Attendances

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

They can't cry about 300k with some of the deadwood that continues to get carried on the payroll never mind the money totally spewed on you know who. 

We're carrying about 6 players more than we need at the moment.

[OldEwoodBlue]

1 hour ago, tomphil said:

They can't cry about 300k with some of the deadwood that continues to get carried on the payroll never mind the money totally spewed on you know who. 

never mind the money on the daily upkeep of the deserted Neville mansion.

council tax to Bolton council.

utility bills.

all paid for from the proceeds of season ticket sales.

[tomphil]

11 hours ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

never mind the money on the daily upkeep of the deserted Neville mansion.

council tax to Bolton council.

utility bills.

all paid for from the proceeds of season ticket sales.

It does makes you wonder what lurks on the books at BRFC that might add to these eye watering annual loses that never seem to cause much concern in India.

[Herbie6590]

Saw this on Twitter earlier...a bit academic but interesting...

 

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/in-focus-growing-attendance-model-gam/

[pk1875]

Taken from FF minutes

"All those who had not renewed had been contacted by phone and there had been very little negativity about the club and the majority had personal reasons for not renewing."

An out and out lie, neither myself or my wife have had any contact from the club asking why we didn't renew.

[tomphil]

That'll be the line trotted back to India if indeed they ever bother to ask.

[Sparks Rover]

On 04/10/2019 at 09:56, tomphil said:

It does makes you wonder what lurks on the books at BRFC that might add to these eye watering annual loses that never seem to cause much concern in India.

I’m fairly comfortable about that bit as the accounts seem to be stacked as them putting the money in. They would never get their money back when selling. They are stuck with us and we are stuck with them

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Let's get one thing clear,no free Scarves,Shirts,Pie and Pint bullshyte gimmicks are going to get the fans back to watch the current set of misfiring incumbents in our Shirt.

 

[BobdaBuilder]

Just renewed my Phone contract and it’s got me thinking that season tickets are a bit 20^th century.

Your average iPhone or high end Samsung come in at £600-700 which every phone company has sussed out that no one will buy in one lump.  Obviously it’s not just phone contracts that do this, Netflix, Audible, Gyms and Sky.

319 + 3 home cup games @£15 each, would probably more than break even with your average season ticket holders average home ticket spend.

That would come in at £30 a month, over 12 months, which still sounds expensive to me, but I think it would give you a lot of options to convert a single sale into a subscription. Say you get a walk on for the Huddersfield game later this month, the ticket office can have the conversion its £22 for the one game or take out the subscription £30 and get Sheffield Wednesday that month as well.   Or even better say we get a home cup tie against a top half premiership team in January,  £22 to come to that or £30 and get that game + Preston & QPR.

Personally I’d welcome the convenience I quite often don’t buy tickets for cup games and pre-season friendlies not because  I can’t afford it or can’t go, I just don’t get around to doing it. 

Only possible disadvantage for the club could be people cancelling in June, but I think evidence from other places would suggest that people don’t tend to cancel these types of subscriptions.

 

[Paul]

I think your basic suggestion is people can effectively sign up to a contract or season ticket at any point in the year. On the surface I can't see an issue with that but suggest a couple of flaws in the idea. Every opportunity to sell STs should be taken.

1. A contract phone is the most expensive way possible to buy. It's far cheaper to buy outright and have a sim only deal of some type. Plenty do this.

2. My wife pays her gym contract annually as it's significantly cheaper. Half the people we know at the gym do this.

The point I'd make, using your examples, is this. With my ST purchased up front I pay £15/game. If the same price is available to anyone at anytime of year I'd expect a decent discount for paying 12 months in advance. Netflix etc. don't offer this so are not relevant.

I'm not sure what the "convenience" you refer to is?

[MarkBRFC]

8 hours ago, BobdaBuilder said:

Just renewed my Phone contract and it’s got me thinking that season tickets are a bit 20^th century.

Your average iPhone or high end Samsung come in at £600-700 which every phone company has sussed out that no one will buy in one lump.  Obviously it’s not just phone contracts that do this, Netflix, Audible, Gyms and Sky.

319 + 3 home cup games @£15 each, would probably more than break even with your average season ticket holders average home ticket spend.

That would come in at £30 a month, over 12 months, which still sounds expensive to me, but I think it would give you a lot of options to convert a single sale into a subscription. Say you get a walk on for the Huddersfield game later this month, the ticket office can have the conversion its £22 for the one game or take out the subscription £30 and get Sheffield Wednesday that month as well.   Or even better say we get a home cup tie against a top half premiership team in January,  £22 to come to that or £30 and get that game + Preston & QPR.

Personally I’d welcome the convenience I quite often don’t buy tickets for cup games and pre-season friendlies not because  I can’t afford it or can’t go, I just don’t get around to doing it. 

Only possible disadvantage for the club could be people cancelling in June, but I think evidence from other places would suggest that people don’t tend to cancel these types of subscriptions.

 

I think Hull do something similar don't they?

 

[OldEwoodBlue]

4 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

I think Hull do something similar don't they?

 

Yes.

12 month minimum term contract (same as most gyms?)

 

So you pay £36 per month in the Blackburn End and you are in every match for that.

So we just had 2 home games in 4 days meaning £50 in one week when one game is free on the red button.

Most months its 2 or 3 home games (like in Nov and Dec when people have Xmas) so instead of forking out £50 - £75 in a month its only £36.

Nov + Dec at Ewood is around £150

 

Of course you also pay over the summer but this seems reasonable to have manageable monthly costs during the year.

 

Imagine Forest at home after just spending £25 a few days ago on defeat to Luton and its free on the red button and you just got in from work so the Waggott tax kicked in. £28 plus travel, food and beer.

Decision process... nah. brew feet up red button.

 

https://www.hullcitytigers.com/tickets-landing-page-2/memberships/how-to-buy/

[OldEwoodBlue]

1 hour ago, Paul said:

I think your basic suggestion is people can effectively sign up to a contract or season ticket at any point in the year. On the surface I can't see an issue with that but suggest a couple of flaws in the idea. Every opportunity to sell STs should be taken.

1. A contract phone is the most expensive way possible to buy. It's far cheaper to buy outright and have a sim only deal of some type. Plenty do this.

2. My wife pays her gym contract annually as it's significantly cheaper. Half the people we know at the gym do this.

The point I'd make, using your examples, is this. With my ST purchased up front I pay £15/game. If the same price is available to anyone at anytime of year I'd expect a decent discount for paying 12 months in advance. Netflix etc. don't offer this so are not relevant.

I'm not sure what the "convenience" you refer to is?

Its about providing flexibility and accessability for different people to pay in different ways meaning more customers. (increased attendance).

Good for you and your wife Paul if you can buy phones up front. I will hazard a guess most of blackburn have monthly contracts. The same market we operate in.

The thing is you operate this type of subscription based membership OR the old season ticket model. Not both.

In fact the main difference is only that the subscription is spread over 12 months so becomes more manageable compared to buying a season ticket over 8 months.

 

Just needs some data behind it.

How many of our 8600 ST holders pay up front compared to the 8 x monthly payments option ?

Edited October 7, 2019 by OldEwoodBlue

[BobdaBuilder]

The hull scheme, looks to be pretty much what I was thinking.

The convenience for me would come, in only having to turn up for games and not having to bother about buying cup tickets or renewing come the summer.

Not a major thing I admit, but I can bet we miss out on some season ticket renewals because people dont grt round to it and then get out of the habit of coming to games.

I wouldn't suggest a 12 month minimum though as I think that would put off a lot of potential sign ups.

 

 

 

[tomphil]

As always the way to do it is some good incentives when they are put on sale, above and beyond the usual givens of it being cheaper game by game and taking the hassle away.

An awful lot these days will miss a number of games for various factors and yes lack of interesting opposition being one of them on a freezing autumn/winter afternoon or midweek when you are slogging along midtable and the football is pedestrian.  So people not bothering is understandable but with a bit of an extra nudge a lot of those wavering might take up something with a bit extra incentive.

What that would be is open to debate but i'd bung in cup tie vouchers or something like that.

[gumboots]

I know I've said it before but Sale Sharks give some premiership rugby cup games included in their season ticket prices and if you cant attend a league game, you tell them and you get a free ticket to take someone else to the next match you can attend. Makes your season ticket better value as even if you miss matches, you get the value of it. And of course those you take with you may well become regular attendees themselves. Also, they had £3 tickets for kids at the cup games. We took my grandson to the first match. Hes 3. When I told him we were going again he asked to be taken with us. He doesn't understand all that goes on but he watches the players warming up and copies them. He told his mum when he went home how they play - the man kicks the ball then when someone catches it all the other team try to take it and he has to wiggle it back to a player from his team, then they run again till they all make a big heap and they have to wiggle it back again. Not bad for a just 3 year old. He got to meet the players afterwards, doesn't have to sit still but can run about where we can see him. We wont take him regularly but wed take him again any time we were going and his parents needed a babysitter. I'd take him to Rovers too, dont get me wrong, but would it cost us that little? 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, gumboots said:

I know I've said it before but Sale Sharks give some premiership rugby cup games included in their season ticket prices and if you cant attend a league game, you tell them and you get a free ticket to take someone else to the next match you can attend. Makes your season ticket better value as even if you miss matches, you get the value of it. And of course those you take with you may well become regular attendees themselves. Also, they had £3 tickets for kids at the cup games. We took my grandson to the first match. Hes 3. When I told him we were going again he asked to be taken with us. He doesn't understand all that goes on but he watches the players warming up and copies them. He told his mum when he went home how they play - the man kicks the ball then when someone catches it all the other team try to take it and he has to wiggle it back to a player from his team, then they run again till they all make a big heap and they have to wiggle it back again. Not bad for a just 3 year old. He got to meet the players afterwards, doesn't have to sit still but can run about where we can see him. We wont take him regularly but wed take him again any time we were going and his parents needed a babysitter. I'd take him to Rovers too, dont get me wrong, but would it cost us that little? 

It's rugby union, just leave it at " a man kicks the ball ".

[gumboots]

Much better than Rugby League in my opinion although probably not in yours obviously.

[Paul]

8 hours ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

Its about providing flexibility and accessability for different people to pay in different ways meaning more customers. (increased attendance).

Good for you and your wife Paul if you can buy phones up front. I will hazard a guess most of blackburn have monthly contracts. The same market we operate in.

The thing is you operate this type of subscription based membership OR the old season ticket model. Not both.

In fact the main difference is only that the subscription is spread over 12 months so becomes more manageable compared to buying a season ticket over 8 months.

 

Just needs some data behind it.

How many of our 8600 ST holders pay up front compared to the 8 x monthly payments option ?

I feel the point regarding a discount for paying annually is legitimate. Without a budget we'd struggle in many months to pay for car insurance, house insurance, season tickets etc.

I know the likely cost of each of these items and many more. The total is totted up, divided by 12 and put to one side every month. Consequently we can take advantage of discounts for annual payment. Equally why pay £6-700 for a high end phone if the only way to afford it is on expensive contracts? Plenty of good smart phones available at £150-200. That's a mug's game.

What I describe is no different from paying gym, phone, ST every month, it's just cheaper. Yes I know the first 12 months is tough.

Personally I would not want to pay monthly for my ST, like many other things I want it paid for and out of mind.

[BobdaBuilder]

 

found this on line, which is interesting.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49608471

[Stuart]

Just now, BobdaBuilder said:

 

found this on line, which is interesting.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49608471

£23 a month to watch Dundee United once a fortnight or £8 a month to watch Netflix 365 days a year?

The volumes just don’t add up for that kind of comparison.

Wonder what the upper limit would be for people to part with all year round - including the Summer when there is no football. Would tickets for friendlies be included to keep the interest up?

I’d be ok with £30 per month for a 23 home game season. £35 would be testing it. £40 would be a no. If we are having a crap season could people cancel their subscription? Could club’s budget for that? There would need to be a commitment over a fixed period - ideally the full season but if someone cancelled on 1st June, would they be permitted to re-subscribe on 1st August? By the time you’ve implemented all the necessary rules you’d end up back an STDD situation.

[Tom]

Surprised to see Bolton have sold more than 9000 season tickets, not sure if it’s just siege mentality after their near miss or not but wouldn’t have expected them to sell more than us 

[Paul]

A quote from the Dundee Utd managing director:

It's  about putting value back into them," says managing director Mal Brannigan. "If fans renewed early, it was the same price as last season. Before, if you missed three or four games, it wasn't worth having one, this year, that's gone up to six or seven by us increasing the matchday price."

I'm looking forward to the discussion when that happens at Ewood!!!!

[Paul]

Just as an aside on STs this has happened to us twice this season. We usually enter the ground using disabled access via a side gate.

Twice this season we have been late, parked in a different spot, approached the ground from a different direction and I've been rushing and flustered. Both times I've gone to the nearest turnstile thinking it was JWL only to discover, once inside, it was for JWU. Getting out again is a nightmare!

Clearly a JWL season ticket gives access to the JWU. This shouldn't happen and I expect an electronic ST to refuse entry to the wrong stand.

Has anyone else experienced this? Using for example a BBE season ticket to access the JW stand?

[Mattyblue]

4 hours ago, Tom said:

Surprised to see Bolton have sold more than 9000 season tickets, not sure if it’s just siege mentality after their near miss or not but wouldn’t have expected them to sell more than us 

They’ve ‘around 9,000 ST holders’, like us a few of those will be complementaries etc, not 9,000 purchases so could still be around or behind our 8,600 sales that ends up around 9,600 ‘holders’

Still a good effort by them, element of siege mentality, but also good deals like a ‘family ticket’ - adult and child for £250.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Mattyblue