Anyone no how new season ticket sales are going?

[ScottishRoyal]

The last three posts sum it all up perfectly.

Just what I was thinking. The fact that there may be a few single seats scattered around the ground says more about watching football being a sociable occasion than it does about demand for tickets.

[Woodcote Royal]

People seem to be missing the point of the extension by concentrating on ST sales.

There are half a dozen games each season which are guaranteed sell-outs with the new capacity, and probably another half a dozen or so games where the increased capacity will probably sell out - and if not it'll mostly sell.

How do we take advantage of those peaks in demand without the increased capacity? It's just lost opportunity. But with the extension I'm sure that the increased capacity will be at least 50% utilised across the season.

So what if the extra capacity for the likes of Wigan has to be sold off cheap (e.g. with Kids for a Quid or similar)? It's a great way to make football more accessible and to get the next generation hooked. They have no way in when there are minimal tickets available, and not everybody can or will make the commitment of a season ticket.

Spot on.

That last paragraph in particular..........................any long term supporter who doesn't take this point on board should hang their heads in shame

[Hoop Blah]

Yes, the fact that many people would think "Oh dear, I don't have member card with 5pts" and not bother phoning

Why the fcuk would someone who knows little about this club assume that anyone can a have member card and that, furthermore, the points required to apply for a ST are freely available to anyone who enquires

What rubbish.

If somebody has got as far as finding out that you need 5 points to get a season ticket then any normal person would accept that they've probably found out that anyone can get a member card and get 5 points with it.

If they got their information from the website then they have the member card details just one click away.

If they got their information from speaking to the club then the person from the club would've made them aware.

Your also forgetting that anyone who is willing to part with £500+ to buy a season ticket has probably been to at least one previous game and understands a bit about the member cards, and would also, more than likely, already have one of their own.

I also agree with the posts about expanding now to take advantage of this period of success.

[Dirk Gently]

But, as you say, no-one buys a season ticket until they have been to at least a couple of games.

So the potential market for new season ticket holders is more or less restricted to people who have come to matches. Have a sell-out every week and that market is severely restricted.

You need to have much greater available capacity for occasional fans before you can hope to turn them into season ticket holders.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Who has been sold one without a member card containing 5pts?

Anyone that phoned up and said "I am interested in a season ticket but I don't have a member card" to which the sales centre said "Certainly sir, give me your details and payment method and we will sign you up now and send your activated member card out in the post with your season ticket on"

Or am I missing something here

Yes, the fact that many people would think "Oh dear, I don't have member card with 5pts" and not bother phoning

Why the fcuk would someone who knows little about this club assume that anyone can a have member card and that, furthermore, the points required to apply for a ST are freely available to anyone who enquires

I agree that for "those in the know" Season Tickets are, in effect, on general sale and have said that I was surprised that they got this close to actual general sale but;

(i) Even this point was only reached when just a few hundred seats remained.

(ii) To use this as proof that demand for tickets is dropping in a stadium that has been all but full for a season and a half and that, therefore, it should not be expanded, is absolutley insane!

Wasn't there something like over 40,000 member cards issued out though? Meaning that those people would be in the know about being able to get a ST

[Woodcote Royal]

Yes, the fact that many people would think "Oh dear, I don't have member card with 5pts" and not bother phoning

Why the fcuk would someone who knows little about this club assume that anyone can a have member card and that, furthermore, the points required to apply for a ST are freely available to anyone who enquires

What rubbish.

If somebody has got as far as finding out that you need 5 points to get a season ticket then any normal person would accept that they've probably found out that anyone can get a member card and get 5 points with it.

If they got their information from the website then they have the member card details just one click away.

If they got their information from speaking to the club then the person from the club would've made them aware.

Your also forgetting that anyone who is willing to part with £500+ to buy a season ticket has probably been to at least one previous game and understands a bit about the member cards, and would also, more than likely, already have one of their own.

I also agree with the posts about expanding now to take advantage of this period of success.

All of the above would probably apply to someone who has indeed been to match before, not to mention many people who already support the club.

But, we are now in a totally different market that includes many members of the GENERAL public who would not have been aware of most of what you list above.

I know someone who supports a midland club who now lives locally and was desperate to get a hospitality seat last season.

He only got one because I alerted him when the official site announced that a few more had become available in September. He now sits on a table full of people living locally none of whom would consider themselves RFC supporters.

None of the people around that table would even consider sitting in row A of the East stand getting soaked to death as they listened to some of the narrow minded nonsense that gets posted on here

Some of you really need to wake up and smell the coffee. We have 24,000 seats for the worlds most popular league and we will sell many more to those who don't support the club, look at the website or give a flying one about member cards as soon as the builders have done their stuff.

Given the information that the club provides, many of these people would assume that they still do not qualify to apply for a season ticket even if they had wanted some of the last few that remained.

[Huntley & Palmer]

The member scheme will still be in place post extension. So your point is a bit irrelevant

[Woodcote Royal]

You don't think the club might push sales a little more when they have more than a few hundred seats left to sell, many of which neither of us would be pleased to spend a match in let alone a season

[Stranded]

Their more than likely still issue all tickets on member cards but they'll be free again as they initially were.

[Hoop Blah]

All of the above would probably apply to someone who has indeed been to match before, not to mention many people who already support the club.

But, we are now in a totally different market that includes many members of the GENERAL public who would not have been aware of most of what you list above.

One of these general public you speak of will need to get in contact with the club to buy a ticket won't they?

If they can't be bothered to do that they're hardly trying too hard to get a season ticket are they!

The point we're trying to make is that you were wrong, season tickets did make it to general sale because anyone that wanted one could get one.

As for the points about expanding the ground, I think it's exactly the right time to do it even though i don't think the long term support exists yet, and it could be a bit of a white elephant if we don't continue to hold our own for a few years more yet.

[The 17 Bus]

Any person that wanted a single seat in the rain affected areas could get one, there were very few decent seats available.

Add another 5000 under a new roof and the demand could well be higher, I would actually say that it would be higher, I would also think that many would like to move to this new area from where they currently sit, and may well pay a little bit more for the privilidge, leaving the current seats by the front for casual fans.

[Behindu]

The club have bearly had to do any marketing for 2 years now, and they have a new guy in charge who must be dying to have something to do !
Give him 5000 extra seats to sell and if he is worth his salt he'll sell a good percentage of them, especially as for the first time ever in our history he will have a premium product to work with.

[Woodcote Royal]

The point we're trying to make is that you were wrong, season tickets did make it to general sale because anyone that wanted one could get one.

That doesn't mean they were on general sale.

[Woodcote Royal]

One of these general public you speak of will need to get in contact with the club to buy a ticket won't they?

Of course

And, the recorded message tells them that they need a Member Card containing 5pts to buy a Season Ticket

Do they

(a) Decide to stay on the line costing 7p? a minute until someone answers, just to make sure

(b) Hang up

[Stranded]

If they want one, hang on and talk to adviser.

Nobody is going to casually hand over the best part of £600. By the time they are on the phone they would have decided they want one.

[Woodcote Royal]

FFS

Shall we assume, for the sake of argument, that they wouldn't have phoned in the first place without wanting to buy a season ticket

The recorded message will tell them that they need a Member Card containing 5pts to buy one, so, would they

(a) Think that someone at the ticket will give them Member card with the required number of points needed to purchase a Season Ticket and wait to speak to a member of stuff

(b) Think "Sh*T! even if I had a member card how could I earn 5pts in July when there's no proper matches being played?" and Hang up.

Why not call the Sales Centre line now and see what info is being given out on the recorded message.

[rabidbee]

Personally, if I'd got that far, I'd hang on and ask how one goes about getting one of these member card thingies. Like a lot of people (I suspect), I'd be phoning from work, so it wouldn't be my money I'd be wasting anyway.

I'd only be put off if the queue was stupidly long.

[Jerry St Clair]

Woodcote, I actually agree with you, but you're making yourself look a bit silly now.

[Stranded]

FFS

Shall we assume, for the sake of argument, that they wouldn't have phoned in the first place without wanting to buy a season ticket

The recorded message will tell them that they need a Member Card containing 5pts to buy one, so, would they

(a) Think that someone at the ticket will give them Member card with the required number of points needed to purchase a Season Ticket and wait to speak to a member of stuff

(b) Think "Sh*T! even if I had a member card how could I earn 5pts in July when there's no proper matches being played?" and Hang up.

Why not call the Sales Centre line now and see what info is being given out on the recorded message.

By that stage for the vast majority, (a) - as I say by the time you've made the decision to fork over £570 you're not going to suddenly change your mind because of a recorded message when you're but a few minutes away from talking to a real person.

The tickets were on general sale in all but name but as I've said I agree with expanding the stadium now (unless we go down this year).

[Huntley & Palmer]

Woodcote ROFLyaLOL