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FAO SLO/TIK - Season Tickets


BoydsFace

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Everyone reading this will have to do so with an open mind and bear with me:

I’ve been thinking a lot about season ticket prices and the desire to increase attendances. Off the top of my head I think we are classed as one of the most competitive in this division both with seasons and match day tickets so this idea is not a criticism of the board, it’s simply my take on a potential way to move forward.

I think we all would agree that if we halved season ticket prices our attendance would not double. I doubt cutting prices by 50% would even lead to a 25% increase so it’s no wonder that the board (probably) aren’t looking to do this.

My idea is to have a Season Ticket Income target that we can get the community involved in.

Bear with me

These figures are hypothetical but let’s just say for this current 17/18 season we sold 2000 season tickets at an average of (once you work kids/OAPs tickets in) £200 a pop meaning that this year we made

2000 x 200 = £400,000 in season tickets

Under my idea the club would come out and say “ok last year we made this much from season tickets. We are going to keep ticket prices the same and look to make at least the same again

BUT

If we sell more tickets and make more money we will give our fans something back”

In my head this “making something back” would look like:

Target 1 - Club sells 2500 season tickets (2500x200) = £500,000. As a reward the club will give every season ticket holder either (at the holders choice) a free ticket to a cup tie (using Brora as an example it would be roughly 4500 x £20). This would cost the club £90,000 in revenue but they would still be £10k up. Or the individual could choose not to take this option and the other choice would be to get £10 back (costing the club a max of £25k = still £75000 profit)

Target 2 - Club sells 3000 season tickets (3000x20) = £600,000. Every single person who bought a season ticket gets £30 back. Costs the club £90k but already £200k up on previous years.

Target 3 - Club sells 3500 season tickets (3500 x 200) = £700,000. Every season ticket holder gets £40 back. This would cost the club £140k but they are already up £300k compared to previous seasons.

 

And, if we sell 4000 and above, everybody gets £50 back and cap it there.

 

 

Now again my numbers are just hypothetical so please don’t jump in and say “we already sell this many” but the overall gist of the plan is to get the club and community working together to sell more season tickets. If everyone could see that by buying more tickets the club would make some profit but that also the season ticket holders would too then it would surely drive more people to convince others to come.

I’m sure it would lead to some great publicity for the club and if we had a proper tracker on the site showing how close to each target we were then again it would really encourage us to buy and encourage us to encourage others.

 

Regardless of whether TIk or the SLO think this a good idea or not I hope everyone recognises that this summer is going to be a really crucial one in terms of striking when the iron is hot and getting people back in the ground.

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2 minutes ago, Calummoore86 said:

There was an english club who were offering gradually cheaper season tickets depending on the total sold (cant remember what team).

For instance.. 2000 sold - £350 each, 3000 sold - £300 each, 4000 sold - £250 each.

Not a bad idea. Would be interesting to know what percentage increase on season ticket sales they had.

It was Hartlepool and they ended up losing out of it.  My father in law was a board member 

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15 minutes ago, Killieboyd said:

It was Hartlepool and they ended up losing out of it.  My father in law was a board member 

 

Thats why (as basic as I’ve made it, I’m sure with things like tax etc it’ll be more complicated) that no-one gets anything back until we hit certain levels.

Would also make this “getting money back” optional so people can choose to let the club keep the money if they wished.

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Rochdale did this last year

"

Winners Together: 2017/18 Season Ticket deposits on sale from Monday 27th March...

 
This year, Rochdale AFC will have been established for 110 years - formed on 15th May 1907 - and to celebrate, we are offering fans an unbelievable opportunity to purchase a 2017/18 season ticket for potentially only £110!
 
The £110 offer is based on achieving 4,000 season ticket sales and the final price will depend on the number of season ticket deposits sold:
 
Over 2,000 season ticket sales - £250 
Over 2,500 season ticket sales - £200
Over 3,000 season ticket sales - £150
Over 4,000 season ticket sales - £110
 
 
Here is how the pricing model will work:  
 
1. On or after 27th March - pay £50 deposit and secure your seat for the 2017/18 season
2. But do this before Season Ticket Deadline Day which is 21 June 2017  (fixture release day)
3. After midnight on Season Ticket Deadline Day - the Season Ticket prices will be locked for all those who paid a deposit.
 
The locked prices will apply to all age groups (aged 17 and over) and to all stands, and will cover the 23 League games. 
 
(Please note: The only exception is Sandy Lane Concession Season Tickets which will be £222 until we hit the 2,500 mark. Matchday ticket prices will remain the same as 2016/17. There will be no Country Season Ticket). 
 
The final price will depend on the total number of season ticket deposits sold. If you fail to make a deposit you will pay the top price band irrespective of the number of sales – so don’t miss out! After 21st June, you will be able to pay your outstanding balance and collect your season ticket book.  
 
If we fail to reach the 2,000 target, prices will remain the same as 2016/17 season ticket prices. 
 
 
£50 Season Ticket Deposits
From 9.00am on Monday 27th March we are calling on fans to pay a £50 deposit to secure your 2017/18 season ticket. (Please note: Season ticket deposits are non-refundable). 
 
You can purchase online at www.rafctickets.co.uk by telephone: 0844 826 1907 (option 8) or by calling into the Ticket Office at the Crown Oil Arena. Download a season ticket form HERE.
 
At the time of paying your deposit, you will also be able to reserve your seat. 
 
 
Junior Season Tickets & Junior Dale Club
Prices for Junior Season Tickets aged 12–16 will be £89. If we reach the 2,000 sales target, the price will reduce to £50 and remain at £50. 
 
Junior supporters aged 11 and under can purchase a season ticket for £10 and will automatically join our Junior Dale Club. Junior season ticket holders will also receive a Dale gym bag, scarf, water bottle, pen and pencil set and quarterly newsletter. (Important: 11s and under season tickets are not included in the above targets.)
 
 
Recognition to Existing Season Ticket Holders 
As a gesture to current season ticket holders, if you purchased during the Special Promotion Period last year you will have the option to redeem your Money Off voucher against your 2017/18 season ticket. However the vouchers were issued in good faith prior to our great new initiative and whilst we will of course honour the discount, we would prefer you to redeem this for VIP dining experience next season. 
Existing season ticket holders will also have one month’s priority in which they can secure their existing seats. From 30th April, all seat reservations will be lifted and go on general sale. (Sandy Lane will be available from 27th March). 
 
 
Call To Action
We need the people of Rochdale to now make this happen. From Monday 27th March we ask that you purchase a 2017/18 season ticket deposit and tell everyone about it. The more deposits we sell, the cheaper the price will be. So let’s all pull together on this fantastic initiative and we can all benefit. You, the Team, the Club and the Community will all be WINNERS TOGETHER"
 
Does anyone know how they did financially?  When my brother told me about this last year I thought it was a good idea, I'm sure you would have to tweak it though regarding payment.
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I may only be speaking for myself but once I’ve paid my ST I’m happy with that. I’m not expecting anything back and would prefer to see the club have the money than refund me because more people bought tickets. I’d be content with a bring a friend day every quarter whether it be a reduced price or freebie.

How does the original post impact budget. Does it hinder the manager or clubs plans because we have to hold cash to refund supporters. Are we left till late on in the summer to deal with things because of that.

I think there are plenty of avenues they can explore to increase sales and hopefully the renewed positivity around will see an automatic increase. 

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43 minutes ago, piffer said:

I may only be speaking for myself but once I’ve paid my ST I’m happy with that. I’m not expecting anything back and would prefer to see the club have the money than refund me because more people bought tickets. 

There will be many like you, but the OP’s idea isn’t aimed at season ticket holders like yourself, but lapsed supporters. I think it’s a great idea and anyone who isn’t fussed about cashback could donate it to the trust or a Killie backed charity if the option was included when purchasing the ticket 

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I think we have to be careful with ideas of free ST's or really cheap ones. Say you buy a ticket and get the voucher for a £50 as @jam1869 suggests how much damage does that do to the club. Your mate takes the option as it’s a good deal for him. It hurts the club if he’s already a paying punter though. If he goes to 10games a season he’s putting £200 through the books. Now he’s getting all home league ties for 1/4 of that. We increase season tickets but overall revenue is down. 

Steps forward IMO should include free entry for under 16s ST or not. Family tickets valid for all games. Some kids on these tickets will have missed out on two fantastic results this season. The games that make you fall in love with football. That’s when we get them hooked for years to come. 

Would there be uptake in a buy an extra ticket scheme. Not suggesting you buy an extra Season ticket but something similar to what cafes/restaurants do where you can leave a coffee or a meal for someone who can’t afford it. It’s been spoken about in the past about people not being able to afford the football so why not let fans look after fans. If you happen to have a spare £20 buy a ticket and the club give it out through the community department. Couple with free kids tickets that would increase attendances. 

@Bobby14 if you sign up for the cash back are you not prepared to pay the full price anyway. There’s no guarantees you will get it for cheaper. If as is suggested by the Rochdale model you are putting down a deposit do you also have to be prepared to lose that if it doesn’t come down to within your price range.

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1 hour ago, piffer said:

I may only be speaking for myself but once I’ve paid my ST I’m happy with that. I’m not expecting anything back and would prefer to see the club have the money than refund me because more people bought tickets. I’d be content with a bring a friend day every quarter whether it be a reduced price or freebie.

How does the original post impact budget. Does it hinder the manager or clubs plans because we have to hold cash to refund supporters. Are we left till late on in the summer to deal with things because of that.

I think there are plenty of avenues they can explore to increase sales and hopefully the renewed positivity around will see an automatic increase. 

My thought process is the club just budget for the £400k that I used in my example and everything else is a bonus. Then next year they could use this years total as a budget figure etc.

 

ETA - Regarding budgets the manager at the moment is at the whim of how many people buy season tickets anyway so you could argue that is already an issue. 

 

This idea I had is looking at the long term view of bringing more fans back and the Rochdale advertisement of “Winning Together” is exactly what I mean. Get the running sales figures and benefits in the local paper every week and continue to keep it in peoples thoughts.

Edited by BoydsFace
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42 minutes ago, Bobby14 said:

There will be many like you, but the OP’s idea isn’t aimed at season ticket holders like yourself, but lapsed supporters. I think it’s a great idea and anyone who isn’t fussed about cashback could donate it to the trust or a Killie backed charity if the option was included when purchasing the ticket 

This.

You could opt to let club keep the funds, have a voucher for the club shop etc instead of a cash amount back.

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Aye, you tweak it regarding payment like I said.  Buy your season ticket and receive cash back in August if the number is above what pricing bracket you paid. 

Regarding buying tickets for people as some sort of altruism, lovely idea but 0% of it making a significant dent in the crowd.  If you got 50 extra heads at that each week I would be absolutely amazed.

I think one way to get new fans in is by using creative pricing in unused areas.  I know we can't charge different prices for the same view, so say the Chadwick where away fans site vs same sections in the Moffat, but you have an empty section in the east that is opposite a rarely busy area in the west.  Why not make that area in the west a special discount section for kids or families paying at the gate?  I doubt that would affect regulars.  Or section off areas in the Chadwick(which we regularly do) and make the sections opposing that in the Moffat a deal section for kids.  Pack them in one area.  Maybe these are daft ideas, but we have a big half-empty stadium so why not try and come up with creative ways to fill it that don't hamper the current ticket income.  We used to be one of the clubs that did a UB40 gate so we have run more affordably priced gates before (albeit many moons ago).

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9 hours ago, piffer said:

I think we have to be careful with ideas of free ST's or really cheap ones. Say you buy a ticket and get the voucher for a £50 as @jam1869 suggests how much damage does that do to the club. Your mate takes the option as it’s a good deal for him. It hurts the club if he’s already a paying punter though. If he goes to 10games a season he’s putting £200 through the books. Now he’s getting all home league ties for 1/4 of that. We increase season tickets but overall revenue is down. 

The caveat for the BOGOF deal was that the 'free' ticket had to be bought by someone who didn't have a season ticket the previous season. 

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47 minutes ago, Scooby_Doo said:

The caveat for the BOGOF deal was that the 'free' ticket had to be bought by someone who didn't have a season ticket the previous season. 

That's where it's probably going to be difficult. The club in the past have been particularly bad for retaining details of previous season ticket holders. At one point we were really good, you always got your renewal package through - it then got to the point where you never heard anything about next season bar looking for the press release. How do you prove that you haven't been an ST holder in previous years? It would probably be as simple as buying a ST registered to another address or e-mail address. I'm happy enough to see any initiative because, like most on here, I'll be buying a ST whether it's £1 or £350 - but you need to make sure the club aren't going to lose out with people working out how to get a free ST. That situation would only lead to prices going up the following season for the regular ST customer when paying numbers have gone down.

You could allow the club to scan a passport and bank card to prove who you are but you'd need to start building that database the season before to actually be sure.

Edited by Fletch
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16 minutes ago, Fletch said:

That's where it's probably going to be difficult. The club in the past have been particularly bad for retaining details of previous season ticket holders. At one point we were really good, you always got your renewal package through - it then got to the point where you never heard anything about next season bar looking for the press release. How do you prove that you haven't been an ST holder in previous years? It would probably be as simple as buying a ST registered to another address or e-mail address. I'm happy enough to see any initiative because, like most on here, I'll be buying a ST whether it's £1 or £350 - but you need to make sure the club aren't going to lose out with people working out how to get a free ST. That situation would only lead to prices going up the following season for the regular ST customer when paying numbers have gone down.

You could allow the club to scan a passport and bank card to prove who you are but you'd need to start building that database the season before to actually be sure.

In an ideal world, yes. 

However, we're unlikely to have a better opportunity to capitalise on than the one we have now, so getting the bodies in whilst putting that database together gives us an up to date customer base, which can only help future marketing efforts. 

If we wait for it all to be perfect, then the moment will have passed. 

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5 minutes ago, Scooby_Doo said:

In an ideal world, yes. 

However, we're unlikely to have a better opportunity to capitalise on than the one we have now, so getting the bodies in whilst putting that database together gives us an up to date customer base, which can only help future marketing efforts. 

If we wait for it all to be perfect, then the moment will have passed. 

From a marketing point of view I'd agree. From a practical point of view you run the risk of having half the (already low) ST turn out deciding they'll half their mate and just pay less for a ST. If it works out then fantastic but it's always going to be viewed by the board as a risk. I'm not against any of the ideas being pitched, I just don't want to see the club losing out.

It would make sense for the club to cover their back somehow is all I'm getting it. For example everyone who buys a ST is entitled to a 50% off voucher for a ST providing the club achieve the target of last season's numbers. Only after we sell eg 3000 tickets are the 50% off vouchers active. Anyone who uses a voucher has their ID taken. If you take that kind of approach you could potentially run a similar deal season on season.

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10 hours ago, piffer said:

 @Bobby14 if you sign up for the cash back are you not prepared to pay the full price anyway. There’s no guarantees you will get it for cheaper. If as is suggested by the Rochdale model you are putting down a deposit do you also have to be prepared to lose that if it doesn’t come down to within your price range.

Of course but it might convince a lot of people who are thinking about buying one. Surely you see that?

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10 hours ago, piffer said:

 @Bobby14 if you sign up for the cash back are you not prepared to pay the full price anyway. There’s no guarantees you will get it for cheaper. If as is suggested by the Rochdale model you are putting down a deposit do you also have to be prepared to lose that if it doesn’t come down to within your price range.

Of course but it might convince a lot of people who are thinking about buying one. Surely you see that?

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Good to see fresh ideas being bandied about, but to be honest I think we have very reasonably priced season tickets. I think we keep it as it is and do as much work between now and the end of pre season in connecting with the community. 

The original post talks of spending tens of thousands but profit bring up. That money could simply be spent on increased marketing. 

Tickets are already a decent price and we're playing excellent football. The incentives are there. Think now it's just about making sure the advertising is out there, with the odd "bring a friend" type incentive, and kids getting in for free. 

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