Attendances: A cause for concern

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

44 minutes ago, tomphil said:

How about just normal match pricing for a game like PKE ?

People chucking about cheap deals then others saying but you'd have to sell twice as many etc, why not just price it sensibly ?

I know quite a few on both sides of the fence who snubbed it yesterday because of the price, they probably wouldn't have if it was normal.  15 quid one week, 20 quid another then 30 all for teams in the same division it's all bollocks just get some sense back into it.

Thing is they say fan re-engagement but they aren't focused on that at all it's just about hitting pre set targets predicted income. Then they just juggle the price around in between.

Got to start getting 11/12k per week back first then games like that priced sensibly turn into 16/17k home fans etc.  Only way to really do it is get the ST prices really irresistible before you start messing with game by game prices.

The mistake was made in the summer with ST prices. The club are now locked in to ensuring the ST remains value for money and they can’t therefore discount match day tickets each week. I’m pleased that the club have at least done something with midweek pricing and the Sheff Utd game discounts but that can only go so far.

I feel that the reaction to the Preston pricing was a bit much. £30 is about the going rate for a Champ game these days. Bournemouth is the same next weekend. I don’t agree with it and wish we could be more creative and ambitious with our ticketing but at the same time, I don’t think £30 is scandalous.

[Mattyblue]

£30 minimum price, up to £36 is not the ‘going rate’, at all.

As for your example. Supply and demand, Bournemouth have a 10k stadium and are pretty much full each week, whereas…

Edited December 5, 2021 by Mattyblue

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

1 hour ago, JHRover said:

To be honest I'd say 14,000 home fans on for a Lancashire derby given our form and league position is pretty poor.

It is only the horrendous 'normal' crowds we get that makes 14,000 seem good.

It wasn't long ago we had 18-19000 season ticket holders so no I won't consider 14,000 for a derby anything other than quite poor.

Agree with your point JHRover but it's a result of some 12 years of neglect and decline...standards, expectations and general interest have been criminally allowed to go through the floor.

I'm hoping yesterday will be a kick start of better things to come...no more 9,000 crowds please ffs!

People have repeatedly commented on the better atmosphere yesterday,in tough conditions I believe the team responded to the fans,the reaction of the Players at the end spoke volumes.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2021 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[JBiz]

36 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

 

‘Season tickets, season tickets, season tickets’ should always be the mantra at this club and Swag has fecked that up royally in his time here.

Or…. Perhaps, just maybe…rather than just blaming someone… hear me out….

10 Years of never finishing above 8th (I think) in the second tier maybe, played it’s part…?

2 or 3 years of improvement on the pitch might see thousands return?

I only started in 1990 when I was 6, but I’m making the assumption the amount we sold went up quite a bit 1991-1996?

 

 

 

[Mattyblue]

Of course a winning side puts bums on seats, yesterday being a prime example, that crowd would have been substantially lower if we’d have been mid table.

Is he wholly to blame? Of course not, we live in a complex economy and lots of competition for the leisure pound. However he’s put the prices up by about £200 in the last three seasons of attendance, with the last hefty raise after 18 months out of the ground with folk out of the habit, then absolute minimum marketing to boot, just piss poor salesmanship. Three thousand lost ST holders speaks for itself.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Mattyblue

[47er]

27 minutes ago, magicalmortensleftpeg said:

, I don’t think £30 is scandalous.

Its unrealistic in the view of many. Your disposable income tells you whether its scandalous or not.

Probably represents 4 hours work for some.

[JBiz]

17 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Of course a winning side puts bums on seats, yesterday being a prime example, that crowd would have been substantially lower if we’d have been mid table.

Is he wholly to blame? Of course not, we live in a complex economy and lots of competition for the leisure pound. However he’s put the prices up by about £200 in the last three seasons of attendance, with the last hefty raise after 18 months out of the ground with folk out of the habit, then absolute minimum marketing to boot, just piss poor salesmanship. Three thousand lost ST holders speaks for itself.

That fact in its isolation (price) is a valid one that I agree with, however I think it’s been a difficult scenario to manage with turnover / expenditure- an area I’m not even remotely savvy or educated enough to understand.

The results will always be priority. There is obviously a ceiling people will and should be asked to pay, but the higher we get, the more people will get involved.

This also not wholly his or TMs remit - there’s obviously been some fantastic work over the past 5 seasons within the club, my own personal “most important” factor for improvement in attendance through winning, is the development of young players through the club.

Seeing players these lads do well, like Wharton, Lenihan, Buckley, Nyambe, Travis etc - supplemented by young signings, 100% hard working players like Dolan etc - that’ll really sell our club to another generation.

 

[Upside Down]

Let's face it, over the last ten years we have lost 10000 fans. Some of those will never be back. Others are in a war of attraction with the owners and have walked away in protest. Then there are the ones who are only interested in watching us if we're in the Premier League. 

To get the supporters back in the ground there needs to be some incentive both on and off the pitch. £30+ for a second division match is the exact opposite of that. 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Upside Down

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Let's face it, over the last ten years we have lost 10000 fans. Some of those will never be back. Others are in a war of attraction with the owners and have walked away in protest. Then there are the ones who are only interested in watching us if we're in the Premier League. 

To get the supporters back in the ground there needs to be some incentive both on and off the pitch. £30+ for a second division match is the exact opposite of that. 

I agree regarding the 10,000 lost fans, it could be more to be honest. I’d say a good half of those will never come back no matter what. They’ve found other things to do on a Saturday afternoon. You could offer them free admittance and they still wouldn’t come.

[Mattyblue]

And that’s the rub TS. Are some ‘boycotting’, yes, but a very small number in the grand scheme of things, are some PL fans? Yes.  Can they be enticed back at some point in the future, depending on circumstances? Yes.

There’s also the floating fan that comes out for a juicy game or if the club is on a bit of a roll results wise. Many of those have never committed to a ST in the first place, so never really get out of the habit.

However, the ones that have gone for good are the thousands of ex-ST holders who went as a matter of routine and whatever the reason was for them initially stopping, they won’t return as they are now well out the habit, now have family commitments, have taken up new hobbies etc etc and wouldn’t even think about giving up every other weekend again - and those are fans a club with our limited fanbase will miss.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

And that’s the rub TS. Are some ‘boycotting’, yes, but a very small number in the grand scheme of things, are some PL fans? Yes.  Can they be enticed back at some point in the future, depending on circumstances? Yes.

 

Those very same 'PL Floaters' have probably been getting their fix at Turf Moor tbh.

Wouldn't it be just grand if we could get bigger attendances than Burnley over Xmas just to rub it in.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

On 05/12/2021 at 11:27, 47er said:

Its unrealistic in the view of many. Your disposable income tells you whether its scandalous or not.

Probably represents 4 hours work for some.

Of course it’s relative as to what people consider to be expensive. I’m not suggesting £30 is cheap and I agree that it’s too much for a second tier football match. However, £30 is roughly the going rate these days so I don’t consider it to be an outrage.

£25 for the weekend would have been about right but I’m still not sure we would have seen a significantly bigger crowd with that. 

[Mattyblue]

PNE would’ve have sold plenty more at £25 for a start.

£30 was the *cheapest* ticket, the most popular stand for walk ons - JWU was £36.

That isn’t the going rate for second division football, and despite our cracking form, we saw our lowest PNE crowd for 40 years - so ‘outrage’ or not, it obviously wasn’t deemed a value price by the respective fanbases.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Mattyblue

[Wheelton Blue]

A Wolves supporting mate of mine told me that it was £42 for Wolves fans to sit in those seats 'vacated' by Burnley.

At those rates, if we do ever get back to the PL, Waggot will be in nirvana.

[BRFC4EVA]

Potential for a good do at Hull. Boxing day, big allocation, tickets look like they are £21ish on their website, team is playing well..

[tomphil]

How many are Rovers likely to be allocated for Hull ?

[Mattyblue]

Can’t see an enormous following, still a fair trek for a game with no public transport - now say it’d have been a Hudds or Stoke then definitely.

[JWU-Andy]

updated table... 

[OldEwoodBlue]

So as was always inevitable, plan B has now been announced.

No covid passport = no entry for gates over 10K.

Costly administration nightmare for the club.

Waggott should limit tickets to under 10K to remain exempt. Most sensible solution to avoid the costs.

Will away fans now be banned to make it easier ?

Can't see how we can accept away fans whilst limiting or stopping home walk ons.

Otherwise how will he tackle the subject of unvaccinated ST holders who can now not attend ? Surely can't go down that route ?

Same dilemma at all clubs with 9-15K attendances.

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by OldEwoodBlue

[only2garners]

The club have plans in place to deal with this and I’m pretty sure it will be implemented. It’s not the club who are bringing in the restrictions, they will just be implementing them. Expect to have to comply from the Birmingham game onwards (or Bournemouth if you’re going).

[JHRover]

The rules don't come into place for 7 days so shouldn't be in use at Bournemouth.

There are enough stewards on the turnstiles checking bags and tickets - surely they can just check passes instead.

[chaddyrovers]

36 minutes ago, OldEwoodBlue said:

So as was always inevitable, plan B has now been announced.

No covid passport = no entry for gates over 10K.

Costly administration nightmare for the club.

Waggott should limit tickets to under 10K to remain exempt. Most sensible solution to avoid the costs.

Will away fans now be banned to make it easier ?

Can't see how we can accept away fans whilst limiting or stopping home walk ons.

Otherwise how will he tackle the subject of unvaccinated ST holders who can now not attend ? Surely can't go down that route ?

Same dilemma at all clubs with 9-15K attendances.

 

Firstly no reasons to stop any away fans from attending games as long as they following the rules. 

Unvaccinated ST Holders can do a lateral flow test on the day of the game.  Simple

Rovers have Stewards on every gate checking ST cards or Bags. So no different just checking people vaccine passport 

[MarkBRFC]

You can still go in if you haven't been jabbed and  show a negative LF test.

You know,  the ones you can put into the website as being negative without even having to take them 🙄

[only2garners]

19 minutes ago, JHRover said:

The rules don't come into place for 7 days so shouldn't be in use at Bournemouth.

There are enough stewards on the turnstiles checking bags and tickets - surely they can just check passes instead.

You're right. It was originally reported that these rules regarding passes would come in from Friday but it's now been corrected to just face masks in venues from Friday. So, Birmingham at home will be the first.

I know that the club are planning to have more people around checking passes and may well look to volunteer fans to help.

[OldEwoodBlue]

12 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Rovers have Stewards on every gate checking ST cards or Bags. So no different just checking people vaccine passport 

Well they would all need the devices to check and verify your QR code.