Re: Season tickets under the new system : Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:32 pm  

As long as a club knows it will finish in the top 8 then it's simple.
You either get 15 home games for top four finish or 14 for ending up 5th - 8th.
At Saints you know you'll get in the top 8 if not the 4.

Trouble is for clubs ending up 9-12. If they've sold a season ticket for a full season of SL games and then end up with three Championship clubs those ST's won't be renewed in the same numbers the following year.
If they offer a ST for 11 home games and the rest as pay on the day, do they charge SL prices for a Championship game or Championship prices?
We all know what happens to a club's crowds when they play a Champ club in the C Cup. Only half the ground is opened up.
I hope they've costed all this out and know the financial consequencies of what they've voted for. It wouldn't surprise me though if they haven't.

Re: Season tickets under the new system : Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:56 pm  

I cant see clubs offering two season tickets as it would result in unnecessary administrative expense.

Best to have one season ticket that covers all games including the leagues of 8 or failing that just the opening 22 rounds.

It just would not be practical for a club to sell a mini 3 or 4 game season ticket for the leagues of 8, as you may only know four days before the first of those games is being played if you are going to have 3 or 4 home games.
Imagine therefore the chaos that would ensue at a club like Wigan, Leeds or Saints with over 7k season ticket holders all wanting to purchase a mini season ticket, while at the same time the club is looking to sell match only tickets to other members of the general public.

Selling a special Leagues of 8 season ticket would invite fans to forego the regular season and only turn up for the matches at the business end of the season. Reading about the Swiss when they ran with the leagues of 8 format, one of the things they discovered was that fans stayed away from the early season games and instead only bothered turning up for the end of season leagues of 8

Anther aspect against selling a league of 8 mini ticket is that these leagues are likely to occur in August when people are going on holiday or have put aside money for their holiday spend. Hence I suspect this would weigh on peoples minds and wallets, which would reduce take up.

Re: Season tickets under the new system : Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:21 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

As long as a club knows it will finish in the top 8 then it's simple.
You either get 15 home games for top four finish or 14 for ending up 5th - 8th.
At Saints you know you'll get in the top 8 if not the 4.

Trouble is for clubs ending up 9-12. If they've sold a season ticket for a full season of SL games and then end up with three Championship clubs those ST's won't be renewed in the same numbers the following year.
If they offer a ST for 11 home games and the rest as pay on the day, do they charge SL prices for a Championship game or Championship prices?
We all know what happens to a club's crowds when they play a Champ club in the C Cup. Only half the ground is opened up.
I hope they've costed all this out and know the financial consequencies of what they've voted for. It wouldn't surprise me though if they haven't.

You mean you 'think' those season tickets will not be renewed in the same number the next season.

Re: Season tickets under the new system : Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:42 pm  

The Chair Maker wrote:

I cant see clubs offering two season tickets as it would result in unnecessary administrative expense.

Best to have one season ticket that covers all games including the leagues of 8 or failing that just the opening 22 rounds.

It just would not be practical for a club to sell a mini 3 or 4 game season ticket for the leagues of 8, as you may only know four days before the first of those games is being played if you are going to have 3 or 4 home games.
Imagine therefore the chaos that would ensue at a club like Wigan, Leeds or Saints with over 7k season ticket holders all wanting to purchase a mini season ticket, while at the same time the club is looking to sell match only tickets to other members of the general public.

Selling a special Leagues of 8 season ticket would invite fans to forego the regular season and only turn up for the matches at the business end of the season. Reading about the Swiss when they ran with the leagues of 8 format, one of the things they discovered was that fans stayed away from the early season games and instead only bothered turning up for the end of season leagues of 8

Anther aspect against selling a league of 8 mini ticket is that these leagues are likely to occur in August when people are going on holiday or have put aside money for their holiday spend. Hence I suspect this would weigh on peoples minds and wallets, which would reduce take up.

Excellent summary, but as Father Ted has posted for those who finish in the bottom four and are then playing Championship sides their gates will be affected. No disrespect but playing Leigh, Fev, Halifax and Sheffield won't have the same draw as Wigan, Saints, Wire and Leeds.
I don't buy into the argument that these games will attract more because they are more competitive.

Re: Season tickets under the new system : Tue Jan 21, 2014 12:49 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Excellent summary, but as Father Ted has posted for those who finish in the bottom four and are then playing Championship sides their gates will be affected. No disrespect but playing Leigh, Fev, Halifax and Sheffield won't have the same draw as Wigan, Saints, Wire and Leeds.
I don't buy into the argument that these games will attract more because they are more competitive.

Well we will have to wait and see. But what ever the outcome it's going to be hard to compare as these are extra games. Currently the league system ends earlier for everyone outside the top 8.

So we will just have to compare the crowds within the season. Would Cas taking an extra hammering from Wigan have pulled in more punters than the middle round?