How do we grow our fan base?

[Snake]

Mate what's your problem? You seem to have a really snobby "I'm a bigger blade than you" approach to this thread. OP is rightly saying it is difficult for people to get tickets.

I agree, a bit strange really. I'm a season ticket holder of 40 years btw and attend --- ok im part timer here really --- about half the away games (unfortunately money doesn't allow for more) and have done since the 70s. My points are not about me or any other current Blade though, it's how we grow in the future

 

[Linz]

What I'm saying is..... we have approx, on average 1.300 spare seats per home game. Suppy exceeds demand. So what are we doing to increase the demand. Where demand is there how easy is it for them to obtain a ticket.

Of course loyalty should be rewarded. Of course the most loyal people should get the tickets where demand exceeds supply. It's not about bladyness, it's about what strategies have we in place to grow our fan base so that we can grow as a club and entity.

The club are trying to do this (but carefully in line with our limited capacity) with the initiatives they have introduced so far. Don't forget that some of those seats will never sell because they are severely restricted views in the kiddy corner or behind the posts of the Kop.

Season ticket holders who bought extra tickets for their friends were asked for all their friends details, so that they could be added to the database, earn the loyalty points and become eligible to buy future tickets.

The awarding of 250 loyalty points for the cup game is a great opportunity for people to get on the database and go to games.

The not-yet Blades will have to understand that their only opportunity to go to games is against the "lesser" opposition. Until we extend the ground, that will be the case. And non-football fans who fancy coming to the game as a one-off will have about the same chance of doing so as they would at Old Trafford or Anfield.

 

[Cheesebored]

Mate what's your problem? You seem to have a really snobby "I'm a bigger blade than you" approach to this thread. OP is rightly saying it is difficult for people to get tickets.

Depends on what your interpretation of difficult is.

 

[Bladesman]

Put water on them?

 

[Linz]

I agree, a bit strange really. I'm a season ticket holder of 40 years btw and attend --- ok im part timer here really --- about half the away games (unfortunately money doesn't allow for more) and have done since the 70s. My points are not about me or any other current Blade though, it's how we grow in the future

My 2.5 year old has 5650 points. Season tickets were sold to anyone who wanted them in the summer.

The gist of what my points are in this thread are: where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[Rob86]

I don’t think we really need to worry about this after 19 games back in the EPL .

Maybe if the tickets aren’t going on general sale we could provide Universities or schools with an amount of tickets. That’s the sort of thing that could potentially grow a fan base. It’s trying to find fans not affiliated to clubs or kids who’s parents aren’t bothered about football. But it’s still only going to account for an extra 1,000 or so and then that’s your lot.

Can’t see there being any stadium upgrade until there’s a couple of thousand on the season ticket waiting list.

Overseas fans will be picked up because of how we play and the passion oozing out of the club. Possibly more followers than fans at the moment. It takes decades to become a club with a significant amount of overseas support.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

What I'm saying is..... we have approx, on average 1.300 spare seats per home game. Suppy exceeds demand. So what are we doing to increase the demand. Where demand is there how easy is it for them to obtain a ticket.

Of course loyalty should be rewarded. Of course the most loyal people should get the tickets where demand exceeds supply. It's not about bladyness, it's about what strategies have we in place to grow our fan base so that we can grow as a club and entity.

Most of the 1,300 seats are restricted view and difficult to sell anyway.

If the desire is to grow the fan base, then offering tickets up to general sale for whoever wants one will not grow it much at all. Those tickets would be snapped up by away fans and football tourists with no interest in attending on a regular basis. The way to gain the necessary loyalty points isn't difficult, attend a cup game or two.

The days of just rolling up to the ground and getting in whatever the game are gone. So popular is the game now at the top level that simply buying a ticket for any game you want to attend isn't possible. I think SUFC make it easier than most in the PL.

 

[Barry Butlin]

If they’d sold tickets to the general public then we would have shifted the 2K empty seats against Villa, I just don’t get the ticketing policy???

 

[Brian Deane]

Rip out the seats and bring back hanging.... I mean standing...problem solved. UTB

 

[GymClassHero]

I agree, a bit strange really. I'm a season ticket holder of 40 years btw and attend --- ok im part timer here really --- about half the away games (unfortunately money doesn't allow for more) and have done since the 70s. My points are not about me or any other current Blade though, it's how we grow in the future

Exactly, someone new to football is going to want to attend a PL game. People forget not everybody is a die hard football fan. Take for example Liverpool, there huge attendances can in part be accredited to 'one off' attendances and these are the fans that we need to attract in order to grow as a club both domestically and internationally.

 

[bongleblade]

Yes , I heard this week from a Barnsley fan living in America how much he and his pals are loving watching the Blades on their TV.

Dare I say we are now an International brand ? (Sorry Bert).

We are a global brand (love it or hate it). It's easy to forget that our games now have an audience of upto 1.35 Billion people across a season!

 

[Snake]

My 2.5 year old has 5650 points. Season tickets were sold to anyone who wanted them in the summer.

The gist of what my points are in this thread are: where there's a will, there's a way.

But your 2.5 year old was born into a big Blade family - who have indoctrinated him/her (like I did with my kids btw lol) into being a Blade. Not every kid is brought up this way.

 

[Linz]

But your 2.5 year old was born into a big Blade family - who have indoctrinated him/her (like I did with my kids btw lol) into being a Blade. Not every kid is brought up this way.

That's where things like the cashback initiative comes in: https://www.sufc.co.uk/news/2019/july/united-cashback-initiative/ (they're the kids you see dicking about on the pitch at half time).

I think there's two separate strands going on in this thread.

How do we attract local kids to Bramall Lane to be Sheffield United fans for the future? - a cause I'm greatly sympathetic to.

And

How can we serve Premier League football fans who aren't necessarily going to become Blades but just fancy seeing a one-off game? - a cause I'm rather less concerned about.

None of us were weaned on the behemoth that is the Premier League, where club loyalties are less of an importance than the spectacle of the product- where it doesn't matter what match you go to because you're watching "the Premier League". Bramall Lane would become a far different place if our main priority was to fill it with day-trippers.

As an example, I've offered in a local interest group that if tickets are ever opened up to ST holders, members can give me a shout and I'll try and sort them out so their kids can get on the ladder. I immediately got a message saying "I will take you up on this for Spurs because my son really wants to see them on his birthday". Now, it's unlikely that Spurs will be one of the games opened up for ST holders to buy extras, which I did point out. But should I potentially deprive Blades from seeing the game because some young local lad wants to watch Spurs?

This is where the loyalty points scheme is right and fair.

 

[Kev Gee]

I think the only way to sort this out would be to have a massive blade on blade tear up.
Last blade standing gets the last remaining restricted view ticket.

Prince Abdullah could sit there like a Roman emporer in the directors box.

 

[Dkc]

How do our attendances compare to our last PL season? I'm guessing they are better. We haven't had a crowd below 30k yet, and a few of the early season games would have been better-attended if tickets had gone on general sale.

Our attendances this season have been ever so slightly disappointing. On the other hand you could say they are fantastic given we've won nothing in 95 years except the 4th division title.

 

[Ricky]

I don't know, but it's very important we make games like Fylde as unattractive as possible by charging a lot and closing the Kop, projecting a polite but firm 'don't bother, thanks' message.

 

[Snake]

That's where things like the cashback initiative comes in: https://www.sufc.co.uk/news/2019/july/united-cashback-initiative/ (they're the kids you see dicking about on the pitch at half time).

I think there's two separate strands going on in this thread.

How do we attract local kids to Bramall Lane to be Sheffield United fans for the future? - a cause I'm greatly sympathetic to.

And

How can we serve Premier League football fans who aren't necessarily going to become Blades but just fancy seeing a one-off game? - a cause I'm rather less concerned about.

None of us were weaned on the behemoth that is the Premier League, where club loyalties are less of an importance than the spectacle of the product- where it doesn't matter what match you go to because you're watching "the Premier League". Bramall Lane would become a far different place if our main priority was to fill it with day-trippers.

As an example, I've offered in a local interest group that if tickets are ever opened up to ST holders, members can give me a shout and I'll try and sort them out so their kids can get on the ladder. I immediately got a message saying "I will take you up on this for Spurs because my son really wants to see them on his birthday". Now, it's unlikely that Spurs will be one of the games opened up for ST holders to buy extras, which I did point out. But should I potentially deprive Blades from seeing the game because some young local lad wants to watch Spurs?

This is where the loyalty points scheme is right and fair.

I do agree with you on the loyalty issue and I applaud your efforts to help others to get tickets. Perhaps I didn't really explain my thinking too well though in my opening post. Before my post, I had just read the thread in the 'ticket travel and tele' section about the lady from Cumbria wanting to attend the West Ham game with her husband - a Blade with loyal points. (Sorry I don't know how to link the thread itself). My thoughts here were ...... this is West Ham at home on tv on a Friday night. It is not a particularly big game and will not be a sell out. Apparently she was told by the ticket office that she needed loyal points to get a ticket. She's got tickets now, how I don't know, but that's not my point. My point is, here is a person who is not a glory hunter, happens to be in Sheffield on that day and wants to attend the game with her Blade supporting husband. In this particular instance common sense should apply and the lady should not have to beg on a forum for tickets - here I would change what you said early to ....... where there's a will, there should be a way!

Who knows, she could get the bug and come down regularly - hence growing our fanbase.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

When the club DOES lower the points required it often doesn't change the information on the online ticket buying page. Little things like that would help. 250 points for the cup game will make it easier for fans who for whatever reason are not on the loyalty points set up to get on there. I have far fewer points than i really should have as family used to get me tickets on the occasions i would be up or as part of a group for away games. I am sure i am not alone in that.

Perhaps giving the restricted view tickets to a third party that sell to people from overseas or tourists like other clubs use wouldn't hurt. Especially as they are not selling as it is.

 

[DaveBassettsgoneonholiday]

How do our attendances compare to our last PL season? I'm guessing they are better. We haven't had a crowd below 30k yet, and a few of the early season games would have been better-attended if tickets had gone on general sale.

Our attendances this season have been ever so slightly disappointing. On the other hand you could say they are fantastic given we've won nothing in 95 years except the 4th division title.

..... I thought my memory was poor but there's hope yet

 

[drinksmat]

Hire a stand at Hillsborough and do a beam back for the sell out home games.......

 

[shorehamview]

With regard to loyalty points I’ve got plenty, but not enough to get an away ticket on the first day of sale. One of my little brothers is working near Liverpool and asked if he could have my away ticket if I wasn’t going. Now, considering he’s a Peterborough fan, because reasons, and he only wanted to go so he could watch Liverpool, my first thought was “He can fuck off, the cheeky twat.” He told me that the home tickets were all sold out and he fancied some Premier League football.

I made absolutely no effort whatsoever to get him a ticket via my points despite telling him I would. Why should I let some bugger who doesn’t support us get a ticket that should have gone to a Blade? He‘s my brother, but he can do one if he thinks I’m getting him a ticket. Yes, I‘m a twat. No, I don’t care.

 

[WORKSOPBLADE]

With regard to loyalty points I’ve got plenty, but not enough to get an away ticket on the first day of sale. One of my little brothers is working near Liverpool and asked if he could have my away ticket if I wasn’t going. Now, considering he’s a Peterborough fan, because reasons, and he only wanted to go so he could watch Liverpool, my first thought was “He can fuck off, the cheeky twat.” He told me that the home tickets were all sold out and he fancied some Premier League football.

I made absolutely no effort whatsoever to get him a ticket via my points despite telling him I would. Why should I let some bugger who doesn’t support us get a ticket that should have gone to a Blade? He‘s my brother, but he can do one if he thinks I’m getting him a ticket. Yes, I‘m a twat. No, I don’t care.

Happy Christmas

 

[Harrisblade]

I think the only way to sort this out would be to have a massive blade on blade tear up.
Last blade standing gets the last remaining restricted view ticket.

Prince Abdullah could sit there like a Roman emporer in the directors box.

Free ticket to see the 'tear-up' with every Fylde ticket sold?

 

[Ranmoorblade]

If they’d sold tickets to the general public then we would have shifted the 2K empty seats against Villa, I just don’t get the ticketing policy???

If the away end is sold out we’re not allowed to put tickets on general sale. This is why Watford has gone on general sale because Watford haven’t sold out. If you want a ticket it’s not too hard to get one.

 

[Whiston Blade]

Community work, make sure the kids in schools know we’re the team to be watching, that and stay in the PL.

 

[AWetFlannel]

Who cares about growing the fan base? We sell out a massive stadium so don't need more fans.
(Not suggesting it would be a bad thing, just not necessarily good either)

 

[ucandomagic]

Mate what's your problem? You seem to have a really snobby "I'm a bigger blade than you" approach to this thread. OP is rightly saying it is difficult for people to get tickets.

I would point out to you that Linz is royalty on this forum and should be addressed as ma’am rather than mate!

 

[gordoncharles]

We are a global brand (love it or hate it). It's easy to forget that our games now have an audience of upto 1.35 Billion people across a season!

That doesn't translate into massive interest for Sheffield United. Global audiences pick the most successful teams to follow, or they follow specific players.

It certainly won't affect match attendances in any meaningful way and I don't even know how it can be monetized. Hull City Tigers anyone? Switch our colours like Vincent Tan did at Cardiff? What effect were they ever going to have?

I suppose that a prolonged period in the PL without Wednesday would be an advantage in getting young local kids to make a choice between us, but I'm not even sure how much difference that will make either.

 

[GymClassHero]

I would point out to you that Linz is royalty on this forum and should be addressed as ma’am rather than mate!

 

[Bert]