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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2019 13:23:12 GMT
So, on non league day, over 2900 in the rain at Dulwich, 425 at Chatham and above average numbers at many clubs. With attendances down this season, should we be thinking of imaginative ways of getting new fans into a half empty Gallagher stadium? Any ideas that wouldn't cost the club much money? Discounts on drink? Leaflet drops around town? Invite whole schools or workplaces? If the half empty bits are in the standing areas and the seated area is full, then surely it's a no-brainer to fulfil demand and build the Riverside stand sooner rather than later?
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Post by Better things to do in life on Oct 17, 2019 13:28:55 GMT
Does the club have a grassroots scheme with local junior sides? Leeds (obviously much bigger) put up a block of 945 seats for every home game which are issued to a few kids football clubs. Not an income generator in itself, but a neat way of growing the next generation of (paying) supporters. Great idea!
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Post by Better things to do in life on Oct 17, 2019 13:31:09 GMT
So, on non league day, over 2900 in the rain at Dulwich, 425 at Chatham and above average numbers at many clubs. With attendances down this season, should we be thinking of imaginative ways of getting new fans into a half empty Gallagher stadium? Any ideas that wouldn't cost the club much money? Discounts on drink? Leaflet drops around town? Invite whole schools or workplaces? If the half empty bits are in the standing areas and the seated area is full, then surely it's a no-brainer to fulfil demand and build the Riverside stand sooner rather than later? Logically its a no-brainer, and we all long for that side of the ground to have a stand, but where's the money coming from? Are you offering to buy it, OxfordStone? "The Oxford Stand" does have a classy ring to it!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2019 14:55:59 GMT
If only I had that sort of money...
You've got to speculate to accumulate and I reckon the return on investment would be pretty quick... a big away draw in the next round of the Cup would help.
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Post by Nick on Oct 17, 2019 15:05:17 GMT
I'd like to see the figures that support a 'pretty quick return on investment'
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2019 15:15:06 GMT
Just my hunch that there's a demographic - older people, families with kids - who stay away because they don't want to stand up. Plus we're only looking at a 6 or 8-row bus shelter job, not exactly the Maracanã. Might be totally wrong, of course. I often am. I was just looking at FA Cup R1 and R2 attendances - usually pretty mediocre, about 5000 even for the biggest clubs - so that alone wouldn't solve much unless we draw G*lls away (assuming we don't get as far as R3)...
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Post by Bernie on Oct 17, 2019 15:34:47 GMT
So, on non league day, over 2900 in the rain at Dulwich, 425 at Chatham and above average numbers at many clubs. With attendances down this season, should we be thinking of imaginative ways of getting new fans into a half empty Gallagher stadium? Any ideas that wouldn't cost the club much money? Discounts on drink? Leaflet drops around town? Invite whole schools or workplaces? If the half empty bits are in the standing areas and the seated area is full, then surely it's a no-brainer to fulfil demand and build the Riverside stand sooner rather than later? I've noticed many empty seats in the main stand this season, as well as gaps on the terraces. I thought most seats were for season ticket holders. Are they not turning up? But I agree. When finances allow, a new Riverside start would be a fantastic addition to the ground.
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Post by pedant on Oct 17, 2019 16:11:27 GMT
If the half empty bits are in the standing areas and the seated area is full, then surely it's a no-brainer to fulfil demand and build the Riverside stand sooner rather than later? I've noticed many empty seats in the main stand this season, as well as gaps on the terraces. I thought most seats were for season ticket holders. Are they not turning up? But I agree. When finances allow, a new Riverside start would be a fantastic addition to the ground.Quite, but there's no financial case for doing it. In my mind the financial case only gets overridden if we get into the EFL. The paradox is, unfortunately, that should that ever happen finances will be more strapped than they are now.
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Post by rockstar on Oct 17, 2019 18:55:39 GMT
What I don’t understand is why we don’t offer schools or local football clubs free tickets to come to the home games to get higher attendances. Most children will buy food and drink so the club are in a win win situation with more income. You want to get local children involved and if we keep winning they may come back week and week. Players will also want to come and play for the club if we can offer attendances of nearly 4000 rather than the near 2000 that we get at present.
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Post by jakeyboi on Oct 17, 2019 19:05:25 GMT
What I don’t understand is why we don’t offer schools or local football clubs free tickets to come to the home games to get higher attendances. Most children will buy food and drink so the club are in a win win situation with more income. You want to get local children involved and if we keep winning they may come back week and week. Players will also want to come and play for the club if we can offer attendances of nearly 4000 rather than the near 2000 that we get at present. The most logical reason behind not giving free tickets to the kids is that they have to be accompanied by adults, an adults may not have the spare cash to spend on football. Take into account the cost of a programme, then add in hot food an drink for sometimes more than 1 kid, an it soon becomes a dear day out. Then the kids want shirts or scarfs an then big bucks are needed. As I suggested before I think doing a reduced rate for kids rather than totally free is a better option, or maybe even raffle off free family entry on a match day. Sadly attendences are falling nationwide an as a club they need to workout how to attract new fans an more importantly keep the new fans. As a club we have quite expensive season tickets, yet the club do not offer a payment scheme like other clubs do, the club need to do as much work off the field as it,s doing on the field to maintain survival.
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Post by sword65 on Oct 17, 2019 19:20:39 GMT
The majority of kids st our games are there because they are dragged there by parents. I would think the majority are in no way interested in the football so do we really want 1000+ kids who would rather be at home on xbox
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Post by Bernie on Oct 17, 2019 20:16:15 GMT
How about free family tickets for games with spare capacity? I would happily leaflet my street and surrounding area.
I'm the only regular fan in my workplace. Target companies on industrial estates and offices.
A lot of people commute to London every day. Maybe leaflet railway stations in the evening.
If just 5% respond it could make a difference. If nobody responds, all that has been lost is the price of some leaflets.
Maidstone United are a commercial leisure business and need to advertise
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Post by sword65 on Oct 17, 2019 21:20:57 GMT
How about free family tickets for games with spare capacity? I would happily leaflet my street and surrounding area. I'm the only regular fan in my workplace. Target companies on industrial estates and offices. A lot of people commute to London every day. Maybe leaflet railway stations in the evening. If just 5% respond it could make a difference. If nobody responds, all that has been lost is the price of some leaflets. Maidstone United are a commercial leisure business and need to advertise Isn't that why we have a commercial manager?
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Post by jdl on Oct 17, 2019 23:20:07 GMT
We have a rapidly increasing population in Maidstone, mostly in the 20-40 age range - just right for getting into supporting their local club.
But are we doing anything to get through to these people? From what I've seen, no. MUFC's attitude seems to be 'we built it, now they should come'.
And maybe they would - if they knew it was there, when games are, how much it costs, etc. As Barney says, we are a commercial leisure business - what other business in that market doesn't advertise or do anything else to reach out to potential customers?
We're all football fans because we once went to one game - and then came back to try another. That's all it takes. Maybe only to a few, but attract those few each game and soon you've got hundreds. And the more supporters you get, the more they talk about the club and get friends and family interested.
Of course, you do need an attractive 'product' to sell as well...
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Post by 61666 on Oct 18, 2019 7:53:22 GMT
Agree with the above, though in any competitive sport, having an attractive product has to be more than the team winning, as unfortunately the opposition want to do that too. The Gallagher is undoubtedly a lot more attractive than many other stadia in non league football. It has reasonable parking nearby, is close to the town centre, has a pitch that is less likely than most to be weather affected, is relatively cheap and does its best to be friendly. Well mostly. However, is it attractive enough - especially to encourage a wider spectrum of people than at present? At the risk of being accused of sweeping generalisations, am not sure junior visitors come to watch football anyway, as they spending much of their time playing chase while the game is going on. There is a small but significant minority of adults who spend a lot of match time out of sight of the game, waiting at the bars and food stands, while many of our young lady fans seem to attend dressed to attract boys rather than having much interest in the football. But then it was ever thus I guess and what you do on match days is irrelevant once you've paid the entrance fee. There again, should the club be doing more to make match days more attractive to the casual visitor? Not really sure what these might be, but on a personal level, the combination of smells in the Town End can be pretty unpleasant at times. A combination of cheesy chips, strange pie fillings and the affects there of on the digestive tract perhaps - the toilets are just behind too. Ultimately though, it probably is mostly about the team doing well. Win your home games, score plenty of goals and the punters are much more likely to turn up than during the disaster that was last season.
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