Attendances

[Oldgregg86]

There's alot of  excellent points been made and debate had.  Up until this season I think the club has been reasonable and fair regarding tickets and prices but this season, the red button is a game changer and they really need to re evaluate the whole price structure starting by scrapping the walk on add on which is scandalous. With the red button option it is effectively a new age and we don't want to lose the next generation of fans who will grow up with virtually every game on their tvs, something the majority of us had never dreamed of when we started out watching rovers. We had to go if we wanted to see our beloved blue and white heroes. For the next generation it will be the norm to press the red button and watch at home. Over the next season or two something radical needs to be done to get people through the gates. I don't have the answers but there have been some great suggestions and waggott really needs to start to act or risk ever dwindling gates as the red button generation stay away. I, and a few others have already shown it's impacting our decisions to attend. Games like Swansea I would have gone to I will now save the money for Xmas presents as money is tight and work both days. I'm sure there will be other games where I can prioritise my finances when needed. I want to attend all games home and away but times are hard and this red button has eased a financial burden. Others have expressed similar views and as winter draws in and heaven forbid performances levels drop off the red button will become the viable option for many. Next season dramatic changes have to be made as the clubs tv revenue increases. In this new era it's time to repay generations of loyalty and support

Edited October 2, 2018 by Oldgregg86

[roversfan99]

3 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

There's alot of  excellent points been made and debate had.  Up until this season I think the club has been reasonable and fair regarding tickets and prices but this season, the red button is a game changer and they really need to re evaluate the whole price structure starting by scrapping the walk on add on which is scandalous. With the red button option it is effectively a new age and we don't want to lose the next generation of fans who will grow up with virtually every game on their tvs, something the majority of us had never dreamed of when we started out watching rovers. We had to go if we wanted to see our beloved blue and white heroes. For the next generation it will be the norm to press the red button and watch at home. Over the next season or two something radical needs to be done to get people through the gates. I don't have the answers but there have been some great suggestions and waggott really needs to start to act or risk ever dwindling gates as the red button generation stay away. I, and a few others have already shown it's impacting our decisions to attend. Games like Swansea I would have gone to I will now save the money for Xmas presents as money is tight and work both days. I'm sure there will be other games where I can prioritise my finances when needed. I want to attend all games home and away but times are hard and this red button has eased a financial burden. Others have expressed similar views and as winter draws in and heaven forbid performances levels drop off the red button will become the viable option for many. Next season dramatic changes have to be made as the clubs tv revenue increases. In this new era it's time to repay generations of loyalty and support

Excellent post. And has Waggott shown any signs of being able to do anything at all about any of the points you mention? Nope.

[perthblue02]

2 hours ago, J*B said:

What sort of pie?

I bet it's not humble

[tomphil]

It does make sense from the bean counters point of view to nudge prices up whilst the product is at the most popular it's been for 7 years but going off gates last season should have flagged up a bit of a warning. They've seemed to base everything on that Oxford turnout not the rest of the season and like Williams once did in an effort to boost crowds substantially overnight they might have been better directing a million quid of the extra income going up a league into knocking back season ticket prices considerably for one season only.

Once you've got them it's easier to try and keep them than just hook them in again.  I'm sure this seasons budget could have handled that and still been as it is.

Edited October 2, 2018 by tomphil

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, J*B said:

What sort of pie?

Meat ?

[Dreams of 1995]

2 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

There's alot of  excellent points been made and debate had.  Up until this season I think the club has been reasonable and fair regarding tickets and prices but this season, the red button is a game changer and they really need to re evaluate the whole price structure starting by scrapping the walk on add on which is scandalous. With the red button option it is effectively a new age and we don't want to lose the next generation of fans who will grow up with virtually every game on their tvs, something the majority of us had never dreamed of when we started out watching rovers. We had to go if we wanted to see our beloved blue and white heroes. For the next generation it will be the norm to press the red button and watch at home. Over the next season or two something radical needs to be done to get people through the gates. I don't have the answers but there have been some great suggestions and waggott really needs to start to act or risk ever dwindling gates as the red button generation stay away. I, and a few others have already shown it's impacting our decisions to attend. Games like Swansea I would have gone to I will now save the money for Xmas presents as money is tight and work both days. I'm sure there will be other games where I can prioritise my finances when needed. I want to attend all games home and away but times are hard and this red button has eased a financial burden. Others have expressed similar views and as winter draws in and heaven forbid performances levels drop off the red button will become the viable option for many. Next season dramatic changes have to be made as the clubs tv revenue increases. In this new era it's time to repay generations of loyalty and support

This is the key to this debate in my opinion. The truth is that no matter how we try and dress up the figures financially it makes sense to keep the pricing structure as it is - it's why almost every single football club in England operates the same way. The onus has to be on the owners of football clubs to understand that TV revenue will continue to flow in and, in a sense, subsidise the tickets for going on the ground.

People often bring in the Bundesliga as an example of how this can work. The chairman of Bayern Munich once said something along the lines of "the extra few million we'd generate from charging tickets like English clubs we'd argue about for minutes in a transfer deal so it's not worth milking my fans like cows". They understand that the money flowing through clubs means the ST sales is a drop in the ocean. Whilst this is true in leagues like the PL, Bundesliga, La Liga etc it is not so much true in the Championship - the money on offer in the aforementioned league dwarfs the competition prize money in our current league. Yet, even in the PL, English football clubs continue to rip off supporters and take advantage of the blind loyalty of a football fan. How can we expect the EFL clubs to change their pricing structure when the clubs who have no real reason to charge such prices (Arsenal...) charge extortionate amounts themselves?

It's a matter for the FA, Football League and EPL. This gripe isn't synonymous with Blackburn Rovers as we are only really doing what 98% of clubs are doing. All club owners, FA directors etc have to realise that there is a risk, despite the increase in football 'support', of clubs like us losing massive volumes in fans because of the inaccessibility of match day tickets and the accessibility of TV.

However all this relies on owners' generosity or the TV money being reliable long into the future. Initiatives like "all in tickets" (home and away), or if you are a repeat customer your season ticket price reduces accordingly etc can't be all that hard to bring into play. The money of football should stop being handed to agents and start being trickled down to the lifeblood of the sport: fans,

[Stuart]

10 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Do you have any figures to prove this case? Sales before 12pm and after 12pm figures

It was a point about the price point for walk-ons in general. The surcharge merely adds insult to injury.

But out of interest how were you hoping I would have access to sales figures at those times? Do I need to canvass next to the ticket office window with a clipboard to have an opinion?

I must remember to ask that level of justification with your posts.

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

It was a point about the price point for walk-ons in general. The surcharge merely adds insult to injury.

But out of interest how were you hoping I would have access to sales figures at those times? Do I need to canvass next to the ticket office window with a clipboard to have an opinion?

I must remember to ask that level of justification with your posts.

I thought you had some figures to back up your point you were? Maybe from the Fans Forum if you are part of that group or from a friend in the ticket office. Maybe we could get the fans forum to ask the question next time. 

[Paul]

On 01/10/2018 at 19:34, J*B said:

In advance, across the board, all matches:

Adults - £20

10-18 - £10

Under 10s - free with any adult

Adult and 10-18 package - £25

 

The key isn't adults, it's getting kids in. 

Ultimately getting kids in doesn't have a great impact. It fills seats now but doesn't result in adults in the future. Of all the young people I know, whose parents benefitted from free or cheap STs in the '90s, only five still go. Two of them are mine!! They're all still Rovers but only five are still live close enough to get to Ewood other than at Christmas or other holiday times when/if they are home.

A deal for young people to age 23 is needed as well.

£15-20 for adults is the mark and then give something significant to those who buy an ST. As I said before, free parking, free away tickets, park and ride. It must be a tangible benefit - food, programmes etc. are not a real incentive.

[blueboy3333]

14 minutes ago, Paul said:

food, programmes etc. are not a real incentive.

speak for yourself!?

[Mattyblue]

Leeds allocation up to 7,650.

Classy stuff from their official twitter page. The only club in one of the country’s biggest cities and before this season a standard crowd was 26 of so thousand, so nowhere near filling their own ground. MASSIVE ay.

 

Edited October 3, 2018 by Mattyblue

[perthblue02]

36 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Leeds allocation up to 7,650.

Classy stuff from their official twitter page. The only club in one of the country’s biggest cities and before this season a standard crowd was 26 of so thousand, so nowhere near filling their own ground. MASSIVE ay.

 

Any truth in the rumour that the Big W is doing a meet and greet for each one of them dressed as Don Revie before cutting the ribbon on the renamed for the day Billy Bremner stand ?

Edited October 3, 2018 by perthblue02

[K-Hod]

Arrogant bastards! The size of their catchment area in comparison to most!

[donnermeat]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Leeds allocation up to 7,650.

Classy stuff from their official twitter page. The only club in one of the country’s biggest cities and before this season a standard crowd was 26 of so thousand, so nowhere near filling their own ground. MASSIVE ay.

 

I can't quite remember where I heard it, it may even have been on here, but I once heard them referred to as 'a classless club with classless fans'. It stuck with me anyway.

Edited October 3, 2018 by donnermeat

[JWUpper]

Quite like our official reply in fairness...

[Stuart]

That’s tosh though. Rovers are absolutely intent on filling our away end.

And for several years now we have had home fans in there who have now been evicted to make room for away fans.

Tacky response from inside a glass house.

[Crimpshrine]

On 01/10/2018 at 13:09, Rover_Shaun said:

£3 extra for buying a ticket late is shameful and basically a slimeball practice no matter how you flower it up even from a conceited ivory 'real fans pay anything' tower.

Anybody pay the £3.00 last night ?

It would be interesting to know if the club feels the extra revenue is worth it when considering the possible deterioration of fan satisfaction.

If one fan decides to stay at home due to the £3.00 late fee, it will take 10 late payers to replace the income of that one fan.

False economy 

[perthblue02]

Leeds twitter account announcing they have now sold out their extra allocation. 

[tomphil]

Leeds 'will take more' gang now asking for more home sections, considering they only sold half of it a few times I wonder were they've all suddenly come from. Can't be a bit of success on the park like any other club surely ?  ?

This should be 40 odd quid a ticket like they'll charge us, doubt so many would be so keen then.

[Mattyblue]

‘Need help filling your ground?’

They are still advertising tickets for their game on Saturday...

?‍♂️

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Was there really 14,000 on Ewood last night

[Mattyblue]

13,200 (officially), but I’ve noticed the papers have printed the Forest crowd figure again in error.

[JHRover]

If you take Rovers' figures as being accurate then we're at around 12,000 home fans.

I couldn't help but bite on twitter to that cheeky tweet from Leeds. Anyone would think they've a record of filling their own ground.

Whenever I've been to Elland Road recently there have been 10,000+ empty seats. Bet there won't be that many at Ewood when we play them.

 

[AAK]

4 hours ago, Crimpshrine said:

Anybody pay the £3.00 last night ?

It would be interesting to know if the club feels the extra revenue is worth it when considering the possible deterioration of fan satisfaction.

If one fan decides to stay at home due to the £3.00 late fee, it will take 10 late payers to replace the income of that one fan.

False economy 

I bought a ticket at 4ish, but if it was an hour or so later I wouldn't have bothered because I wouldn't pay the extra surcharge. To be fair though it's pretty easy to phone up and order and collect 5 mins before kick off and that way you don't pay the surcharge, but if it's a last minute decision then it is rather rubbish, quite often on a Saturday I won't fancy going until around 1ish when my mates are talking about the game, but then the surcharge is imposed so wouldn't pay it.

[AAK]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

13,200 (officially), but I’ve noticed the papers have printed the Forest crowd figure again in error.

I thought when I looked on BBC it said 14,440.