Our View: Ultimatum may backfire on Magic

Magic's use of the word "ultimatum" in demanding more people attend their Rotorua matches or they'll play elsewhere is hardly the way to foster goodwill.
Are they trying to hold netball fans to ransom or just the Rotorua District Council?
Magic  say they have enjoyed "positive support" from Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupo councils to ensure games remain in those locations. Apparently the same support hasn't been forthcoming from the Rotorua council.
Councils in Tauranga and Taupo are covering venue costs and the Hamilton council pays a fee for on-court advertising.
The cynical among our locals may wonder if this is just Magic's way of moving things to Tauranga, where a new sporting facility is set to be completed later this year. First rugby, now netball - what's next?
Magic need 80 per cent capacity at the Energy Events Centre - which can take 3000 - but haven't had anywhere near that for the past two seasons, apart from one sold-out match, against Australian side Thunderbirds. Another Aussie team, Firebirds, attracted a 73 per cent capacity crowd but most others have been a lot lower.
The recession and the fact many of the ANZ Championship games are played on Mondays, a school night, with 7.40pm the usual start time, are likely to be factors in the drop in crowd numbers. The allocation of games - ie the calibre of the opposition - is also bound to be a factor. Fans won't bother going to watch their team play the competition minnows on a school night.
Tauranga and Hamilton have bigger fan bases than Rotorua, so it stands to reason it's easier to fill venues there, and the economic status of their residents is likely to be higher than that of our city.
To their credit, unlike most other franchises in the competition which tend to have just one home venue, Magic do spread themselves around their region.
They play pre-season matches in Te Awamutu and have to date shared home games during the competition between Hamilton and Rotorua, with the odd match thrown Taupo's way.
The franchise says it is now looking to whittle down its home base to just one or two venues where the majority of games will be played.
There are all sorts of reasons why fans might not go to a game including, among others, the weather, the day and time of a game, the calibre of the opposition, how well or not their team  have been performing, hours of work and commitments made to other activities.
There's an old adage that says "build it and they will come" but sports fans generally don't like to be delivered ultimatums to attend matches. The "threaten to take it away and they will come" approach may just achieve the opposite.