (and harder to get home)

People are also pissed at the venue (WEC). They charge exorbitant amounts for food and beverages (and their "coffee" is no more than warm frothy dishwater, and expensive). But WEC know they have the Hawks over a barrel because there is no other NBL-approved venue. Capital cities have several government-funded venues available so more competition and flexibility. (And despite this, several of the capital city franchises have gone broke over the years but the Hawks keep putting a team on the court, make the finals and occasionally beat the top-ranked team!

Teams to have made more grand final appearances than the Hawks in the past decade:
New Zealand
Perth

That's the whole list.

Why cant people on this forum give credit where its due regardless of who you support?

You're suggesting the Snakepit was regularly running at double its capacity?

Snakepit was amazing and they kept all the profits. A lot of land there, big carpark so shame they didn't develop a 4000 seater stadium.

First I've heard that WEC is a problem. Correct me if im wrong but I thought WEC was ideally located on the beach strip, in a popular area of the city near entertainment, restaurants and bars. I would have thought that would make it an ideal location to get to and to stay post game.

Ticket prices being $30 and up per adult - perhaps a bit steep given there is not much demand for tickets but you could fairly blame WEC for that i supppse if their rental fee is too high.

Cost of beverages, coffee etc - somebody complained about the coffee. I dont think there is a stadium or arena in the country that offers decent food and beverages and getting ripped off for it. Its a standard complaint!

"First I've heard that WEC is a problem. Correct me if im wrong but I thought WEC was ideally located on the beach strip, in a popular area of the city near entertainment, restaurants and bars. I would have thought that would make it an ideal location to get to and to stay post game."

It is in a good location. But public transport is shyte. And if we got Perth-size crowds, parking would be an issue. But, yes, before and after the game there are many bars and restaurants to go to, all within walking distance. Unlike the Snakepit!

"Poor excuses by Illawarra locals. Just not a supportive town. Time to move the team. They get bigger crowds every other city they go to.

Bendigo or Tassie awaits."

But teams in regional Victoria and Tassie have been and gone. The Hawks have hung in as the only remaining foundation club. Having said that, I would love to see a Tassie team and other teams in the comp (Canberra? Newcastle?) But that shouldn't be at the expense of another team.

"Better crowds I recall (regularly) at the Snake Pit."

That could've been the perception as the Snakepit is a "cosy" venue and regularly sold out. This might have made crowds seem bigger than they were (and I heard rumours, crowds bigger than things like fire regs allowed!). And nearly everyone who went was or had been involved with basketball (played, coached, had kids or family members who played). The atmosphere was very intimate. You could hear the crunch when hard screens were set. And you knew that the referees/opposing coaches could hear remarks directed at them!

"I dont think there is a stadium or arena in the country that offers decent food and beverages and getting ripped off for it."

Granted. And one of the reasons I researched Beanhunter and avoided stadium coffee when my kids played juniors around the state!

"Afaik the rent has always been the problem"

This is what I've heard. Also, when the Hawks had to move to WEC, they lost the revenue from food and drinks. At the Snakepit, these were largely run by volunteers, people involved with Illawarra Basketball (technically separate to the Hawks). So, all the profits went to basketball.

But due to "progress" the Hawks had to move. The NBL had an image it wanted to protect (or project). But, riding on the boom of the '90s did not protect Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, each of which had bigger population bases, capital city transport systems and more venues to choose from. But these boom-time requirements hurt most other regional teams. And remember: there were many regional teams in the NBL's formative years, playing out of their association's facilities, comparable to the Snakepit.

"just how much are tickets for the hawks anyway?"

I think my tickets were about $800 for the season - but that is for pretty good seats. Casual tickets are about $30-50, depending on view.

Nice work 'Three to Make Two', some good info there, and some questions answered well.

Im not a Hawks fan by any means, but I do hope they can work out some of the big issues holding them back and become a strong club especially as the league continues to grow. Would hate to see them pushed out because of poor crowds and shoestring budgets.

WEC is the premier boutique stadium but more importantly within the best location (on the beach, next to parks etc.) in the entire league. The problem is in the middle of summer why would you want to be inside it when it's so picturesque outdoors.

I did read that they need 3-3500k just to break even so that is a problem. I was there the other night and it was nearly full and rocking. If they made tickets $10 each they would bring in more people (newbies) and it doesn't become an expensive night out. Somehow they need to make tickets cheaper to get people in (sadly) They also need an owner who is willing to spend.

Parking at the WEC is pretty ordinary as well. The WEC itself has bugger all. Hawks need an investor willing to ante up and back a rebuild of the Snakepit at Beaton Park. Not as scenic a location as the WEC, but an owned stadium where they can generate all sorts of revenue would be long term beneficial.

Just on the transport problem, how does a venue that holds nearly 6000 for Hawks games and probably more for other events/concerts has such poor car parking solutions? Moreso given its location. And why is public transport so bad if the location caters to big crowds?

In Perth, the Scarborough Beach precinct had a major revamp (new bars,new reestaurants, family areas, swimming pool etc) making it a real beach entertainment hub. But parking has been atrocious and not able to cater for the bigger crowds.

If this is a similar problem in Wollongong, then id be avoidong the area too!

LOL Scarborough. To provide context it's a complete dive compared to the beaches in Wollongong near the WEC.

Swanbourne beach :)

My point was more about the issues regarding parking, (scarborough is on a much smaller scale). Not so much comparing Scarboroughs offerings to that of Wollonongs. Scarborough is just a suburb, obviously.

I knew what you meant but found it funny Scarborough was mentioned.

Also I was referring to central Wollongong (2500) not all of their suburban or Illawarra beaches - go down south to Port Kembla and it's industrial like Kwinana.

Kwinana lol.
Us northern suburbs people are better my bro.

Neston Park Stadium.

You won't find it on Austadiums as it only lists crowds and active arenas from 2003 onwards.

Beaton Park Stadium that should say.

Beaton park they were the days.. Patric Fairs, Stormin Norman Taylor and the gang.