Attendance last night

[DonnyBazR0ver]

You only need your beer money when you have an ST.

My usual suspects don't want the ticket for Tuesday but are talking about the Sheff Utd game. That's what we're contending with.

Before you ask, they are both former season ticket holders. The reason why not renewed. Price? No. Dickov? Yes.

[Sad-Rovers]

New ST buyers are generally those that already attend regularly. I'd have thought we'd need to convert our occasional attenders into regular attenders and THEN convert them into ST holders.

I actually think we're heading in the right direction; the football is far, far more exciting under Fergie, the atmosphere is starting to improve. It'll take a season or two but we'll see attendances start to creep back up sooner or later. Nothing is immediate, Frosty. It can take YEARS before changes have noticeable results.

[MrFrost]

Gradually altering the prices won't have large scale effects on attendances.
The only way to quickly see them go up is either by challenging for promotion or dramatically reduce the cost of season tickets and match day prices.

If I were Rovers I'd proactively be targeting the 8000 season ticket holders we used to have. We've got a database of thousands of supporters, and there's no direct marketing being done. Anyone who knows anything about sales and marketing will know that is your bread and butter.

[Sad-Rovers]

Without answering for the club I don't think the much fêted club database is much cop and if it's anything like our w**ked out online ticketing system it's definitely not much cop.

[hoolahoop]

It's simply not true that the database isn't fit for purpose . Ex STholders are definitely on it ready to be directly marketed as are others that have attended in the past.
We need to have a dedicated sales team talking to those that have bought in any capacity in the past. If this doesn't happen then it will only confirm my belief that our owners are playing with the club as if it is their toy. It is a business and getting this part of their act together is their duty.

We all know that having a business that is losing business and not making profits year on year can be a very efficient tool to have.

Time to see them gear up to Championship/ Division1 level and not Conference levels in terms of the whole business.
Marketing, merchandising of the brand is still badly lacking . I would like to see roadshows to our many villages taking place and proper roadside advertising of both the stadium and of matches everywhere around this town of ours . A Presence in our shopping centres are a must .the market place, the French gate, etc etc . Someone needs to give them a bloody good shaking up because there are still far too many opportunities
Lost.
Please owners invest your money in creating a bigger fanbase and a much improved balance sheet rather than plugging the gaps afterwàrds.

[MrFrost]

I echo those sentiments exactly hoola

[Donnywolf]

One of the advantages of having a Season Ticket  (in response to am earlier Q) is a chance to win something in the Draws that take place from Day One

I am hoping to renew on Day One again - and hoping that all the prizes offered are able to be won from day one to the last day. I think every ST Buyer should be in every draw unless and until they win one - then they are "out".


Back to the main point I often struggle to give away the Tickets I get "free" via my Alliance Membership so even at £23 LESS than they should be they still are hard to give away !

[DonnyBazR0ver]

You can chuck a lot of time and resources in to marketing but you have to have a decent product to sell. We have to face the reality that at the moment, the product isn't that attractive.

As Sad says, the signs under Fergie are positive but it will take winning football at home to convert people back. More folk will take a gamble if the ST prices are right for next season.

We don't need any fancy elaborate marketing campaign, other than results on the pitch, to convert folk in to buying tickets.

 

[MrFrost]

You can chuck a lot of time and resources in to marketing but you have to have a decent product to sell. We have to face the reality that at the moment, the product isn't that attractive.

As Sad says, the signs under Fergie are positive but it will take winning football at home to convert people back. More folk will take a gamble if the ST prices are right for next season.

We don't need any fancy elaborate marketing campaign, other than results on the pitch, to convert folk in to buying tickets.

 

I'd disagree. We've never sustained the attendance rise we saw in our first Championship season.

Rotherham on the other hand have seen an increase in season ticket holders compared to their first Championship season, despite poor results. And their prices are quite a bit dearer than ours were.
But they market the hell out of the club. One example - I visited Meadowhall last summer, and they had reps from the club there shoving the club down peoples throats. Baring in mind, this is in a different town to where the actually play.

Unless you look on social media, we've barely have a presence in the town. We don't have an identity to speak of.

[Copps is Magic]

You'd have to be a serious master of the dark arts of marketing to sell league one football to anyone. It takes some seriously twisted purists to watch this standard of football week in week out. The club have put on more offers this season than any other I can remember but people still aren't responding.

I think we should concentrate on getting out of it first then build the crowds once we get in the championship.

[mrfrostsdad]

I don't think we could give tickets away at the moment.
I agree with Hoola and Mike: the lack of marketing is atrocious. League 1 football is not impossible to sell. Bradford sold 17000 season tickets this season at £100 a time. We need to be radical in our policies with regards to pricing. In general the football has been shite the last 2 and a half seasons. Oh, it's improved under DF, but we're still looking at League 1 next season.

As for extra benefits from being a STH. 10% off in the club shop?! Don't make me laugh! Have you seen the prices in there? I'd want 50% off to shop in there! And I've never won a thing, despite having a ST since the stadium opened

[idler]

I don't think we could give tickets away at the moment.
I agree with Hoola and Mike: the lack of marketing is atrocious. League 1 football is not impossible to sell. Bradford sold 17000 season tickets this season at £100 a time. We need to be radical in our policies with regards to pricing. In b neural the football has been shite the last 2 and a half seasons. Oh, it's improved under DF, but we're still looking at League 1 next season.

As for extra benefits from being a STH. 10% off in the club shop?! Don't make me laugh! Have you seen the prices in there? I'd want 50% off to shop in there! And I've never won a thing, despite having a ST since the stadium opened

City tickets are £149. They don't have 17,000 sths , a good number are 50/50 ticket holders.
 They pay if I remember that is £50 up front and then £10 every time they get a ticket for a game.

[Sad-Rovers]

They pay if I remember that is £50 up front and then £10 every time they get a ticket for a game.

That's certainly a path I'd like the club to go down. Not sure where the VSC would stand on that though. I believe the FSF aren't especially keen on membership schemes that don't equally apply to away fans. Could be wrong on that point though.

[MrFrost]

We already have a membership scheme that doesn't apply to away fans

[idler]

The feeling with some city fans though is that if prices rise next season as expected then sales will plummet after a disappointing season.

[Sad-Rovers]

We already have a membership scheme that doesn't apply to away fans

It also doesn't offer any meaningful benefits. For example £20 down and £15 per match ticket would be a tempting offer for those that don't want / can't afford a ST.

[MrFrost]

The club would have to let people know it exists first.

I guess we will see when the prices etc are announced. I thought that was meant to be last week?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Did some work looking at memberships a couple os seasons ago. Suggested different levels of memberships to suit whatever add ons people wanted. The first step was the Club Doncaster membership including Rovers, Dons, Gyms etc.

It's the way forward especially when we do invest in smart card technology.

[Yorkiered]

One of the advantages of having a Season Ticket  (in response to am earlier Q) is a chance to win something in the Draws that take place from Day One

I am hoping to renew on Day One again - and hoping that all the prizes offered are able to be won from day one to the last day. I think every ST Buyer should be in every draw unless and until they win one - then they are "out".


Back to the main point I often struggle to give away the Tickets I get "free" via my Alliance Membership so even at £23 LESS than they should be they still are hard to give away !

You can only con people once. Our Marketing Manager seems to think he can change the rules when he wants and that is why I will NOT be buying my season ticket on Day One this year.

[The Red Baron]

I did read somewhere (maybe in Gavin Baldwin's column in the programme) that the club is either upgrading or renewing the CRM system. That would give them the tools to make their marketing more effective.

However I agree with some of the comments above. The product is a hard sell. All the marketing and pricing structures in the world won't work if the dogs don't like the dog food!

[The Red Baron]

The club would have to let people know it exists first.

I guess we will see when the prices etc are announced. I thought that was meant to be last week?

I think the announcement is being done to coincide with the meeting this week.

[Donnywolf]

One of the advantages of having a Season Ticket  (in response to am earlier Q) is a chance to win something in the Draws that take place from Day One

I am hoping to renew on Day One again - and hoping that all the prizes offered are able to be won from day one to the last day. I think every ST Buyer should be in every draw unless and until they win one - then they are "out".


Back to the main point I often struggle to give away the Tickets I get "free" via my Alliance Membership so even at £23 LESS than they should be they still are hard to give away !

You can only con people once. Our Marketing Manager seems to think he can change the rules when he wants and that is why I will NOT be buying my season ticket on Day One this year.

Lets hope for some clarity before the ST's go on sale

[mrfrostsdad]

They pay if I remember that is £50 up front and then £10 every time they get a ticket for a game.

That's certainly a path I'd like the club to go down. Not sure where the VSC would stand on that though. I believe the FSF aren't especially keen on membership schemes that don't equally apply to away fans. Could be wrong on that point though.

The feeling with some city fans though is that if prices rise next season as expected then sales will plummet after a disappointing season.

1) Who cares where the VSC stand on it?
2) A disappointing season? 5 points in front of us with a game in hand. Where does that leave our season?

[RedJ]

The club would have to let people know it exists first.

I guess we will see when the prices etc are announced. I thought that was meant to be last week?

I think the announcement is being done to coincide with the meeting this week.

It is.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Bradford had the cup run last season to underpin their ST sales. They tapped in to a wider fan base from a very good following anyway.

I haven't seen them spending a great deal on players and maybe, their fans were expecting a more solid promotion push and perhaps wondering where the money has gone. Heard their chairman not too long ago talking about being open to offers for the club. Maybe things are not as rosy as we might assume.

[The Red Baron]

Their home form has been poor this season, although they won yesterday. There was some almighty cock-up before the Reading Cup game which I think might have upset their season ticket holders as well.

[Sad-Rovers]

1) Who cares where the VSC stand on it?

Because the VSC, DRSG and Supporters Club will have input into the talks on pricing system for next season.

Edi to add: Although, obviously the ultimate decision making will rest with the club.

[Padge_DRFC]

I don't think we could give tickets away at the moment.
I agree with Hoola and Mike: the lack of marketing is atrocious. League 1 football is not impossible to sell. Bradford sold 17000 season tickets this season at £100 a time. We need to be radical in our policies with regards to pricing. In b neural the football has been shite the last 2 and a half seasons. Oh, it's improved under DF, but we're still looking at League 1 next season.

As for extra benefits from being a STH. 10% off in the club shop?! Don't make me laugh! Have you seen the prices in there? I'd want 50% off to shop in there! And I've never won a thing, despite having a ST since the stadium opened

City tickets are £149. They don't have 17,000 sths , a good number are 50/50 ticket holders.
 They pay if I remember that is £50 up front and then £10 every time they get a ticket for a game.

That marketed properly would be a right seller and telling people when they buy tickets for the first home game of the season. Why not try something similar for the remainder of the season. £25 you get the remaining games for £10.

[Sad-Rovers]

Why not try something similar for the remainder of the season.

Every time the club do a price promotion (which they are limited to how many they can do) mardy Season Ticket holders spit their dummies.

'twas ever thus.

[The L J Monk]

Why not try something similar for the remainder of the season.

Every time the club do a price promotion (which they are limited to how many they can do) mardy Season Ticket holders spit their dummies.

'twas ever thus.

I'd trial a season without season tickets