Season tickets down 20%. Why?

[RossP]

Mackie leaves... Dons season ticket sales increase. Coincidence?

[+Fraz]

As I said in the other season ticket thread I renewed my ST during the first early bird term. I didn't email Kenny regarding the Sevco debacle as I had faith that the club would do the right thing. My wife did not renew her ST partly due to us now having a baby daughter (spending time away from her, finding babysitters etc) and partly because she just wasn't enjoying it much anymore, didn't feel she 'knew' the players anymore.

People may have genuine reasons for not renewing and that's fair enough. Disappointing to lose some football tourists to County, perhaps once the novelty has worn off they will see reason. As for those who promised they would renew / buy a ST once we voted against the newco and are now not going to do that all I can say is 'spineless, lying cretins'.

[NoIInTeam]

To be honest, go or don't go it's your own choice. All teams have a core support anyway who stick with their team through thick and thin, even the Old Firm. We all watch the game for different reasons, some for entertainment, some who are passionate about their team and some who have nothing better to do on a Saturday. When the team become entertaining again the support will come back.

i will be there every week because I love football and support my local team.

[Joe DiMaggio]

As I said in the other season ticket thread I renewed my ST during the first early bird term. I didn't email Kenny regarding the Sevco debacle as I had faith that the club would do the right thing. My wife did not renew her ST partly due to us now having a baby daughter (spending time away from her, finding babysitters etc) and partly because she just wasn't enjoying it much anymore, didn't feel she 'knew' the players anymore.

People may have genuine reasons for not renewing and that's fair enough. Disappointing to lose some football tourists to County, perhaps once the novelty has worn off they will see reason. As for those who promised they would renew / buy a ST once we voted against the newco and are now not going to do that all I can say is 'spineless, lying cretins'.

I highly doubt many of these 'football tourists' actually exsist. If they wanted to watch county they would have gone over last season. There may be some who go to watch whatever game is on but I cant see them being season ticket holders. Why would someone who is not really a proper fan of ICT spend good money to sit and watch dire football, neturals would pick and chose games. It is our own fans who are not renewing for this year, not neturals.

[+Fraz]

As I said in the other season ticket thread I renewed my ST during the first early bird term. I didn't email Kenny regarding the Sevco debacle as I had faith that the club would do the right thing. My wife did not renew her ST partly due to us now having a baby daughter (spending time away from her, finding babysitters etc) and partly because she just wasn't enjoying it much anymore, didn't feel she 'knew' the players anymore.

People may have genuine reasons for not renewing and that's fair enough. Disappointing to lose some football tourists to County, perhaps once the novelty has worn off they will see reason. As for those who promised they would renew / buy a ST once we voted against the newco and are now not going to do that all I can say is 'spineless, lying cretins'.

I highly doubt many of these 'football tourists' actually exsist. If they wanted to watch county they would have gone over last season. There may be some who go to watch whatever game is on but I cant see them being season ticket holders. Why would someone who is not really a proper fan of ICT spend good money to sit and watch dire football, neturals would pick and chose games. It is our own fans who are not renewing for this year, not neturals.

There may not hundreds but there are undoubtedly some. There are posters on this forum who have sadly admitted that they will not be getting a ST but will now be picking and choosing their games between us and County.

[gordieict]

I do think that those that feel the standard of football on show last season didn't have an effect of season ticket sales are kidding themselves, I for one know a few people that said they were not renewing this season for that very reason.

Watching ICT last season was not a pleasurable experience and many have said they couldn't wait for the season to end so no surprise they are not rushing out to buy tickets, it might not be the right thing to do but it is a factor.

[Murchison]

Well I can admit I did email the club, and have not bought a season ticket. That's because I never promised to, and there is no way I can justify doing so. What I did promise was to increase my support for the club, which I am doing by joining the player sponsor for the first time, will be attending as many home games as possible (my first home games in at least 3 seasons), buying the new shirts for the first time in years, and doing whatever else I can spending money at games.

I know it is the best way to plan ahead for the club with season ticket sales, but lets not think its the be all end all, it doesn't mean people are not supporting the club!

[Alex MacLeod]

We can debate this forever more but the real figures we should be concerned about are the 'on the day' figures. We could well find that season ticket sales are down but that average gates go up.

[SMEE]

We can debate this forever more but the real figures we should be concerned about are the 'on the day' figures. We could well find that season ticket sales are down but that average gates go up.

This is true. Maybe....due to the financial climate, many cant justify paying out Hundreds of pounds up front on football, so will just pay on a game by game basis. Im hoping to make it to a few more games this season myself....i do miss the waking up feeling on a matchday. But usually, coz of my commitments as a dad, it only usually works out at about 20-25% of home games that i would make it to

[ictchris]

We were pish last season, people aren't going to pay to watch rubbish. We've consistently been poor at home - even in 2010/11, arguably our clubs best season ever, we were much better away from home.

[caley100]

Its possibly a delay in making decision about buying a season tkt caused by last seasons quality or whether fans just turn up and pay on the day, either way if the team start to play a better quality and more entertaining type of football more fans will turn out.

We will just have to wait and see.

Oh aye... i've bought my season tkt, wee bit late but money was tight.

[Murchison]

Oh aye... i've bought my season tkt, wee bit late but money was tight.

Another reason season ticket sales will be down, people simply just can't afford it. Its not just the SPL clubs that are having their budgets cut!

[ferben1994]

I would agree that if folk pledged to renew their season ticket if the club voted to keep newco out, they should ensure they keep their word. However a lot of people who have pledged support were not season ticket holders before so cannot be criticised for not buying them. Some have bought season tickets even though they know they are not going to get to too many games and that is a brilliant gesture which should be acknowledged and applauded.

Many others have simply said they will try to get to more games and support the club that way. As we haven't had any league matches yet those folk have not had the opportunity to put their money where their mouth is. There is a difference here which is important to recognise: those who didn't have a season ticket before but who go to more matches are putting extra money into the club whereas those who renew their season tickets are not. Whilst it is really important to try to persuade as many season ticket holders to renew in order to maintain a previous income stream, it is also important to persuade the less regular attender to attend more often.

I don't know if anyone has done any research on this? I would be interested to know what the make-up of a typical crowd is. What percentage are season ticket holders, what percentage pay full price and what percentage pay concession rates. That's the easy bit. The hard bit is do some research to identify how often the non-season ticket holders actually attend matches and to find out what makes them decide whether they will attend or not.

For the sake of argument if in a crowd of 3,500 there were 1,500 home supporters who were not season ticket holders, then my guess would be that some of those will only go to one or two matches a year whilst some will go to most and there will be everything in between. What is certain is that it won't be the same 1,500 every week. There may be 5,000 or more who go to at least a couple of games a year and who are not season ticket holders. The key to getting bigger crowds is to get these folk through the turnstiles more often - and to bring someone with them.

So the next bit of reseach would be to find out what would encourage them to attend more often. Without doubt the quality of the entertainment on offer will be a big factor here and for this reason we need to see a more entertaining style of play if we are to get more bums on seats. So whilst it is annoying that some who have pledged to renew season tickets haven't done so, the real need here is to attact others to the games more often. If we do that by playing a more entertaining style of football then the season ticket sales will look after themselves.

[ferben1994]

unfortunately due to nothin more than working in retail i am not as often as i would love too, take my two young lads, too see the team.

i renewed this year but regardless of league status next year we will have too pay at gate as/when i get the rare saturday off.

On the plus side i am positive for this season on two fronts

1. we will definately not be relegated

2. we will definately finish above the caravan campers/dwellers

[Alex MacLeod]

Maybe terry needs to get out and about in Sneck. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/sport/spl/4467040/Kennys-on-pub-crawl.html

[gordieict]

Maybe terry needs to get out and about in Sneck. http://www.thescotti...-pub-crawl.html

Killie they appear to be pulling out all stops to increase season ticket sales, fair play to the manager for this

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

We were pish last season.

Succinct and to the point I would be willing to do a sponsored pub crawl !!

[Alex MacLeod]

From what I've seen so far this season those of you who've opted out because of entertainment factors are going to miss out. Get your ST's and prepare to be happy.

[12th Man]

To improve sales run a promotion, people have been disappointed with the quality of football last season and have lost interest.

Things have greatly improved so the club can throw down the gauntlet.

Reduce the cost for the first home game of the season by £6 to encourage a larger crowd, creating the following costs

Main stand North Family

Adult £20 £15 £10

Concession £15 £10 £8

Junior £15 £10 £1

If the punters like what they see, they get a full refund for their match tickets if they buy a season ticket before the Celtic match and I would throw in a £5 voucher for the club shop too.

Lastly I would produce fliers advertising the above and have our youth players handing them out smartly dressed in ICT clothing at supermarkets on Fri evening 5 till 7 and 10 till 12 Saturday morning at supermarkets, retail parks and the Eastgate centre.

[jaggy]

Take note club officials, great idea above, have faith in the team product.

[CaleyD]

I don't think it's a bad idea, but imagine the administrative headache it would cause trying to do something like that? Not to mention the fact that you have to offer away fans the same price as home fans for similar seats (i.e. North and South Stands), so you'd lose income from Away Fans and not be able to recoup that.

Keep it really simple....every existing season ticket holder who introduces a new season ticket holder gets £50 (£25 for kids season ticket). That way the "incentive" only pays out for successful transactions. If Season ticket is taken on finance then £50 (£25) is paid out at end of season.

[mainstander]

There are posters on this forum who have sadly admitted that they will not be getting a ST but will now be picking and choosing their games between us and County.

I heard Roy McGregor telling Richard Gordon on the radio on Saturday that Ross County have sold 2800 STs. He also said that theyre hospitality is full for the season with 400 people and 80% of the hospitality and a lot of STs come from the Inverness area.

Edited August 5, 2012 by mainstander

[12th Man]

I don't think it's a bad idea, but imagine the administrative headache it would cause trying to do something like that? Not to mention the fact that you have to offer away fans the same price as home fans for similar seats (i.e. North and South Stands), so you'd lose income from Away Fans and not be able to recoup that.

Keep it really simple....every existing season ticket holder who introduces a new season ticket holder gets £50 (£25 for kids season ticket). That way the "incentive" only pays out for successful transactions. If Season ticket is taken on finance then £50 (£25) is paid out at end of season.

Nice idea but if 10 fans didnt renew then nominated each in turn we would have a £450 kitty from the club (not £500 as the 1st person cant be introduced).

My idea produces a bit of spin, we probably have around 2000 st holders if we hope for 3,500 fans to turn up then only 1500 get the discount, equates to £9000 of a dip in income. figures over 3.500 is extra revenue from people being coaxed in from the cheaper price, including Killy fans making the trip. Giving fans their money back for buying a season ticket is more spin, as its just the same as selling at the early bird prices and the club has already come up with the voucher for the club shop idea.

If the club cut the prices for the first game, in an attempt to fill the stadium, the team gets to show the fans that they are far better than last season, let the team be the best incentive to buy season tickets, £-9000, + £ from extra fans,+£ from progs, food etc, + £ for extra season tickets = +£?

probably 4,500 fans would compensate for the minus figure,+ extra revenue from bar,progs etc, the team gets to show the stay aways what they are missing, and a promotion for giving fans their cash back, just 3 adults bring in over a grand buying season tickets, if they dont buy a st then the team have reminded them why they should come back again in the future.

' Would you like cashback sir/madam or would you like it to be discounted from the cost of your season ticket' ?

[12th Man]

There are posters on this forum who have sadly admitted that they will not be getting a ST but will now be picking and choosing their games between us and County.

I heard Roy McGregor telling Richard Gordon on the radio on Saturday that Ross County have sold 2800 STs. He also said that theyre hospitality is full for the season with 400 people and 80% of the hospitality and a lot of STs come from the Inverness area.

Whats wrong with that, if I was born in Ross shire I wouldnt want to live their either, I would move to the city, get a job and mingle with normal people.

[bauhaus]

Think that some of the staff from the McGregor companies are forced to buy season tickets as part of their wages, hence the Inverness ticket holders. When you go to McGregors it feels anti ICT, and Im sure ICT have season tickets goimg to Ross-shire too. See some walking over the bridge