After 17 years as New Zealand’s sole A-League team, Wellington Phoenix faced a new local rival: Auckland FC—backed by billionaire Bill Foley and NZ investors including Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams.
Just days before Phoenix’s final ‘home’ game at Eden Park, Auckland FC announced a high-profile media event to unveil their team name and kit. Coincidence? Perhaps not. The timing risked stealing attention, media coverage, and ticket sales, crucial for a club without billionaire backing. Despite having led the A-League on and off through the season, football often struggles for coverage in New Zealand’s rugby, netball and league media landscape.
Phoenix had history on their side: unbeaten in 12 games at Eden Park since 2007, with Auckland crowds often outnumbering Wellington ones. Our best crowd ever in Auckland was 22,000 in 2021, our first game since covid, and our average over the last five years has been 15,000.
The idea, Wellington Phoenix launching a petition to the New Zealand government to extend the border of Greater Wellington 700KM north to just beyond Whangārei, was just zany enough to overtake the actual football news event of the day, the champagne launch of Auckland FC backed by US billionaire Bill Foley and local billionaire Anna Mowbray.
Our petition quickly caught fire through our amplifying comms of public relations and social media. The focus shifted from the glitzy Auckland FC reveal to Phoenix’s campaign and cheeky territorial claim.
The Greater Wellington campaign for the Phoenix tapped into a cultural moment with a strong creative idea delivered at the perfect time to maximum effect, driving a very high pick up in media, supporting very strong ticket sales, generating $269,913 of PR value for a $3000 investment. It is also a platform for future campaigning.
The campaign was awarded Gold for Best Creative PR Campaign at the Pressies, 2024, and Bronze for Best use of Media Relations at the PRINZ Awards, 2025.
