Attendance

[DMnumber4]

There's too much football ultimately and not enough pennies to go around.

Rovers played 56 games last season and 59 the year before that. They'll be on for somewhere around that mark again.

Merge the two struggling cup competitions (EFL Cup & Trophy) for a start.

As for yesterday in isolation, it was on TV and folk were clinging to the fag end of summer / holidays etc.

[silent majority]

Yeah, I wonder where the 10% figure comes from . The police, Rovers?

Safety officer i’d presume. Making the SS reserved seating would make sense to me next season. Singers can locate in the areas they are currently as they are majority season ticket holders anyway.

The SAG. Council run but consists of all the safety authorities and a club rep.

It was a requirement of the Justice Taylor report, and I’ve met with the Chair on previous occasions and asked for them to implement the other requirements in that report which includes, and specifically mentions a supporter rep.

[Padge_DRFC]

It's really not a big issue until there's people locked out the ground and that's going to happen if we get a good cup draw or the last home game if something is riding on it.

One thing the club could do is promote ST holders who can't go to individual games to tell the club so they can resell their tickets. Already at 10% not being sold + those who can't make it.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I think we do need to look at maximising the number of seats without compromising safety but keeping the benefits of unallocated seating, as well as potentially expanding into the corners.

If we can find a way to be smarter by looking back and assessing, on average how many seats or people remain short of the allowed capacity (I.e less the 10%) with a view to reducing the wasted spots.

As it stands, unless folk let the club know they won't be attending, then the seats can't be resold. I understand this is getting better but maybe more can be done to formalise the process.

Obviously we can't oversubscribe and sell more tickets than the allowed capacity, but once we get some data together, it might be worth challenging SAG to find say another 100 spaces that we can sell.

For example. Say the 10% is about 300 but on average 100 ST holders aren't turning up, then we have 400 empty places. So, if we reduce the buffer by 100, can we then assume we would still meeting the safety and comfort requirement ?

As others have said, and S_M maybe alludes to , can that 10% be reduced  to say 7.5% or 5%??

Probably an item for the Shadow Board and SAG to gather evidence and examine.

[sf9944]

I think we do need to look at maximising the number of seats without compromising safety but keeping the benefits of unallocated seating, as well as potentially expanding into the corners.

If we can find a way to be smarter by looking back and assessing, on average how many seats or people remain short of the allowed capacity (I.e less the 10%) with a view to reducing the wasted spots.

As it stands, unless folk let the club know they won't be attending, then the seats can't be resold. I understand this is getting better but maybe more can be done to formalise the process.

Obviously we can't oversubscribe and sell more tickets than the allowed capacity, but once we get some data together, it might be worth challenging SAG to find say another 100 spaces that we can sell.

For example. Say the 10% is about 300 but on average 100 ST holders aren't turning up, then we have 400 empty places. So, if we reduce the buffer by 100, can we then assume we would still meeting the safety and comfort requirement ?

As others have said, and S_M maybe alludes to , can that 10% be reduced  to say 7.5% or 5%??

Probably an item for the Shadow Board and SAG to gather evidence and examine.

That’s exactly the sort of thing we need to be looking at.

I’m pretty sure for some it’s south stand or not at all so we need to maximise availability there.

[sf9944]

Thinking about it. Another possibility is to put the away fans in a side area and replicate the south in the north. Perhaps one to hi k about next season? Might be advantages for our players to attack towards home fans both halves.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I think we do need to look at maximising the number of seats without compromising safety but keeping the benefits of unallocated seating, as well as potentially expanding into the corners.

If we can find a way to be smarter by looking back and assessing, on average how many seats or people remain short of the allowed capacity (I.e less the 10%) with a view to reducing the wasted spots.

As it stands, unless folk let the club know they won't be attending, then the seats can't be resold. I understand this is getting better but maybe more can be done to formalise the process.

Obviously we can't oversubscribe and sell more tickets than the allowed capacity, but once we get some data together, it might be worth challenging SAG to find say another 100 spaces that we can sell.

For example. Say the 10% is about 300 but on average 100 ST holders aren't turning up, then we have 400 empty places. So, if we reduce the buffer by 100, can we then assume we would still meeting the safety and comfort requirement ?

As others have said, and S_M maybe alludes to , can that 10% be reduced  to say 7.5% or 5%??

Probably an item for the Shadow Board and SAG to gather evidence and examine.

That’s exactly the sort of thing we need to be looking at.

I’m pretty sure for some it’s south stand or not at all so we need to maximise availability there.

I would think most folk would choose West or East as an alternative but there are those friends, family etc, who we've discussed going to a match, but then find out  they can't sit with you, so it becomes a deal breaker. This happened to our group in the West before. The advantage with the South is that isn't a problem.

I'd be shocked if many folk aren't turning up at all if the South Stands sold out, but let us know if you know different.

[RoversInSpain]

Thinking about it. Another possibility is to put the away fans in a side area and replicate the south in the north. Perhaps one to hi k about next season? Might be advantages for our players to attack towards home fans both halves.

Great idea. I wonder what the logistics are to give half the often under populated East Stand to away fans selling block by block from the corner flag along to the middle. Home fans behind each goal would be a smart move.

[sf9944]

I think we do need to look at maximising the number of seats without compromising safety but keeping the benefits of unallocated seating, as well as potentially expanding into the corners.

If we can find a way to be smarter by looking back and assessing, on average how many seats or people remain short of the allowed capacity (I.e less the 10%) with a view to reducing the wasted spots.

As it stands, unless folk let the club know they won't be attending, then the seats can't be resold. I understand this is getting better but maybe more can be done to formalise the process.

Obviously we can't oversubscribe and sell more tickets than the allowed capacity, but once we get some data together, it might be worth challenging SAG to find say another 100 spaces that we can sell.

For example. Say the 10% is about 300 but on average 100 ST holders aren't turning up, then we have 400 empty places. So, if we reduce the buffer by 100, can we then assume we would still meeting the safety and comfort requirement ?

As others have said, and S_M maybe alludes to , can that 10% be reduced  to say 7.5% or 5%??

Probably an item for the Shadow Board and SAG to gather evidence and examine.

That’s exactly the sort of thing we need to be looking at.

I’m pretty sure for some it’s south stand or not at all so we need to maximise availability there.

I would think most folk would choose West or East as an alternative but there are those friends, family etc, who we've discussed going to a match, but then find out  they can't sit with you, so it becomes a deal breaker. This happened to our group in the West before. The advantage with the South is that isn't a problem.

I'd be shocked if many folk aren't turning up at all if the South Stands sold out, but let us know if you know different.

Choice of stand certainly wouldn’t stop me attending but I’ve no idea if it stops others. I should think a bit of research could answer the question and then it would be information to feed into the sort of review you are suggesting and which I think is a good idea.

[roversdude]

Didn’t really come into play as we didn’t sell out, but the sterile area in the NW corner seemed a bit OTT especially as they shut off entrance from the concourse

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Didn’t really come into play as we didn’t sell out, but the sterile area in the NW corner seemed a bit OTT especially as they shut off entrance from the concourse

Not really. I noticed from the Bradford vlogs  there were a number plained clothed Rovers fans who'd positioned themselves as near to the NW corner as poss who were baiting the Bradford fans throughout.

[graingrover]

Those two corners need serious thought ..they look awful on Tv and the empty home seats  represent
at least 15 % of stadium potential income.The North   stand needs to give full allocation rights to the away fans.It is nonsensical to refuse business .

[WheatleyRover]

I think the stadium should have been built with a stand alone away end, the corners could have been used for office blocks that could have been rented out.

[GazLaz]

Those two corners need serious thought ..they look awful on Tv and the empty home seats  represent
at least 15 % of stadium potential income.The North   stand needs to give full allocation rights to the away fans.It is nonsensical to refuse business .

I agree Brian. Bradford were allowed to bring more fans than they did last season and we beat them more easily!

[Nudga]

I would love to see safe standing barriers in the top 1/3 of the south, S/E and S/W

[johnny rovers]

I would love to see safe standing barriers in the top 1/3 of the south, S/E and S/W

Make that the top 2/3 of the south and it's corners

[TonySoprano]

The black bank selling out regularly, and the boxes are sold out.

Wonder in the club have any plans for expansion?
The black bank could be extended into the corners, and im sure a few seats could be put back in in front of the screen, and like I said 10% reduced capacity is a bit too cautious.


As far as the boxes, that's a bit more tricky, not like we can fit some portacabins like at belle Vue 

[colincramb]

Thinking about it. Another possibility is to put the away fans in a side area and replicate the south in the north. Perhaps one to hi k about next season? Might be advantages for our players to attack towards home fans both halves.

Great idea. I wonder what the logistics are to give half the often under populated East Stand to away fans selling block by block from the corner flag along to the middle. Home fans behind each goal would be a smart move.

Well obviously the the capability is there, as we’ve had away fans in the east stand before and the north can be segregated into two. Doubt the police would like it though if the other half was shared with home fans as the away coaches park outside the north/west corner.

[jmt23]

We’ve sold it that way before, and it does make far better sense all around to have away fans in the East. Also from a TV perspective it would look better.

I wonder if the club could afford to have another lower priced ticket stand like the South?

[colincramb]

We’ve sold it that way before, and it does make far better sense all around to have away fans in the East. Also from a TV perspective it would look better.

I wonder if the club could afford to have another lower priced ticket stand like the South?

Problem is, there’s no evidence of the demand for it.

It’s also a lot of years since this type of configuration was done. They’ve always put away fans in the north west part of the north stand on the rare few occasions it’s been needed.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Our stadium is flexible so we can accommodate various sizes of sway followings so we shouldn’t be doing anything to compromise that, particularly, as said above, when we don't have the regular demand on capacity yet.

We should of course, be refining what we do have where necessary to optimise the demand for home fans. Whether that be expand to meet the demand for hospitality or the demand for the South Stand, or the family stand for that matter. If we are genuinely growing the fanbase, we need to cater for everyone.

The club are already making some small steps towards that. The advent of the Fan Cave hospitality room for example.

Once again though, going back to basics, the best promoter to bring new or returning fans back, is us. We can reach people alot easier than the club can. The Donnybob challenge principle of bringing a friend etc is the most likely way we get results.

In our old season ticket books, we had vouchers which could be used to get a small discount to incentivise bringing a friend. We also had the scheme when if ST holders could sell to a new ST holder, we'd get a substantial discount off our own ticket price.

Now we know through experience, these schemes could be abused, but the net result was an increase in numbers which was the object of the exercise.

These sort of initiatives can be modernised and refined to provide us with a little bit of something extra to sell when we try to cajole and encourage others to come.

On a positive note, we should remind ourselves and McCann, our average home support is up by @1000 since he was last here in League One.

[GazLaz]

We’ve sold it that way before, and it does make far better sense all around to have away fans in the East. Also from a TV perspective it would look better.

I wonder if the club could afford to have another lower priced ticket stand like the South?

Problem is, there’s no evidence of the demand for it.

It’s also a lot of years since this type of configuration was done. They’ve always put away fans in the north west part of the north stand on the rare few occasions it’s been needed.

There wont be demand for it in L1... In the Championship though...

[sf9944]

I don’t really disagree with anything that’s been said and I think it’s a good debate for us all to have. We, as loyal fans and customers have a lot to offer to that debate.

Demand is an interesting issue and it might be worth a bit of market research. Whilst the demand might not be there yet it would be as well for the club to be one step ahead in terms of planning for when it is. I concede that they probably are by the way.

I agree we should look towards evolution rather than revolution as we (hopefully) continue to increase supporter numbers. Also that more supporter led initiatives to get new fans in is very important. Where’s Donnybob at?

[DonnyBazR0ver]

I don’t really disagree with anything that’s been said and I think it’s a good debate for us all to have. We, as loyal fans and customers have a lot to offer to that debate.

Demand is an interesting issue and it might be worth a bit of market research. Whilst the demand might not be there yet it would be as well for the club to be one step ahead in terms of planning for when it is. I concede that they probably are by the way.

I agree we should look towards evolution rather than revolution as we (hopefully) continue to increase supporter numbers. Also that more supporter led initiatives to get new fans in is very important. Where’s Donnybob at?

Exactly. Evolution. Just to add, as we have had nearly 12k home fans in the stadium in recent times, the task isn't that daunting and just by the teams performance alone, we should gain more of those on a more regular basis.

It's a good healthy debate to have to ensure we don't get complacent and keep being proactive.

[idler]

If all of the South stand brought an extra, fan where would they sit?
It often sells out now so there is no extra room for fans. Would they be prepared to move to east or west stands to sit with their friends?
There would be a lot of disappointed regular fans unless they have a season ticket.
Would it be possible to start a crowd funder effort to raise money for rail seating/safe standing? I would chip in and if we raised a decent sum the club might match it or expand on the area used.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

If all of the South stand brought an extra, fan where would they sit?
It often sells out now so there is no extra room for fans. Would they be prepared to move to east or west stands to sit with their friends?
There would be a lot of disappointed regular fans unless they have a season ticket.
Would it be possible to start a crowd funder effort to raise money for rail seating/safe standing? I would chip in and if we raised a decent sum the club might match it or expand on the area used.

Well they are some of the questions we raised earlier in the thread. We're not going to gain much if anything from rail seating anyway, except alot of extra cost so we have to look at maximising what we've got. Research is required and the involvement of fans including the Black Bank and shadow board to address these issues.

One of the things we need to establish is how many tickets we are selling in the South compared to how many are going through the turnstiles and actually attending...for every game over a relevant period.

[roversdude]

If all of the South stand brought an extra, fan where would they sit?
It often sells out now so there is no extra room for fans. Would they be prepared to move to east or west stands to sit with their friends?
There would be a lot of disappointed regular fans unless they have a season ticket.
Would it be possible to start a crowd funder effort to raise money for rail seating/safe standing? I would chip in and if we raised a decent sum the club might match it or expand on the area used.

Well they are some of the questions we raised earlier in the thread. We're not going to gain much if anything from rail seating anyway, except alot of extra cost so we have to look at maximising what we've got. Research is required and the involvement of fans including the Black Bank and shadow board to address these issues.

One of the things we need to establish is how many tickets we are selling in the South compared to how many are going through the turnstiles and actually attending...for every game over a relevant period.

Be interesting to see that as from the West Stand there looks to be quite a few empty seats in the South although it’s difficult to judge as people bunch together towards the back of the stand

[Padge_DRFC]

Rail seating would increase the capacity would it?

I've also heard the north stand is even further back from the pitch than the south stand. Leave away fans in the crap part.

Shame we can't also bring that stand closer to the pitch. Probably only West Ham that has their first row so far from the pitch in modern stadiums

[idler]

Rail seating would increase the capacity would it?

I've also heard the north stand is even further back from the pitch than the south stand. Leave away fans in the crap part.

Shame we can't also bring that stand closer to the pitch. Probably only West Ham that has their first row so far from the pitch in modern stadiums

Rail seating when folded back to enable safe standing does increase the number of fans that can use the same space

[DonnyBazR0ver]

In an ideal world I would like to install rail seating and I'm looking forward to Spurs when we'll get a flavour of it. However, this isn't the answer to growing our attendances. The club having weighed up the cost benefits have already said, it's not on the agenda for now and I can understand that.

Our season ticket sales, just shy of 6000 represent just over a third of capacity. Until we get to a point where we're exceeding ar least half of capacity in ST sales and attendances are constantly getting towards sell outs, there's littl3 point in considering any engineering solutions to alter the fabric of the stadium.

We all know this current bubble could burst at any time.