Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:35 pm  

I think if you look at it from a business perspective, there’s not much wrong with AC’s approach.

Clearly emphasises the savings if you buy a ST. The big benefit for the club is that they get the cash up front and once paid for, fans are arguably more likely to spend some £ in the ground or shop than if they’ve paid £25 on the day.

I spent 10 mins on excel yesterday using some estimates based on ST numbers, potential walk ups and central funding. I think AC is designing his plan so we don’t rely on walk ups.

I appreciate the frustration at the price if you want to pay on the gate, but IMO having a sustainable business plan is more important. We may lose a few walk ups but i think that’s more acceptable than reducing prices across the board hoping for increased attendance on the back of it (Peter Hood?).

ATEOTD I’m presuming the club will still offer the streaming service next season so it’s hardly a case of pay £25 or don’t watch it.

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:42 pm  

Terry Price's knee wrote:

I don't like to criticise AC, who otherwise has done a brilliant job, but I do think we're overpriced - and the ticket office was a shambles last season at times!

Pretty sure this is part of a plan to nudge fans towards booking their tickets in advance.

I have no qualms with this at all. It's nothing new for the club really, is it? Under Marc Green the game day price was about 22 quid for Championship rugby whether you walked up on the day or booked in advance. The gates were overstaffed, which must have been a financial drain on the club. I think what they have done is looked at the way they can effectively manage the flow of people into the stadium and decided that they can plan staffing levels based upon advanced ticket sales, for which they think people will more likely buy if there is a discount. Why would they change this system next year? I don't think they will - surely there will be a discount for advances, which means that Championship rugby will be effectively the same price than it was under Marc Green, but with a club running within its means instead of over-promising and under-delivering. The only people who lose out here are the overwhelming minority who decide on the day to go. In every walk of life, you pay for convenience and/or poor or last minute planning. Why should rugby league be any different?

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:44 pm  

Ewwenorfolk wrote:

ATEOTD I’m presuming the club will still offer the streaming service next season so it’s hardly a case of pay £25 or don’t watch it.

The club need to look at monetizing this service if it is to be sustainable (if we're paying for it, that is).

[Bullseye]

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:04 pm  

Looking at what other clubs charge we're second to Widnes in terms of season ticket prices by the looks of it. Not everyone has stated how much walk up prices are but Dewsbury are (£16), York (£17) and Rochdale (£18).

It's £35 a year more expensive per year to stand and watch us compared with Fax.

Fev do a ticket where you can pay for 6 games. That seems like an idea worth copying.

[Bullseye]

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:06 pm  

Not surprisingly Leigh haven't published their ticket prices for 2019. Neither have Batley, not sure why.

[Bullseye]

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:10 pm  

Terry Price's knee wrote:

the ticket office was a shambles last season at times!

When I went with people that hadn’t bought in advance I found the ticket office to work fine (if you mean the booths just outside the shop). The queues to actually get in were lengthy but if you went to get in by the main carpark they were much shorter.

I expect it’s cheaper for the club to operate in this way and subsequently they make more money. I don’t think it’s that extortionate at £25 but I think they’re missing a trick not offering a 6 game ticket at a slight discount.

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:23 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

When I went with people that hadn’t bought in advance I found the ticket office to work fine (if you mean the booths just outside the shop). The queues to actually get in were lengthy but if you went to get in by the main carpark they were much shorter.

I expect it’s cheaper for the club to operate in this way and subsequently they make more money. I don’t think it’s that extortionate at £25 but I think they’re missing a trick not offering a 6 game ticket at a slight discount.

What's not to say they haven't got that up their sleeve for after the early bird deadline expires.

A flexi ticket is an excellent option, but offering it straight away when the main emphasis should clearly be selling the higher priced full season ticket wouldn't make good business sense at all as it could divert away many to the cheaper option.

I really do hope the club get the early bird discount sorted and then come in strongly with a flexi option to sweep up those who either can't commit to a full season because of work/other commitments or simply cannot afford to do so from a financial point of view.

Like others have said, price a six game package together for £120 and I think you could add another £100k to the income.

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:32 pm  

It’s the kids prices I have a problem with. £20 for a 16 yo student and £10 each for my 9 & 10 yo’s. I can’t get them a season ticket as they are likely to miss too many games, I certainly won’t be spening time debating whether they come next season at those prices. If there’s football on Tv and they want to watch that I won’t be asking twice

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 2:25 pm  

DrFeelgood wrote:

The club need to look at monetizing this service if it is to be sustainable (if we're paying for it, that is).

Not sure we'll have optio of continueing this service in the championship. League one was different as the rights arent held by anyone, but in championship Sky hold the rights even though they choose not to use them. Not sure they would allow clubs to live stream games (pretty certain we'd be ok putting games up afterwards as we did that previously and think most championship clubs do this as well). Plus towards back end of season RFL started live streaming through the ourleague app and would imagine they would want to continue with that centrally rather than having clubs doing it ad hoc. Maybe Mick knows more?.

Re: 25% Price increase - Austerity is over? : Thu Nov 01, 2018 2:31 pm  

I am pretty sure Premier Sports showed Toronto game's in 2018.