Anonymous
Years ago

Tigers to call Hisense Arena Home

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Thursday 26th July 2012

Tigers to Call Hisense Arena Home
It is exciting times at the Melbourne Tigers in the lead up to the upcoming 2012/13 iiNet National Basketball League Championship Season.

As CEO of the Melbourne Tigers I am excited to announce this season the club will be calling Hisense Arena home, playing seven of our fourteen home games at the venue! Games featured will include our first home game of the season against the Perth Wildcats on Sunday the 21st of October (2pm tip-off).

Hisense Arena is located within Melbourne and Olympic Parks, the heart of the Melbourne sporting precinct. With capacity of approximately 10,000 people, the Hisense Arena games provide a significant opportunity for basketball fans, and event goers in general, to experience high level basketball and non-stop entertainment!

Moving games to the larger venue has been a priority for us, we are dedicated to increasing the visibility of basketball and improving the Tigers home game nights into exciting entertainment events for all.

We play our first five home games at Hisense Arena against Perth, New Zealand, Townsville, Adelaide and Sydney before finishing the regular season with the final 2 home games at Hisense Arena against New Zealand and Townsville. For times and dates please visit our website (www.tigers.com.au).

The aim for the club is to fill the arena, with plans for extended marketing and advertising campaigns Victoria wide. We are also expanding our community programs by increasing visits to local associations, giving aspiring junior basketballers and basketball fans unprecedented access to their stars. The Tigers NBL club is determined to strengthen existing relationships with all local associations, and does not have exclusive affiliations with any one club.

To gain the best possible game night experience fans are encouraged to become a member of the club. Becoming a member enables you to choose your reserved seat, plus provides you access to the Tigers Membership Rewards Program (discounts and special offers from over a hundred companies). There are different levels of memberships available that will enhance your game night experience, all available now at www.tigers.com.au/membership.

Tigers Corporate Hospitality and Sponsorships are also now available for the upcoming season, contact the Tigers office on (03) 9099 5500 for further information.

We hope to have the final pieces of the playing roster in place over the coming weeks and will keep you informed as they are confirmed!

Michael Slepoy | CEO

Topic #28854 | Report this topic


alexkrad  
Years ago

Didnt they struggle to fill their stadium last season? With Patty Mills?

And they havnt exactly had the best image in the last year either..

They will have to market hard and/or give away alot of freebies!

Reply #371841 | Report this post


hoopie  
Years ago

And get some decent entertainment during the breaks, cos what usually happened last season sucked.

Reply #371846 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

I admire that the new owners are more ambitious in getting bigger crowds in, and Melbourne Park is a great location, but I worry about the loss of atmosphere by moving to Hisense Arena. It simply is a poor venue for basketball. Even a full house lacks atmosphere.

I hope the plan is to eventually move into the court 1 (Margaret Court Arena).

That will be an ideal size and location for basketball -- 7,500 in the main sports precinct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbNwSPowYhc (although this simulation makes it look a lot smaller than 7,500 -- an earlier design?)

The seating arrangement is more conventional, like a scaled down Rod Laver Arena, so should be great for basketball. The redevelopment will be ready for the 2015 Australian Open, so we still have to wait 2 and a half years, but upon completion surely that is where at least one Melbourne-based NBL team will call home.

Reply #371847 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

For those interested in a more detailed look at the new Margaret Court Arena design, check this out: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archives/old-sport-pages/australian-opens-bright-future/story-fn77kxzt-1226246788585

Reply #371849 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

"Didnt they struggle to fill their stadium last season?"

I think they had their best crowds ever at The Cage last season, including 6 or 7 sellouts and some near sellouts with minimal marketing, which is probably part of the reason the new owners are looking to a bigger stadium.

They have stated they plan to extensively market the team, and that is the key to this working. The various Melbourne teams havent really got 'out there' to the basketball community - the Dragons did it in their first year and got decent crowds - so if the Tigers do that there is a certainly potential to make this work.

Would have been better if the Hisense games werent so close together, but venue availability probably had a fair bit to do with that.

Reply #371850 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Alex - the tigers had a number of sell outs last year. I think this is a great move for them.

Reply #371851 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

People have often been critical of the Tigers' ticket costs. Hopefully they have some accessible options to fill the seats further out and make sure the crowds aren't disappointing.

Reply #371852 | Report this post


skip  
Years ago

You would imagine that Margaret Court Arena will become their home court next season. Pretty much the perfect size.

Reply #371853 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

I agree Isaac, and it's good to see they have 7-game memberships from $140 this year. Much overdue.

Reply #371860 | Report this post


HO  
Years ago

RJD's points are important. HiSense is not a great basketball venue - it struggles for atmosphere. The Cage, for all its diminished capacity, is a fun basketball venue.

Reply #371872 | Report this post


natwhereyouat  
Years ago

I believe another team (Another Melbourne bid) have registered interest in Margaret Court Arena

Reply #371876 | Report this post


NBL Fan  
Years ago

Margaret Court Arena gets a roof in 2015.

Reply #371897 | Report this post


Dingo99  
Years ago

This will make of break the tigers in my opinion.
How may is good number according to you all?
6k?

Reply #371907 | Report this post


Boomer  
Years ago

Any word on the other Melbourne team to express an interest in Margaret Court?
I thought the only bid around at the moment for the second melbourne team was at the ridiculously undersized State Basketball Centre (3200).

Reply #371909 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

The Dragons prices were very low. What did they average? Not much more than 5k?

Reply #371914 | Report this post


natwhereyouat  
Years ago

Re: 2nd Melbourne bid. You're talking about the team that was going to be based out of Knox. The team that put that bid forward has since disbanded.

This is a different bid, kept fairly quiet.

Reply #371923 | Report this post


EC  
Years ago

rjd, I beg to differ. I think its a great venue but it needs to be pretty full. The size of the crowds Melbourne have been getting would get lost in such a large venue.

Reply #371935 | Report this post


rjd  
Years ago

The atmosphere of Tigers games diminished greatly when they first went to Vodaphone arena (now Hisense arena). I thought crowds declined faster after the move. It's so hard to generate noise in that venue.

Although SNAHC is like a cardboard stadium, much smaller than Hisense, the move to the SNAHC improved the atmosphere at Tigers games massively. It wasn't purely because the same noise sounds louder due to the acoustics of the venue -- the increased presence of noise made the crowd more pumped and wanting to be even louder. It's a positive feedback loop.

I'm concerned about the opposite happening with the move back. If crowds don't feel like their noise is being heard, they become quieter.

They'll need big crowds to make it work. Let's hope the bad press about the Tigers doesn't impact their ability to draw a big crowd (with black curtains pulled, 6,000 is alright).

Reply #371958 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

I agree, if they can get 5000-6000 for those seven games it is a good start.

Reply #371964 | Report this post


Wildcat Fan  
Years ago

It may diminish the atmosphere somewhat, but this is a positive step for the Tigers and the NBL. Melbourne are the second biggest market, and with so many of their home games on TV, they need to show the league they they have that "big city" feel about them. Playing at the Cage gave the Tigers the impression that they were a nobody in Melbourne. To me, they looked like a small town country team playing in the only venue available. Sure the atmosphere was good, but with a limited capacity, growth was never going to happen. Cairns, Townsville, Perth and Adelaide are much smaller cities, but played in bigger venues. Melbourne need to be more in line with the rest of the league.

Even if the Tigers can only pull 4000-5000 that still increases their attendances and a 5000 crowd is very good these days.

I remember watching a Dragons game on TV and there were 5100 in the crowd. When that was announced, I was a bit disappointed because it looked bigger to me. So I don't think Hisense is that big for a half full crowd to be a bad thing.

This is where the NBL needs to head towards. The Tigers were outgrowing the Cage, and it's now time to move upwards.

Reply #371967 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Pull 1000, or pull 5000 people, your hiring costs will be exhorbitant. 3000 people in that bigger arena will make them look even more foolish.
The Tigers have the most expensive tickets in the NBL already. Will ticket prices go up to cover the additional rental costs?

Reply #371978 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Memberships from $20 per game arent too bad.

Reply #371982 | Report this post




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