[Archived] Rovers Half Season Ticket On Sale Now

[Steve Kean's Hypnotoad]

Saying the early bird offer was a discount is a generous way of looking at it. The early bird offer kept prices the same for an inferior standard of football, the normal offer then rose those prices, and the half-ST has risen them further still.

Ok maybe I'm being harsh, the price is still amazing compared to elsewhere. Its the principle that bothers me. Venkys should be apologising to us right now and offering a financial olive branch to all fans. They should have scrapped the early bird this season and kept all prices the same as last season as an absolute minimum.

Instead venkys are financially punishing the very fans they should be apologising to. "You didn't trust us in April, you pay £35 extra. You didn't trust us in August, you pay £20 extra.". Which would be fine except trust is the one thing they haven't earnt and don't deserve.

Its just dumb in my opinion, they're simply not understanding the mindset of the non-renewers. They think people will come back because they've appointed Henning Berg. Well as I suspected the attendance last Saturday showed what many fans think of that token gesture.

Style of football might decide how fans use their voices, but only results and prices decide where they park their bums. That was the formula that had 25,500 turning up under Allardyce. The results are far worse than that era, and now the prices are higher.

[47er]

It is not a price hike, just the early bird discount has finished.

I have never said that everything is fine so calm down, I do think that Berg is going to make a difference though.

Actually what matters is how many turn up for every game not just the Forest game.

You are entitled to your opinion that we are not doing well enough, I agree, but is that not as a result of having coco here, it will take some time to turn it around but don't use ticket prices as a basis for knocking the club, it is unjustified

Good article, he never once mentions ticket prices as a cause for non attendance

He doesn't mention specific reasons at all! The whole article is about how fans have "fallen out of love with Rovers" and with football and how difficult it will be to win them back if ever.

It was Kean and Agnew who used to spout the crap about "they'll come back when we go on a winning run". I suspect that's what they told Mrs Desai but we know its untrue.

Fans need wooing back after all they have gone through and the cost of tickets surely has some significance here?

[den]

IMO, unbelieveable twaddle, in the link below, about JW pricing - not sure that they really know what they are doing, however, that's no surprise !

People who sit in the JW have always paid a premium price, relative to other areas of the ground, and expect to. What they do not expect, is to be ripped off by price increases that are out of kilter with the rest of the ground, as my post above suggests.

http://www.brfcactio...icing-strategy/

That doesn't address the problem at all. I agree MM, I don't think there is any kind of strategy here whatsoever. The JW upper has been hit harder than anywhere else apparently, - so their answer is to hit those customers harder than anywhere else?

Puddled.

[Mercer]

That doesn't address the problem at all. I agree MM, I don't think there is any kind of strategy here whatsoever. The JW upper has been hit harder than anywhere else apparently, - so their answer is to hit those customers harder than anywhere else?

Puddled.

Really is puddled.

If you have a premium product or brand and demand is increasing and supply is limited, then yes, you can be aggressive in your pricing.

However, when demand has plummeted and you have thousands and thousands of unsold seats in the JW, the last thing you do is treat your potential JW customers unfairly, relative to the other three sections of the ground.

However, should we really be surprised when we have no shirt sponsor, we are suffering, seemingly, from collapsing advertising and corporate sales and we have lost some 10,000 ticket holders in 2 years ? I think our owners and management really do have a lot to answer for.

[Ossydave]

Whilst I applaud the pricing for most people, the JW pricing is ridiculous, especially given the fact its looked empty all season. It's just going to put certain people off more. Yes they could easily move but people like sitting there and shouldn't have to go elsewhere.

[Lancs Rover]

IMO, unbelieveable twaddle, in the link below, about JW pricing - not sure that they really know what they are doing, however, that's no surprise !

People who sit in the JW have always paid a premium price, relative to other areas of the ground, and expect to. What they do not expect, is to be ripped off by price increases that are out of kilter with the rest of the ground, as my post above suggests.

http://www.brfcactio...icing-strategy/

It's very simple, why should someone buying a mid season ticket in the BE be offered a 44% discount whilst someone in the JW is offered just 11% ?

It just makes no sense especially when I think the fall in gates has been most evident in the JW stand - I think that stand is going to remain very sparsely populated.

I have said in previous posts, that, IMO, mid season ticket price for the JW should be £209. So, would the club rather sell, say, 1,000 extra tickets at £209 in JW or 1,000 extra at £149 in BE. It really is a no brainer when you have thousands of empty seats in the JW.

My predictions for 2013/14 season tickets, if still in Championship:

BE £299, JW £519.

Let's see if we are all still happy then.

Who in their right mind would go through that process before buying?Analysis straight out of teddybearland.

[Hasta]

Instead venkys are financially punishing the very fans they should be apologising to. "You didn't trust us in April, you pay £35 extra. You didn't trust us in August, you pay £20 extra.". Which would be fine except trust is the one thing they haven't earnt and don't deserve.

Now they are saying trust us for the 2nd half of the season and you can have a x% discount on already reasonable matchday prices.

The argument of the JW stand having a bigger increase that the other stands is a valid one. The argument of 'I want the same discount as someone in August' is spoilt and petty.

[Stuart]

It's very simple, why should someone buying a mid season ticket in the BE be offered a 44% discount whilst someone in the JW is offered just 11% ?

This seems to be a point of principle rather than affordability for you, MM.

But one's principles can depend on their perspective and circumstances.

Couldn't it be that those people who aren't fortunate enough to afford the fantastic views offered by the JW stand are actually being offered a bigger discount? It's a stretch, granted, but I'm honestly struggling to sympathise with my affluent fellow fans in the posh seats.

It's really simple: Can you afford to sit in the JW? Do you want to? If the answer to either question is "no" then the alternative is to move to another stand where you and your principles will be just as close to the action. There's plenty of room!!

I feel you are making a meal of this - but I'm not sure why. If you don't want to come back while Venkys are here, just say so, don't look for other reasons.

[yoda]

This seems to be a point of principle rather than affordability for you, MM.

But one's principles can depend on their perspective and circumstances.

Couldn't it be that those people who aren't fortunate enough to afford the fantastic views offered by the JW stand are actually being offered a bigger discount? It's a stretch, granted, but I'm honestly struggling to sympathise with my affluent fellow fans in the posh seats.

It's really simple: Can you afford to sit in the JW? Do you want to? If the answer to either question is "no" then the alternative is to move to another stand where you and your principles will be just as close to the action. There's plenty of room!!

I feel you are making a meal of this - but I'm not sure why. If you don't want to come back while Venkys are here, just say so, don't look for other reasons.

good post Stuart

+100

[den]

Couldn't it be that those people who aren't fortunate enough to afford the fantastic views offered by the JW stand are actually being offered a bigger discount? It's a stretch, granted, but I'm honestly struggling to sympathise with my affluent fellow fans in the posh seats.

There's obviously more people than you, that couldn't care less. It's no surprise Stuart.

[Mercer]

This seems to be a point of principle rather than affordability for you, MM.

But one's principles can depend on their perspective and circumstances.

Couldn't it be that those people who aren't fortunate enough to afford the fantastic views offered by the JW stand are actually being offered a bigger discount? It's a stretch, granted, but I'm honestly struggling to sympathise with my affluent fellow fans in the posh seats.

It's really simple: Can you afford to sit in the JW? Do you want to? If the answer to either question is "no" then the alternative is to move to another stand where you and your principles will be just as close to the action. There's plenty of room!!

I feel you are making a meal of this - but I'm not sure why. If you don't want to come back while Venkys are here, just say so, don't look for other reasons.

Firstly, those who sit in the JW are by no means either affluent or posh. Fans sit there because of preference. Yes, the views maybe better but that is paid for in that season tickets are almost twice as expensive as the BE.

Yes, I want to sit in JW and yes, I can afford to, however, I am not going to be feckin ripped-off. Similarly, yes, I like to dine at certain restaurants and yes, I can afford to, but if they hugely put up their prices, the diners would vote with their feet just as, I am almost sure, Rovers will find with JW supporters.

I am genuinely not making a meal of this. If the club think that offering 44% discount on mid season tickets for the BE and a miserly 11% for the JW is the way to go, then I actually think that they are even more deluded and incompetent than I first thought.

[BuckyRover]

I've remembered now why I have Miseryman on ignore. He actually seems to get unhappier as others get happier.

God knows what he will be saying if we get promoted.

[Mercer]

I've remembered now why I have Miseryman on ignore. He actually seems to get unhappier as others get happier.

God knows what he will be saying if we get promoted.

I will be deliriously happy just as I will be if we win today !

[Stuart]

Yes, I want to sit in JW and yes, I can afford to, however, I am not going to be feckin ripped-off. Similarly, yes, I like to dine at certain restaurants and yes, I can afford to, but if they hugely put up their prices, the diners would vote with their feet just as, I am almost sure, Rovers will find with JW supporters.

But you aren't being "feckin ripped off" you've just become so used to paying unbelievable cheap prices that now you are only paying cheap prices you are complaining. Someone else posted "spoiled". That's exactly what it is.

I would love to have a season ticket in the JW upper. I don't because, like you, I can't justify the cost, not for three tickets anyway. Do I bitch and moan? No I sit in the Riverside.

Your restaurant example is bogus by the way, there are other cheaper tables in the same restaurant that you could sit at, serving the same same food. Just that you might have to rub shoulders with riffraff like me!

[Mike Graham]

I have just seen the 1/2 ST "offer".

Whoever came up with that pricing strategy should be force fed chicken for 24 hours. I will buy on a match-by-match basis for the JW Upper and save myself a few quid. I always miss a few home games due to work, and the ST's of the past 40 years are the walk on's of the future.

It is not as if I cannot afford it but the "offer" provides me with no incentive.

[Exiled in Toronto]

I will be deliriously happy just as I will be if we win today !

Front and centre of the celebrations no doubt.

Perhaps the club feel the price elasticity of JW customers is lower than elswehere in the ground. Perhaps they want the other 3 sides to look full on telly. Perhaps they feel that anyone put off by the price will sit somewhere else. Perhaps they feel they will be better off with JW customers buying match by match if/when we have a promotion push. Or perhaps they don't possess a calculator.

Do you expect exactly the same % price increase in Business Class as well as Economy on a plane? The same % price increase on vintage champagne vs Blue Nun at the local offy?

[Stuart]

Mercerman celebrates Rhodes fifth against Peterborough: "Crack open the Blue Nun!"

(Sorry, couldn't resist )

[Mercer]

I think there are some on here who see the argument and some who don't.

For many years, pricing strategy has been a part of my job and in my opinion and experience, Rovers have got their pricing for the JW in their mid season ticket offer sadly wrong.

Opinions will continue to differ - I have offered my thoughts and will leave it there.

[Ianrally]

Just renewed two half season tickets for BBE lower. Having been boycotting this season until baldy went, we have paid on a match to match basis since.

It is a good deal price wise when looking at what other fans pay elsewhere, and at the end of the day it is the only club I want to support. It feels great to be back.

[Stuart]

Just renewed two half season tickets for BBE lower. Having been boycotting this season until baldy went, we have paid on a match to match basis since.

It is a good deal price wise when looking at what other fans pay elsewhere, and at the end of the day it is the only club I want to support. It feels great to be back.

[mayo]

The Gull - we know, as did JW and co, that price elasticity of demand is very high where Rovers are concerned.

Let me try to position the issue another way:

• If you went to every league match this season at Ewood in the JW and paid matchday prices, you would pay £631
  
• A season ticket, right up to the first home match of the season, would have cost you £399 - a saving of £232 or 37%. This is what some 98% of supporters would have enjoyed.
  
• If you went to every league match from 01 Jan. at Ewood in the JW and paid matchday prices, you would pay £315
  
• A season ticket from 01 Jan. would cost £279 - a saving of just £36 or 11%
  

Do you really think that such pricing will have supporters scrambling back down to Ewood ?

In comparison, look at the BE on the same basis:

• If you went to every league match this season at Ewood in the BE and paid matchday prices, you would pay £524
  
• A season ticket, right up to the first home match of the season, would have cost you £229 - a saving of £295 or 56%.
  
• If you went to every league match from 01 Jan. at Ewood in the BE and paid matchday prices, you would pay £264
  
• A season ticket from 01 Jan. would cost £149 - a saving of £115 or 44%
  

Undoubtedly, IMO, those in the JW are being unfairly discriminated against with these mid season tickets.

I will buy tickets on a match by match basis, taking advantage of the inevitable offers and I know that the cost for the remainder of the season will be well less than £279 / person.

Over the recent years, Rovers have always tried to minimise increases. JW and co knew it was the only way to maintain and grow the home support. You have to remember that matchday ticket income, certainly when in the PL, is probably only about 10% of turnover. In years 1 and 2 of Championship football, it will probably be closer to 15% of turnover given Parachute payments of £16m/season. If still in Championship, after 2 years, it is easy to see that there would be huge, huge problems ahead financing the club.

The problem with this is you are plucking figures out of thin air. At this moment in time there's no way for you to know what the true savings are as we don't know what the walk on prices would be for each remaining game in each respective stand. As it stands it is just guess work.

You can also look at this from a different perspective and compare the cost of a half season ticket with the cost of a full season ticket for that respective stand as follows:

• BE = A £149 half season ticket works out at 65% of the £229 full season ticket
  
• JW = A £279 half season ticket works out at 70% of the £399 full season ticket
  

When you compare the cost of the half season ticket to the full season ticket there is not a massive discrepancy between the pricings of each stand.

I'm not trying to have a go but trying to look at the pricings from a different viewpoint.

[Mercer]

The problem with this is you are plucking figures out of thin air. At this moment in time there's no way for you to know what the true savings are as we don't know what the walk on prices would be for each remaining game in each respective stand. As it stands it is just guess work.

We do, they are here:

http://www.rovers.co.uk/tickets/matchdayprices/

[RevidgeBlue]

We do, they are here:

http://www.rovers.co...matchdayprices/

Thought you were finished on this topic?

Just out of curiosity, would you go into Curry's and kick off because the sales were on and nearly all the TV's were on offer but the particular model you wanted wasn't, or at least didn't have as much knocked off it as the rest?

[mayo]

We do, they are here:

http://www.rovers.co...matchdayprices/

In that case, apologies for that comment wasn't aware of this.

[Neil Weaver]

I have just seen the 1/2 ST "offer".

Whoever came up with that pricing strategy should be force fed chicken for 24 hours. I will buy on a match-by-match basis for the JW Upper and save myself a few quid. I always miss a few home games due to work, and the ST's of the past 40 years are the walk on's of the future.

It is not as if I cannot afford it but the "offer" provides me with no incentive.

I'd go along with that PB. Can see Mm's point.

I'll probably be getting a half ST but unlike the last 10 years or so, it won't be in the JW. No skin off my nose that I'll pay a lot less, but if the club would have been consistent across the stands with their half ST pricing they'd have been getting an extra 80 or 100 quid from me.

Still in the grand scheme of things when senior players get paid £40k+ per week I suppose my 100 quid (plus that of maybe 100 others) doesn't count for much.