Season tickets 2023-24 - what could/should be offered ?

[Sweaty Gussets]

Peace and Love.

Ewoodstock 🤍💙

[Gav]

10 hours ago, K-Hod said:

That’s not what I was replying to though. Chaddy asked what could make the match day experience better- I replied better food and drink.

I said that it would be better for the club to offer better food and drink on match days. If non league clubs can offer street food and craft beers, there’s no reason that Rovers can’t.

Spot on.

I guess this is just another example of laziness by the Exec Team, they signed a contract with a national caterer, easy, cheap and job done, sod the fans and the matchday experience. To give them come credit, we have Indian Street food, but the ambitions stops right there.

We have a plethora of outstanding food and drink outlets across Lancashire, the football club could boost the local economy whilst delivering an outstanding product on the concourses, but it takes a bit of extra work and back office staff to manage.

Nobody cares, we all know that. 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Gav

[arbitro]

It can be done but it requires somebody to get off their backside.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/turf-moor-stand-to-be-redeveloped-as-new-burnley-food-and-drink-system-announced-for-supporters/ar-AA1chH2T

[chaddyrovers]

5 hours ago, JHRover said:

Maybe, maybe not, but I'd love to know what, if anything, Rovers had to say about the Bolton Road bus lane nonsense and the closure of multiple parking sites such as those opposite the Fox and Hounds and Empire Theatre.

My guess is they said and did nothing and the result is that now we have chaos and panic stations when there is even a chance of a 20,000 crowd,  luckily for them we don't get anywhere near 30,000 because they just couldn't cope.

I've parked a number of times on the car Park opposite Empire Theatre last season but the last 3 months it was closed. 

Question is who owns the car park? Rovers dont

 

[arbitro]

I've posted before about the buses which are privately used for every home game and depart from several pubs at the top end of Darwen. It's a thankless task sometimes to organise these but credit goes to the guys who arrange them. Rovers have absolutely no input into these and it's been suggested several times to the club that they could organise a similar scheme from outlying areas but once again this was rebuffed by the club (I might be wrong but my recollection is that it has been discussed at the Fans Forum).

I can say confidently that quite a few who use this service wouldn't go if they had to make their own way and had to walk part of the way. We get dropped off at EWMC and picked up behind what was the Albion pub and it costs £4.

[Upside Down]

1 hour ago, Doogs said:

Not at all. Rovers have great supporters just like other clubs. Some have season tickets, some don't. Some go every week, others may not for many reasons. But we are all equal, and can consider ourselves not only Rovers supporters, but football supporters.. 

A lot don't go because of the price.

[Upside Down]

1 minute ago, arbitro said:

I've posted before about the buses which are privately used for every home game and depart from several pubs at the top end of Darwen. It's a thankless task sometimes to organise these but credit goes to the guys who arrange them. Rovers have absolutely no input into these and it's been suggested several times to the club that they could organise a similar scheme from outlying areas but once again this was rebuffed by the club (I might be wrong but my recollection is that it has been discussed at the Fans Forum).

I can say confidently that quite a few who use this service wouldn't go if they had to make their own way and had to walk part of the way. We get dropped off at EWMC and picked up behind what was the Albion pub and it costs £4.

I've made many a journey on those buses back in the day. Some absolute belting memories of those times.

We were in the pub before the game one day and me and my mate were playing pool. I chipped the yellow ball off the table and straight into this guy's pint. I'll never forget the look on his face. He didn't know what the fuck to do. Then when we'd reached the age of about 14 my dad would buy us pints of mild. Those were the days. "Feed the scousers, let them know its Christmas time!!!" Amazing times.

[Mattyblue]

6 minutes ago, arbitro said:

I've posted before about the buses which are privately used for every home game and depart from several pubs at the top end of Darwen. It's a thankless task sometimes to organise these but credit goes to the guys who arrange them. Rovers have absolutely no input into these and it's been suggested several times to the club that they could organise a similar scheme from outlying areas but once again this was rebuffed by the club (I might be wrong but my recollection is that it has been discussed at the Fans Forum).

I can say confidently that quite a few who use this service wouldn't go if they had to make their own way and had to walk part of the way. We get dropped off at EWMC and picked up behind what was the Albion pub and it costs £4.

It was mentioned again in the latest FF reading the minutes… of course they are ‘looking into it’. But it doesn’t help that the response of FF members isn’t ‘great idea, it will really help get folk to the ground’, but ‘oh it’s a thankless task’, ‘administrative burden’

Really proactive, go getting meetings of minds, isn’t it 🙄

[arbitro]

3 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

It was mentioned again in the latest FF reading the minutes… of course they are ‘looking into it’. But it doesn’t help that the response of FF members isn’t ‘great idea, it will really help get folk to the ground’, but ‘oh it’s a thankless task’, ‘administrative burden’

Really proactive, go getting meetings of minds, isn’t it 🙄

I'm sure the guys who organise the Darwen buses would give them the assistance they needed but if members of the FF aren't on board then Waggott has the perfect excuse not to look at it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gav]

50 minutes ago, arbitro said:

It can be done but it requires somebody to get off their backside.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football/turf-moor-stand-to-be-redeveloped-as-new-burnley-food-and-drink-system-announced-for-supporters/ar-AA1chH2T

I'm not clicking that 😤 - But get the point 👍

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/hull-city-dish-voted-best-8292958

Hull City winning an award for the katsu chicken with chips dish beat off strong competition from Bolton Wanderers' chicken tikka dirty fries, and West Bromwich Albion's BBQ bacon-loaded fries.

Nobody cares..

 

[arbitro]

Just now, Gav said:

I'm not clicking that 😤 - But get the point 👍

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/hull-city-dish-voted-best-8292958

Hull City winning an award for the katsu chicken with chips dish beat off strong competition from Bolton Wanderers' chicken tikka dirty fries, and West Bromwich Albion's BBQ bacon-loaded fries.

Nobody cares..

 

Under normal circumstances Gav I wouldn't but the system they are introducing will bring in more money and keep the customer satisfied. I would imagine lots of clubs are looking at similar things but under the current regime we are so far behind with most innovations.

[1864roverite]

1 hour ago, Gav said:

Spot on.

I guess this is just another example of laziness by the Exec Team, they signed a contract with a national caterer, easy, cheap and job done, sod the fans and the matchday experience. To give them come credit, we have Indian Street food, but the ambitions stops right there.

We have a plethora of outstanding food and drink outlets across Lancashire, the football club could boost the local economy whilst delivering an outstanding product on the concourses, but it takes a bit of extra work and back office staff to manage.

Nobody cares, we all know that. 

 

Moving on from this I actually wrote to Rovers about the fan zone and how it can be completely improved to give the fan zone a much better experience. It also included how ti improve food and drink and I used the Bolton fan zone as an example. 

At BWFC the fan zone is very well organised and well attended. Various food options, plenty of drink options, entertainment and football screens a plenty and it is superbly managed. When I last visited there was over 1000 people in there with plenty of standing and seating and the whole experience was great BUT fan orientated.

At Ewood, there is great scope to increase the fan zone area. Move the bars to the fencing adjacent to the river, place extra covering and seating where the original bar is, allow various food options, sell bottled beer and wine, have more tv/entertainment and so on.

Sadly, nothing has come back since which epitomises the current senior management team

[M_B]

11 hours ago, Hasta said:

I’ve read it all again.

You said that you and the people around you complain about people who ‘choose’ to stay away.

I’ve given you 3 examples of people who choose to stay away. People who maybe would be tempted by lower prices. All are people who used to go ‘when the going was good’ but don’t now. They are the ones you originally said you sat at Ewood and complained about. 

In the three examples I gave I just want to know, if you saw them face to face, what your complaint is?
 

The ones who say they stay away because of Venkys, I've never believed it, I think they're staying away because we're not a Prem club any more. It's their choice, but it's also my choice to be able to complain about them. If that doesn't agree with you then fair enough, but I don't care one way or the other, you can agree with me or not. 

As I said, to get people to return, you have to understand the various reasons that they are staying away. If 5000 people say they're staying away because of the owners, then pricing isn't a factor in whether they return. That's 5000 former attendees , could be more, could be less, that should be factored in when comparing to Preston. 

 

[Mattyblue]

Oh dear 1864 more commercial improvements that never happen, funny that.

I don’t worry too much about the more peripheral stuff as a new broom on the commercial side could well look at all this stuff. It’s having such low crowds for so long that is the existential worry.

Swag leaving the club urgently needs to happen, but of course why would he leave a number as cushy as this?     

[Mattyblue]

1 minute ago, M_B said:

The ones who say they stay away because of Venkys, I've never believed it, I think they're staying away because we're not a Prem club any more. It's their choice, but it's also my choice to be able to complain about them. If that doesn't agree with you then fair enough, but I don't care one way or the other, you can agree with me or not. 

As I said, to get people to return, you have to understand the various reasons that they are staying away. If 5000 people say they're staying away because of the owners, then pricing isn't a factor in whether they return. That's 5000 former attendees , could be more, could be less, that should be factored in when comparing to Preston. 

 

There aren’t 5000 folk staying away because of Venky’s. We all know that. Of the fans that stopped going between 2010 and 2012 many did so because of the results of their decisions certainly, but most of those fans, if they haven’t ever been back by now, are just long out the habit. However there are also plenty of floating fans out there that would be interested in lower prices.

We had 10,000+ ST holders in this division in 2019, so why couldn’t we get to c12k if prices are reduced? PL glory hunters stuff is a red herring, nobody expects PL numbers at any price whilst in this division. But higher than the present pitiful figures? Course we bloody can.

 

[Dreams of 1995]

The truth is that the whole of the Riverside is a good opportunity for development. You could bring the fans close to the pitch and utilise the outside space; wrap the stands together with the BBE and Darwen End and it creates a better, enclosed atmosphere

You could keep it single tier and place the commentary / tv gantry above. Underneath there would be plenty of room for food, bars, fanzones and so on

It is that malaise has set in. Venkys are huge conglomerate. They are multi billionaires. In Pune they built a temple.

They aren't averse to spending, that's for sure, and so the chronic lack of spending on one part of their business can only come from contempt. It should always be remembered that infrastructure and maintenance are exempt from Financial Fair Play. If they wanted to they could encrust the whole of Ewood in gold and the authorities couldn't do a thing. The fact they spend such pitiful amounts points towards their lack of care or regard for the club and surrounding community

They are detached from us. We keep waiting for that to change but, as they say, insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results

All talk of innovative and ambitious commercial plans, or regeneration of fan zones / stands is fantasy stuff. It will not happen until they have gone

[Doogs]

17 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

The truth is that the whole of the Riverside is a good opportunity for development. You could bring the fans close to the pitch and utilise the outside space; wrap the stands together with the BBE and Darwen End and it creates a better, enclosed atmosphere

You could keep it single tier and place the commentary / tv gantry above. Underneath there would be plenty of room for food, bars, fanzones and so on

It is that malaise has set in. Venkys are huge conglomerate. They are multi billionaires. In Pune they built a temple.

They aren't averse to spending, that's for sure, and so the chronic lack of spending on one part of their business can only come from contempt. It should always be remembered that infrastructure and maintenance are exempt from Financial Fair Play. If they wanted to they could encrust the whole of Ewood in gold and the authorities couldn't do a thing. The fact they spend such pitiful amounts points towards their lack of care or regard for the club and surrounding community

They are detached from us. We keep waiting for that to change but, as they say, insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results

All talk of innovative and ambitious commercial plans, or regeneration of fan zones / stands is fantasy stuff. It will not happen until they have gone

Please remind me. How much do our owners put in to the Rovers each year to keep us afloat?

[Ben-2000]

They could utilise the fan zone more with various street food type things. The curry stall is good but apart from that it's just booze

Edited June 14, 2023 by Ben-2000

[Mike E]

9 minutes ago, Doogs said:

Please remind me. How much do our owners put in to the Rovers each year to keep us afloat?

As much as FFP demands of them because of their inefficiency/malaise re: generating income at the club.

[Guest]

As I said previously, make a day at the football a service and not just a product. Keep people happy, keep people around the ground, and make money off them in the long run. Give them good food and drink, build the atmosphere with decent music before hand, put more than two taps in the fanzone, open more than 2 windows to collect tickets, get a discounted pint and a burger at the local pubs if you show a match ticket, have a half time show that actually keeps peoples interest, HAVE SHIRTS ACTUALLY AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE!!!! 

If the only product you offer is the football, if you're out of form, or the price isn't reflective of the product on the pitch, then people don't buy. Make it an experience, and give people plenty of opportunities to spend money when there.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Ben-2000 said:

They could utilise the fan zone more with various street food type things. The curry stall is good but apart from that it's just booze

Booze with 2 taps...

[Dreams of 1995]

18 minutes ago, Doogs said:

Please remind me. How much do our owners put in to the Rovers each year to keep us afloat?

The minimum they are required to ensure the club does not break financial rules and for the football financial regulators to stay away

If they wanted to improve the ground, match day experience, facilities and all commercial aspects of the Rovers they could and could do so without breaking any rules

Edited June 14, 2023 by Dreams of 1995

[Doogs]

8 minutes ago, Mike E said:

As much as FFP demands of them because of their inefficiency/malaise re: generating income at the club.

The club generates lots of money. Look at the figures in the latest accounts. 

[Mattyblue]

Why we not buying lots of players then?

Edited June 14, 2023 by Mattyblue

[arbitro]

29 minutes ago, Doogs said:

Please remind me. How much do our owners put in to the Rovers each year to keep us afloat?

Please remind me whose fault it is they have to put money in to keep us afloat?