Auckland FC’s inaugural season in the Isuzu A-league has produced a record-breaking season at their home ground Go Media Stadium.
This announcement covers some huge milestones in attendance numbers, economic results and successful environmental initiatives.
Go Media Stadium (originally Mount Smart Stadium) recorded the highest average attendance over the whole league with an average of 18,101 spectators this season.
With their highest single game being their derby win against Wellington Phoenix FC earlier this year with 27,009 in attendance.
Their average attendance is over 2,000 more than Sydney FC, in a considerably smaller stadium.
Its been recorded by Auckland Stadiums that nearly a quarter of a million people have been to the field.
With 88% of the stadium patrons being local Aucklanders, not only are they coming in large numbers, but their study found that they had a 91% crowd satisfaction rate for the season.
This shows that they have achieved by not only getting huge crowds for most games, but that they are also having a positive reception from the large fan cohort.
The increased atmosphere also translates financially through tickets and also the catering experience, Go Media Stadium sold over 110,000 hot dogs and served 215,000 beers this season.
The resulting cash intake for the club and fellow stadium based businesses is important and will help solidify the economic viability of this venture.
With all this activity its no small feat to mention that the stadium hit some considerable environmental targets.
Stadiums Auckland recorded that 33,500KG of waste had been converted to recycling or landfill, allowing the clubs to also open 18 new bike parking stations at each gate.
Encouraging clean and healthy ways to transport oneself to the stadium and doing an active part to keep the community clean speaks of a smart environmental and progressive success.
The profits from large crowds and successful catering, combined with the positive reception from fans, indicates a sustained all-round game day experience.
More happy fans means more atmosphere for the team and more customers for stadium-based businesses projects, a win-win for everyone!
In the future A-League seasons to come if Auckland FC can maintain this development, then Go Media Stadium will continue to be a massive success.
This model is an important one to display the effective execution of a match day experience and how clubs can elevate their stadiums to get similar results.
Its also so important for the league to try and elevate the game day atmosphere and get more fans wanting to experience it.
In the end, a full and loud stadium is one of football’s greatest sights.
