Attendances

[MCMC1875]

10 hours ago, Hasta said:

Whilst I don't think this is preventing huge numbers of people from going, I still don't get the logic. Has anyone got a link to Waggors comments because I know people say he's addressed this but I can't recall his answer.

I'm presuming it's because they need more staff in the ticket office on match days, I went in the club shop before last Saturdays game and it was packed. They had to put lots more staff on otherwise it would have been queued out of the door. So why aren't the scarves £11 instead of £9 to pay for these extra staff?

The staff required on a match day is there to take increased sales revenue from customers. The extra tickets you sell on a matchday should pay their wages.

Now the club will say you can go online and pre-book your tickets. Get rid of the need for staff completely. But before we know it we will be buying pies and cans of fosters out of a line of vending machines at half time, and Mowbray will be replaced with some kind of Artificial Intelligence prototype designed by EA Sports.  

 

 

 

I understand Waggott has said lots of clubs have surcharges and the idea is to reduce late ticket sales.

[gumboots]

Why? Late ticket sales are something to be encouraged in many ways. Often they're a group of people who suddenly decide to do something together. You ring a friend and say I fancy going to Rovers this afternoon.. Do you want to come with me. Hey presto. 2 more seats sold. I do it all the time with other things. Why not rovers? 

[MCMC1875]

3 minutes ago, gumboots said:

Why? Late ticket sales are something to be encouraged in many ways. Often they're a group of people who suddenly decide to do something together. You ring a friend and say I fancy going to Rovers this afternoon.. Do you want to come with me. Hey presto. 2 more seats sold. I do it all the time with other things. Why not rovers? 

Don't know. It's contrary to the reason the club exists in my view. Yet more evidence of the declining importance of the paying spectator.

Edited November 13, 2018 by MCMC1875

[JHRover]

8 minutes ago, MCMC1875 said:

I understand Waggott has said lots of clubs have surcharges and the idea is to reduce late ticket sales.

It's all based on the theory or assumption that in deterring late sales that those people who would usually buy on the day will either change their habits and buy in advance or will stomach paying £3 more to continue as they were. There is a third option that it seems Rovers and Waggott aren't concerned about - that those people will be put off and will simply refuse to buy one.

I don't care what anyone says, buying a match ticket in advance is not as easy as it could be, even for those who are computer literate. The website isn't great and usually you need an account to purchase. In the case of some games like Leeds you need to verify identity to buy tickets. 

[arbitro]

Did I read that Rovers were about to go contactless? If they have surely a pay on the day turnstile (or several) would be an ideal solution. I heard that one of the reasons they don't want cash turnstiles is down to security (and trust?). I would wager that the vast majority of people who buy late tickets pay by debit card anyway.

[jim mk2]

1 hour ago, MCMC1875 said:

I understand Waggott has said lots of clubs have surcharges and the idea is to reduce late ticket sales.

Same as walk on fares on the railways - they make it more expensive. The trouble is, it  it deters people from travelling at the last minute and encourages them to seek alternatives, and in the case of Rovers, staying at home instead of going to watch the match. Makes no sense to me. 

[JHRover]

3 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Same as walk on fares on the railways - they make it more expensive. The trouble is, it  it deters people from travelling at the last minute and encourages them to seek alternatives, and in the case of Rovers, staying at home instead of going to watch the match. Makes no sense to me. 

Can't really compare it to trains. Train operators do it knowing that they can name their price and some people will pay as there is little or no alternative. Likewise people will always buy in advance as they need to plan safe in the knowledge they have a ticket secured and aren't running the risk of not being able to travel.

Train travel isn't really a commodity. There is often no alternative.

Rovers is a commodity. There are plenty of other things people can and will do with their free time than travel down to Ewood, usually in the cold and rain, and watch 2nd tier football. For £25 they can go and get bladdered in the pub, go out for a meal, buy a takeaway, rent a movie, buy a new shirt.

For many or most of us on here Rovers would win that contest but there are a lot of people in the area, particularly those with kids or a wife/girlfriend who doesn't share the passion for Rovers, that need encouragement. The last thing Rovers need to be doing is offering them a ready made excuse not to make the effort. Obstacles like inconvenient kick off times, expensive tickets, surcharges, database only admission or horrendous parking arrangements around the ground are the sort of ready made excuses some people need to convince themselves not to bother with the aggravation of it.

[jim mk2]

11 minutes ago, JHRover said:

.

Train travel isn't really a commodity. There is often no alternative.

Rovers is a commodity. There are plenty of other things people can and will do with their free time than travel down to Ewood, usually in the cold and rain, and watch 2nd tier football. For £25 they can go and get bladdered in the pub, go out for a meal, buy a takeaway, rent a movie, buy a new shirt.

 

Are you serious ? Travelling by train is often the only alternative for London commuters and other big cities but around the rest of the country most people vote with their feet (and pockets) and use the car.  I don't want to book online in advance and eye wateringly high rail fares deter me from making many last-minute journeys, and because the roads are so crowded, I often don't travel at all.

The comparison is valid because Rovers fans, like rail travellers, do not like the feeling they are being ripped off .

 

[Leonard Venkhater]

3 hours ago, gumboots said:

Why? Late ticket sales are something to be encouraged in many ways. Often they're a group of people who suddenly decide to do something together. You ring a friend and say I fancy going to Rovers this afternoon.. Do you want to come with me. Hey presto. 2 more seats sold. I do it all the time with other things. Why not rovers? 

Agreed. I know for a fact that people have made this very point to Steve Waggott. 

I think there is something about it costing the club more to do late sales, so they are trying to discourage the late buying behaviour.....

[arbitro]

3 minutes ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

Agreed. I know for a fact that people have made this very point to Steve Waggott. 

I think there is something about it costing the club more to do late sales, so they are trying to discourage the late buying behaviour.....

It sounds like Rovers are making it more of a deterrent by imposing the 'surcharge' to me. As for costing the club more I just don't get it. The only extra expense I can see is paying staff to man the ticket booths.

Hopefully it can be brought up at one of the future meetings with fans groups and the reasoning can come straight from the horse's mouth.

[Leonard Venkhater]

1 hour ago, arbitro said:

It sounds like Rovers are making it more of a deterrent by imposing the 'surcharge' to me. As for costing the club more I just don't get it. The only extra expense I can see is paying staff to man the ticket booths.

Hopefully it can be brought up at one of the future meetings with fans groups and the reasoning can come straight from the horse's mouth.

Agreed....

[Bigdoggsteel]

While I agree that there shouldn't be a 3 pound charge, I still can't believe that this is an actual deterrent for people who want to go to a game. Seems to have gone from mountain to mole hill on here anyway. 

I just can't wrap my head around someone who wants to go, refusing to do so for the sake of 3 pounds. 

Be intersting to see what happens if /when it's removed. Going off reading some comments here there should be 1000s back in the ground lol 

[Hasta]

2 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

 

The comparison is valid because Rovers fans, like rail travellers, do not like the feeling they are being ripped off .

 

Ripping off is the exact phrase I nearly posted last night.

I don't think it's exactly the same as when we travel by train  to London or Glasgow for work, aswe get the train as we can take calls, work on laptops etc.. Therefore we have little alternative. These journeys are generally paid for by the company as well so they get less resistance.

Same with flights. Sometimes they say "We realise you have a choice of airlines ....." when they land but in reality there is often only 1 choice to get you from A to B at the times require.  Generally the customer who pays these late surcharges has to travel.. These companies don't realistically expect to hold any brand loyalty with their customers and know that the travellers are desperate so will have to pay it, therefore they introduce rip-off higher prices.

Football is different. We are trying to encourage people to come here rather than spend their leisure time elsewhere.

As far as I am aware, you don't turn up at the cinema and have to pay £2 more than if you had booked it online a few hours earlier.

 

[Hasta]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

While I agree that there shouldn't be a 3 pound charge, I still can't believe that this is an actual deterrent for people who want to go to a game. I just can't wrap my head around someone who wants to go, refusing to do so for the sake of 3 pounds. 

Be intersting to see what happens if /when it's removed. Going off reading some comments here there should be 1000s back in the ground lol 

Personally I've not said it does. In fact I said it probably isn't affecting crowds significantly.

But it's only purpose is to get extra money in the pockets by ripping off those fans who chose to attend last minute. 

[jim mk2]

15 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Ripping off is the exact phrase I nearly posted last night.

It's a rip off, antagonises fans and causes ill feeling towards the club. The amount isn't the issue for most (though £3 is alot to many people in these days of low wages and food banks) but the principle of unnecessary charging is important. The club should drop it asap. 

[SBlue]

Just now, jim mk2 said:

It's a rip off, antagonises fans and causes ill feeling towards the club. The amount isn't the issue for most (though £3 is alot to many people in these days of low wages and food banks) but the principle of unnecessary charging is important. The club should drop it asap. 

In the interests of balance, if you can't afford a £27 match ticket then you certainly shouldn't be buying one for £24.

Like you say though it's not the point. I feel another reason it has been introduced is to encourage 1875 Club sales - a guaranteed, paid up front membership and loyalty scheme... a very appealing prospect for all types of businesses.

[JHRover]

If the 1875 club was a proper membership scheme that wanted to encourage new members there would be discounts available on tickets and merchandise. The only discount on tickets is exemption from the £3 surcharge, which is available anyway if you buy in advance, and obviously doesn't apply if you are a season ticket holder.

The membership scheme could be another way to milk away fans whilst keeping it cheap for home fans. When we play Leeds we can have £25 anywhere in the ground but then offer a £5 discount for 1875 members, thereby making tickets available for less and encouraging people to join the scheme.

To me, as it stands, the 1875 club just appears to be a surcharge on top of my season ticket which practically I have had to join, as i go to all the away games and if i want to guarantee a ticket i need membership.

[Bigdoggsteel]

5 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

It's a rip off, antagonises fans and causes ill feeling towards the club. The amount isn't the issue for most (though £3 is alot to many people in these days of low wages and food banks) but the principle of unnecessary charging is important. The club should drop it asap. 

If you are using a food bank, I don't know if you should be buying tickets for football games full stop!

Agree is should be dropped anyway 

[SBlue]

10 minutes ago, JHRover said:

If the 1875 club was a proper membership scheme that wanted to encourage new members there would be discounts available on tickets and merchandise. The only discount on tickets is exemption from the £3 surcharge, which is available anyway if you buy in advance, and obviously doesn't apply if you are a season ticket holder.

The membership scheme could be another way to milk away fans whilst keeping it cheap for home fans. When we play Leeds we can have £25 anywhere in the ground but then offer a £5 discount for 1875 members, thereby making tickets available for less and encouraging people to join the scheme.

To me, as it stands, the 1875 club just appears to be a surcharge on top of my season ticket which practically I have had to join, as i go to all the away games and if i want to guarantee a ticket i need membership.

I believe you get £3 off matchday tickets too.

[Mattyblue]

I would imagine 1875 membership has fallen off a cliff this season. No Fleetwood’s this year. 

Everybody who I know signed up last season (me included) haven’t bothered. Not a single away match thus far has come close to selling out before general sale (as we expected)- due to bigger allocations, not new grounds, dearer, not top of the league etc - so we all thought, why bother?

The club therefore needs to rethink what it’s doing with it, JH’s ideas would be a start...

Edited November 13, 2018 by Mattyblue

[gumboots]

2 hours ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

While I agree that there shouldn't be a 3 pound charge, I still can't believe that this is an actual deterrent for people who want to go to a game. Seems to have gone from mountain to mole hill on here anyway. 

I just can't wrap my head around someone who wants to go, refusing to do so for the sake of 3 pounds. 

Be intersting to see what happens if /when it's removed. Going off reading some comments here there should be 1000s back in the ground lol 

Of course there won't be 1000s extra. Nobody is suggesting that it makes a huge difference but it's just another hurdle that the club don't need to put there. On basic wages they wouldn't need a lot more ticket staff to cope and probably no more stewards. So the cost would be covered with very few extra fans coming in. It's an excuse the club does not need to give people like me who still haven't made it to Ewood yet this season 

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I would imagine 1875 membership has fallen off a cliff this season. No Fleetwood’s this year. 

Everybody who I know signed up last season (me included) haven’t bothered. Not a single away match thus far has come close to selling out before general sale (as we expected)- due to bigger allocations, not new grounds, dearer, not top of the league etc - so we all thought, why bother?

The club therefore needs to rethink what it’s doing with it, JH’s ideas would be a start...

Agreed, dont know if its been mentioned before so apologies if so but didnt 1875 membership double in price?

[Rogerb]

18 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

Agreed, dont know if its been mentioned before so apologies if so but didnt 1875 membership double in price?

Paid 16.50 this year think it was 10 last year.

[Mattyblue]

Ow much?!

Thought it has gone from £5 to £10?

 

Edit - Spotted it’s £15 for non ST holders.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Mattyblue

[roversfan99]

30 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Ow much?!

Thought it has gone from £5 to £10?

 

Edit - Spotted it’s £15 for non ST holders.

Oh yeah I was thinking of from 5 to 10, from a season ticket holders point of view.