After two years away, the Breakers, like other New Zealand teams in Australasian competitions, are pulling out all the stops to get Kiwis back in the stands when their new NBL campaign kicks off in five weeks.
Since their last game in New Zealand, they’ve got a new coach, a new roster and a new approach to attracting fans – although that last one has a familiar face doing some of the work.
Tom Abercrombie has been one of a few sending personalised messages to their members; the longtime Breaker reeling through over 100 names so far - and has a couple hundred, if not more, to go.
But the 35-year-old shooter said it’s all for a special moment.
“Just being here, practicing out on our own floor, the excitement of having something to look forward to, is just crazy,” he said.
This is after a season from hell, being stuck in Australia facing Covid and lockdowns, loss after loss, playing in empty venues – all before they were then locked out of a return home.
“The last two years were very tough personally, professionally, I won't sugar coat it, I really struggled, on a lot of levels so it's good to be home,” Abercrombie said.
On the other side of town, the Warriors are kickstarting their return party in 2023 with a sold out end to their third season based in Australia.
Long time sponsors Vodafone have footed the bill, confirming last week they’d bought all remaining tickets to Saturday’s game to be “sold” off to fans for free.
"It’s a tremendous gesture," Warriors CEO Cameron George said last week.
"We had a rough two-and-a-half years with our players being unable to perform on home turf in front of their fans due to border closures.
"We can’t wait to see fans packing out Mt Smart once again as we put a line under our Covid exile and celebrate the dawn of a home season back in New Zealand."
The Phoenix are also pushing to get fans back in stands for their return to Aotearoa, adding to their 'Football for All' campaign by allowing fans the ability to donate match day tickets to others who would otherwise miss out.
“We were getting requests from fans who wanted to support the club but weren’t able to attend games and while we have the Club Membership which is designed for that, some were asking for additional ways they could contribute more,” Phoenix GM David Dome said.
The Breakers and Warriors will hope fans are keen to contribute to their campaigns too.
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