Pricing at Ewood.

[Pedro]

2 hours ago, Darwen Rover 007 said:

3 x fries and a drink cost me £11 something..  I mean come on!! Daylight robbery!! 

Absolute joke that. They should be ashamed. 

[scotchrover]

On 18/08/2019 at 16:01, JHRover said:

How hard would it be to put a real ale stall up in this new 'Jack's Fan Zone'?

A temporary bar, do a deal with 3 Bs or one of the many other local breweries who produce cask ale. Provide us with 3 or 4 ales, a few barrels of each, every home game, charge no more than £3 a pint. I know for a fact that ale from there costs about £1 a pint to buy from the brewery so £2.50 or £3 a pint is more than enough to make money on. 

I'd drink a few pints every game and go there rather than the pub. I'd sooner my money go to Rovers. But I'm not being made a fool of with the prices and choice available at present. 

Other clubs are realising that tastes are a changing, but seems we are in the comfort zone and that's all there is to it.

On a bigger scale I'd like to see the redundant Darwen End lounge converted into a 'pub' for pre and post match food and drink, again reasonably priced and good quality.

Can anyone tell me what the new fan zone is? Other than 2 or 3 banners I cant see any difference to last season?

They did actually make a stab at that during the League 1 promotion season- that’s where and when my profile picture was taken. I enjoyed it in there- it was quite a laid back atmosphere . Does anyone know why it was never continued? 

[Mattyblue]

Not enough folk used it.

[BigUts]

I'm shocked people think £4 a pint (or equivalent) is expensive for a pint of Fosters. Personally it's not something I would ever drink (unless I suddenly become 17 again); but its merely the higher end ot what I'd expect to pay in a pub these days. I'm completely unaware of prices in Blackburn but if I went out were I live (Southport) I would easily expect to pay close to a tenner for two decent pints.

The bigger issue for me is season tickets. If the club were bold and rolled back prices akin to 2010 levels of £200; then I am certain the number sold would have been huge and a full(er) ground generates much greater income through both shirt sales and concourse sales.

[Stuart]

So we are paying Southport ‘decent beer’ prices for drinking pish in Blackburn. Great.

I certainly won’t be buying it.

[Mattyblue]

£4.50 for any pint of booze isn’t unexpected at ‘events’ these days.

But isn’t one of the issues that they have gone up about 70p in one summer? Plus, it is the lack of variety that gives the impression of a club going through the motions and stuck in a late 90s time warp.

[Stuart]

Of course they are going through the motions.

They don’t do anything but increase prices and expect the ‘committed’ to pay up.

[K-Hod]

I can’t remember the last time I paid less than £4 for a pint of anything anywhere tbh. (Granted, I don’t drink Foster’s). 

 

[JBiz]

Just now, K-Hod said:

I can’t remember the last time I paid less than £4 for a pint of anything anywhere tbh. (Granted, I don’t drink Foster’s). 

 

One massive issue I have, pie and a pint £7:50; Pint of fosters: £4:20, 400ml of Heineken; £4:20.. yet you can’t swap.

So to have a slightly less but better quality beer but at the same initial cost, with my pie- It’s practically a tenner.

Which ultimately means another year of putting up with the metallic tasting, watered down, fosters crap - or literally not bothering at all.

The thing is, if the beer was a premium imported beer like Bernard or Singha, I’d gladly pay a 5er a pint. 

[Guest]

My issue isn't just the pricing, it's the service.

Against Oldham we had 5,000 fans on, and I genuinely waited over 5 minutes, and this was an hour before kick off. 

I know what you're thinking, 5 minutes, not the end of the world right?.... wrong, I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN THE QUEUE. Me, stood at the front, whilst they dilly dallied around with a system. 5 minutes, stood there with nobody else in sight, all I wanted was a bottle of Coke (£2.70)

The staff can't pour pints, the bottles aren't cold (water is £2.20!) and card payments at most tills take over 30 seconds to process. Shocking.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

£4-£5 seems to be what's charged in a decent pub for a decent beer - but you tend to get a good selection.  Wouldn't expect it to be less for event catering.  Been to some concert venues  where it's been £6 a pint.  

That said, if it's about creating an experience, then there has to be something 'different'.  

As others have suggested, a couple of tents in the fan zone doing real ale or lagers from a different country each week.  Fully justifiable charging a fiver for that.

The fosters - as sole draught supplier should be done on various offers, for instance: 

Happy hour between 1:30 - 2:30.

23 half price fosters vouchers with every ST....or  half price hot drinks if you don't drink.  People more likely to spend on food then. 

10 half price fosters tickets with each 1875 membership etc.

 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Is there a demand for Beer inside Ewood?...most folk I know do their drinking outside and away from the ground.

[MCMC1875]

13 minutes ago, JoeHarvey said:

My issue isn't just the pricing, it's the service.

Against Oldham we had 5,000 fans on, and I genuinely waited over 5 minutes, and this was an hour before kick off. 

I know what you're thinking, 5 minutes, not the end of the world right?.... wrong, I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN THE QUEUE. Me, stood at the front, whilst they dilly dallied around with a system. 5 minutes, stood there with nobody else in sight, all I wanted was a bottle of Coke (£2.70)

The staff can't pour pints, the bottles aren't cold (water is £2.20!) and card payments at most tills take over 30 seconds to process. Shocking.

Oh for the days of Stadia Catering.

[JHRover]

I think anything above £3.50 unless its premium beer is expensive in this part of the world. My local in Ossy charges £2.50 for cask beer and up to £3 for lager. I'd be prepared to pay £3.50 for cask at Ewood if it was good quality as I accept buying it at a major venue carries a premium. 

When I last went in the Red Rose suite it was a choice between Fosters, bottled beers or Maltsmiths IPA. All were £4+. In the end i went on bottled Theakstons Lightfoot and it was the best part of £4.50 a bottle. 

Really poor choice and ridiculous prices.

As said above, cask beer can be bought for between £60 and £90 a 9 gallon barrel. Approx. £1 per pint to buy. I'm sure if we stuck a deal with Bowland or 3 Bs we could get it even cheaper in bulk. No excuse therefore to charge £4+ a pint. £3 a pint would still see them triple their money on each barrel sold. 

Stanley do it, dingles do it, even Wigan have set one up with Bowland beer on. They can't argue we don't get enough people on as that is nonsense. It's just laziness and a lack of vision.

Sad times when we can go down to Brighton and they make the effort to put cask Thwaites on in the concourse for away fans to encourage them to drink in the ground yet there's nothing of the sort at Ewood.

[PeteJD13]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

I think anything above £3.50 unless its premium beer is expensive in this part of the world. My local in Ossy charges £2.50 for cask beer and up to £3 for lager. I'd be prepared to pay £3.50 for cask at Ewood if it was good quality as I accept buying it at a major venue carries a premium. 

When I last went in the Red Rose suite it was a choice between Fosters, bottled beers or Maltsmiths IPA. All were £4+. In the end i went on bottled Theakstons Lightfoot and it was the best part of £4.50 a bottle. 

Really poor choice and ridiculous prices.

As said above, cask beer can be bought for between £60 and £90 a 9 gallon barrel. Approx. £1 per pint to buy. I'm sure if we stuck a deal with Bowland or 3 Bs we could get it even cheaper in bulk. No excuse therefore to charge £4+ a pint. £3 a pint would still see them triple their money on each barrel sold. 

Stanley do it, dingles do it, even Wigan have set one up with Bowland beer on. They can't argue we don't get enough people on as that is nonsense. It's just laziness and a lack of vision.

Sad times when we can go down to Brighton and they make the effort to put cask Thwaites on in the concourse for away fans to encourage them to drink in the ground yet there's nothing of the sort at Ewood.

That's the problem with the football club as a whole, lack of vision imagination and a will do something outside of the box, this is what happens when a CEO comes in whose mates with the manager. Rather than someone deemed best for the job.

[Sparks Rover]

Just now, PeteJD13 said:

That's the problem with the football club as a whole, lack of vision imagination and a will do something outside of the box, this is what happens when a CEO comes in whose mates with the manager. Rather than someone deemed best for the job.

Yes, Mowbray wouldn’t be around after last seasons debacles if we had a proper chairman/ceo 

 

[DeeCee]

2 hours ago, JHRover said:

I think anything above £3.50 unless its premium beer is expensive in this part of the world. My local in Ossy charges £2.50 for cask beer and up to £3 for lager. I'd be prepared to pay £3.50 for cask at Ewood if it was good quality as I accept buying it at a major venue carries a premium. 

When I last went in the Red Rose suite it was a choice between Fosters, bottled beers or Maltsmiths IPA. All were £4+. In the end i went on bottled Theakstons Lightfoot and it was the best part of £4.50 a bottle. 

Really poor choice and ridiculous prices.

As said above, cask beer can be bought for between £60 and £90 a 9 gallon barrel. Approx. £1 per pint to buy. I'm sure if we stuck a deal with Bowland or 3 Bs we could get it even cheaper in bulk. No excuse therefore to charge £4+ a pint. £3 a pint would still see them triple their money on each barrel sold. 

Stanley do it, dingles do it, even Wigan have set one up with Bowland beer on. They can't argue we don't get enough people on as that is nonsense. It's just laziness and a lack of vision.

Sad times when we can go down to Brighton and they make the effort to put cask Thwaites on in the concourse for away fans to encourage them to drink in the ground yet there's nothing of the sort at Ewood.

You've over simplified the cask beer issue but there's no reason for them not to provide a more imaginative product range.

Do Rovers have a dedicated food and beverage manager or is everything contracted out?

[Hasta]

3 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Is there a demand for Beer inside Ewood?...most folk I know do their drinking outside and away from the ground.

Before kick off it's fine. You can just walk straight up more often than not. But at half time there is a huge demand.

At half time, when the majority of the orders are for one of 3 items, they should just be pouring pints and leaving them to stand at the back. You give your order, they turn around and grab what is there, you pay and away you go. It would be so much quicker. 

They have the machine which pours multiple pints at one time, but nearly every time I've tried pints from it, it is so off it tastes of vinegar. They have the technology but they obviously can't look after it well enough to use it.

Against Charlton, half of the problem was because people were going up and ordering 2 pint jugs only to be told they have run out of 2 pint jugs. The debate then ensues as to why they aren't allowed to have, in those circumstances, 2 pints for the same price as a 2 pint jug. People naturally think that's crazy and argue the toss. This delays things by a good minute.  Then the next person comes to the front and says "I'll have a 2 pint jug please..." and on it goes.

I accept that in a venue like that you are going to be paying over £4, and generally it's for something that is not the best. But at least make it so that you can actually get your hands on one without having to miss almost a quarter of the match !

I do struggle to accept how they can put the price of a pie up by 20% in the space of 10 weeks !!

The only thing I have seen recently to acknowledge the problem is the introduction of the bottle bar. Yes it's extortionate but at least you can get one in a reasonably speedy time. 

[Crimpshrine]

44 minutes ago, DeeCee said:

You've over simplified the cask beer issue but there's no reason for them not to provide a more imaginative product range.

Do Rovers have a dedicated food and beverage manager or is everything contracted out?

I'm fairly sure match day catering and such things  are Greg Coar's  area of responsibility.

[Bigdoggsteel]

My god, ye are spoilt. At Ireland rugby or football games at the Aviva, it's €6.50 a pint. That's £5.93. Guinness or Carlsberg only

In Dublin in general you would rarely get change from €5 for a pint. Got charged €7.50 for a pint last Christmas in Temple bar. It's a joke really. 

I used to travel to London a lot with my last job, it always felt nice having a reasonably priced pint. 

[Stuart]

8 hours ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

Is there a demand for Beer inside Ewood?...most folk I know do their drinking outside and away from the ground.

Because it’s cheaper?

9 hours ago, Wing Wizard Windy Miller said:

£4-£5 seems to be what's charged in a decent pub for a decent beer - but you tend to get a good selection.  Wouldn't expect it to be less for event catering.  Been to some concert venues  where it's been £6 a pint.  

That said, if it's about creating an experience, then there has to be something 'different'.  

As others have suggested, a couple of tents in the fan zone doing real ale or lagers from a different country each week.  Fully justifiable charging a fiver for that.

The fosters - as sole draught supplier should be done on various offers, for instance: 

Happy hour between 1:30 - 2:30.

23 half price fosters vouchers with every ST....or  half price hot drinks if you don't drink.  People more likely to spend on food then. 

10 half price fosters tickets with each 1875 membership etc.

 

At atmosphere and something different is a great idea but at the end of the day, it’s about shifting the product. If they make it too expensive for a low grade product people won’t buy it. Everyone knows Fosters is a cheap beer and they are charging what they like because they think they can.

It’s just another small minus on a long list of small minuses on Waggott’s watch. Fans are no longer the most important thing in the ground.

[tonygreenbank]

I used to quite enjoy the Fans Zone when we’ve been up but those prices are ridiculous. So many pubs have closed such as the Manxman which was always our meeting up point and the Albion that a realistic pricing structure would guarantee the crowds before kickoff.

The live music was always very good too. Has that gone now?

The South East Cornwall Supporters Group will be coming up in October. Is the Waggott Tax still in operation for latecomers?

[Atko's Engine]

Those at Hull, what are refreshment prices, variety & quality like? Good or not compared to Ewood?

[Mattyblue]

Still loads of pubs around Ewood. 

[Riverside under the drip]

Just now, Atko's Engine said:

Those at Hull, what are refreshment prices, variety & quality like? Good or not compared to Ewood?

A bit cheaper (not much). With it being a newish ground in the middle of the park, no options around the ground; not even a burger van.