Season Tickets 2018/19

[HowieFive0]

18 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

What rubbish, I'd love a brand new car but can't afford one. By your "logic" that's Ford's fault so they should halve the price of their new cars so I and thousands like me could possibly afford one.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be averse to doing something really drastic to try and fill the stadium, like reduce prices for everyone to a fiver as long as the owners were happy to take the financial hit and lose even more money but to virtually give tickets away to a small section of the adult population who are perfectly capable of full time work purely on account of their age seems a terrible idea to me. If I'm in the minority on that so be it.

You could also then spin it the other way and say why reduce ticket prices for OAPs ?. They ve  had the chance to work all their lives and save for the future. Why reduce ticket prices to a group of people who may not be here physically  next year ? (not my own personal view btw but one that could stand up to your reasoning) 

The idea is to subsidise tickets to groups to catch their support and interest with a view for getting them hooked for future years. Grow and expand the fanbase .

And for anyone who thinks that that age group is flush with cash in this day and age needs to think again. Ive just watched my daughter and partner save for years to get 15-20% lump sum to put down to secure a mortgage ! Banks arent chucking money at you like they were 30-40 years ago.

Every group age has its limitations financially ..but the idea is to target an age group that hopefully will get the bug and be financially able to come to Ewood in future years.

 

[JHRover]

1 hour ago, MGPensioner said:

 

3. They are already one of the cheapest and best value around. I can't believe anyone will not buy because of price. If you want one then buy one.

 

 

But they aren't. If I made a late decision to buy a new season ticket at the back end of the summer I would have had to pay a minimum of £319 to sit in the Riverside and watch 3rd tier football.

Alternatively I could have bought a season ticket at Birmingham, Barnsley, Bolton, Burton, Cardiff, Derby, Fulham, Hull, Reading, Sheff Utd or Wolves in the Championship and had change left over from that. 

For a small amount more I could also have got one at Aston Villa, Bristol City, Millwall, Forest or Sunderland.

Our prices are reasonable, and competitive, but not sure if they fall into 'one of the cheapest' or 'best value' around anymore (certainly not when you consider the rubbish served up by the club in recent years)

 

 

 

[Parsonblue]

2 hours ago, MGPensioner said:

 

3. They are already one of the cheapest and best value around. I can't believe anyone will not buy because of price. If you want one then buy one.

 

Couldn't agree more - it's probably the only thing we do agree on .  At the end of the day if you want a season ticket the prices at Ewood are certainly not going to put you off buying one.  They are excellent value for money over the course of a season if you attend every game.

[JHRover]

2 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Couldn't agree more - it's probably the only thing we do agree on .  At the end of the day if you want a season ticket the prices at Ewood are certainly not going to put you off buying one.  They are excellent value for money over the course of a season if you attend every game.

If you attend all or nearly all the games then it is good value to have a season ticket, certainly when compared to the cost of buying individual tickets on a match by match basis.

However, when compared to rival clubs in the Championship and League One the price of adult season tickets or individual adult match tickets are around average for this level and the level above. There are plenty of clubs who offer cheaper deals, but also plenty who charge more than we do.

Clearly investing in a season ticket is by far and away the best value for your money if you intend on going to most of the games, however that applies at most clubs.

I accept that the current pricing structure at Rovers should not be a problem to the vast majority of people who want a season ticket and Rovers are not unreasonable to charge the prices they do.

 

 

[darrenrover]

11 minutes ago, Parsonblue said:

Couldn't agree more - it's probably the only thing we do agree on .  At the end of the day if you want a season ticket the prices at Ewood are certainly not going to put you off buying one.  They are excellent value for money over the course of a season if you attend every game....

....and you're still in the habit of doing so.

[Oldgregg86]

8 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

Why do they get young person railcard's up to the age of 25?

I'd imagine the world is a lot different now to when you were 18-24 if you indeed are old Gregg. And I'd imagine football was a lot cheaper...and so was somewhere to live.

Haha I'm 31 so 2011 was pretty similar except we we're playing premiership football. Just for the record I think it's great that they are doing it. Anything to get more fans through the door is fine by me and if young people benefit then great but I still think your average 20-24 year old is in a better financial position regarding disposable income than people of my age. Me and all my friends at that ages used to do all sorts. You ask any of them now and it's can't mate , skint and I'm no different meanwhile my nieces and nephews of that age can afford to spend there spare income on themselves because they don't have kids and house repairs etc

Edited March 7, 2018 by Oldgregg86

[Stuart]

17 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

I agree between  18-24 is when I had the most expendable cash. I was in full time employment, no kids, and these days most people still live with there parents. Why should a 23 year old get a reduced seat yet people with mortgages , kids etc have to pay full whack when it's people in the 25- 35 starting families and buying homes etc who usually have have to make choices on whether their money can stretch to pay for football after paying out for everything else. Seems odd to me.

The world has moved on - and not necessarily for the better. “Young adults” are often living with their parents without jobs or on very low income.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Stuart

[Rover_Shaun]

So nothing has changed Stuart. Same as it ever was.

[Rover_Shaun]

9 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

Why do they get young person railcard's up to the age of 25?

I'd imagine the world is a lot different now to when you were 18-24 if you indeed are old Gregg. And I'd imagine football was a lot cheaper...and so was somewhere to live.

I have a season ticket book somewhere from when I was 24ish and it was more expensive than say 2012.

[darrenrover]

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

The world has moved on - and not necessarily for the better. “Young adults” are often living with their parents without jobs or on very low income.....

I have strong opinions on this point and think that we lose countless fans because as a club we do nothing to consider the 18-24 age bracket.

I'd ask all those now that pay for their kids season tickets, what will you do (and what will they do) when they come of age at 18 and are faced with paying £350ish for an adult season ticket? 

 

[Oldgregg86]

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

The world has moved on - and not necessarily for the better. “Young adults” are often living with their parents without jobs or on very low income.

I agree. I bet there are lots of 26 year olds in the same boat

[darrenrover]

8 minutes ago, Rover_Shaun said:

I have a season ticket book somewhere from when I was 24ish and it was more expensive than say 2012.

£4 for the season 1974/75, what was the average weekly wage 'up North' then? What was it as a percentage of the average weekly wage of 18-24 year olds? I cannot honestly believe that anybody could have any issues whatsoever in supporting serious concessions for this particular age group. More so for those that have had season tickets for many years courtesy of their parents.

That's my season ticket btw.

Scan 8.pdf

[Rover_Shaun]

Unlike your pre Jurassic wild tangent. I was comparing prem football circa 2001 to prem football in 2012 which has a tad more relevance  ?

[darrenrover]

33 minutes ago, Rover_Shaun said:

Unlike your pre Jurassic wild tangent. I was comparing prem football circa 2001 to prem football in 2012 which has a tad more relevance  ?

You miss the point Shaun, plus ca change, and as you say "same as it ever was".

Edited March 7, 2018 by darrenrover

[Stuart]

2 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

I agree. I bet there are lots of 26 year olds in the same boat

There are probably quite a few 30 year olds in the same boat as well tbf. I just think that the old ‘leave home at 16’ and ‘married at 21’ days are behind us. Mentally and emotionally a twenty-something is basically an extended teenager. Mollycoddled throughput school and not ready for the real world until much older than they used to be.

Low paid jobs used to still get you in the housing market but not any more. Granted they could probably save up for a season ticket and sacrifice other things but if the club want to keep the next generation of fans at the club then they need to target their wallets as well as their hearts.

[47er]

Its pointless discussing season tickets till we know what league we are in. That's what the owners will think anyway.

Everybody assumes the club will carry on just like this season if we fail to go up. It may not.

[Paul]

13 hours ago, Stuart said:

The world has moved on - and not necessarily for the better. “Young adults” are often living with their parents without jobs or on very low income.

Very true but it’s largely a political issue, in my view, and not one for debate here. To what extent the club can account for this I’m unsure. 

9 hours ago, Stuart said:

There are probably quite a few 30 year olds in the same boat as well tbf. I just think that the old ‘leave home at 16’ and ‘married at 21’ days are behind us. Mentally and emotionally a twenty-something is basically an extended teenager. Mollycoddled throughput school and not ready for the real world until much older than they used to be.

I would have to fundamentally disagree with this statement. The young people I know, for argument’s sake let’s pick 21+ (uni leaving age), are more mature, well informed, confident, articulate and adventurous than I or my peers were at the same age. Absolutely the pressure when I was that age was get an education, get a job etc. (not marriage pressure from my parents). Today young people look at the world with totally different eyes. I applaud this, many get out there, travel, look for experience and worry about the future when it happens. My eldest announced at 18 he was going to Australia - six months later he’d saved enough through bar work etc. and went. Nine months later he returned a much stronger person.

[Garage Flower]

9 hours ago, Stuart said:

There are probably quite a few 30 year olds in the same boat as well tbf. I just think that the old ‘leave home at 16’ and ‘married at 21’ days are behind us. Mentally and emotionally a twenty-something is basically an extended teenager. Mollycoddled throughput school and not ready for the real world until much older than they used to be.

Low paid jobs used to still get you in the housing market but not any more. Granted they could probably save up for a season ticket and sacrifice other things but if the club want to keep the next generation of fans at the club then they need to target their wallets as well as their hearts.

I’m 26, left school at 16 to start an apprentiship moved out at 23 like many of my friends. If you have a job and want a season ticket you can get one. It’s less than a tenner a week over the course of a year.

[Paul]

I fully agree the key is to capture loyalty at a young age and have always supported and benefitted from Rovers’ various family ST iniatives. 

I can recall posting on here many years ago while the policy is to be applauded it was always more likely to fail in retaining large numbers of fans. The prime reason is not cost but very much to do with how, as Stuart rightly points out, the world has changed, moved on. 

For something like 15 years I hauled kids to Ewood every week. For ten years there were four going. All of us on a family deal of some sort. We had a great time. Saturdays were built round Rovers.

Today three of those four have left the area. I and my middle son still go, his disability means there has been no opportunity to leave. This year my eldest changed jobs meaning Saturdays are free and he travels up for every game. It’s 11 years since he had an ST. 

I posted recently how in the 90s eleven cars used to leave our village on matchday. All packed with kids. Those kids have grown up, left the area, created adult and exciting lives. They’re all still Rovers but no more than 10% live close enough to attend.

That football clubs have woken up to this demonstrates not imagination and insight but ignorance. No family initiative was ever going to retain more than 25% of children as the fundamentals of society have changed. Clubs like Forest have suddenly realised they, like the vast majority, got ticket prices badly wrong 20+ years ago.

When money was, and still is, flooding in to the game a small proportion should have been invested in supporters via sensible ticket prices. Instead clubs burn money and throw away opportunities by showering players with quite incredible sums of money. The clubs, the administrators, everyone connected to running the game got this badly wrong in the 90s and now the clubs are paying the price.

I support any initiative to get people in the ground. Make it free for the rest of this season. The issue is that you can make tickets as cheap as you wish but if the target market has moved away it will fail.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Paul

[blueboy3333]

46 minutes ago, Garage Flower said:

If you have a job and want a season ticket you can get one. It’s less than a tenner a week over the course of a year.

But it's £300-£400 in one go if you don't want to pay interest on it if you have a job or you don't. Most young people don't have savings so that money has to come out their bank in one go. That's a fair chunk of a months wage for most people. at which point they might think 'sack it' and not bother.

[blueboy3333]

No idea how it works but Is i-follow available to everyone no matter where you live or is it just if you live abroad?

[MarkBRFC]

47 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

No idea how it works but Is i-follow available to everyone no matter where you live or is it just if you live abroad?

I follow is available in this country, but it's only commentary, abroad you can watch the games live (aslong as they are not selected for TV).

I'm sure some people have used "creative" ways though to get around that and watch the games in this country.

[Stuart]

10 hours ago, Garage Flower said:

I’m 26, left school at 16 to start an apprentiship moved out at 23 like many of my friends. If you have a job and want a season ticket you can get one. It’s less than a tenner a week over the course of a year.

Very pleased that it worked out for you. Not everyone is in the same position.

Not sure what was confusing about my post though.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Stuart

[blueboy3333]

A month on and still nothing. Maybe they're finalising the buffet option. The Buffet Pledge.

[Mattyblue]

As ever, most other clubs have had theirs out for weeks, if not months - even if they are unsure of what league they’ll be in next season.

Cynic in me says they are holding off because they have two substantially different prices up their sleeves - i.e a price hike on promotion.