[Archived] Season Ticket Sales?

[78]

Bolton sent their Season Tickets (the old type, you know, a book *snigger*)

Bolton were one the first clubs in the country to use the smart card system. They're using a different system to ours, theirs is called TeamCard.

[bob fleming]

Bolton were one the first clubs in the country to use the smart card system. They're using a different system to ours, theirs is called TeamCard.

Well they would be wouldn't they? It'll be nothing on the DeanoCard.

Anyway I didn't mean Bolton - I meant Queen of the South.

[Alan75]

I meant Queen of the South.

Isnt that being discussed in another topic

[ace]

10,000 season tickets sold to date according to John Williams( in today's LET,) with 6 weeks to go . He thinks we will be "slightly down " on last years eventual total of nearly 15,000.

[Mike Graham]

"Slightly down" from 15K to 10K....is this the same JW who does the player contract negotiations?

Seriously though I do not believe that our average gates will suffer too much, apart from the dire home performances last season the main reason for non renewals is that fans do not need a ST. Most ST holders miss a few games due to hols, work etc and will still be able to buy tickets for all the games they want to attend as regular buyers on the database.

[Shoot Respectable]

Well I am getting one but will AGAIN end up leaving it last minute.

[1864roverite]

there will be a downturn in sales we know that on the back of our crap home performances

but

at the same time our away form was good and could go a long way to making up the missing 5k !

[92er]

It will be interesting to see how many more supporters renew- there has been a lot of anecdotal talk about people not renewing-and I look forward to seeing how many folks can be won round by the club.I'm sure some can but I'm also sure a fair amount won't be.Maybe they'll see how it goes, pick their matches and go when they can sit with their mates.I don't altogether blame them.As for the previous season when we finished 6th and there was also a reduction in season tickets, I would remind people that the only time in the season we were 6th was after the last match.And there were also a lot of dire home games, including losses to Everton and Spurs and home draws against Bolton and West Brom.

[Kiwiwannabe]

Bolton sent their Season Tickets (the old type, you know, a book *snigger*)

Bolton were one the first clubs in the country to use the smart card system. They're using a different system to ours, theirs is called TeamCard.

I went to Basel this weekend and paid a little visit to FC Basel's ground. They have an new turnstile entry system similar to the one I believe we will have at Ewood this seaon. Didn't look anything too impressive but providing it gets us all into the ground on 14th August then I'm not too worried about all the other fancy stuff it can do.

My only concern was when I arrived back to the UK this morning I noticed that the long stay car park at Liverpool airport had a similar system, designed by the same company. Guess what.......

Yes, we couldn't get out! It wanted £33 from us, even though we had already paid! Had to get some lad over the intercom to let us out! Of course I am not worried about the system at Ewood - I know it will all run smoothly from the start!

[Blueboy Downunder]

i see your point kiwi...if it stuffs up on opening day...then people will not be happy. they might be using it to save money in the long term....but if it screws up....we have problems.

[bob fleming]

Yes, we couldn't get out!  It wanted £33 from us, even though we had already paid! 

If this is the case, £33 extra per game, then it won't matter about the numbers renewing. If we only get 12,000 season ticket holders next year it'll be the equivalent of 24,000 if we end up having to pay again in order to get out. Of course you'll get some clever ST Holders going to the WBA game and not leaving until after the Fulham game in May, I doubt they'll be many though.

Clever stuff by the Rovers but I'm not sure if I'm altogether happy about it. I'll sleep on it.

[roversWASmylife]

i see your point kiwi...if it stuffs up on opening day...then people will not be happy. they might be using it to save money in the long term....but if it screws up....we have problems.

Even though the club in past years have always had a big international team come to play Rovers in a friendly at Ewood, it’ll be a test for two things. The first being the Rovers team, standard of fitness, performance level. The second is the state of the ticketing status at the turnstiles. It will be an opportunity to test them, however at least there is a pre-season game where the club can test and see how good they really are when it will be used properly for the first time.

Say something bad happens to it, then at least it gives the club ten days to analyse the problem and find a solution to it. I hope it all goes smoothly, but you just never know with Rovers.

[Kiwiwannabe]

QUOTE (Glenn @ Jun 23 2004, 17:22 )

As the friendly won't be included on your ST, I imagine they'll be testing the match day ticket function of it at best.

From what I have heard I'm not sure if it will even be at that stage for the Sporting Lisbon match. I dont think it was ever the plan to use that match to test the system.

I don't know if the new system will be ready by then. If it is it will be an opportunity to test it, but don't be surprised if we are back to old fashioned ways. Btw, I'm not sure if the new system is meant to be saving us money either.

[roversWASmylife]

QUOTE (Glenn @ Jun 23 2004, 17:22 )

As the friendly won't be included on your ST, I imagine they'll be testing the match day ticket function of it at best.

From what I have heard I'm not sure if it will even be at that stage for the Sporting Lisbon match. I dont think it was ever the plan to use that match to test the system.

I don't know if the new system will be ready by then. If it is it will be an opportunity to test it, but don't be surprised if we are back to old fashioned ways. Btw, I'm not sure if the new system is meant to be saving us money either.

I think it will save the club money slightly. They won’t have to employ people to work behind the screens to take the tickets. However my guess is that they’ll be about two stewards on every new turnstile. Possibly one searching the supporter and the other making sure that the fan is using the correct ticket, explaining to the fan how to work it etc.

I’m not bothered to be honest what kind of system they use, all I’m bothered about is getting into the ground with enough time to spare before the game.

[Ossydave]

This whole thread is pretty pointless to be honest.

Anyone who's genuinely interested in watching every home game for Rovers will buy a ST. Obviously theres cash/location etc to take into account.

Think we should stop coming up with theories because the fact is anyone who's not interested either couldn't give a toss or hasn't got the cash/lives miles away etc.

[Kiwiwannabe]

Fair point Ossydave, but the club would be up s#!t-creeck if they took that attitude to season ticket sales.

I think at the end of the day people who can renew will, and those that cant won't. The club can do all the research in the world they want to why people dont renew, but at the end of the day I reckon the majority now will quote 'change in circumstances' as the reason and there is nothing the club can do about that. All they can do is keep trying to hammer out the message of how how relatively cheap it is at Ewood and how easy it is to buy tickets.

[Ossydave]

Fair point Ossydave, but the club would be up s#!t-creeck if they took that attitude to season ticket sales.

Why?

Not being funny but they've tried till they're blue in the face to promote our ticket sales and it NEVER works apart from the odd game.

Talking bus shelters, tenner tickets etc. I reckon we've tried more initiatives than any other premiership club yet we've failed to reap the rewards.

[Kiwiwannabe]

My point was that if they stop promoting season tickets then the numbers will never even remain constant, they will continue to decrease every year. I know they have decreased every year for the past 8 or 9 years, but if you look at the figures, the club is attracting new season ticket holders. I can't remember the exact number from last season, but I remember that the net loss of season ticket holders was reduced significantly because we acctually gained a lot more new season ticket holders.

The advertising has been quite embarassing at times, but they have to keep trying. In my opinion, there are a lot of basics that they have already that they just need to market better that could improve matters - that is both with season tickets and matchday tickets. They often fail to get basic, useful information out that would help supporters.

One of the biggest problem I can see is with what supports percieve and what is acctually true. Many people think that there are loads of top tenner ticket matches every season, for example. They have been called top tenners in years and last season there was only one £10 match! Many people don't realise that you can watch Rovers for £15 every week in the Riverside outer blocks (don't quote me cos I havent got the info to check that, but I think its about right).

The biggest problem Rovers have is that there is effectively no need for anyone to buy a season ticket. I know that for basically any match, expect perhaps Man U at home, I can walk upto the ticket office 10 minutes before kick off and buy a ticket. Why buy a season ticket when you can pick and chose the games you go to? You don't have to fork out the money up front and you save money if you miss more than a couple of games. That is why we have this problem.

[Dr Rich]

Excuse me if I'm being as stupid as usual, but don't the Jersey trustees pay us an amount of money dependent on how full Ewood is, so that our ticket revenue is equivalent to a full house every game, at least for league games? So it doesn't really matter too much in the short term how many season tickets we sell? Of course John Williams and the rest of the staff at Rovers will get worked up about it as it falling season ticket sales would seem to imply they aren't doing their jobs properly, but what does that matter to us supporters? The club probably lose a paltry amount on catering and merchandising money, but I can't imagine that's significant in the grand scheme of things. Now maybe in the long term this may have a major impact on the club if the Trust runs dry, but with Flybe's recent performance I doubt that will happen.

[Ossydave]

The biggest problem Rovers have is that there is effectively no need for anyone to buy a season ticket. I know that for basically any match, expect perhaps Man U at home, I can walk upto the ticket office 10 minutes before kick off and buy a ticket. Why buy a season ticket when you can pick and chose the games you go to? You don't have to fork out the money up front and you save money if you miss more than a couple of games. That is why we have this problem.

That's the most important part of your post. From people I've talked to this is the most common reason given. A ST used to be vital to buying away tickets for most games too, not any more.

[Claytons Left Boot]

Excuse me if I'm being as stupid as usual, but don't the Jersey trustees pay us an amount of money dependent on how full Ewood is, so that our ticket revenue is equivalent to a full house every game, at least for league games?

I wish it was based on that - we do in fact receive £4m per year in what can loosely be termed hard cash - ie not taking into account any loans we may (or may not) negotiate with the Trustees.

[Dr Rich]

If you're allowed to tell us CLB, what is the amount of money we get based on? I would presume it must be adjusted dependent on some variable, since the whole point of the trust was to ensure the well-being of Jack's companies, and obviously a club in our current position would need more financial support then if we had just won the league.

[Claytons Left Boot]

I don't have the answers Dr Rich , nor am I privy to any inside information - it's just something that's been in the Telegraph on the odd occasion.

[pussycat]

Help!!!!!!!!!!! Do i need a ticket for West brom game so i can get a ticket for Manure game cos I am at work for 1st game of season. Manure game is first one i can go to.

[Dr Rich]

Not if you're on the database pussycat?