It's easier to reply to this backwards.
Zoned seating was considered, but canned towards the end of the process for the reason I previously mentioned. With zoned seating, people sell themselves. Are you the $75 fan who wants VIP car-parking and courtside seating? Are you the $25 type who wants to be nearish the court? Or are you the $10 uni student who wants to attend but just spent everything on text books and is happy to have a back-row seat for a budget price?
The first concern of the club shouldn't be "but people will buy $10 tickets and move into the $25 seats". It should be "let's fill the Dome and make sure those in the corporate suites see that their sponsorship money is well spent". Once the place is full, the $10 people won't be able to move closer anyway.
Your points about the organisation being in retreat are, in my opinion, absolutely spot on. I would imagine that morale is impacted.
What staff in there should realise is that fans are not entirely brutal and stupid -- they are aware of financial restrictions, and they will respect good ideas being tried even if they fall short, or effort being made.
Some of the game night ideas being implemented, for example, might stumble - I don't know - but those people involved (Jane, Teresa, Potsie, Rachel, Ben, Bonz and myself) are giving it a serious shot and I think the game presentation is going to be seriously improved this season.
Basketball isn't an issue of charity. It's a commercial venture. It's entertainment. The sheer truth is that season ticket numbers are down and I would name the top three issues that have led to this as:
1. Poor rapport with fans - no publicity, some silly decisions, etc.
2. Pricing - too expensive in the current market, no zoning.
3. Marketing - having no budget is not an excuse unless you're uninventive or defeatist.
Now, my original point was "If people vote with their wallets, a productive change could well come from that result." I stand by that. The parent post suggested that nothing productive could come of that protest, but if people show their dissatisfaction by not buying tickets, the club can either die a gradual death, or pay some attention to what's caused the decline (despite what key personnel in the past may have thought, the main problems aren't the performance of the team or Boti being critical of the club or Charles Thomas, for example).
People have voted with their wallets in that 300+ people have made the decision not to renew their STs this year. In the majority of cases, this would be as a direct result of the three issues just mentioned. People would be thinking "It's getting a bit stale, the club doesn't seem to be trying, plus it's pretty expensive, and they didn't respond to my email the other week." You could get away with $25 tickets if your rapport and marketing were top notch. Or you could fill the stadium despite crap PR if your prices were low.
I don't know if policing seats is a major issue either. I'd rather that everyone at the game moves down to fill the lower parts and improve the atmosphere anyway. How many people would've thought last year, "The atmosphere used to be far better than this!" -- more volume, more people around you, fewer gaps, etc - that creates a more positive environment that you enjoy more.
One reason I think that assistance to the club may be limited is that you have to give the impression that you're really trying as an organisation, otherwise people won't think that the club deserves any help. I think that the perception outside has simply been that the effort and ideas just haven't been good enough.
As you've said, they need help, but they need to help themselves first. Or they need to identify weakpoints in their arsenal, and fill them (internally or with the right contractors and volunteers). You can either read criticism and crawl up into a ball, or you can get on the front foot and try harder. I remember reading anonymous criticism of my first ever freelance job - I was in shock for a while, but then realised where I could improve.
There should be an evangelist within the organisation that publicly responds to concerns as they arise (see Paul Bauer's reply in a topic about the pre-season game as an example -- that's a start).
I know this sounds like incessant doom and gloom, but I believe that the nadir passed about a month or so ago and things will improve from here -- Bauer will have a very positive impact, some fresh meat up the top of the club could be interesting, and if they get someone like Paul Bell in there too, I'd recommend finding some way to invest in the club.
Given that I've been pretty critical, I would like to make it clear that I do try to help when I can. Obviously I run Hoops SA and I promote events and news whenever possible (ABL promos, stats, push Talking Hoops whenever possible, etc). I have tried to provide ideas as part of the game night committee. I'm helping out by building the upcoming Academy site for nothing to demonstrate support for basketball. If I think of an idea maybe worth considering, or I see a post on the forum that would be of interest to the club, I forward it to Paul Bauer for him to consider or ignore as he sees fit (must be getting sick of it by now). Also, I will again be providing Sixers match reports this season.
If I've missed your point again, is the problem that "voting with your wallet" could be considered a political vs personal/financial thing and I've been misinterpreted back at the start of the topic?