Tony Veitch and Michael Guerin weigh in on the stadium debate and discuss the future of the Wellington Sevens.
Big stadiums v small stadiums
:
Tony: The big stadiums are killing sport ...people want intimate venues.
Michael: But also people want things that are easy. If there was a small stadium in Auckland and it was in Manukau or Waitakere would you go? No, but you want it somewhere close.
Tony: At Saxton Oval they have $6 beers, 18 different food outlets. Talking about the sevens now, just 8,000 tickets sold...
Michael: Agreed but in Nelson it's easier to get to a stadium. In the bigger cities half the problem is it's hard to get the most of the stadiums that's why Westpac, usually, or the Basin works. You could walk there from the centre of town.
Tony: I get all of that and I understand exactly what you're saying but it still goes back to my point, big stadiums are killing sport. People don't want to go to a big stadium now.
Michael: And it's worse when there's 5000 people there because there is no atmosphere.
The future of the Wellington Sevens
Michael: Do you care about the sevens now or is it off your radar?
Tony: For me I'm trying to find a solution for this. They've tried everything. Family zones, cutting the costs of the tickets, making it Saturday and Sunday, starting it earlier at 11am instead of 1pm. The issue for me, I think is Wellington is dead and buried. Then you start asking questions about, 'Well if it's not Wellington what about Auckland?' Well if the Nines are on in Auckland it can't work in over back-to-back weekends. Dunedin won't work either. Where does it go?
Michael: The Bay. Home of Kane Williamson. Perfect place. Mount Manganui is the perfect place to have the sevens. The Bay Oval is fantastic. This is a great reason to finalise lights in there.
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