Attendances: A cause for concern

[matt83]

So another failed bundle deal initiative then. Absolutely shocking.

[only2garners]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

Not shocking, totally expected and I said as much as soon as I saw it released last week, I’d have been shocked if we had sold more than a few hundred.

I’d hoped the club had finally learnt the lesson after years of these bundles doing exactly this, but no, they’ve not only tried it yet again, but in a more restrictive way!

@only2garners Could it be raised in the FF next week?

I.e. why are they still attempting these when the club themselves have stated how they don’t sell well in previous FF meetings.

And what is the rationale behind not just doing a simple, cheap ticket like plenty of other clubs seem to manage?

It's already on the agenda and in general terms it has been for a number of meetings.

[JHRover]

3 hours ago, BankEnd Rover said:

Shocking that! No doubt we would sell out Wembley in days if we got to the play offs…

To be honest that's one of the reasons I don't look forward to the play-offs. With a near 40,000 allocation I dread to think what we would sell at Wembley prices. Think people would be surprised and not in a good way.

Edited February 17, 2022 by JHRover

[Hasta]

7 minutes ago, JHRover said:

To be honest that's one of the reasons I don't look forward to the play-offs. With a near 40,000 allocation I dread to think what we would sell at Wembley prices. Think people would be surprised and not in a good way.

I don’t. I think you’d be surprised how many of the ‘Oxford’ attendees would come out for that. Plus people who have never been to Wembley. For games like that, people tend to take their families as well. I know for the Worthy final I had family members who had been to Ewood only a handful of times in the previous 10 years going down with their partners. Not saying we would sell out but doubt it would be the numbers you are imagining.

Lets hope we find out!

Edited February 17, 2022 by Hasta

[JHRover]

1 hour ago, rigger said:

Little acorns.

Little acorns don't work if the club swiftly gives up on the lower DE as a home stand and reverts back to putting away fans only in there.

Nor does it work if all those in the DE would have gone anyway but instead are moving away from the almost full BBE lower and instead sitting alone in the vast DE lower.

It requires a hell of a lot more time, effort and initiative to rebuild this mess yet Maggott seems to think it is so easy that a good first half to the season and a bundle offer and thousands will be in queues to take advantage. He's either stupid or being deliberately incompetent about this after 4.5 years at the club. 

If they are serious about it then they would release season tickets in there. Unreserved seating. Promote it as a young adult/youth area or for those who want to stand and shout all day. We won't go for safe standing because Venkys won't pay for it but they could go for it being the unofficial standing area. Basically just do what Williams did when he opened that area to home fans but promote, promote, promote, target local clubs, organisations.

But we know it won't happen. Only last week Waggott was wittering on about hoping to have season tickets released earlier this year. Yet numerous clubs are already announced and on with sales and we will be among the last. 

Everything is done last minute and off the hoof, poorly organised and planned. 

I'd like nothing more than to get back to the days of having home fans on all 4 sides and a better atmosphere at Ewood. 

Of course we had precisely that not long ago when there were established season ticket holders in that stand. Not a lot but the numbers dwindled each year, but still a presence and atmosphere at that end of the ground. Then the Club decided to shut it at short notice with no consultation and dispersed those fans elsewhere around the ground (or put them off going altogether). These sort of short term decisions cost support so it seems strange that they now want home fans in that end after getting rid of them.

 

[rigger]

28 minutes ago, JHRover said:

Little acorns don't work if the club swiftly gives up on the lower DE as a home stand and reverts back to putting away fans only in there.

Nor does it work if all those in the DE would have gone anyway but instead are moving away from the almost full BBE lower and instead sitting alone in the vast DE lower.

It requires a hell of a lot more time, effort and initiative to rebuild this mess yet Maggott seems to think it is so easy that a good first half to the season and a bundle offer and thousands will be in queues to take advantage. He's either stupid or being deliberately incompetent about this after 4.5 years at the club. 

If they are serious about it then they would release season tickets in there. Unreserved seating. Promote it as a young adult/youth area or for those who want to stand and shout all day. We won't go for safe standing because Venkys won't pay for it but they could go for it being the unofficial standing area. Basically just do what Williams did when he opened that area to home fans but promote, promote, promote, target local clubs, organisations.

But we know it won't happen. Only last week Waggott was wittering on about hoping to have season tickets released earlier this year. Yet numerous clubs are already announced and on with sales and we will be among the last. 

Everything is done last minute and off the hoof, poorly organised and planned. 

I'd like nothing more than to get back to the days of having home fans on all 4 sides and a better atmosphere at Ewood. 

Of course we had precisely that not long ago when there were established season ticket holders in that stand. Not a lot but the numbers dwindled each year, but still a presence and atmosphere at that end of the ground. Then the Club decided to shut it at short notice with no consultation and dispersed those fans elsewhere around the ground (or put them off going altogether). These sort of short term decisions cost support so it seems strange that they now want home fans in that end after getting rid of them.

 

Some fans complained when the option of going in the Darwen end was removed. Some fans are moaning about that option being restored. It seems it doesn't matter what the club tries, everyone won't be pleased.

[Mattyblue]

I’ve no problem with it being open generally, why not.

My issue is with yet another bundle offer, an offer that has failed time and time again. The club just doesn’t seem to grasp what works and what doesn’t here, bizarre really when they possess all the data.

[A Northern Horde...]

Wall or Qpr at £10 across the Stadium,first come,first served..fill 'yer boots.

Why is the concept so hard to grasp for the Ewood hierarchy?

[tomphil]

500 ?

That's probably the amount of regulars Waggot lost in moving the family stand and closing the DE in the first place.

There may have been a few more if we;d been winning but since the nerves set in it was always going to be difficult to shift a lot. £10 or 15 per ticket for one game was always the only way to go to get over a thousand in there although they probably would've had to offer Millwall the same. Would it really have done any harm though if they'd just given them a small allocation ?

Hopefully there's a late surge of another 500, it's entirely possible there might be.

Edited February 17, 2022 by tomphil

[darrenrover]

...or is 'failure' of said scheme a misconceived, pre-determined plan?

Announcement only 9 days prior to the fixture, restricted to a part of the ground closed to home fans for 4 years, part of a ' bundle' which never works.

Would it not have been better to have said at Christmas:

Millwall on 19th February, QPR on 26th February, Darwen End, Riverside, Blackburn End & Jack Walker Lower £15 adults, £5 kids.??

Fecking no brainer!

[JHRover]

It would have been better at Xmas to have simply put tickets on sale in the 3 home stands for all remaining games right through to Bournemouth at the end of the season all at £20 a head.

Then push, promote, advertise the hell out of it.

I've never understood this obsession with leaving it until 3 weeks before a game before announcing prices and starting sales. I get it for the away club in terms of setting their allocation and sending them their tickets and them having a sales period but at home at Ewood we know we can work on the Riverside, JW and BBE and try and get them filled.

[tomphil]

8 hours ago, darrenrover said:

...or is 'failure' of said scheme a misconceived, pre-determined plan?

Announcement only 9 days prior to the fixture, restricted to a part of the ground closed to home fans for 4 years, part of a ' bundle' which never works.

Would it not have been better to have said at Christmas:

Millwall on 19th February, QPR on 26th February, Darwen End, Riverside, Blackburn End & Jack Walker Lower £15 adults, £5 kids.??

Fecking no brainer!

They won't have wanted it to interfere with half ST sales i suppose.

Just like now they don't want a one off ticket price cheaper than standard matchday.  Understandable in a way but never ever going to be a big success in the middle of Feb.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

12 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

I’ve no problem with it being open generally, why not.

My issue is with yet another bundle offer, an offer that has failed time and time again. The club just doesn’t seem to grasp what works and what doesn’t here, bizarre really when they possess all the data.

I don’t think the bundle has necessarily ‘failed’. Sounds like it’s on track get around 1000 which is as good as can be expected.

I think it’s good that the club are trying to do something, my complaint is that we should be filling up the 3 other stands first. Get the BBE upper open before the Darwen End. The riverside is half full at the best of times. 

That being said, clearly price is only so much of an issue. We’re a top 6 side and tickets are reasonably priced whichever way you want to look at it. 

I also have concerns about how many seats would be empty if we got to Wembley but I’m treating that as a good problem to have right now.

[Mattyblue]

It’s exactly how it was expected, but it is still a failure, you don’t do a ticket deal and have it selling only in three figures the day before the game.

Bad idea, poorly executed. Back to the drawing board Swag.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Mattyblue

[Mattyblue]

21 minutes ago, tomphil said:

They won't have wanted it to interfere with half ST sales i suppose.

Just like now they don't want a one off ticket price cheaper than standard matchday.  Understandable in a way but never ever going to be a big success in the middle of Feb.

They shouldn’t have bothered with anything in the midst of winter. In 2001 all the cheap ticket offers (no strings offers, £10 a ticket anywhere for a couple of games) were all in the run in. Business end of the season, momentum building, much better weather 

Alas, the club is no longer run by the esteemed folk of twenty years ago, actual ‘football men’, who understood the fanbase, unlike the fella laughably described as one on here the other day.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Mattyblue

[RoverinYorkshire]

2 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

They shouldn’t have bothered with anything in the midst of winter. In 2001 all the cheap ticket offers (no strings offers, £10 a ticket anywhere for a couple of games) were all in the run in. Business end of the season, momentum building, much better weather 

Alas, the club is no longer run by the esteemed folk of twenty years ago, actual ‘football men’, who understood the fanbase, unlike the fella laughably described as one on here the other day.

Perhaps that's why this isn't the deal many were hoping for? I remember Waggot saying the EFL don't like clubs doing single game ticket offers but perhaps he's going to save incurring the wrath of the EFL until such offers could have a much bigger effect? Like you say, more people will be willing on a nice day with the prospect of promotion imminent.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying this will happen as there has been nothing to suggest any clever thinking regarding ticketing for the last 5 years at least!!

(Although the community engagement thing looks to be going well).

[Mattyblue]

Obviously Huddersfield don’t mind incurring said wrath as their game against Sheff Utd is £5 a ticket next week.

[Sparks Rover]

10 hours ago, darrenrover said:

Would it not have been better to have said at Christmas:

Millwall on 19th February, QPR on 26th February, Darwen End, Riverside, Blackburn End & Jack Walker Lower £15 adults, £5 kids.??

Fecking no brainer!

Yup.! Nobbers tomorrow is £15 no questions.  No Tesco bundles there and I bet they sell more than 500 extra.

[roversfan99]

If Waggott etc become aware of these comments then they will be made up. For some reason, so many fans cannot fathom that not everyone shares the same mindset nor the same circumstances to want and be able to get to as many games as possible. Its not just a Rovers thing, every team has a mixture of fans, some prioritise attending, some not so much and it requires effective ticketing and marketing to coax them in.

When people put such idiotic nonsense, it takes away from the fact that there may well be issues with the actual ticketing policies which will determine the attendance tomorrow. The strings attached bundle specific to one area of the ground has so many flaws, yet where is the accountability when people have the attitude of "bloody shit Rovers fans" naive to the fact that the fanbase of every club is a complex mix of people with different minds and different circumstances.

[rigger]

30 minutes ago, RoverinYorkshire said:

Perhaps that's why this isn't the deal many were hoping for? I remember Waggot saying the EFL don't like clubs doing single game ticket offers but perhaps he's going to save incurring the wrath of the EFL until such offers could have a much bigger effect? Like you say, more people will be willing on a nice day with the prospect of promotion imminent.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying this will happen as there has been nothing to suggest any clever thinking regarding ticketing for the last 5 years at least!!

(Although the community engagement thing looks to be going well).

Waggot also said the EFL don't like bundles.

[Mattyblue]

8 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

If Waggott etc become aware of these comments then they will be made up. For some reason, so many fans cannot fathom that not everyone shares the same mindset nor the same circumstances to want and be able to get to as many games as possible. Its not just a Rovers thing, every team has a mixture of fans, some prioritise attending, some not so much and it requires effective ticketing and marketing to coax them in.

When people put such idiotic nonsense, it takes away from the fact that there may well be issues with the actual ticketing policies which will determine the attendance tomorrow. The strings attached bundle specific to one area of the ground has so many flaws, yet where is the accountability when people have the attitude of "bloody shit Rovers fans" naive to the fact that the fanbase of every club is a complex mix of people with different minds and different circumstances.

Most fans wouldn’t understand why some offers do work, and some don’t, they aren’t sad bastards like me forensically looking at take up, so I don’t blame them for that reaction, seems a perfectly good offer on paper.

It’s the club however that bloody well should know and previous FF minutes show the club do know very well bundles are a waste of time, so hopefully at Tuesday’s meeting they’ll explain the rationale for attempting it yet again, when others clubs offer very simple cheap ticket deals..

Edited February 18, 2022 by Mattyblue

[roversfan99]

12 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Most fans wouldn’t understand why some offers do work, and some don’t, they aren’t sad bastards like me forensically looking at take up, so I don’t blame them for that reaction, seems a perfectly good offer on paper.

It’s the club however that bloody well should know and previous FF minutes show the club do know very well bundles are a waste of time, so hopefully at Tuesday’s meeting they’ll explain the rationale for attempting it yet again, when others clubs offer very simple cheap ticket deals..

I definitely agree on the club, there seems to be a lack of accountability too which is only heightened when people just blame the fan base. Waggott has mentioned in the forum as you say that bundles don't work and are unfavoured, and this latest offering has more strings than ever and limits itself by quantity due to only being in one stand.

I just don't get how people don't seem to/are unwilling to grasp the fact that not everyone is a fan who prioritises attending above most/all other things and has the lifestyle and finances to be able to do that. And not only that, they think its just a Rovers thing!

[Mattyblue]

It is odd, because said folk spouting off on Twitter will personally know fans that due to other commitments and hobbies will go to a game when they can. I certainly do.

I doubt they call those people ‘shit fans’, its just a term they seem to chuck around at the collective fanbase.

[Wheelton Blue]

My guess is that some match ticket fans will have already decided to watch the QPR game on Sky.

Therefore, to them, the bundle becomes in effect just the Millwall game, which they'll buy a cheaper match ticket for instead.

[Mattyblue]

Oh definitely, it’s like when they do bundles that cover night games, straight away you are putting off folk that can’t or won’t do evening KOs for a plethora of reasons.

Scary lack of nous at the club.