Did you know that a season ticket to watch Borussia Dortmund costs £160 a season? They play 17 league matches a year. That equates to £9.40 a match. £9.40 to watch a top German side playing Champions League standard.
they also often sell out their stadium.
heres a thought. The Pilot Field sees 450 on a good day. 450 paying £10 is £4500 a match. Why not drop ticket prices to £4 and fill the ground. 1500 supporters would bring in £6000 in gate receipts. do something for the fans by acknowledging our poor performances during this tough economic climate and improve the atmosphere in the ground. Get the town behind the club. I've tried getting people to come along but once they've bought to ticket, a pint, chips and a programme the vent has cost them best part of £20. It's criminal For watching Ryman league.
the FA cup DVD was a prime example. Cost £3 to make and being sold for £8', only to find it had lots of content missing. If you know it's a crap DVD, and it cost £3 to make it, don't flog it for £8! Fans are being ripped off By this sort of thing.
I can't remember the time the club last did anything special for the community. FA Cup run doesn't count, it wasnt put on for the town, it was a by-product. I'm talking about giving something back to the supporters. something produced especially for the guys and gals who sit out in the rain to watch poor standard of football At the moment. "We're playing badly right now and to hank you for your support were dropping the ticket prices until we win a game".
It'll never happen because the club has the wrong mind set. It thinks the town owes it support just cause its there. Dave Walters early season rant in te Observer showed us that. People say he was misquoted and the Observer made him out to look bad. even if thats true, you gotta ask yourself why HUFC doesnt get the support of its local paper, or of its local council, or of its local residents. it all comes down to the people behind the scenes. You have to earn the trust of supporters. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. 15 years working as a marketing expert and I see no love for fans at HUFC. Never have In all my 9 years of attending. Such a shame As this s a big town with a lot of potential support.
-- Edited by Jez1066 on Tuesday 19th of March 2013 01:16:01 AM
-- Edited by Jez1066 on Tuesday 19th of March 2013 01:16:52 AM
I don't think £10 a match is that bad. And free entry for U21's is giving something back to the town...
That being said, it wouldn't hurt to pick two or three games a season for 'half price' entry or similar - but I don't believe that half price would equate to double the crowd to make up for it...
At the risk of getting shot down, it’s not really as simple as all that. For a start, if we have an attendance of 450 as in your example, then we would have to have 450 full paying adults to make your figures of £4500 a match which we simply do not get. A fair percent (although I don’t know how much) is under 21 which is free, so we fall well below your starting figure. I also have heard very positive feedback from families who enjoy the free U21 tickets as it makes it a very affordable day out for them.
I don’t think I can compare us with Borussia Dortmund as our prices are pretty much the same as any other Ryman Premier Club. Now if they were compared to Chelsea or Arsenals ridiculous entry prices then that would be different but not sure how it applies here. In regards to Mind sets, I think I’ll keep my counsel .
It's just not he U21's Pat you have to take into consideration opposing teams directors and guests, players guests FA representatives sponsors and their guests the list is quite a considerable one it really is so £4500 a game is a long way from wha he gate returns are.
So in fact, your effectively saying the true paying attendance is far lower than 450?? That's kinda irrelevant really as whatever my example figure is, the principle remains the same.
Lets say 200 pay to get in on a given day and the club makes £2000 then. Half the prices and encourage 400 paying supporters. As for lowering the ticket prices doesn't equate to doubling the attendance its been proven to work across Europe, in lower leagues too, and the concept of let's not try cause it probably won't work is the kind of attitude that keeps clubs in a town of 150,000 people (including Bexhill and villages) only attracting 200 paying supporters. That's a woeful 0.1% of residents who are bothered about this club. Yet the club expects them to just come in their droves because of an FA cup run that most have forgotten about. We'll never see crowds of 750+ again. Especially when we go down this season. We're in the bottom two now. I don't see us getting out of this.
I do see your point, but we still have to pay the players and other bills on quite a tight income. The one thing That DW has tried to do is make the club run on what it earns. We cant dip into cup money IMO as it would just drain resources.
I do see your point, but we still have to pay the players and other bills on quite a tight income. The one thing That DW has tried to do is make the club run on what it earns. We cant dip into cup money IMO as it would just drain resources.
Well said Pat and also well said Hastings Lion couldn't agree more!!!
I am an under 21 and therefore receive free entry into the club and I know that a fair percentage of the fans that either come week in, week out, or the ones that come occasionally are a significant percentage to the attendance at the PF. What need to be considered is that these Under 21s will also have food or drink, of which I'm sure a percentage of the product price goes to the club as well as the food suppliers, to ensure the club as a business performs well and has a stable profitability status. As an Under 21, I have been coming to the PF for nearly 6 years and used to pay £3 to watch the locals, until the dwindling attendances caused the prices to be dropped for under 21s. This did satisfy the under 21s and there has been a significant increase of people within this age group, but the loyal fans such as myself, will still be happy to pay £3 to watch the football. For the years that I paid for my entry, I purchased a season ticket, which cost me £51. I would much rather watch Hastings United than 'Borussia Dortmund'.
I'd rather watch Borussia Dortmund. But the real question isn't about Borussia Dortmund. It would cost an extra £46 in the tunnel each game and a good £80 in petrol and a whole day of your time to get there and back. The question is whether the product is good value for money and good quality compared to the options otherwise available. So the comparison ought to be with those providing "better experiences" Brighton, Maidstone and, if you like, Chelsea and Arsenal, and those offering cheaper products that might be more entertaining - Little Common, Sidley, Rye, fishing, some bollokks at the White Rock and shopping with the Mrs.
Now, when you produce a league table of product quality over cost, unless like MrLiamWillis you already have an inbuilt override because you are a die-hard, then Hastings United probably doesn't feature in the top half. This thread is about those people that don't come, remember. This is how they will be viewing it, knowingly or not.
