Attendances

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Hasta said:

To the first line, that's irrelevant. It's ripping off your own fan base just to get more money in the coffers. And according to you, it seems like the surcharge is not having the desired effect it was introduced for.

Second line,  many people have given up watching Rovers over the last 8 years through various reasons. You aren't going to get the Premier League fans going at the moment. However others have just stopped going because they stopped enjoying the calamitous sideshow off the pitch whilst a revolving door of mercenary, has beens or half-decent players came and went. People have disconnected from the club. As others warned, these ex-supporters have probably found other things to do and don't sit there regretting not going to Ewood anymore. Now this is a shame because we have a manager and team showing "Total Commitment" (© Rovers Social Media and Advertising Depertment). For the first time in years there is a connection between the the fans and, not just one or two, but practically all of the team. However the people who aren't attending don't feel this. They aren't interested as they currently think whatever they do on a Saturday is more enjoyable than going to Ewood based on their last experiences.

How do we get these people down to Ewood to re-engage? By making the Sheff Wednesday game on New Years day a tenner. Most people are off work. Whether its people buying tickets or getting tickets as Christmas presents, if that game was a tenner and well publicised we would get close to or above 18,000 home fans IMO. Sure we would lose money than it being full price, but if just 500 of these fans came regularly for the rest of the season the club would be better off. 

Great idea but Cheston and Waggot will see 3k plus Wendies paying top dollar as their priority !

Get the price down and get 20k plus through the doors instead eh ?   Nice little test for you there boys, are you listening and are you serious about boosting home fans or just content to take the easy road and let visiting fans prop up the coffers forever ?????

Edited November 19, 2018 by tomphil

[MarkBRFC]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

Value is in the eye of the beholder. Just because you think you’re on to a good deal, doesn’t mean others think the same.

18,000 empty seats every week and EFL rules literally spell out that clubs are free to utilise four ‘local promotion’ games a seasons, by the halfway mark of the season we’ll have offered zero.

Amazing when there is so much supply, what’s to lose?

When was the last time we used a "local promotion" out of interest?

Obviously we have had a few games in recent years where we have charged adults a tenner a piece, but away fans were also included in that deal (thinking of Villa & Oxford over the past couple of seasons)

I genuinely can't remember the last time we did one where we charged away fans more than home.

[JBiz]

53 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

 

Two people have given you reasons why they have to pay it if they want to watch Rovers. They have no choice. Those people are being ripped off. 

You don't even agree with the surcharge,  yet you continue to argue against those that are directly affected by it. Your starting position seems to be something you've invented in your head.

It's all very weird. You seem to be straying into MB troll territory. 

 

I’ll try and make this easy for you Boris;

I don’t think it’s as much of a problem as people are suggesting it is. One poster even changed his story from being put off by “ticketing policy” to geographical reasons after one response - and another I’m “trolling” apparently, is on his 3rd or 4th account of the year....

The reality is simple. Whilst this avoidable cost might be not helping, the only key hindrance to filling up Ewood is attraction of the tie. 

You know, you can view casual fans/lapsed fans and their reasons in your own way without needing to be frustrated because I have my own opinion on them...

[JHRover]

7 minutes ago, meadows said:

Hope Waggott has actually looked at the fixture list unlike those on here who appear to be under the impression we play Sheffield wednesday  on New Years Day 

Ooops, substitute for WBA then, everything else applies as before

[Mattyblue]

Local promotion? Don’t think we’ve ever used them.

Though they have been used on us, the other year at Huddersfield, think they paid a £10 whilst we paid full price in the away end.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Mattyblue

[JHRover]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Local promotion? Don’t think we’ve ever used them.

Though they have been used on us, the other year at Huddersfield, think they paid a £10 whilst we paid full price in the away end.

Birmingham and Reading have done it whilst we've been at their places, I think on both occasions they had the decency to extend it to away fans

[toooldforthis]

Just now, Biz said:

I’ll try and make this easy for you Boris;

I don’t think it’s as much of a problem as people are suggesting it is. One poster even changed his story from being put off by “ticketing policy” to geographical reasons after one response - and another I’m “trolling” apparently, is on his 3rd or 4th account of the year....

The reality is simple. Whilst this avoidable cost might be not helping, the only key hindrance to filling up Ewood is attraction of the tie. 

You know, you can view casual fans/lapsed fans and their reasons in your own way without needing to be frustrated because I have my own opinion on them...

Biz.

I did not "change my story". And am pretty sure that I am not the only person greatly offended that you seemingly can't be arsed to actually read people's considered posts.

Maybe we should all type more slowly for those of you who are slow to understand.

Should any business present any sort of obstacle to an easy, friction-free transaction it will inevitably adverseley affect some elements of their target clients. Fact. Not rocket science.

I would assume that Waggott has already factored potential lost sales, into his budget. However, this debate is not about revenue. It's about numbers of bums on seats.

[Mattyblue]

19 hours ago, Biz said:

I agree. I think we will probably see a double or treble deal for Brum/Norwich/WBA over Christmas and one that would suit your suggestion is Wigan/Preston home games 3 days apart in March.

 

Birmingham just announced as standard Cat B, so as I thought, nowt this year...

Edited November 19, 2018 by Mattyblue

[Hasta]

1 hour ago, meadows said:

Hope Waggott has actually looked at the fixture list unlike those on here who appear to be under the impression we play Sheffield wednesday  on New Years Day 

That's true. Thats what happens when you google something quickly and don't realise we play on the 1st of both months !! Although we could have done the same offer for the Sheff Weds on 1st December which is a 3pm kick-off (unless Wednesday sold out the entire Darwen End in which case the police will get it back to 10.45am.)

I see the chuckle brothers liked your post although have made no comment on this proposal which will try and actually engage more fans with the current team.

 

[gumboots]

2 hours ago, Biz said:

I’ll try and make this easy for you Boris;

I don’t think it’s as much of a problem as people are suggesting it is. One poster even changed his story from being put off by “ticketing policy” to geographical reasons after one response - and another I’m “trolling” apparently, is on his 3rd or 4th account of the year....

The reality is simple. Whilst this avoidable cost might be not helping, the only key hindrance to filling up Ewood is attraction of the tie. 

You know, you can view casual fans/lapsed fans and their reasons in your own way without needing to be frustrated because I have my own opinion on them...

To be honest, I couldn't care less who were playing if I want to watch Rovers. I know it's not true of everyone but for me it is

[Lancaster Rover]

3 hours ago, JHRover said:

Birmingham and Reading have done it whilst we've been at their places, I think on both occasions they had the decency to extend it to away fans

It's not a case of decency, it's a league rule that tickets in corresponding areas of grounds cost the same to away fans as home fans. Any deal in the Blackburn End would have to be replicated in the Darwen End

[Mattyblue]

Not for ‘local promotion’ matches, EFL rules allow it 4 times a season. We would be free to charge Cat A to away fans.

[Lancaster Rover]

What constitutes a local promotion match?

[Mattyblue]

Any match the club wants to do an offer for.

[JHRover]

17 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

It's not a case of decency, it's a league rule that tickets in corresponding areas of grounds cost the same to away fans as home fans. Any deal in the Blackburn End would have to be replicated in the Darwen End

For standard games correct, although you can differentiate between tiers. So the BBE lower and BBE upper can be different prices as can the DE lower and upper. Nothing preventing us from making BBE Upper and DE Upper premium pricing and putting away fans up there and charging them accordingly.

No different to what Leeds, Norwich, Middlesbrough, Bolton do on a regular basis to away fans.

I refer you to Rule 34.2.8 of the Football League.

https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/efl-rules--regulations/section-5--fixtures/

[JHRover]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Any match the club wants to do an offer for.

Having just checked the rules I'm not sure that it still applies anymore, they seem to have deleted it from the rules. Previously home clubs could do local promotions and charge less for home fans than away fans. We were once stung at Huddersfield when they had £10 tickets for home fans and £20 odd for away fans. I can't find any reference to it in the rules, instead it says away fans have to have the same offer.

[Mattyblue]

Interesting, the fans charter still refers to to it...

https://www.efl.com/supporters/supporters-charter/ticketing/

End of the day we never used it anyway, still doesn’t stop other games being offered, indeed the club was planning one early season and it never saw light of day...

[rigger]

1 hour ago, Lancaster Rover said:

What constitutes a local promotion match?

 A match that the home club designate will have a promotional offer to home fans only, I think each club was allowed 4 per season. I don't know if it is still running.

Edited November 19, 2018 by rigger

[chaddyrovers]

8 hours ago, gumboots said:

 

They're not cheap if you can't get to more than half the matches for whatever reason though. And I've told you so many times, we're not talking about fans who want to be there already. We're talking about enticing in potential supporters who don't have the Rovers bug yet or who've so far lost it that they might need encouraging back. ATM you wouldn't say to a mate, " Rovers are at home this afternoon. Do you fancy going?" because you know it might cost them £30 basic. Cinema prices have been quoted as being as high, but I've never paid more than a tenner each. The other things people quote are food and drink prices which I never pay for at the cinema. And many Vue cinemas are now 4.99 any film, any time. 

I'm not saying Rovers are any more expensive than other clubs. I don't know if they are or not. Merely that if they got more imaginative with pricing they might pull more in. The hardcore have paid for their season ticket and regular walk ons might bring a mate or family member who doesn't usually attend if there was a deal. I just don't get what the club has to lose now by trying it. Half season ticket sales will bring in a few but again, it's a commitment many people, because of work or other things can't make

well they aren't going to get the Rovers bug unless they go games. 

You talk about the cinema but after a quick check at Blackburn Vue cinema website to watch a film on Thursday is 13 pounds per ticket before buying food and drink. I would only go Cinema on Friday or Saturday for a romantic night with the missus. I wouldn't think of going midweek as it would be very inconvenience and unsuitable for me. It might suit you now that you are retired from work.  Thinking of the last time I went to the cinema think it cost me just over 40 pounds that was before we went to Nando at Blackburn for tea afterwards

8 hours ago, Hasta said:

To the first line, that's irrelevant. It's ripping off your own fan base just to get more money in the coffers. And according to you, it seems like the surcharge is not having the desired effect it was introduced for.

Second line,  many people have given up watching Rovers over the last 8 years through various reasons. You aren't going to get the Premier League fans going at the moment. However others have just stopped going because they stopped enjoying the calamitous sideshow off the pitch whilst a revolving door of mercenary, has beens or half-decent players came and went. People have disconnected from the club. As others warned, these ex-supporters have probably found other things to do and don't sit there regretting not going to Ewood anymore. Now this is a shame because we have a manager and team showing "Total Commitment" (© Rovers Social Media and Advertising Depertment). For the first time in years there is a connection between the the fans and, not just one or two, but practically all of the team. However the people who aren't attending don't feel this. They aren't interested as they currently think whatever they do on a Saturday is more enjoyable than going to Ewood based on their last experiences.

How do we get these people down to Ewood to re-engage? By making the Sheff Wednesday game on New Years day a tenner. Most people are off work. Whether its people buying tickets or getting tickets as Christmas presents, if that game was a tenner and well publicised we would get close to or above 18,000 home fans IMO. Sure we would lose money than it being full price, but if just 500 of these fans came regularly for the rest of the season the club would be better off. 

does we play Sheffield Wednesday on the 1st of December and WBA on the 1st of January.

The only way the fans will feel the total commitment of the players and Mowbray is by being in the stadium and attending games surely?

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

"It seems" is hardly proof but you seem totally unable to grasp that no one is saying that the majority of potential walk ons are put off by the surcharge, in fact ive even given numbers of roughly how many people it would take to financially override any additional revenue caused by the surcharge. It is obviously a minority, but there are examples within this thread of people offput by the surcharge, and if that is happening to anyone then it has to be of concern and worthy of investigation.

Your second platitude is meaningless. And as other people have said, these potential additional fans are not the hard core. They are those who arent as interested/emotionally invested as us, those who have fallen out of love with the club, those who have yet to get attached, those who have other things to do should they not find value in buying Rovers tickets. Your comment is ignorant and desperate, urging people to "support the team" rather than offer a constructive point about tickets/attendances/surcharges.

If People are put off by 3 pounds charge then they aren't interest enough and want to watch the Rovers played live. 

I have suggested a number of different tickets scheme the club could use so don't start using pointless line like you have. 

surely the only way they are attached to the club is by attending games regarding of cost? attend a game, don't attach or still interest then don't come back after giving it a chance?

[Hasta]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

does we play Sheffield Wednesday on the 1st of December and WBA on the 1st of January.

The only way the fans will feel the total commitment of the players and Mowbray is by being in the stadium and attending games surely?

 

Sheff Wednesday is the first of December.

And I agree completely with your second line. 100%. Your spot on. Absolutely   And that's why we should do a cheap special offer for a big game.

 

[tomphil]

Doesn't really matter if it's Wednesday or WBA on the 1st Jan the point still stands it's a decent fixture on a traditional football Bank Holiday so why not try and entice as many HOME fans to it as possible whilst there is the opportunity ?

Instead they rely on a huge away following paying top price, the usual home hardcore plus a few extra's.

[gumboots]

22 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

well they aren't going to get the Rovers bug unless they go games. 

You talk about the cinema but after a quick check at Blackburn Vue cinema website to watch a film on Thursday is 13 pounds per ticket before buying food and drink. 

That's still half what it costs to go to Rovers on some of the cheapest match day tickets. That means you and someone else could go for the cost of one of you at Rovers. Given a choice, some people would choose the cinema as it's cheaper, warmer and nobody expects you to turn up every week if you don't want to. If you're spending £40 going to the cinema then you're not in the basic seats without food or drink, so you're not comparing like with like. 

[JBiz]

3 hours ago, gumboots said:

To be honest, I couldn't care less who were playing if I want to watch Rovers. I know it's not true of everyone but for me it is

I’m very much the same. I have looked forward to games that seasons before I would dread and vice versa. The opportunity to see a few “unfashionable” local clubs last season was too good of an opportunity to miss out on!

[Stuart]

7 hours ago, toooldforthis said:

This debate is not about revenue. It's about numbers of bums on seats.

Quite. It’s a point lost on many.

Why should we remove the surcharge and why should we be looking to offer deals / local promotions? Because not doing is limiting our attendances.

Over 27,000 people came to watch Rovers v Oxford. We are averaging 12-13k at the moment. If we get half that addition it’s 20k-plus.

[Mattyblue]

9th in the Championship isn’t going to pack them in, but we are struggling to get over 11/12k home fans due to the very disappointing 9,500 season tickets sold.

You push that up to 11,000+ and your standard Saturday crowd is heading north of 15,000 which is starting to look much healthier and isn’t a million miles off we were under Souness in this league (pre run in).

THAT should be the aim of the club in the summer and it is achievable.

Edited November 19, 2018 by Mattyblue