[Archived] 1000 Free Tickets - Vs Big Club

[niggit]

Don't get chance to get to the evening games, but got week off work,so bringing some people along. Is the school open for parking on weekday evening matches?

[Hughesy]

Don't get chance to get to the evening games, but got week off work,so bringing some people along. Is the school open for parking on weekday evening matches?

Yeah its usually opened. If not, just park on a neighbouring road for free!

[Clitherover]

Just got four tickets, all going to guaranteed Rovers fans.

Thanks for posting topic Hughsie.

[trueblue]

theyve come to realise we shouldnt be charged to watch zzzams style...raf was right!!!

Yawn......

[Pedderz0912]

Well done rovers - I can only admire this decision and the techniques of trying to fill Ewood and get new faces for next year - WELL DONE.

[roversmum]

I'm hoping that the tickets go to those who genuinely have not been to Rovers before, or who cannot usually afford to go. That would make the gesture worthwhile.

[Ricky]

They've all gone now so 1000 extra bums on seats.

[only2garners]

I do not mind if Rovers give away 10,000 tickets and generally I applaud the club's initiatives on ticketing. It's clear the ST policy has been very successful in raising the attendances. My word of caution is this. For many years while the kids were growing up we had four STs without questioning the price, generally we could afford it though some years it was a struggle to find the money. Up to a couple of years ago I was happy to pay £350 / 400 or whatever, asked to go to £500 I'd still have paid. Today I KNOW the value of football at Ewood is no more than £200 / £225 a season. Ask me TODAY for £350 / 400 and I will not pay the price. This is an issue Rovers have created, the value of a ticket at Ewood is £0-£12 or so, nothing more. So I repeat the club can give away as many tickets as they wish I don't care but all those who applaud the paln should think about the longer term effect. The current pricing policies will create future problems. Anyone with decent sales experience knows once a product has been devalued raising the perceived value again is very difficult.

I agree that it's going to be very difficult if not impossible to go back to the prices we were charging just a few years ago, but whilst we are in the Premier League I don't think we will need to. Financially the club expected to take a small hit with the cheaper tickets but are actually heading for a small profit on the previous year because of the increase in season ticket numbers and the flexibility it has given them to charge more to away fans. What is unquantifiable but probably positive is the effect that the reduced prices and increased crowds have had on performances on the field. If we say conservatively that the bigger crowds lead us to winning a game we would have drawn and drawing one we would have lost, those three points might lead to finishing say one place higher in the league, bringing in £800K more revenue. the actual effect might be more. It therefore makes economic sense to keep prices low and pile the fans high. The real problem will arise should we get relegated - that's when we will find out who the real fans are and how many of them there are.

[Hughesy]

The real problem will arise should we get relegated - that's when we will find out who the real fans are and how many of them there are.

Thats very true - however hopefully that wont ever happen.

If it does happen, hopefully it wont be for some time, by which point we may of hooked some extra fans and therefore we might be able to keep more fans. Im hooked and I would still buy one tomorrow if we were in the conference.

ROVERS TILL I DIE!

[T4E]

They've all gone now so 1000 extra bums on seats.

So what have we learned? There is still local interest in Rovers from non ST holders, but the prices are the issue? Or do we all just like a freebie, no matter what the product is?

[Hughesy]

Answers on a post-card.

Even if we can convert 20 of them into season ticket holders next season then its been a success....better than having 1000 empty seats anyway!

[T4E]

better than having 1000 empty seats anyway!

Paul's post sums up perfectly why this short term thinking is not the answer.

[roversmum]

It's possible, B4E, but I'm sure there are those amongst us who have urged others to get on the phone for their tickets - for those who haven't gone before it might just be the initiative that encourages them to do so. At least, it will have caused a stir amongst the local population and might urge those who have never visited Ewood to consider it.

[Hughesy]

Paul's post sums up perfectly why this short term thinking is not the answer.

Its a 1 off, for 1000 tickets! Its not going to happen all the time so why should it devalue the product?

I know of 2 people going to this game on the Free tickets...who will be buying their 1st season tickets next year!

[T4E]

It's possible, B4E, but I'm sure there are those amongst us who have urged others to get on the phone for their tickets - for those who haven't gone before it might just be the initiative that encourages them to do so. At least, it will have caused a stir amongst the local population and might urge those who have never visited Ewood to consider it.

Agreed mum - but this is a microcosm of the ST situation. If you go to Ewood for the first time for free, why would you then pay for the pleasure the next time?

I'm not complaining, I still think its a decent idea, but the package deals the club do for a group of games, for example, are in my opinion far more business savvy promotions.

[roversmum]

What I was thinking, that once they have got to Ewood they might like it and make the effort to come back; job done. Also, midweek evening performances are usually a bit down on attendance and no doubt Big Club will fill their allocation so extra prospective Rovers bodies will be useful.

[T4E]

Its a 1 off, for 1000 tickets! Its not going to happen all the time so why should it devalue the product?

Its pretty simple Hughesy - you create a situation where potentially you have circa 1000 people going to Ewood for the first time - on a freebie. Therefore their one and only experience of Rovers didnt cost them a penny - if you get something for free once, how often are you willing to pay for the exact same product on a regular basis afterwards?

We all like free trial offers for products, but the vast majority of the time we end up cancelling/not following up our interest once the offer expires. Just ask Setanta.

[T4E]

What I was thinking, that once they have got to Ewood they might like it and make the effort to come back; job done.

Hopefully Mum

[Stuart]

Its pretty simple Hughesy - you create a situation where potentially you have circa 1000 people going to Ewood for the first time - on a freebie. Therefore their one and only experience of Rovers didnt cost them a penny - if you get something for free once, how often are you willing to pay for the exact same product on a regular basis afterwards?

We all like free trial offers for products, but the vast majority of the time we end up cancelling/not following up our interest once the offer expires. Just ask Setanta.

I hope you're right T4E. But, whilst I do applaud the club for the gesture, will this really bring in 1000 new fans?

It's more likely that those 1000 tickets will have been sold in 2s and 4s, so perhaps only 500 groups of fans (bear with me).

If people are bringing family then it may be that some new folks do turn up but isn't it more likely that the majority of these tickets have just been given to fans who would have been 'walk-on-paying-fans' anyway? Okay, it's a nice thank-you but I suspect that we won't be bringing in 1000 new fans as would be hoped.

I think people will follow up a free trial if the product is worth the money. Not wanting to condone waggy's constant sniping or Abbey's zzzam-fest but we need to make sure that these newbies (if there are some) enjoy their experience. Not just the football but the whole 'day-out'. This means a great atmosphere, no bother, and a good bit of effort from the players to get the crowd rocking.

If nothing else, like I said, I do applaud the club and hopefully the buzz that's created will ensure that we get those 3 points against Brum because looking at the run-in, they could be priceless!

[roversmum]

lol B4E!

The club will have the details of those who applied so hopefully they will be able to keep a track of whether it was successful or not.

Would like to have seen another kid for a quid issue but unfortunately timing has not been on our side there, don't want them

for the Arse, Chelsea and ManUre matches, they've enough glory hunters as it is!

[Claytons Left Boot]

Luckily, we have John Williams and Co to do it the Blackburn Rovers way.

We'll let Leeds, Charlton, Southampton, Portsmouth and Co to do it their way.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Once again, well done Rovers.

[Paul]

I agree that it's going to be very difficult if not impossible to go back to the prices we were charging just a few years ago, but whilst we are in the Premier League I don't think we will need to. Financially the club expected to take a small hit with the cheaper tickets but are actually heading for a small profit on the previous year because of the increase in season ticket numbers and the flexibility it has given them to charge more to away fans. What is unquantifiable but probably positive is the effect that the reduced prices and increased crowds have had on performances on the field. If we say conservatively that the bigger crowds lead us to winning a game we would have drawn and drawing one we would have lost, those three points might lead to finishing say one place higher in the league, bringing in £800K more revenue. the actual effect might be more. It therefore makes economic sense to keep prices low and pile the fans high.

I completely agree with this and I fully understand the club's logic. Bigger crowds improve the whole match day for everyone. What worries me is the bit below:

The real problem will arise should we get relegated - that's when we will find out who the real fans are and how many of them there are.

If we go down the club will need to increase prices at some point. I'll be very interested in the arguement; you can watch the supposed best league in the world for £200 / £250 but as we don't play in that league anymore we'll charge you £350 / 400 to watch an inferior product. Doesn't work in my book.

I'm not sure what the answer is but longer term I can see the pricing issue coming back to bite us. I work in industry famed for it's low prices, our company charges top dollar and always has done. Most of our competitors have closed. When we have problems moving volume we have ways of moving it, three for two always works well and we maintain our price as a result. If we drop the price we don't sell any more, even if we drop it by 33%. In hindsight, wonderful I know, Rovers might well have been better offering three years STs for the price of two, etc. Maintaining price is crucial.

[bellamy11]

I generally share Paul and B4E's reservations about this. While it is undoubtedly a good gesture by the club, and I would say the positives probably outweigh the negatives, there are potentially severe negative implications of the current discounting that is going on.

We have effectively put ourselves in a situation where raising the price of season tickets is an impossibility. As Paul says, if we get relegated, prices are going to have to go up. We tend to lose 10% of our season tickets holders every year for all sorts of reasons beyond pricing. This season we have counteracted that by making them a lot cheaper. What happens when we have to raise prices by 25% or even more?

Looking beyond that, one consideration has got to be cannibalisation. How many of these thousand free tickets are going to people who have never been to Rovers before? it would be interesting to find out how many new punters we get and how many are walk-ons who would have paid a tenner to get in but have just come for free instead.

[Ben-2000]

if you get something for free once, how often are you willing to pay for the exact same product on a regular basis afterwards?

If I liked/enjoyed the product on offer then I would... if not I wouldn't bother. Simple as that to be honest.

Let's just hope it's not a dull and boring game!

[Hughesy]

How many walk-ons do you think we get per match? 500? 1000? I think this coming match we'll end up with about 100 walk-ons on top of the free tickets.

RUBBISH!

Ave attendance just over 25k

19K season ticket holders

Ave away fans - probably around 2k

Walk-ons - somewhere between 3-4k