[Archived] Poll - Falling Attendances.

[waggy]

I attended on Saturday, and also bought a paying guest with me - however it will be the last time I come to Ewood for a while. Despite leaving my house at 11am, I missed the first half of the game - the roadworks on the M6 are horrendous at the moment.

Point is - there's no miracle cure to sell out every week, every non-attendee has a different story, infact most have more than just one reason for not turning up. What the club have to do is determine what they can do that influences the majority of the non-attendees, the one thing that most of them have in common. The most annoying thing is that its a no-brainer. Reduce ticket prices - 25,000 in at £20 a head is much better that 16,953 at £25.

340815[/snapback]

price rduction is a very tricky one,we do it for cup games and get less than 10k,£20 is still to dear in my eyes but then again a i'm a tight arse

[den]

The right product at the right price = maximum gates.

Any other variable = falling gates.

Not an easy one for rovers to get right, but it's the only formula likely to succeed.

[roverich]

A few years ago they had a good thing going with 1000 £10 tickets for every game. It brought in an extra couple thousand fans - those that had queued for 45 minutes only to be told there were no £10 tickets left all bought a more expensive one so as not to have wasted so much time queueing and obviously there were an extra 1000 happy fans even when we lost, at least they got value for money.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Like it or not we attracted many 'bandwagon' fans with the meteoric rise of the Jack Walker years,'fans' who were clearly not in it for the long run.....we are seeing the negative effect of that now.

Lets hope we see a positive response from the Blackburn public come Wednesday,after all,this backwater town has bugger all else to shout about.

Fingers crossed

**sigh**

[Ozz]

If you ask me, and normally no-one does, I reckon we`ve had it really, in terms of 25 K home crowds. Less and less are interested these days, and there`s little chance of them ever coming back. Take the United game last season, what was it 25,000? 8K of which were United? Its become the game that ate it self to death.

[AggyBlue]

So who expected a full house against Fulham then, it was always going to be one of the smallest crowds of the season, never mind in a double fixture week with the other game against far more attractive opposition.

I fully expect the gate against spuds to top 25K.

[Alan75]

Ticket costs in relation to the local income, has to have a major impact on attendances.

I heard a lady on the phone in after the game on Saturday, state that she and her husband would love to attend games but with her husband being on the minimum wage they just couldnt justify or afford spending £50 for a game of football.

When I started to work out their monthly take home pay, less morgage/rent, council tax, water rates, electric, gas, transport and food expences let alone expenditure if they had children I could fully symathise with her.

Football is no longer within the ecconomic reaches of the working class family.

[AggyBlue]

Football is no longer within the ecconomic reaches of the working class family.

340834[/snapback]

Correct. Could cheap terracing be the answer then? Maybe the Riverside.

[Ozz]

Add to that Alan that the quality is pretty crud too!

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

I reiterate again, 1 adult + 1 child=£20 to watch Prem football on Wednesday against attractive opposition.....

Rovers are probably THE cheapest in the Prem.

[trawdenblue]

For what it's worth I think that the drop in attendance may come down to the fact that for the last two seasons, Rovers have played so badly and people aren't willing to go and see a poor side. I'm not sure what our attendance figures were when we came back into the Premiership, but I'm sure that they are a lot larger than they are now. The fact that we had come back to the Premiership would have sent people to watch, but also because we were playing well, getting to a cup final in our first season and then finishing tenth and then finishing sixth in the table. We have gone backwards since and as such so have our crowds. If Hughes is able to put out a successful side, that wins and plays good football, then I'm sure that attendances could rise again, especially when you consider that we have pretty cheap tickets.

340811[/snapback]

I couldn't agree more RoyRover. Fans will come back when they have something to look forward to.

It's no coincidence that since Damien Duff left, the crowds have dwindled. We have come to expect a struggle against even mediocre teams. That could change when Bellamy is fit and Pedersen keeps performing.

Fans want excitement and a successful team (it's only two years ago since we did the double over Arsenal!)

The price of the ticket is only an issue when a team is struggling to win and/or entertain.

[Ozz]

In fact it would make for a very interesting poll-What do you think is the biggest contributing factor in the alarming decrease in our crowds?

Overprice tickets?

Poor standard of entertainment?

Lack of atmosphere these days?

Petty stewards?

No terracing?

Unable to identify with players these days?

Price of refreshments?

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

They are ALL contributing factors that have culminated in the attendance on Sat.

[trawdenblue]

Good idea Ozzie

Put me down for Poor standard of entertainment.

[den]

We are looking for the biggest single contributing factor for the decline in attendances over the last 2 or three seasons.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

I have just been on 4 different club's message board's and every one of which are talking about the same topic with the same concerns....THE BUBBLE HAS FINALLY BURST FOLKS!

[roverich]

I fully expect the gate against spuds to top 25K.

340833[/snapback]

Don't kid yourself mate! Spurs are much better opposition than Fulham but they won't attract 25000 to a late match. There won't be many from the capital there either as it would be so late returning home. 20000 would be a very good crowd after the last one.

[Blueboy Downunder]

first of all please lets not use the excuse that the tickets are too much.

the attendance for saturday was surely the most disgraceful effort i have seen for a long time. apart from circumstances that are unforseen....this shows what kinda fans we have...or at least what some of them are like.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

You might be in for a hell of a surpise with Spurs away following come Wednesday...should boost the crowd nicely.

Believe it or not they have a very large northern fanbase.

3-4k will be there.

Edited August 22, 2005 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[jim mk2]

Football sickness - too much on television.

[Kiwiwannabe]

Maybe not as directly relevant for Rovers, but I think Sky has got a lot to do with lower attendances at matches. Not just that you can watch a match for much cheaper from the comfort of your armchair, but it has produced a breed of 'football fan' who wouldn't consider stepping foot inside a ground. Sky has also brought a dose of 'football overload'. If you have Sky, you can watch a match most nights of the week - people are bound to get bored eventually.

[waggy]

it's all right coming up with excuses,we need remedies like i have said it's up to the 16,900 that went on saturday to do something about it

[Manchester Blue]

I have just been on 4 different club's message board's and every one of which are talking about the same topic with the same concerns....THE BUBBLE HAS FINALLY BURST FOLKS!

340855[/snapback]

Exactly which is why I don't know why there isn't an option for the fact that it is occuring all over the country. Football has become boring it is not just us that are suffering.

[greggyk]

Does Poor standard of entertainment mean not winning?

Because that is the ONLY reason why the fans have left

10 wins in 2 years at home is the reason!!!!

[greggyk]

You might be in for a hell of a surpise with Spurs away following come Wednesday.

Believe it or not they have a very large northern fanbase.

3-4k will be there.

340858[/snapback]

they have an allocation of 3,000