Bring a mate for a fiver..

[Yorkie]

Brought two yesturday morning

So did I (and I managed to get through to the ticket office to do it)

 

[El Presidente]

If non-regulars do turn up, they are more likely to buy a program, (to find out which number Bobby Zamora wears), burger etc.

They also may make some noise.

Oldham 'lost' money when they charged £2 against us in December, but did get some of it back from ancillary sales.

 

[Yorkie]

I thought that Oldham game was subsidised by the local paper.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Bring an enemy more like. Would you inflict the Albion on a mate?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

You seem to be a little anti-BHAFC (the board, not the team) at the moment, and as such have allowed it to cloud your judgement.

How kind of you to say so, Steve. There are people on NSC who seem to think I am some sort of mouthpiece for the Club.

... looking at the bigger picture, which I'd hope is what the club are trying to do, if this scheme only reels in 100 new supporters that's still an extra £2,350 a game. With seven home games remaining after Rotherham, that's potentially an extra £16,450 in the bank.

Hardly ground-breaking, but the club must be applauded for any efforts to boost funds that don't resort to cap-in-hand tactics such as the 'Alive & Kicking' fiasco.

As you say, it's the bigger picture that needs to be considered.

Last season's relegation is the main reason that crowds are down this season - by about 14 per cent in our case, which is not as bad as Crewe, who have lost 17 per cent. Millwall have lost 11 per cent.

In these circumstances, we have to do something. From a business point of view, the most obvious thing that MUST be done is learning to live with a smaller income - something that has consequences that NO supporter will be happy with. Once you add in the loss of TV income, it gets even more difficult to please people.

If they work, special promotions help to restore some sort of feel-good factor in fans who might otherwise be sinking into the deepest of despair. But only IF THEY WORK. I am fearful that this one won't lift the crowd for the Rotherham game much above the 5,177 we got yesterday. In which case ... cue further criticism of the Club.

But the truth remains - smaller crowds this season are inevitable.

 

[Dandyman]

How kind of you to say so, Steve. There are people on NSC who seem to think I am some sort of mouthpiece for the Club.





As you say, it's the bigger picture that needs to be considered.

Last season's relegation is the main reason that crowds are down this season - by about 14 per cent in our case, which is not as bad as Crewe, who have lost 17 per cent. Millwall have lost 11 per cent.

In these circumstances, we have to do something. From a business point of view, the most obvious thing that MUST be done is learning to live with a smaller income - something that has consequences that NO supporter will be happy with. Once you add in the loss of TV income, it gets even more difficult to please people.

If they work, special promotions help to restore some sort of feel-good factor in fans who might otherwise be sinking into the deepest of despair. But only IF THEY WORK. I am fearful that this one won't lift the crowd for the Rotherham game much above the 5,177 we got yesterday. In which case ... cue further criticism of the Club.

But the truth remains - smaller crowds this season are inevitable.

As Steve said, the initiative is surely intended as a loss leader. By combining with another STH, I have made sure a friend can bring her 3 kids to the game with her for a total of £20. Hopefully the kids will get the bug for the Albion (in the same way as we did as kids) and want to come again.

The same logic applies to those who have dropped out of coming but may just recover the desire to do so via this initiative.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I think the naivety of this offer is breathtaking, albeit well meant.

To spell it out, unless the club are going to carry out a stringent ticket check on the day, which they won't, anybody at all who usually shells out £23.50 for a pay-on-the-day ticket is simply going to get a STH mate to buy one for them for a fiver instead. And they'll sit wherever they damn well please. I mean, DOH

 

[Scoffers]

Has anyone done the maths on this offer?

The people who will really benefit are the people who go to every game, but normally pay on a match-by-match basis.

Let's assume they normally pay £23.50. For the Rotherham game, they will pay £5.00 if they get a season-ticket-holder-mate to buy the ticket.

The Club will have lost £18.50 on the transaction.

If 500 regular supporters do this, the Club will have lost £9,250.

The Club will only make up that loss if it can sell an extra £9,250 worth of tickets. At £5 a time, it will need to sell 1,850 extra tickets (over and above the 500 that have already gone cheap).

With 500 people claiming the discount, the initiative will only be profitable if the crowd gets up to 7,000.

If 1,000 regular attenders wangle an £18.50 discount, the break-even point is reached only when the crowd reaches 8,850 - which is MORE THAN THE CAPACITY IN THE HOME AREAS.

It'll be nice to get some more people into a game, but I can't see this scheme doing anything but lose money.

That isnt the point though is it, the point is to get new people to go, who the pay full fare next time