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Bradford target 17,500 season ticket holders


robf

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I know that £149 is the cheapest season ticket ticket in the division, but even so the results have been staggering:

 

Link: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/13325818._/?

 

10,000 sold so far and they are now aiming for 17,500. If they sell 17,500 then that gives 'em £2.6m in season ticket revenue. I can't really work out how they do it unless Bradford has a far larger fanbase than I imagined. I know their expectations are going to be higher than ours but even so...

 

By comparison, even if we match last season's 3,000 odd season ticket figure that (sold at the higher rate) would give us about £1.2m or so. Even if we slashed prices to £149 and if we advertised it cleverly and when the club was seen as being on the up, I guess we'd hit 5,000 to maybe 8,000 sales top (after all in 2008 when we cut the price to £183 we sold 6,500).

 

8,000 tickets at £149 apiece is pretty much the same season ticket revenue (about £1.2m or so) as the 3,000 at the current rate bring in (so there's little financial benefit to the Vale other than more people on seats in the ground (and potentially buying refreshments, lottery tickets etc)). That figure doesn't include the marketing and staff wages (Bradford are open late each night) to cover such a promotion and gambles on 8,000 fans taking it up. In other words - it's simply a risk too far for the Vale, I think.

 

However, I would imagine we'll never see Vale hit 17,500 season tickets in League One, we just don't have that large a fanbase.

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They have had fantastic pricing for a while- was it not buy one get one free a couple of years ago? They have a huge catchment area though, we have a Premier League team in the same city which limits our potential.

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This has very little to do with prices as far as the Vale are concerned, it depends on performances, particularly at home. Vale have a basic support of about 3,000 , many of whom are elderly and will need replacement in the near future. Bradford have been cutting prices for many years, have built a tradition of large attendances, always assume that all season ticket holders attend when publishing figures, and have had some good cup runs over recent years. Visiting Bradford is generally a pleasant experience, even for away supporters and, of course the accommodation is amongst the best in a finished ground which is opened in expectation of large attendances. We need to give serious consideration to making access to Vale Park easier and possibly raising prices if that is what is required to give the manager a competitive budget.

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This list gives some history:

 

http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attnclub/brac.htm

 

Back in 1996 they averaged 5,708 in the third tier. They must have done something magic then. They were promoted through the playoffs, and in 1997, they had an average of almost 13,000, the year we finished 8th in the second tier. They just avoided relegation.

 

They spent 2 years in the Premier League, being relegated in 2001 along with Coventry and Manchester City.

 

Bradford were relegated to the third tier in 2004, after which their gates dropped from 11,377 to 8,839. They then dropped to League 2 in 2007 but miraculously their gates went up during that first year in the bottom tier to 13,694. That must have been when they started the cheap season ticket scheme. They remained in League 2 until 2013, when they were promoted through the playoffss, the same season we came up.

 

Who knows what the Wembley factor was, those two occasions they won in the playoffs, but they have certainly done a great job, despite years in the lower leagues.

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I know that £149 is the cheapest season ticket ticket in the division, but even so the results have been staggering:

 

Link: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/13325818._/?

 

10,000 sold so far and they are now aiming for 17,500. If they sell 17,500 then that gives 'em £2.6m in season ticket revenue. I can't really work out how they do it unless Bradford has a far larger fanbase than I imagined. I know their expectations are going to be higher than ours but even so...

 

By comparison, even if we match last season's 3,000 odd season ticket figure that (sold at the higher rate) would give us about £1.2m or so. Even if we slashed prices to £149 and if we advertised it cleverly and when the club was seen as being on the up, I guess we'd hit 5,000 to maybe 8,000 sales top (after all in 2008 when we cut the price to £183 we sold 6,500).

 

8,000 tickets at £149 apiece is pretty much the same season ticket revenue (about £1.2m or so) as the 3,000 at the current rate bring in (so there's little financial benefit to the Vale other than more people on seats in the ground (and potentially buying refreshments, lottery tickets etc)). That figure doesn't include the marketing and staff wages (Bradford are open late each night) to cover such a promotion and gambles on 8,000 fans taking it up. In other words - it's simply a risk too far for the Vale, I think.

 

However, I would imagine we'll never see Vale hit 17,500 season tickets in League One, we just don't have that large a fanbase.

 

 

Bradford is a big city with no major club nearby as opposition. Vale would only be able to think of a figure above 10,000 if Stoke City did not exist.

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Bradford is a big city with no major club nearby as opposition. Vale would only be able to think of a figure above 10,000 if Stoke City did not exist.

 

No opposition! Leeds are on their doorstep.

 

The distance between Bradford and Leeds is less than the distance between Burslem and Crewe.

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Instead of making comparisons like that, perhaps Vale should focus more marketing on the Staffordshire Moorlands (almost 100,000 population). There was always good support from Leek and Biddulph in the past.

 

Woops.... I mentioned marketing.... :rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

What I've always thought strange is the fact that even though they seem to have such a large amount of season ticket holders, they bring barely anybody to Vale. I haven't looked into the figures, but I'm sure we take around the same that they bring to us.

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Whilst both Leeds and Huddersfield football clubs are close, let's not forget that Bradford (like a number of other football clubs) are also in cities which have other high profile sports teams. In this case, the Bradford Rugby League team, whose attendances are around 13,000.

 

Whilst football and Rugby League tend to attract a city based working class support, Rugby Union tends to attract a suburban/rural middle class support. So, for example, whilst Leicester City and Leicester Tigers grounds are within spitting distance of each other, the support (around 25,000 and 20,000) respectively) is drawn from very different social class and geographical locales on the whole.

 

In a nutshell, Bradford have to work hard to attract and sustain their support, and clearly are. Many clubs in one club or one sport city's generally don't, and get lazy as a result, in marketing terms.

 

And the last point is a relevant one. Attracting 17,500 fans on cheap tickets might not increase the gate money, but it does increase the potential for increased match-day (food and drink) and non-match-day (replica shirts) spend, as well as hooking in fans for life.

 

Well done Bradford, thinking beyond short termism, making football affordable, and increasing the sustainability of the club.

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