Are you worried about potentially losing the Highlanders?

I used to go along Carisbrook to support the Highlanders and Otago and now I dont even bother any because of the DCC and the ORC both giving the stadium the green light. Also I don't care if the Highlanders win or lose and I support the Hurricanes in the Super 14 and Wellington in the Air New Zealand cup.

And not so much of the oldies ... most of the oldies were and still are very hard men, who got fit the hard way, by working their arses off. 

The Otago Highlanders are now just 'The Highlanders'.
This is a commercial franchise where the number of officials & security people appear to outnumber the fans. I reckon they even mustered the few students in attendance into a little middle section of the terraces to make the tv coverage atmosphere appear inspiring...next they will adopt rent a crowd & canned applause to produce a staged television event.
If we lose the Highlanders franchise it won't be at all a bad thing, the franchise will just compete in other venues with other supporters. They are just another commodity for the Sky TV network & the TAB.
My belief is that we should embrace our people in the game for the NPC.
We should select our men from Southland & Otago to coach and play rugby for the provinces pride.
Even if our lads are losing a few games, if they are our boys playing 'our game - our way at our place: Carisbrook'...then we can have pride and passion in our boys performances.
Spending a few quid upgrading our beloved house of pain would be required because that is who we are, the rugby spirit of Otago past present & future lies in the history of epic rugby matches at Carisbrook.

The traditional supporters grew up as kids running onto Carisbrook to get autographs from players that they knew, at the end of another provincial clash. Some of them went on to represent their province, to get their photos on the walls of their home clubs. Heaven forbid there is even one club not to be mentioned with Wayne Graham's photo on the wall with his All Black jersey on... I digress.. Back in the 80/90's the players were from the local university, and the hinterland. they partied after the game in the student sector, there was connection between the team, and its supporters. I personally couldn't tell you who is in the Highlanders team this year ... the disconnection started with the professional era, the first thing the money men insisted was that the kids couldn't run on after a game for autographs. So what kid today gets a chance to shake the hand of a player and have something to aspire too. Professional rugby now is boring. Its about about 30 players terrified of losing, and so defending brutally for 40-50 minutes of every game. We know this because we have the stats to tell us. Give me a game of skill, courage, and fitness where size doesn't matter, like hockey, even soccer. These sports provide sporting challenge for young kids today. The numbers turning out for teams in these codes must be a concern for NZRFU surely. Kids rugby is played by combined teams, egged on by parents screeching like hungry keas. 95% of the children playing on a Saturday in club teams will never participate in representative rugby, lured away by more thrilling and challenging sports, like hockey, soccer, and the "Lycra Look at me" sports like cycling They have no connection between themselves and what happens at Carisbrook. They cannot see the path taken by club members before them.

Mr Reid needs to start with the managment performance and a history of poor governance. He doesn't have my suppport simply because his firm is underperforming he has to provide a service we will choose over others that we elect to spend our discretionary dollar on. Clean out the directors and hold the management to account. I am sure there are plently of good players who would love to play for the Highlanders and good coaches too for that matter. Why don't they Mr Reid? Answer that and I may return but stop blaming the public for deserting you and start looking for answers by examaning your own performance. Whinging to your market about your lack of custom is not a good look.

How many of those players were from Otago? Most of them came here for Uni and adopted Otago because there was a city who supported them. But now there is a whole heap of negative oldies who are still whinging about proffesionalism. How long have other sports been pro and have none of these problems? I just wish rugby went pro earlier so I wouldn't have to listen to all these old cronies pining for something that isn't going to come back. If the Highlanders go Otago rugby will go too, which will probably leave Dunedin to slowly fade in most peoples memories as a place that had a team that punched above their weight but gave up when the going got too tough. At least I'll be able to adopt Southland, who'll survive.

I was overseas when super rugby and professional rugby started, so have never seen the Highlanders as my team. I've been back in Dunedin for 2 years now and see no reason why that should change. The whole concept of a franchise just lacks passion and identity, so the executives are up against it. They are grasping at straws when they mention Otago's rugby tradition because in days of old rugby was the only thing and the Otago team only played a handful of games in a season. Now there's so much more to do and far too much soul-less rugby which is of real interest to only a few.
Dunedin hasn't really grown in population since I was a kid, while the rest of NZ has grown - so over time we have moved from being the major force to essentially a minor community. Places like Auckland are not necessarily more interested in Super 14, it's just that they only need a very small percentage of the population to make it viable.
Dare I say it, but Otago rugby is unlikely to ever recapture it's former glory. In reality, professionaly rugby has undone. In the past Otago has benefitted from very talented students who were close to or of All Black quality. Those individuals now go straight into professional rugby.

As the owners of the Highlanders franchise, the ORFU need to understand if you want public support there needs to be a value proposition that will get people in the gate.
A value proposition that is better than the competitors.
Otago Rugby supporters have been looking for the season of all seasons since the early to mid nineties. Remember the capacity crowds at NPC games in the 80's and 90's. It simply hasn't been there.
We had players and coaches who were revered globally not just locally. Lauded by the general public all over the world, not just die hard Otago Rugby fans.
The difference between now and back then is not around TV or how much discretionary income is available, but the paying public wanted to see these guys play in the flesh and blood.
The Stadium is a good start, but we need value in our Rugby/Sport. We need players that will attract the public's interest. The reality is these guys now cost big money which means the ORFU needs a source of revenue other than the rugby fans living in Otago.
Some thought could be given to an alignment with a sporting powerhouse; using ManU as an example. They have developed a global marketing machine, how?
They have players like we used to have. Players whose names are known in most households of sporting nations.

I think this poll question is poorly written and so will not reflect the opinions clearly of those who vote in it. Voting No in the poll could mean "No, I am not worried (because I do not think it will happen)" which is what I immediately thought the question referred to when I read it, but it can also mean "No I'm not worried (because I don't care if we lose the team or not)".

Ah, but you overlook the fact that the new stadium is multi-purpose, and rugby is only one use. How do we know this? Because Malcolm Farry has said so. To date he has chosen to keep the other uses a secret, but it must be true, because Malcolm only tells the truth about the stadium; particularly over matters such as absolute deadlines and guaranteed maximums, and no doubt unidentified secret uses. So the dropping attendance at rugby matches doesn't matter a hoot. Anyway with a new stadium rugby attendance will skyrocket. And how do we know that? Because Willy Lose on his radio programme identified Carisbrook as the reason for poor attendance. "You wouldn't go to a new movie in an old theatre' was his staggering rationale for the comment to a caller.

The 'Highlanders'/'Otago' connection has been lost, probably for ever. Rugby flourished for as long as I am able to remember, on a close identification with 'Otago', the province. The age of professionaism has all but broken that linkage completely, and no amount of garish and expensive promotional advertising will be capable of restoring it. That is what the 'money-men' seem to be incapable of taking into account. To do away with Carisbrook', its traditions and memories, then to even consider that a 'Carisbrook' display in the proposed edifice is any sort of worthy substitute, shows just how far out-of-touch our leaders are. That proposal is nothing short of a gratuitous insult.
Furthermore, I find even the title 'Carisbrook Stadium Trust' to be offensive, since the first move of that body was to effectively kneecap the very rugby venue which it had seen fit to incorporate into its rather grandiose title.
Finally, but it's worth mentioning, the city of Dunedin was settled, in-the-main, by immigrants from the 'border' and 'lowland' areas of Scotland, so even the title of 'Highlanders' is misleading. It's just that 'Lowlanders' doesn't have quite the same 'ring' about it, does it?

As Peter Chin pointed out on TV some time ago, it would make the Stadium more marginal.
There is a complete denial of this statement in the Council since not one member has taken any notice of Peter Chin's statement.
Do they really know what they are doing, taking this project on when there is so little interest in the Highlanders? The winning streak of this team is not exactly well known and to be frank, having this group of dubious rugby players as a draw card for the stadium is to say the least, being extremely optimistic.