Nathan, a raw nerve there!
My take on it is pretty simple. Advertising and marketing is paramount. PR is the key and sounds like Perth are doing a fair bit off court. (Nathan confirm?)
Perth are pretty proactive on social media which is the rage this day and age. The AFL clubs do this to perfection. Every day there is a puff piece on something. For example, on Adelaide Now today "Power's Jay Schulz shows sharpshooting skills in Dubai" - and this news how? On Perth Now they have some story about Freo starting training again and a photo of some player with his top off. These puff pieces are every day occurrences with the AFL. On C7 news tonight, I expect they'll have a story talking about some rookie's mum knitting tea cosies for underprivileged orphan kids in some remote African nation we haven't heard of.
We have spoken about how much an NBL clubs costs to run. Perth is a very interesting place to do business. Melbourne is where the big, olde money is in Australia, Sydney is the finance centre of Australia, Brisbane is the glamour capital, and Adelaide is the sub-branch to Melbourne/Sydney. Perth has always been difficult to do business with and quite parochial. To get sponsorship out of a Perth company, just tell them their competitor has chipped in double and they don't like to be outdone. In Adelaide, the State Manager has to put a proposal to their manager in Melbourne and it all gets lots. Therefore, having good corporate support helps fund marketing. In SA, the top 10 local businesses? I think they are Santos, Elders, Hills, Adelaide Brighton, Shahin Enterprises, T & R Pastoral, Scott Group of Companies,
Commercial Motor Vehicle Group, Drake Supermarkets, K & S Corporation. In WA how many more options do sponsorship managers have?
Success is the key too. On court success stirs up interest and people want to watch the games etc.
Ticket Cost is a factor. There would be a break-even point as well with ticket prices. It is seen by many as a luxury item so could be the first to go in a budget squeeze. In WA, how many cashed up bogans are there? It's also linked with sponsors, more sponsors, cheaper prices.
I would be interested to compare the demographics of the crowds of the 8 clubs. How do they differ? Is the Perth crowd just families, or are they corporate boffins doing mine deals at the half time break?
Public transport is too. Good Public Transport can help getting to and from stadiums. Car parking etc all factors.
I think all teams have the capability to fill stadiums, its about creating reasons to fill them.