Bumper Crowds

[JJpool]

As I've said many times on here a paid membership scheme is the way to go because that way you can sting the aways and offer a cheaper home price.

Yeah it's a good initiative to have. Does it help attract new fans though?

Could have it where ST holders get to buy another ticket for someone for a tenner, or maybe a 2 games for 1 thing, as surely can still charge full whack that way.

 

[JJpool]

Well, if so, club should do some kind of 'resell your seat' initiative then.

If the ground is full, make it as easy as possible for anyone not attending to release their seat for resale.

Already the system in place we used for the nobbers game to do so surely.

 

[JJpool]

Football is over priced. Our matchday tickets are over priced. Loads of you do mental gymnastics to justify it, but you're all just cheerleaders for gentrification.

So there.

I've made the case for the simplest solution, its pretty out there, its.... to lower the actual price itself.

Charge less attract more.

At least to try it and see what effect it has and what numbers come.

Then we could say with confidence we have x amount of people who might come at 28, 24, 20 quid.

We would then be able to say we need x amount to come extra to match our higher price point so all do our bit.

If we end up making similar cash from the lower price way, its always desirable to have more fans there.

Its one thing thinking you know your market but nothing beats real data.

It could go either way it could be.. oh thats not as many as I thought to make up the cash, or it could be bloody hell thats more than some expected, price is indeed important.

I know which way I'm leaning in the Blackpool area, with a low price and the right marketing push.

 

[XBeds-Now-Kings_Meaburn]

Well, if so, club should do some kind of 'resell your seat' initiative then.

If the ground is full, make it as easy as possible for anyone not attending to release their seat for resale.

There is a release your seat scheme . If you can't attend jut tell the club ticket office . When all Non ST seats have been sold they will then sell those that have been "released" & it gets taken off cost of your next years ST .

 

[poolseasider]

Yeah it's a good initiative to have. Does it help attract new fans though?

Could have it where ST holders get to buy another ticket for someone for a tenner, or maybe a 2 games for 1 thing, as surely can still charge full whack that way.

The new fan/floater has to come back or doing cheap deals becomes worthless.
We've been here before giving our tons of freebies and I know for a fact that got given to kids and they then got passed on to some who would have paid to get in anyway.

The first step whatever initiative is brought in has to go hand in hand with a second step a membership scheme because for example if I bring someone for a tenner the club don't gain any personal details from that which has to be the main purpose of any deals.

Then become a member Adult £10
Under 21 £5 and get five pounds of match price you then the max you can pay is £23 if the club want to persist with this CAT system and the all the extra benefits like priority on away tickets etc.
You then on the database have individuals Name,Age,adresss,phone number and E-mail.
It's the only way that I see of dropping matchday prices for Pool fans or we just lower the overall price and take the hit from loss of revenue from the away fans.

 

[Adams Kebab]

So we’ve nearly sold out 3 sides without much marketing or promoting the game, which is great.

The scope to increase attendances is definitely there, but it appears the ground exits and lack of facilities and police requests are seemingly making the Club not do all they can to fill the ground.

It’s all a bit bizarre. The East is going to take years to sort so the Club is going to have to make modifications to the current crock of shit is has in order to maximise attendances.

Simple solution is, away fans in the North End of the East next season, put in temp toilets and catering facilities. Leave first block empty to separate from North and then give them the rest. If they need more they have the section on other side but we can then sell SE Corner and more if we need it. No nonsense of away fans coming in one entrance and leaving the other and more home seats available if required.

I do not understand why the above cannot be done.

Please don’t say it’s because of fans in the North, you go to most grounds and you are next to home fans or a couple of seats away. Burnley and Arsenal kicked off this year and nothing changed for their future games. This was always the plan and that’s why fans bought ST in the North originally. It was then stated that it would be a few months etc whilst Grayson was here but it’s never happened.

I can only think it boils down to the Police don’t want it and nor do the Club. Which is weirder.

Anyone?

 

[Adams Kebab]

Think how much you lot saved on NAPM and COVID restrictions.
Some will just make any excuse not to attend.

What an awful take this is.

 

[td53]

There is a release your seat scheme . If you can't attend jut tell the club ticket office . When all Non ST seats have been sold they will then sell those that have been "released" & it gets taken off cost of your next years ST .

Good, I'm glad they've listened to me so quickly!

 

[JJpool]

The new fan/floater has to come back or doing cheap deals becomes worthless.
We've been here before giving our tons of freebies and I know for a fact that got given to kids and they then got passed on to some who would have paid to get in anyway.

The first step whatever initiative is brought in has to go hand in hand with a second step a membership scheme because for example if I bring someone for a tenner the club don't gain any personal details from that which has to be the main purpose of any deals.

Then become a member Adult £10
Under 21 £5 and get five pounds of match price you then the max you can pay is £23 if the club want to persist with this CAT system and the all the extra benefits like priority on away tickets etc.
You then on the database have individuals Name,Age,adresss,phone number and E-mail.
It's the only way that I see of dropping matchday prices for Pool fans or we just lower the overall price and take the hit from loss of revenue from the away fans.

Well you make it so anyone new who you bring should be registered with the club, simply register them online when buying selecting your ticket to use the offer or in the club shop.

 

[JJpool]

So we’ve nearly sold out 3 sides without much marketing or promoting the game, which is great.

The scope to increase attendances is definitely there, but it appears the ground exits and lack of facilities and police requests are seemingly making the Club not do all they can to fill the ground.

It’s all a bit bizarre. The East is going to take years to sort so the Club is going to have to make modifications to the current crock of shit is has in order to maximise attendances.

Simple solution is, away fans in the North End of the East next season, put in temp toilets and catering facilities. Leave first block empty to separate from North and then give them the rest. If they need more they have the section on other side but we can then sell SE Corner and more if we need it. No nonsense of away fans coming in one entrance and leaving the other and more home seats available if required.

I do not understand why the above cannot be done.

Please don’t say it’s because of fans in the North, you go to most grounds and you are next to home fans or a couple of seats away. Burnley and Arsenal kicked off this year and nothing changed for their future games. This was always the plan and that’s why fans bought ST in the North originally. It was then stated that it would be a few months etc whilst Grayson was here but it’s never happened.

I can only think it boils down to the Police don’t want it and nor do the Club. Which is weirder.

Anyone?

Yeah I've said before, the antics of a minority don't help, but most has been petty incidents that are happening everywhere at times, but you don't see other clubs closing stands or moving away fans 3 miles away anywhere else for a few plastic bottles thrown at a net.

I've said we have had ample time to put into place a better plan for using the stadium.

The covid no fan season would have been the perfect time to with do some work but I get they are waiting for the council too, but it could be years.

Last summer was enough time to figure it out too, but yet at the structured dialogue meeting there was no plans for fans in the East, a lack of forward planning? I know many will say we haven't sold out the 3 sides much but we haven't had barely a game at the lower category price that didn't have some other limitations like being on sky. Or for big games we had the limiting higher price plus previous purchase history seemingly locking some fans out.

So its a bit like we were not expecting or ready for it.

One solution which may not be possible but could be, if they insist on marching fans past the north is....

If we only had an extra block or so in the east sold, you could maybe at full time send our east home fans past the barriers into the north and exit there, whilst having stewards in front of the away fans at the other end, then once the 600 is whatever is cleared away fans can again march north People might say what if a few leave early, so either they dont leave early or let a few early ones out the other way up until the game ends.

Tbh it does sound ridiculous, you should just let them out south anyway and police the area.

Even under the current marching system they end up by the time I'm out, coming back up Bloomfield Road anyway.

So the whole thing they are trying to avoid is unavoidable.

If it's the police telling us what to do then it seems a bit if over reach, as you say in most other stadiums this doesn't happen despite all the same issues and worse like fighting in the stadium.

Or is the club being a bit ott and soft on the issue or a bit if both?

All I know is we haven't seen ridiculous disorder, mostly minor issues from a few idiots.

We should be able to utilse the stadium far better.

The away fans in the ne is that way but tbh home fans in the ne is best for building the fansbase as its the best place to attract people to and where most want to be. So we have to find a way to build on that north demand, even if it means exiting away fans south.

 

[LA1 Seasider]

The facilities in the Northern end of the East stand aren’t suitable for 2000+ away fans. They can’t sell beer, they have limited toilet and food facilities and there’s also the added issue of segregation given a minority of our fans have proven they can’t be trusted time and time again not to throw stuff.

The South stand entrance is easiest to steward / police in terms of away fans entering the stadium and the North exit has proven to be the safest means of away fans exiting the stadium.

Attempting to change this would require increased policing and stewarding and reduced income from catering and that’s difficult to justify unless the demand was in fact there to fill seats week in week out.

Having away fans in the Southern end of the East is currently the most sensible and efficient way of the club using the stadium given the permanent facilities available in the South East corner and the overall lack of demand for addition home seats.

The issues outside the ground at the start of the season (granted largely caused by the police themselves) has meant the club are no longer able to utilise the Northern end of the East stand for home fans at all (even should there be the demand) and instead have to channel away fans out via that end post game.

All in all taking into account approx 2500 seats going unused in the East, 650 unused in the South East due to segregation and approx 150/200 unused due to netting off in the North we currently operate with a maximum capacity of approximately 13500/14000.

I think we all agree a max capacity of 14000 is far too small (given sellling the last 10% of tickets is the most difficult in any stadium of any size due to a natural wastage) but this current ceiling also massively limits the clubs ability to lower prices whilst maintaining the income it needs.

I think we’ll soon hear plans regarding a permanent East, South East and improvements to the concourses and facilities in the North and West stands which will ultimately give us a 20000+ seat stadium which can actually be used to its maximum and which can generate commercial income without the current limitations. I also think the higher capacity will allow the club to not necessarily reduce prices but offer more options and avoid price increases in the medium term and remove the risk of pricing out normal people.

I think the criticism aimed at the club is unfair. They’ve been dealt a crap hand by the previous owners and some of our own fans really haven’t helped. I think we’ll see movement on the young adult price brackets in the immediate future and further effort put into enhancing the family stand offerings.

There’s not a lot they’re doing wrong and not as much room to improve as some people seem to think / demand. Some of the practical / commercial details are ignored in some of the above posts (which is understandable) but the people in charge don’t ignore them. Patience is needed.

 

[JJpool]

The facilities in the Northern end of the East stand aren’t suitable for 2000+ away fans. They can’t sell beer, they have limited toilet and food facilities and there’s also the added issue of segregation given a minority of our fans have proven they can’t be trusted time and time again not to throw stuff.

The South stand entrance is easiest to steward / police in terms of away fans entering the stadium and the North exit has proven to be the safest means of away fans exiting the stadium.

Attempting to change this would require increased policing and stewarding and reduced income from catering and that’s difficult to justify unless the demand was in fact there to fill seats week in week out.

Having away fans in the Southern end of the East is currently the most sensible and efficient way of the club using the stadium given the permanent facilities available in the South East corner and the overall lack of demand for addition home seats.

The issues outside the ground at the start of the season (granted largely caused by the police themselves) has meant the club are no longer able to utilise the Northern end of the East stand for home fans at all (even should there be the demand) and instead have to channel away fans out via that end post game.

All in all taking into account approx 2500 seats going unused in the East, 650 unused in the South East due to segregation and approx 150/200 unused due to netting off in the North we currently operate with a maximum capacity of approximately 13500/14000.

I think we all agree a max capacity of 14000 is far too small (given sellling the last 10% of tickets is the most difficult in any stadium of any size due to a natural wastage) but this current ceiling also massively limits the clubs ability to lower prices whilst maintaining the income it needs.

I think we’ll soon hear plans regarding a permanent East, South East and improvements to the concourses and facilities in the North and West stands which will ultimately give us a 20000+ seat stadium which can actually be used to its maximum and which can generate commercial income without the current limitations. I also think the higher capacity will allow the club to not necessarily reduce prices but offer more options and avoid price increases in the medium term and remove the risk of pricing out normal people.

I think the criticism aimed at the club is unfair. They’ve been dealt a crap hand by the previous owners and some of our own fans really haven’t helped. I think we’ll see movement on the young adult price brackets in the immediate future and further effort put into enhancing the family stand offerings.

There’s not a lot they’re doing wrong and not as much room to improve as some people seem to think / demand. Some of the practical / commercial details are ignored in some of the above posts (which is understandable) but the people in charge don’t ignore them. Patience is needed.

Tbh its farcical having to operate the way we are.

Yes a few incidents haven't helped, but the police being clueless shouldn't be a reason for us to lose out.

It is almost the final legacy of the Oyston era but I feel we can use it better, whether the club or the police are reluctant to allow it we don't know as we don't get given the info.

The police and the previous regime manged to fill it.

The problem is were doing well now, not in 4 years or whenever this new stand might start getting built.

As said putting home fans in NE cuts out any issues of fan sthrowing stuff.

Then the only thing to manage is away fans leaving South so a good police force would be able to do that.

The club said no plans to have our fans in there, this was before the away fans leaving South issues were known about.

So for me it's odd why there wouldn't have been plans for what happens when we sell out the 3 sides.

Either way were stuck as we are, we cant wait for the east to be built, well we can but we can't grow.

We have to try and find a workable solution so we can maximise support.

The only options are move away fans to the NE and we can populate the south side.

Or have home fans NE and send away fans out south. If possible its preferred as the north is the draw for new fans.

As said above not sure if you could have some home fans in the north side, then let them out through the north stand and then release away fans that way through the usual trek pass the north.

 

[LA1 Seasider]

Tbh its farcical having to operate the way we are.

Yes a few incidents haven't helped, but the police being clueless shouldn't be a reason for us to lose out.

It is almost the final legacy of the Oyston era but I feel we can use it better, whether the club or the police are reluctant to allow it we don't know as we don't get given the info.

The police and the previous regime manged to fill it.

The problem is were doing well now, not in 4 years or whenever this new stand might start getting built.

As said putting home fans in NE cuts out any issues of fan sthrowing stuff.

Then the only thing to manage is away fans leaving South so a good police force would be able to do that.

The club said no plans to have our fans in there, this was before the away fans leaving South issues were known about.

So for me it's odd why there wouldn't have been plans for what happens when we sell out the 3 sides.

Either way were stuck as we are, we cant wait for the east to be built, well we can but we can't grow.

We have to try and find a workable solution so we can maximise support.

The only options are move away fans to the NE and we can populate the south side.

Or have home fans NE and send away fans out south. If possible its preferred as the north is the draw for new fans.

As said above not sure if you could have some home fans in the north side, then let them out through the north stand and then release away fans that way through the usual trek pass the north.

I agree.

I heard a rumour there was initially a plan to use the land where a couple of prefabs had been on Henry street to build a new alley way which would have allowed away fans to exit onto Henry Street and therefore improve the circulation of fans around the stadium - however for whatever reason that hasn’t happened.

I hope something can be arranged over the coming preseason in terms of building an additional semi permanent structure in the North East as this could provide the facilities the Northern end of the East currently lacks and possibly allow for home fans to be housed in the Southern end of the East.

That being said it’s quite a big investment for a stand resigned to the scrapheap.

There needs to be a plan in place soon though as not only do we lack the facilities and capacity we need right now but when the East is pulled down you imagine it will take at least 1 season to replace and during that season or more capacity will be around 12500 (minus any segregation) so really won’t be suitable.

Now imagine we get promoted between then and now… potentially (depending on division and opposition) we’re locking out 2000-10000 fans each home game. That’s approx 30-50k in revenue lost EVERY game for every 1000 fans missing. In a premier league season maybe as much as half a million quid a game potentially lost ?

 

[JJpool]

I agree.

I heard a rumour there was initially a plan to use the land where a couple of prefabs had been on Henry street to build a new alley way which would have allowed away fans to exit onto Henry Street and therefore improve the circulation of fans around the stadium - however for whatever reason that hasn’t happened.

I hope something can be arranged over the coming preseason in terms of building an additional semi permanent structure in the North East as this could provide the facilities the Northern end of the East currently lacks and possibly allow for home fans to be housed in the Southern end of the East.

That being said it’s quite a big investment for a stand resigned to the scrapheap.

There needs to be a plan in place soon though as not only do we lack the facilities and capacity we need right now but when the East is pulled down you imagine it will take at least 1 season to replace and during that season or more capacity will be around 12500 (minus any segregation) so really won’t be suitable.

Now imagine we get promoted between then and now… potentially (depending on division and opposition) we’re locking out 2000-10000 fans each home game. That’s approx 30-50k in revenue lost EVERY game for every 1000 fans missing. In a premier league season maybe as much as half a million quid a game potentially lost ?

But if they could do that Henry Street entrance and or exit then fans would just be walking round onto Bloomfield Road and back past the south to the car parks.

Its virtually no different to letting then out south.

They just need to police the area properly.

As for when the east is knocked down I think we could build the NE corner in a summer, only 1 cpo required for that yard.

Build that and it'll add about 1k, as it'll be higher then the other corners and go from a hugh north rows to a higher east probably.

Get that done then pull down half the east and build half the stand, then do other other half.

Maybe I'm being optimistic, but if not the ne corner being built would offset a bit of the loss if the whole thing had to come down at once. Could still have more than 10k home fans and about 1k away, could even use some spare hospitality seats as normal for a while.