'Pay What You Can Day'

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1973Blade

1973Blade

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Crawley Town got a bumper crowd by having a Pay What You Can Day for yesterday's game.
It would be a good idea for us to do this, to enable fans who can't usually afford it to attend. How much would you pay for a game if the amount was voluntary?
 



I think double the amount of a cinema ticket is about right. Similar length of entertainment plus a supplement for the element of live action (call it 'surprise' in that you usually at least know the gist of a film before seeing it) and the emotional attachment which is usually lacking at the cinema (devotees of Star Wars and other such phenomena being the exception). Cinema prices vary as well of course! I think I'll settle on £16 being reasonable for footy at our current level. Of course several forces dictate that this price can only seldom be charged!
 
Wonder how that would work with fans distribution around the ground?
 



I'd pay about £70. Our neighbours have shown that if us fans pay what we should then we could potentially become a top 10 Championship club.
 
When Gloucester City did it a couple of years back they said most people paid between £5 and £20, and that they made more than on normal match days.

Crawley nearly doubled their crowd, and I doubt the average payment halved. It will cost a bit more in stewarding etc I suppose, but also programme sales and other on the day sales would go up.

I suspect overall they took as much as they usually do, and of course they got some people who don't usually attend through the gate, some of whom will return.

I suppose the only risk for us is that we'd probably fill the ground (working on the same % increase as Crawley, we could expect over 40,000 to show up), but it couldn't really be all ticket, which the police may not be too happy about (lots of people turning up but unable to get in). It may also annoy some regulars who arrive late and can't get in. Perhaps if it was done for an unattractive fixture, and/or an evening game it may work OK.
 
From the Crawley website, it was minimum of £1 per ticket with a maximum of 6 tickets per person.
I wonder if that applied to the away fans, too.
 
The facts show time and time again that there's no real appetite for cheap tickets.

For example to club charge £22 and average 20,000.
If we charge £15 we'd average 21,000
If we charged £10 we"'d average 25,000
If we charged £5 we'd average 30,000.

So if SU are to run as a responsible business to ensure the future of the club
It would choose the charge £22 and average 20,000 option

However to test the waters they should do the occasional cheap ticket offer
But when we've charged £10 in the past it attracts about 3,000 extra customers
Which econically proves it's not viable to do it too often.
 
Morecambe had a midweek fixture against rushden a few years back. Free entry but you had to buy a programme. It was their largest crowd for a competitive game at the new stadium. Until we rocked up for the cup that is. From what the local paper said, they actually took more than usual due to pie & beer sales. Wouldn't work with us, as we'd run out of beer.
 
Ignoring entirely the social and affordability aspect...

You also have to think about the long term effects if you are a club that varies in attraction and *can* historically attract a larger crowd.

Do too much like this and you simply devalue your product.

If you've only ever had a maximum of a couple of thousand and have risen from less, then it's less of a consideration.
 
Foxy said:
Ignoring entirely the social and affordability aspect...

You also have to think about the long term effects if you are a club that varies in attraction and *can* historically attract a larger crowd.

Do too much like this and you simply devalue your product.

If you've only ever had a maximum of a couple of thousand and have risen from less, then it's less of a consideration.
Click to expand...

'Devaluing your product'.

What ever happened to the people's game?
Is it all just a branding exercise now?
 
west_yorks_blade said:
'Devaluing your product'.

What ever happened to the people's game?
Is it all just a branding exercise now?
Click to expand...


It's an exercise in maximising income in which the club appears to have gotten right with the10% reductions this season.

As has been stated, cheaper ticket days don't tend to get much of an income uplift and extra catering sales will go to Compass or whoever it is, if, of course they don't underestimate demand. Ahem....
 
All I know is that you can watch most Bundesliga teams twice for what you'd pay at a "Catagory A" 3rd division match.

Probably because German fans haven't had it hammered into them that you have to be shafted in order to get decent football.
 
I would either keep ticket prices the same, or make them more attractive at the lower end of the scale.

As a ball park figure for next season for the South Stand i would look at charging about £400, i'd charge £350 for John Street and open part of the stand as a non-family section and then for the kop and i'd open up the entire Bramall Lane upper and corner stand for this i would charge £200. I'd also keep junior season tickets at £50 a season. For a personal perspective Brownie Jnr is 7 and is on his third season ticket this season, and going to football matches is part of his life to the extent where, when i can't make it he drags his Wednesdayite mum along as he doesn't like missing games. That is how you get supporters young.

This would mean we are charging a premium for the two side stands with the better facilities and for the other areas of the ground you have just made it more affordable and more viable for people who might not be able to afford it to be encouraged to buy season tickets.
 



Deleted Member said:
I would either keep ticket prices the same, or make them more attractive at the lower end of the scale.

As a ball park figure for next season for the South Stand i would look at charging about £400, i'd charge £350 for John Street and open part of the stand as a non-family section and then for the kop and i'd open up the entire Bramall Lane upper and corner stand for this i would charge £200. I'd also keep junior season tickets at £50 a season. For a personal perspective Brownie Jnr is 7 and is on his third season ticket this season, and going to football matches is part of his life to the extent where, when i can't make it he drags his Wednesdayite mum along as he doesn't like missing games. That is how you get supporters young.

This would mean we are charging a premium for the two side stands with the better facilities and for the other areas of the ground you have just made it more affordable and more viable for people who might not be able to afford it to be encouraged to buy season tickets.
Click to expand...

All very well butbif people transfer from the higher priced areas the club are purely dependent on new regular attendees to increase income.
 
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