Another Mt Smart vs Eden Park thread

[LeagueNut]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10803588

It's purely hypothetical at the moment, however if the Warriors earn a home NRL final it appears the match will be played at Eden Park.

Given rugby stronghold's unbroken run as a graveyard for New Zealand league teams - be it the Kiwis or Warriors - that news is likely to raise the hackles of some Warriors fans.

Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah insisted no discussions about the likely venue for finals matches had taken place, however he conceded the club did have concerns about seating capacity at Mt Smart Stadium that had been lowered to 19,000.

The club's traditional home has seated around 27,000 for previous finals matches thanks to temporary seating. However, Regional Facilities Auckland - the body that runs the region's stadiums - has informed the Warriors it will not meet the costs of erecting temporary seating in the future.

That ruling effectively limits Mt Smart's capacity to 19,000 seats plus room for around another 5000 spectators to either stand or sit on grass at the northern end. With this year's season-opener against Manly attracting a crowd of over 37,000 to Eden Park, the restricted capacity at Mt Smart is likely to be viewed as insufficient by both the Warriors and the NRL.

Both parties would stand to make significantly more money from finals matches at Eden Park. Although the NRL pockets all ticket sales revenue from finals, the Warriors would benefit from increased commercial opportunities around corporate hosting, merchandising and catering.

"We haven't even considered it," Scurrah said of the likely switch. "We are not even in the top eight at the moment so we are focusing on winning games, not where we play finals."

Scurrah did, however, accept that the limited capacity at Mt Smart Stadium made it a marginal proposition for finals matches.

I think we're all gradually accepting that future big matches will be played at Eden Park whether we like it or not so this article shouldn't be a surprise.

What worries me is the permanent reduction of seating at Mt Smart to 19,000. I know I'm being hypothetical but if the club achieves success and starts attracting regular crowds of that size then we'll effectively "outgrow" Mt Smart pretty damn quick.

I remember reading somewhere ages ago (maybe here?) that the Auckland Council is trying to reduce the number of stadiums in Auckland and things like this make it sound like they want the Warriors to make the decision themselves instead of forcing them out.

I don't wanna go to Eden Park all the time

 

[ozbash]

Rd 1 was the last time I'll ever go to EP to watch league.

 

[Rich102]

Mt Smart is the home of league now. IF the Warriors make the finals then I am sure the fans would rather a packed-out Mt Smart than a partly full Eden Park.

If the Warriors kept winning and Mt Smart was too small for regular season games then look at Eden Park.

Let's start winning before looking about where we will host the final.:crazy:

 

[vvvrulz]

Having a home semi in Eden Park will be awful, almost a disadvantage. Yes there will be plenty of home support and arguably more in terms of numbers, but the players themselves will feel a bit unfamiliar. Mt Smart IS the home of the Warriors, period.

 

[vvvrulz]

Let's start winning before looking about where we will host the final.:crazy:

And this! Make the top eight let alone a home final.

 

[Dr Crane]

Rd 1 was the last time I'll ever go to EP to watch league.

that's what i said after last year. dreadful experience. attracts far too many tossers, to begin with.

 

[IanG]

that's what i said after last year. dreadful experience. attracts far too many tossers, to begin with.

Perhaps those who were just casual observers or those who got pissed at the cricket the day before.

 

[Micistm]

I guess it doesn't efect us southerners that much, but stepping aside from it being good to have a home semi...yeah, I really don't like Eden park. It's nothing to do with 'the curse' of not having won there, nor an anti union thing- It's simply if you get a home semi, you play the ****ing thing at home! It's not rocket science- You win a home ground advantage for a big event like playoff games, you play it at your home ground. Maybe that means less fans can go, less revenue is gathered...thems the breaks.
By the arguement for more money/fans can go, then all Sydney based teams should play at the big venue, not their smaller home grounds. And I know how much that grinds the gears of clubs and their fans! And damn rightly so too. Then home ground advantage isn't that.

 

[Dr Crane]

Perhaps those who were just casual observers or those who got pissed at the cricket the day before.

last year. 2011. the four nations game the year before that was even worse. i only gave 2011 a chance because the tickets were free.

i've said it before, and i'll say it again, good for the club if it gets them extra people in seats, but i won't be one of them.

and wait until they go on a dud run and aren't the flavour of the month again. 5000 at eden park is going to look very pathetic.

 

[Blair]

What exactly is wrong with Eden Park for league? I kind of know but, having been away from NZ for so long, I need a few details.

Perhaps a list, 1-10, will answer this nicely.

 

[Rich102]

1. It's not home.
2. It's not home.
3. It's not home.
4. It's not home.
5. It's not home.
6. It's not home.
7. It's not home.
8. It's not home.
9. It's not home.
10. It's not home.

 

[IanG]

Don't they also have Warriors HQ there as well?

 

[Iafeta]

1. It doesn't have ozbash's bum print in the Eastern Stand
2. Eden Park doesn't contract with ozbash's local milk co-operative
3. It's not home.
4. It's not home.
5. It's not home.
6. It's not home.
7. It's not home.
8. It's not home.
9. It's not home.
10. It's not home.

Fixed it for you Rich

 

[attila_the_gorilla]

Both of them are pretty shit, both in terrible locations, for different reasons. Eden Park is just a bit better, at least there are some shops, pubs etc in walking distance or within easy access, if you fancy proper food or a drink before or after the game, not the rubbish they dish up in the stadium. But you have all the residents complaning about noise and having a say in what time games can be on etc.
Mt Smart has a better atmosphere, stands are closer to the field, but is not very pretty and not enough of the seats are covered. Eden Park is not a proper rectangular stadium and it looks awful with all the different parts added at different times.

Both are crap overall.

 

[Skinner]

Both of them are pretty shit, both in terrible locations, for different reasons. Eden Park is just a bit better, at least there are some shops, pubs etc in walking distance or within easy access, if you fancy proper food or a drink before or after the game, not the rubbish they dish up in the stadium. But you have all the residents complaning about noise and having a say in what time games can be on etc.
Mt Smart has a better atmosphere, stands are closer to the field, but is not very pretty and not enough of the seats are covered. Eden Park is not a proper rectangular stadium and it looks awful with all the different parts added at different times.

Both are crap overall.

qft

 

[vvvrulz]

Eden Park is not a proper rectangular stadium and it looks awful with all the different parts added at different times.

Both are crap overall.

Not to mention that its a terrible place logistically, can't avoid a 20 min walk if you park and the trains/buses are always packed if its a big game. If we are going to move away from Mt Smart (which there is no reason to), then I'd rather move to North Harbour stadium before Eden Park.

 

[Blair]

I remember when an Auckland team in the NSWRL was first being seriously considered they had this 'space-age' superdome planned somewhere in Manukau, about 1990-92 I think.

Our 'futuristic' stadium was a big selling point but it never eventuated of course, there was a recession on and one of the main guys involved went to jail I believe, for fraud or something like that.

That stadium in Dunedin is amazing, with a roof and all. Those winters are a trial for footy fans and players.

I've heard the very real criticisms of games at Eden Park attracting those 'good time only' league fans, the ones who would never drive or take the bus to Mt Smart, even for a final. I can't stand those fans, there were quite a few at the GF, virtually none at the Tigers semi.

I also heard about the drunken fights at the Warriors v Parra match last year at Eden Park, don't think there'd be a brawling culture at Penrose? It's too far to go to waste your money getting ejected.

 

[NZ Warrior]

If Phil Gould likes it, I like it!

No, no no no no!

 

[JoeD]

The club's traditional home has seated around 27,000 for previous finals matches thanks to temporary seating. However, Regional Facilities Auckland - the body that runs the region's stadiums - has informed the Warriors it will not meet the costs of erecting temporary seating in the future.

Why would they have ever paid for extra seating? Surely if the NRL wants to sell more tickets they can pay for temp seating. Does U2 get them to pay for extra seating when they play a concert there?

 

[JoeD]

It's too far to go to waste your money getting ejected.

Too far from where? It's way closer and convenient for me than EP.

2 things for me about EP. The parking and the view. Both horrible.

Couldn't give a rats about drinking before or after the game so the fact that mt smart is isolated from that stuff doesn't bother me a bit. it's not like EP is right downtown anyway. It's not like a whole stadium worth of people could pack into the few places within dwelling distance anyway.