Season Tickets 2019/2020

[Mattyblue]

‘Passionate north east’ is the biggest myth in football. 3 league clubs for a whole region that stretches from the Scottish border to Yorkshire, so no surprise they get decent numbers.

Old Lancashire is as passionate as they come, we are just chocka with clubs, a double edged sword, as it shows the heritage and passion for football, but makes it fiendishly difficult for non PL clubs to attract big numbers.

Something else Waggott doesn’t seem to get. We are not Coventry that is the main club for a good size city and county (Warwickshire), we are hemmed in by historic clubs, with mega sized clubs also in the vicinity.

[Riverside under the drip]

To be honest, I don't see ever cheaper tickets as the answer. We can demand dirt-cheap prices all we like but that would completely defeat the point of selling an extra thousand. We need finance. Either it comes from India or it comes from us. If tickets cost £15 a game, there'd still be those asking for discounts for certain games (kids for a quid is great as a one-off by the way).

Those who don't go for whatever reason, be it protest, distance, price, fine. Those who go, fine. Let's not go over old, poisonous ground.

There are only two ways of getting larger (I'm talking around the 20k mark) attendances regularly. One is promotion back to the top flight and the other is establishing a core of Asian fans over several years. This is clearly on their agenda and is already having an effect. It is noticeable that the number of Asian fans attending is beginning to creep up. Personally, I'd have taken the change of caterers as an opportunity to include a halal option with massive marketing of these efforts with leaflets for every house down Audley, Whalley Range etc.

Copied and pasted in Attendances. Any chance of combining the threads?

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Riverside under the drip

[tomphil]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

‘Passionate north east’ is the biggest myth in football. 3 league clubs for a whole region that stretches from the Scottish border to Yorkshire, so no surprise they get decent numbers.

Old Lancashire is as passionate as they come, we are just chocka with clubs, a double edged sword, as it shows the heritage and passion for football, but makes it fiendishly difficult for non PL clubs to attract big numbers.

Something else Waggott doesn’t seem to get. We are not Coventry that is the main club for a good size city and county (Warwickshire), we are hemmed in by historic clubs, with mega sized clubs also in the vicinity.

Yep it's the sheer number of clubs and the close proximity to huge worldwide names in big cities that dilutes it a bit around the North West any muppet can see this but each clubs hardcore fanbase are as passionate as they come just not huge in number.

A quick glance at Boros gates when Mowbray was in charge might make interesting reading and something that might need pointing out to him and Steve.  Yes they can pull a bigger crowd overnight and now get healthy averages but the main reason for that is despite being a similar size and economics to Blackburn it has Stockton and the doorstep and is miles away from anywhere else meaning double our core catchment.

Edited August 2, 2019 by tomphil

[Mattyblue]

Teesside is three quarters of a million people and they are the only club. 

Akin to Rovers being the only club in east Lancs, Bolton and Preston.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Mattyblue

[HowieFive0]

3 hours ago, Stuart said:

Both Waggott and Mowbray are out of touch with the locals I’m afraid. The only thing bringing back the crowds is keen pricing and this is where Waggott needs to do something differently. Instead he just blames fans.

Meanwhile Mowbray is doing nothing with recruitment to excite fans and hasn’t done since he came here. (Did someone say Dack? Absolute wildcard who has come good but is certainly patchy in form - which is why he is still here).

Even today he is talking about wanting fans to get down to Ewood and turn it into a fortress. Such a shame that he hasn’t got to understand yet how the town and football club interact and he seems to be using his North East experience of automatically passionate fans.

We would all love for Ewood to be a football crazy town who will pay top football prices to be entertained by their local heroes. It doesn’t work like that but they keep flogging that horse.

If they really want numbers make them dirt cheap and find a way to bring the financial gap through commercial avenues. If they don’t then they need to stop banging on about it. Blaming the fans (as the “Corry Evans is committed - why aren’t you?” Campaign showed) and holding them in contempt (“where are they?”) will have the opposite effect.

Sorry Stuart don't agree on this pricing malarkey. Yes we d all love it to be cheaper but do you really think cheap season tickets are going to bring back in coaches from Morecambe ,Lancaster , Chorley, Leyland like back when we were in the Prem? Couldn't move for coaches in front of the Fox n Hounds

Success and watching other top sides  are  what these borderline fans want and will pay to see ..not cheap ticketing. 

Now ..for us mere locals it would be fantastic ..but again I seriously cant see it bumping up attendances significantly.

Seriously found our level attendance wise ..and that pains me to say it  but from watching us in the very early eighties with 5500 on I can really see we ve hit that level especially with footie available 12-30 pm til 5-30 pm  on TV with an odd illegal stream inbetween on a Saturday ..to be honest we do well to get what we get ! Arghhhhhhhhhhh

[Stuart]

18 minutes ago, HowieFive0 said:

Sorry Stuart don't agree on this pricing malarkey. Yes we d all love it to be cheaper but do you really think cheap season tickets are going to bring back in coaches from Morecambe ,Lancaster , Chorley, Leyland like back when we were in the Prem? Couldn't move for coaches in front of the Fox n Hounds

Success and watching other top sides  are  what these borderline fans want and will pay to see ..not cheap ticketing. 

Now ..for us mere locals it would be fantastic ..but again I seriously cant see it bumping up attendances significantly.

Seriously found our level attendance wise ..and that pains me to say it  but from watching us in the very early eighties with 5500 on I can really see we ve hit that level especially with footie available 12-30 pm til 5-30 pm  on TV with an odd illegal stream inbetween on a Saturday ..to be honest we do well to get what we get ! Arghhhhhhhhhhh

We weren’t successful in the traditional sense during the Allardyce era - avoiding relegation was our only aim - but he convinced Williams to offer rock bottom pricing and we launched the Take Back Ewood campaign*.

As much as it pains me, unless we find a way back to that pricing structure and approach, Ewood won’t be packed, and Waggott and Mowbray are simply kidding themselves. We couldn’t even leverage the Oxford newbies/returnees!

Bear in mind that, like @chaddyrovers and @Mattyblue amongst others, I’m one of those still going despite the price increases.

As a football club we are competing with the likes of Preston and Burnley, and dare I say Stanley, but for a fanbase we are competing with Manchester City et al and the BT/Sky Sports subscriptions - let’s say £30 a month for 15-20 matches. Meanwhile we offer 2 games a month (walk on) for £40-£50 per month. It’s not happening. Not on value for money anyway.

But it isn’t about value, it’s about passion which doesn’t happen overnight. People need to get the bug and be nurtured as a fanbase. The opposite happened here - Kean (and Venkys) treated fans with utter contempt, and now Waggott appears to treat fans as a hardcore cash cow to be milked instead of a rising star to be curated, loved and grown. That’s certainly how I feel treated anyway. For example, if we beat City at home in the cup this season, it would pique people's interest but would Waggott look to put in a special offer price at the next home match to capture the imagination? Personally I’d expect him to do the opposite.

 

*If Gordon we’re still on the board, I’d be getting a lecture now about how that was part of the problem. But it happened, it worked, and we are a generation away from that no longer being the requirement - if ever again.

[HowieFive0]

Some good points but We weren’t successful in the traditional sense during the Allardyce era ...we were in the Prem which as I said in my post BORDERLINE fans from far and between were attracted to Ewood not just to watch us but to actually watch  Prem footie and so called top sides and players. Once we went on a slide you lose these fans regardless of price. You aint getting coach loads from outside the area to watch us play Barnsley because its cheap  .Success is paramount before price to fill Ewood. Waggott could take hundred quid off the season ticket for this season and id be surprised if it brought in 2000 extra fans...now ..get promoted ..watch the uptake then ..even at these prices.

Again the Oxford game was a simple one off ..promoted ..no different than if we played Burnley in the Championship ..top crowd .fill the stadium (again regardless of price).then back to normality next Home game.

Agree ..cheap tickets would be superb ..but I do not believe for one minute that that's  what will fill Ewood week in week out.

[AAK]

Just now, HowieFive0 said:

Some good points but We weren’t successful in the traditional sense during the Allardyce era ...we were in the Prem which as I said in my post BORDERLINE fans from far and between were attracted to Ewood not just to watch us but to actually watch  Prem footie and so called top sides and players. Once we went on a slide you lose these fans regardless of price. You aint getting coach loads from outside the area to watch us play Barnsley because its cheap  .Success is paramount before price to fill Ewood. Waggott could take hundred quid off the season ticket for this season and id be surprised if it brought in 2000 extra fans...now ..get promoted ..watch the uptake then ..even at these prices.

Again the Oxford game was a simple one off ..promoted ..no different than if we played Burnley in the Championship ..top crowd .fill the stadium (again regardless of price).then back to normality next Home game.

Agree ..cheap tickets would be superb ..but I do not believe for one minute that that's  what will fill Ewood week in week out.

Cheap tickets wouldnt get me going. Ive not had a ST since them lot took over, i now dont miss it, thats the problem youll have with many people, the owners ruined the club and its still in tatters, no matter what some think. I go down maybe 5 home games a season, atmosphere is awful, no life in the stadium, its gotten worse under waggot, and when i go i confirm to myself that i aint missing anything. Love away games mind, but newt entices me to ewood, bar a free ticket, and maybe a midweek game when theres newt to do midweek  

People wont like the above but thats how many will view it.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

You've hit the nail on the head for many there AAK as harsh and depressing as it sounds in the cold light of day.

[old darwen blue]

5 hours ago, AAK said:

Cheap tickets wouldnt get me going. Ive not had a ST since them lot took over, i now dont miss it, thats the problem youll have with many people, the owners ruined the club and its still in tatters, no matter what some think. I go down maybe 5 home games a season, atmosphere is awful, no life in the stadium, its gotten worse under waggot, and when i go i confirm to myself that i aint missing anything. Love away games mind, but newt entices me to ewood, bar a free ticket, and maybe a midweek game when theres newt to do midweek  

People wont like the above but thats how many will view it.

Waggot should be communicating with the likes of you pal to solve this conundrum. That guy hasn't got a bloody clue, why the hell did he close the Darren End to home fans? That action together with closing the family stand in the Blackburn End annoyed a lot of people. 

[Stuart]

Our matchday attendance is made up of ST holders. Even more so with our walk-on prices and the surcharge (actually designed to put people off buying late because of some BS about being able to manage the numbers!?!?).

We shift season tickets on affordability grounds certainly the Blackburners I know are price-sensitive. Doesn’t help that we put them on sale at the worst possible time. On Facebook there are people reacting to the LT story about this and talking about “small minded people who can’t forgive Venkys for early mistakes” (I kid you not!). But at this stage I’d argue there are very few staying away for that reason. I know people do vote with their feet but protests didn’t get up much above 300 people. The sweet spot age group that we should be attracting 18-24 were barely at secondary school when all of this kicked off anyway. Parents with kids - we really don’t market the free STs for Under 8s very much but that is how you grow the next generation.

As much as I sympathise with @AAK he is now very much in the minority I’m afraid. Reaching out to those who still feel betrayed by Venkys would, one, be a small group and, two, probably still wouldn’t work. These people want a personal apology chance to tell them to eff off in person.

Even success on the pitch will not fill Ewood with Blackburners unless the price was right. Yes, there are a lot of plastic football fans who are now at Burnley (and we’re at Wigan) now we are a second tier side but there still would have been 7-8000 who were Rovers fans who still came even in the Championship but have been put off by the significant price increases that we have seen since.

8-9000 hardcore (not bad at all)

8000 stayaways (protesters and price-sensitive and other reasons*)

7-8000 plastics

Takes us to around 24-25,000 that we had around the Allardyce cheap as chips era.

 

*What other reasons? Death and leaving the area? That’s a lot of people.

[Paul]

I don't understand the argument we need cheap tickets. My seat is £9 this year (65 now) and my lad's £15 as we have STs. This is not expensive. Just how low should we go?

I'm not sure on this but if match day prices dropped to say £20-25 then it would not be unreasonable for ST holders to expect a pro rata reduction. Cheap tickets are all well and good but it's a spiral in to financial decline. It's always easy to reduce price but very difficult to increase - look at the complaints over last year's 20% increases.

[OJRovers]

Ewood isn't the most accessible ground, I'm just wondering what the club are doing to make it easier to get to/from the ground?

If you're advertising in Preston area and wider, how are these people expected to get to Ewood? You can drive but end up parking miles away on a housing estate (and then you can't drink).

Other clubs do shuttle buses into town. Why not try something to/from Blackburn station?

[Mattyblue]

Charlton, similar club to us in many ways, operate buses to the Valley from across Kent, as like us much of their fanbase has moved from its origins, south east London for them, the town of Blackburn for us, further afield.

[chaddyrovers]

I cant complain about prices of ST tickets. My step daughter got one now for 99 pounds a season which is 4.50 per game. Bargain. She is excited and been ready since 8am this morning. 

How we get back non ST holders who havent been for a few years? No easy answers. Spoken to a couple of fans at Blackpool who havent been to home games in ages but go regular to away games. They make a day/weekend of it. So its suits them. I cant blame them cos I did that back in PL days and when I was in 20's. 

 

[chaddyrovers]

28 minutes ago, OJRovers said:

Ewood isn't the most accessible ground, I'm just wondering what the club are doing to make it easier to get to/from the ground?

If you're advertising in Preston area and wider, how are these people expected to get to Ewood? You can drive but end up parking miles away on a housing estate (and then you can't drink).

Other clubs do shuttle buses into town. Why not try something to/from Blackburn station?

But Rovers cant control the roads or transport links. Thats down to the council and I cant see Them being in mood. 

I park near the old Blackburn Hospital and walk down. 

People could catch the train from Preston and either drop off at Mill hall or Blackburn station. Guess the one thing that has gone from the walk from station to ground is the lack of pubs on the way tbh

[JHRover]

32 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

But Rovers cant control the roads or transport links. Thats down to the council and I cant see Them being in mood. 

I park near the old Blackburn Hospital and walk down. 

People could catch the train from Preston and either drop off at Mill hall or Blackburn station. Guess the one thing that has gone from the walk from station to ground is the lack of pubs on the way tbh

Rovers used to lease the car parks outside the Empire theatre from the council and could accommodate hundreds of cars. Over the last few years those expanses of land have been given up, built through with a gypsy camp, left to go to rack and ruin and wasted. Shame because most clubs with a 30,000 stadium would embrace such parking on the doorstep. We've got away with it in the Championship but are unprepared for the Premier League. 

Rovers is the best thing about Blackburn and it is about time the inept council realised that and started to help the club. Instead they pay their parking wardens overtime to pursue Rovers fans parking on matchdays. 

Most clubs with a regional fanbase deploy coaches to areas outside the town/city to collect fans and bring them in. It is ludicrous that we don't when the demographics of our fanbase are as they are. Still waiting for someone to explain why Preston run buses into Leyland but we don't. 

[1864roverite]

15 hours ago, AAK said:

Cheap tickets wouldnt get me going. Ive not had a ST since them lot took over, i now dont miss it, thats the problem youll have with many people, the owners ruined the club and its still in tatters, no matter what some think. I go down maybe 5 home games a season, atmosphere is awful, no life in the stadium, its gotten worse under waggot, and when i go i confirm to myself that i aint missing anything. Love away games mind, but newt entices me to ewood, bar a free ticket, and maybe a midweek game when theres newt to do midweek  

People wont like the above but thats how many will view it.

Maybe AK you should look st it from a different perspective get yourself to Ewood and start to enjoy it again. Time to look way past the issues with Venkys it’s about being a fan of our football club moving on and being positive . One things for sure without them now we are well and truly goosed 

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Rovers used to lease the car parks outside the Empire theatre from the council and could accommodate hundreds of cars. Over the last few years those expanses of land have been given up, built through with a gypsy camp, left to go to rack and ruin and wasted. Shame because most clubs with a 30,000 stadium would embrace such parking on the doorstep. We've got away with it in the Championship but are unprepared for the Premier League. 

Rovers is the best thing about Blackburn and it is about time the inept council realised that and started to help the club. Instead they pay their parking wardens overtime to pursue Rovers fans parking on matchdays. 

Most clubs with a regional fanbase deploy coaches to areas outside the town/city to collect fans and bring them in. It is ludicrous that we don't when the demographics of our fanbase are as they are. Still waiting for someone to explain why Preston run buses into Leyland but we don't. 

Yes very true about the car park, I have no idea why those car parks aren't used. Maybe a question to ask club. 

I would agree that Rover are the best thing in Blackburn. I wouldn't go to the town centre for much nowadays

[Doogs]

2 hours ago, OJRovers said:

Ewood isn't the most accessible ground, I'm just wondering what the club are doing to make it easier to get to/from the ground?

If you're advertising in Preston area and wider, how are these people expected to get to Ewood? You can drive but end up parking miles away on a housing estate (and then you can't drink).

Other clubs do shuttle buses into town. Why not try something to/from Blackburn station?

We could ship them in, in personal Helicopters give them free tickets, free ale. Then hope the club survives...

[Stuart]

4 hours ago, Paul said:

I don't understand the argument we need cheap tickets. My seat is £9 this year (65 now) and my lad's £15 as we have STs. This is not expensive. Just how low should we go?

I'm not sure on this but if match day prices dropped to say £20-25 then it would not be unreasonable for ST holders to expect a pro rata reduction. Cheap tickets are all well and good but it's a spiral in to financial decline. It's always easy to reduce price but very difficult to increase - look at the complaints over last year's 20% increases.

Feeling of deja vu here, Paul but you are not the demographic I’m talking about. I don’t imagine that is expensive to you

[Paul]

On 03/08/2019 at 14:08, Stuart said:

Feeling of deja vu here, Paul but you are not the demographic I’m talking about. I don’t imagine that is expensive to you

I'm not sure how you judge this Stuart. My annual income is below the tax threshold. Anyone who works probably has a greater income than I do.

An ST in the JWL works out at around £15/match. As I'm now 65 it's £9. I believe the club has a monthly payment option. I'm not judging anyone but if, say, two games a month at £30 is stretching the budget then football should not be part of the equation.

If you expect Rovers to offer STs at much below £15/game I'd suggest you're in cloud cuckoo land, along with everyone else on here who can run the club and manage the team better.

Frankly so many think they can do a better job I find it hard to understand why BRFCS posters haven't launched a takeover bid.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Paul

[Sparks Rover]

On 03/08/2019 at 12:44, chaddyrovers said:

Yes very true about the car park, I have no idea why those car parks aren't used. Maybe a question to ask club. 

I would agree that Rover are the best thing in Blackburn. I wouldn't go to the town centre for much nowadays

Still hitting the cinema , Chaddy?

[gumboots]

2 hours ago, Paul said:

I'm not sure how you judge this Stuart. My annual income is below the tax threshold. Anyone who works probably has a greater income than I do.

An ST in the JWL works out at around £15/match. As I'm now 65 it's £9. I believe the club has a monthly payment option. I'm not judging anyone but if, say, two games a month at £30 is stretching the budget then football should not be part of the equation.

If you expect Rovers to offer STs at much below £15/game I'd suggest you're in cloud cuckoo land, along with everyone else on here who can run the club and manage the team better.

Frankly so many think they can do a better job I find it hard to understand why BRFCS posters haven't launched a takeover bid.

Prices are not that expensive but if you factor in many households where they are looking at possibly 2 adults and a couple of teenagers it adds up. Do Rovers do a family ticket or a discounted second adult ST at the same address or some kind of other offer that mitigates the cost. I can remember the struggle we had paying for 2 adults and 3 kids when ours were younger and we had a good household income. 

Price is not the only factor in enticing people to Ewood and a number of other things put people who were once stalwarts off. But if you rely heavily on St holders for your income and  crowds then you have to do more than ask Where are they? You have to actively seek them. 

[Stuart]

6 hours ago, Paul said:

If you expect Rovers to offer STs at much below £15/game I'd suggest you're in cloud cuckoo land, along with everyone else on here who can run the club and manage the team better.

Frankly so many think they can do a better job I find it hard to understand why BRFCS posters haven't launched a takeover bid.

Of course, Paul, if I can’t do it personally then I have to assume nobody can. So Waggott should admit that and walk then and we will save an expensive wage.

You think it’s cloud cuckoo land to want ST prices, with a full outlay at the start of the season - with zero inspirational signings - in the second tier - losing to the likes of Charlton - at anything below £345?

And you believe these people should not expect to have football as part of their lives?

Wow.

But you are in good company, so does Waggott. Sadly his current catchment demographic does not agree so we will continue to rattle along with sub-10k fans in a stadium built for three times that. The longer that continues the more chance there is of further stand closures or the continued crap atmosphere.

A little imagination is needed to subsidise cheaper tickets or it will only get worse.

That is exactly why I said my statement does not apply to you.