Crowds still a big let down - Ryan

[YEP Digital]

\"A lot of people in Donny support somebody else. Once they support them, it's very difficult to get them to switch.

\"The young people support us, the schoolkids and everything. But unfortunately, we missed a generation when we were rubbish, to be honest.

\"But now that we are really good, it's frustrating. Why go elsewhere and pay more money to see inferior football?\"

Click on the link for full interview: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/doncasterrovers/Doncaster-Rovers-Crowds-still-a.6514841.jp


 B) B)  B)

[Filo]

Look closer to home JR, the marketing and chief exec are the biggest let downs!

[timdrfc]

Unfortunatly  some people  on here want to watch Championship football & pay Conference prices.

No one wants to pay over the top prices but i remember paying £11 to watch us away at Scarborough, stood up in a corner with crap views & poor facilities. Each promotion must obviously carry a price premium. If you say £5 per division to take into account the better players wages etc then we would be at £26 even wiyhout inflation.

If you bought your season ticket at the start then this price comes down to less than £21 per game , surely a bargain for the quality of football we get to see. I know not everyone can do this but no one is having ago at anyone who genuinely can't afford to come to the Keepmoat, but some of the retoric spouted on here must nake our owners question there continued subsidisation of the Rovers.

[Dimples-D]

timdrfc wrote:

Unfortunatly  some people  on here want to watch Championship football & pay Conference prices.

I am one of them..

I remember paying 50p to watch Rovers when I was a kid. It was a kwid for adults. Now those are prices I like.

6 years ago I spent a few months in Rio. i went to the maracana several times to watch the top Rio clubs, Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco, Botafogo etc.. Price of a ticket, £2.50.

£28 to watch any championship side is crazy.

[Bentley Bullet]

Billy Sharp & Co's wages are relatively crazy.
The ground would be full every match if the local mercenaries who travel to Leeds came to the Keepmoat instead. These people pay more for their football so it isn't entirely a financial matter.

[adge]

filo answers this simply in one line

if the marketing was done by doncaster rovers supporters correct marketing policies would increase the attendances accordingly.
as JR rightly says the schoolboy generation are supporting rovers but without incentives to them AND their parents and done properly they will grow out of it.
a number of correct short comings have been highlighted on various threads which could easily be brought to fruition by correct marketing structures

[Surrey Rover]

\"But now that we are really good, it's frustrating. Why go elsewhere and pay more money to see inferior football?\"

 

Maybe a question many Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and West Ham fans would like to put to me John when they see me heading across London on the way to the Keepmoat. The simple answer is Donny is my team, has been ever since I was a kid and always will be no matter where I live or which team is on my door step.

[Keith Myath]

That interview has warmed me slightly, i was worried that JR might have been despondant with the gates, but he seems to realise that rome wasnt built in a day and that a generation lost doesnt mean that all is lost.

Now i was a season ticket holder at Everton, so i  fell into the category that JR is saying is hard to convert. I didnt have a problem supporting my home town team because i always did, albeit 2nd to Everton. Now the reason for watching Rovers more regularly was A) they had just got promoted back to the football league (Gloryhunter) and B)i was disalusioned with the money in the premiership and the continual rise in cost of watching premiership football. So watching Everton at around £32 or Donny at £12 was a no brainer, as i felt more apart of a club at Doncaster than i ever did at Everton.

The problem now though for those fans supporting premiership teams is that, the delusional pricing of the premiership has filtered down to the championship. Would i have converted today if several years ago we were in the championship paying inflated prices.... probably but it would have been a harder decision and one that probably faces the lost generation JR talks about.

The thing that sells Doncaster Rovers to me more than anything is its my Home Town Team, and the pride of being part of it on what ever level far overides brief joys i encountered at Everton. I get more pleasure at watching Donny win a first round JPT game than i did at the 1995 fa cup final. If i was working for DRFC marketing i would go down that route, try and sell the club as more than an attractive brand of football but sell it as their home town team and make those who support another towns club to re-think whats important to them.

Our group who go to games are ex Everton fans, Man u Fans, a Spurs Fan and an old Wednsdayite. All born in Doncaster but have realised theres nowt better than supporting your home town team.

[Bentley Bullet]

I agree entirely with that sentiment, and it is something that I preach to all friends and workmates who choose to follow other teams instead of their home town team.
What is always in the back of my mind though is I'm dreading one of them asking me if all the Rover's followers from Retford should stop 'glory hunting' and instead support THEIR local town side?

[roversam]

Bentley Bullet wrote:

I agree entirely with that sentiment, and it is something that I preach to all friends and workmates who choose to follow other teams instead of their home town team.
What is always in the back of my mind though is I'm dreading one of them asking me if all the Rover's followers from Retford should stop 'glory hunting' and instead support THEIR local town side?

Not to mention Bentley Colliery  

[mushRTID]

Fed up of hearing about this now. I bring friends down or try to pursuade them to come when they are not working or can afford it. Im sure I am not the only one. They are not die hards like myself who will be there no matter what. As they are 'floaters' you cannot blame them for turning down 90 minutes of football at £28 a time (or whatever it is).

Yes it is cheaper than some and more expensive than others. But we are trying to build a fanbase. Until John sorts out some deals/offers/incentives, anything to attract the likes of my mates who go now and again, he can moan to the free press and yorkshire post all he likes. And it is getting boring to hear.

[River Don]

mushRTID wrote:

Yes it is cheaper than some and more expensive than others. But we are trying to build a fanbase. Until John sorts out some deals/offers/incentives, anything to attract the likes of my mates who go now and again, he can moan to the free press and yorkshire post all he likes. And it is getting boring to hear.

 Complaining to the press about low attendances won't encourage more people to come to the Rovers. If anything it turns people off.

[PACMAN]

It's not just the Rovers who have got this wrong, it's football in general. Look at my alternative entertainments:

Golf - Green Fees locally range from £10 to £30 for upwards of 4-5 hours entertainment (longer if you play as badly as me).

Cinema - 2hr film, family ticket (2+2) at the Vue = £20 (ish).

Theatre - Approx £8 for a show at the Little Theatre, concessions available if I take the kids.

Fishing - Day Ticket, bait, fuel & snap = £20 for a full day.

Rovers - For me and my son to go we are talking £40 for 90 minutes entertainment, which is almost double everything else I enjoy.



This is my 36th season following the Rovers. I had a season ticket for many, many years (including the Firestarters reign) at Belle Vue and we have had three at the KMS (1 Adult and 2 kids) since it opened. Due to work and my son playing hockey for South Yorkshire on Saturdays I missed 12 home games last season and that plus the price hike forced me not to renew any this year so I'll have to be selective with games as and when I can get.
Simple economics JR, I have not fallen out with the club nor will I although I do agree with many of the comments regarding the very poor marketing of Doncaster Rovers and I do resent the continual digs in the press!!

[gillinghamrover]

Dimples-D wrote:

timdrfc wrote:

Unfortunatly  some people  on here want to watch Championship football & pay Conference prices.

I am one of them..

I remember paying 50p to watch Rovers when I was a kid. It was a kwid for adults. Now those are prices I like.

6 years ago I spent a few months in Rio. i went to the maracana several times to watch the top Rio clubs, Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco, Botafogo etc.. Price of a ticket, £2.50.

Their prices may well be £2.50, however what is their average wage in comparison? At a guess not very much compared to salaries in the UK, all relative IMHO.

[not on facebook]

i know for a fact that a aston villa season ticket holder
who moved to doncaster about two month back is looking at going to a rovers home game in the near future in november.

at the moment he still drives down to villa park for his teams home games,but is looking at rovers for a possible outlet now and again i guess.

will speak to him after his first game at KMS on his thoughts.

he is looking forward to going to that brewery just outside KMS
for his rovers match day experience as no other club can offer that.

dont quite know his thoughts on ticket price we will see.

[NigelJ]

oslorovers wrote:

i know for a fact that a aston villa season ticket holder
who moved to doncaster about two month back is looking at going to a rovers home game in the near future in november.

at the moment he still drives down to villa park for his teams home games,but is looking at rovers for a possible outlet now and again i guess.

will speak to him after his first game at KMS on his thoughts.

he is looking forward to going to that brewery just outside KMS
for his rovers match day experience as no other club can offer that.

dont quite know his thoughts on ticket price we will see.

Magpie Brewery backs on to one of the stands at Notts County (although you do need to know the brewer or get a special invite in order to drink there on matchdays!)  

[Jonathan]

\"Some people want to watch Championship football at Conference prices\" is such a cop out of a statement!

If the club charged £40 a ticket and filled the stadium every week I'd have no complaints even though it'd mean I could hardly ever go. I want the club to be run as a business, but at risk of sounding like a broken record, a business does not set a price that alienates such a large chunk of the potential market. The results are as clear as day.

[Superspy]

Jonathan wrote:

\"Some people want to watch Championship football at Conference prices\" is such a cop out of a statement!

If the club charged £40 a ticket and filled the stadium every week I'd have no complaints even though it'd mean I could hardly ever go. I want the club to be run as a business, but at risk of sounding like a broken record, a business does not set a price that alienates such a large chunk of the potential market. The results are as clear as day.

i agree,i'd have no problem with higher prices if the seats were being filled, but take our child pricing for instance, in my humble opinion, converting other teams fans isn't/shouldn't be any sort of focus, the majority of football fans (although obviously not all) will stick with 1 team for life, so kids are where the future lies. that being said, every match should be quid a kid until the ground starts getting a lot closer to capacity every week.

[retford rover]

if rovers aren't playing i will go and watch Retford, but rovers have always had a good following down here in the sticks lol

[CusworthRovers]

The answer seems to be to charge a tenner to watch a match at KM. I will give it so long before Billy and the rest walk away from the club. We will get relegated. Crowds will then moan about a tenner and he will slowly sink back to where we came.

Nothing wrong with where we came from, but let's be honest we much prefer this standard and this quality.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Prices still a big let down !

Cat 1 Fixtures  Cat 2 Fixtures Cat 3 Fixtures
Seat A Seat B    Seat A Seat B  Seat A Seat B

Adults £28 £25     £25   £22     £15   £15
Conc   £21 £18     £18   £15     £10   £10
12-16  £18 £15     £15   £12     £10   £10
U11    £14 £9      £11   £6      £5    £5

1. For a start. The future of the club, a child's price being £18 & £15 is disgusting on so many levels. I don't see why there is a differential between u-11s and u-16s. They still take up a seat.

All kids should be £5 a ticket ! (which is still more per game than the £95 season ticket)

2. Scrap Cat 1 altogether. Your attempt to exploit fans has failed.

3. All midweek games should be Cat 3.

4. Stick with Cat 2 as the standard pricing with the exception of kids, and we've got a chance.

Then come January/February, get together with the supporters clubs and come up with a pricing and marketing strategy for next season.

[CusworthRovers]

DonnyBazRover I definitely vote for you to go in there and speak with Mozzer. You are our Champion.

[VikingJames]

JR has pretty much hit on the problem in his own interview.

We have the good football, we have the club in a high division, we have the ground. That can only mean that the thing putting people off is the prices.

I'm so glad that I'm lucky enough to have a season ticket, because without it, I wouldn't be able to afford match tickets at those prices!

[NigelJ]

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:

Prices still a big let down !

Cat 1 Fixtures  Cat 2 Fixtures Cat 3 Fixtures
Seat A Seat B    Seat A Seat B  Seat A Seat B

Adults £28 £25     £25   £22     £15   £15
Conc   £21 £18     £18   £15     £10   £10
12-16  £18 £15     £15   £12     £10   £10
U11    £14 £9      £11   £6      £5    £5

1. For a start. The future of the club, a child's price being £18 & £15 is disgusting on so many levels. I don't see why there is a differential between u-11s and u-16s. They still take up a seat.

All kids should be £5 a ticket ! (which is still more per game than the £95 season ticket)

2. Scrap Cat 1 altogether. Your attempt to exploit fans has failed.

3. All midweek games should be Cat 3.

4. Stick with Cat 2 as the standard pricing with the exception of kids, and we've got a chance.

Then come January/February, get together with the supporters clubs and come up with a pricing and marketing strategy for next season.

1. I agree, but prices have been submitted to the Football League now, so can only be reduced a limited number of times (is it 4?) per season. Maybe a free programme with each 11-16 entry may get around this?
2. Without the financial data on attendances, nor a crystal ball, this statement cannot be proven. In fact, my own opinion on the Hull game (the only Cat 1 game played so far), would be that the attendance would have only increased slightly if it had been Cat 2.
3. I disagree. Derby, for instance, will still bring a big following, justifying it being Cat 2. However, we will undoubtably have Cat 3 midweek games in the future (Burnley, Coventry, Preston)
4. Category 2 is, effectively, the standard price. Those games with a good away support (ie local derbies etc) will be category 1, whilst those traditionally low attendance games (eg pre-Christmas and/or midweek games against 'small' and non-local opposition) will be category 3.

[NigelJ]

DonnyBazR0ver wrote:

Cat 1 Fixtures  
Seat     A   B
Adults £28 £25
Conc   £21 £18
12-16  £18 £15
U11    £14 £9

Cat 2 Fixtures
Seat     A   B
Adults £25 £22
Conc   £18 £15
12-16  £15 £12
U11    £11 £6

Cat 3 Fixtures
Seat     A   B
Adults £15 £15
Conc   £10 £10
12-16  £10 £10
U11    £5  £5

Can I also re-iterate a point here.
No-one ever needs to pay £28 to watch a game - even a category 1 game. You could buy a category B ticket at £25. (subject to not selling out, obviously)
Also, when Cat 3 games come along (see previous post), we will have amongst the cheapest prices in the whole Football League (Watford, this weekend, excepted!)

[mushRTID]

CusworthRovers wrote:

The answer seems to be to charge a tenner to watch a match at KM. I will give it so long before Billy and the rest walk away from the club. We will get relegated. Crowds will then moan about a tenner and he will slowly sink back to where we came.

Nothing wrong with where we came from, but let's be honest we much prefer this standard and this quality.

Dont think anyone is calling for tenner tickets to be fair.

If we were an established larger club with the fanbase already in place then £28 would still see us get the crowds. But we are not, we are still trying to build a fanbase and whether we like it or not we rely on 'floaters' to turn our standard crowds into good crowds. Right or wrong, most floaters will not pay £28.

[BobG]

They dodn't have to Mush.

BobG

[CusworthRovers]

You're not wrong. In all honesty I don't know what the answer is. I'm not a marketing financial whizz.

I want CCC football with quality players to watch. I also want cheap tickets.......but somehow I'm not sure they go hand in hand. There maybe a happy middle ground out there and I hope somebody finds it.

One answer is for JR/TB/DW to fund this club on our behalf.............we all know the answer to that and the answer is the correct one.

[mushRTID]

Sorry, £25 then. Im sure you get my point though.

Its the floaters we rely on though. If they dont turn up our crowds annoy JR. We will still be there but thats not enough.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

3. I disagree. Derby, for instance, will still bring a big following, justifying it being Cat 2. However, we will undoubtably have Cat 3 midweek games in the future (Burnley, Coventry, Preston)

If the Hull game is anything to go by (although as you said without a crystal ball difficulty to know how many more would have turned up at cheaper rates. We only would have needed 1300 more at Cat 2 prices), midweek games are more difficult for certain people to attend, exiles, work, school nights etc, so do you:-

a) Think the Derby game will be a sell out ? (given Derby's attendances are down anyway, fewer fans are likely to travel IMHO)

b) Is it more likely more will turn up at Cat 3 prices than Cat 2 ?

I think people will set it as 'about time. Common sense has prevailed' and are more likely to come.

Of course, unless the club do something we will never know what could be achieved.