Do cheaper ticket prices work?

[mr.hobblesworth]

Has there been any thorough research done on this? Obviously it's hard to gauge as it's impossible to know what the attendance would have been if prices hadn't been reduced on previous occasions, but I've seen little to convince me that it does work. Obviously there was a huge increase when it was done for the promotion games although I do wonder if went a little too far with those, as great as the occasions were.

Anyway, people are saying we need to do cheaper tickets for the Sunderland game and I'm not sure if that's the case. A permanent competitively priced/ free ticket for under 18s, I could go with but I'm not sure how many extra people would be summoned from their sofas or barstools by a ten quid saving on a game. And, if they were, would the increased attendance at a substantially cheaper price make the offer worthwhile?

As an exile, I find the ticket price the least of my concern after factoring in travel and time and I suspect most Sunderland fans would be particularly unswayed by the saving of a tenner.

[Rampant Zebra]

k it is all academic really, I can't see anyone wanting to risk losing money on the deal.

[Conrad]

Sunderland fans have been used to turning up in numbers at prem and championship prices, a full price ticket for the Vale would be cheaper than what they’re used to.

[geosname]

I think they would work..... if..... it was promoted properly.... and..... it was done to attract fans long term.

Not just hit and miss for the odd game no one knows about.

We need a long term strategy to swell the dwindling numbers.

[valefan16]

The ticket prices will need to be agreed with Sunderland as they get a cut of the receipts so will depend on them as much as us in agreeing it. they know they will likely sell out so could prevent but will have to see.

[mr.hobblesworth]

I remember Peter Ridsdale (I think) having a right go at Billy Bell for refusing to accept a price cut when we played Leeds at their place a few years back.

[Santa]

I remember Peter Ridsdale (I think) having a right go at Billy Bell for refusing to accept a price cut when we played Leeds at their place a few years back.

Yeah, that was when they played at home in Europe on the Thursday in front of 39,000 fans, and us the Sunday in front of 11,000.

 

Surprisingly not many Leeds fans thought we were as glamorous a tie as Spartak Moscow.

[PV1993]

£10 per person, regardless of age. Should make pay on the gate feasible - just stock the attendants with tenners and let them go. Season Ticket holders paying too should mean we see a good sized profit despite the reduction in ticket cost.

 

The reduction is for attracting more Vale fans rather than those from up north, but you can't charge the two sets of fans different prices - unless there was an offer like '£10 with your season ticket' or something. This is a great chance to get as many locals into the ground, create a good atmosphere, and hopefully they stick around.

[mr.hobblesworth]

For that to work, we'd need over 50% more people to attend to make the same amount*, if not substantially more (as I don't think the SAFC will bring more if it's cheaper.) I reckon we'd get about 1,000 more for the ticket offer if we're lucky. I'd rather the offer be something that attracts younger fans long term.

 

*I'm not counting the increase in income from extra refreshments because we all know there will be **** all left by half time whatever the attendance.

[MelbourneValiant]

Has there been any thorough research done on this? Obviously it's hard to gauge as it's impossible to know what the attendance would have been if prices hadn't been reduced on previous occasions, but I've seen little to convince me that it does work. Obviously there was a huge increase when it was done for the promotion games although I do wonder if went a little too far with those, as great as the occasions were.

Anyway, people are saying we need to do cheaper tickets for the Sunderland game and I'm not sure if that's the case. A permanent competitively priced/ free ticket for under 18s, I could go with but I'm not sure how many extra people would be summoned from their sofas or barstools by a ten quid saving on a game. And, if they were, would the increased attendance at a substantially cheaper price make the offer worthwhile?

As an exile, I find the ticket price the least of my concern after factoring in travel and time and I suspect most Sunderland fans would be particularly unswayed by the saving of a tenner.

 

 

In the past I think that cheaper prices have been marketed poorly and aimed at poor games. Let's put it this way, if cheaper prices don't work, then prices are not a factor. If prices are not a factor in attendance, why not make it 100 quid a ticket? Because it is ridiculously expensive. The more money off the 100 quid ticket, the more likely people are to think that it is worth it. Therefore, cheaper prices do work. Albeit Port Vale v Middlesbro' under 21's has little effect, but the crowd would most certainly have been less if it was 23quid. I paid 10 quid for Sheff Utd away a few years back in the cup. I wouldn't have paid 20. I pay 110 quid a season for iFollow. I wouldn't pay more than 150. Everything has a price, and the better the value the more customers you will entice.

[mr.hobblesworth]

The question isn't whether cheaper prices work as I'm sure there are a (IMO insignifant) few who will attend. It's whether that increase in attendance is worth the drop in prices. As I've stated, dropping the prices by over 50% to ten quid would necessitate a huge, near-unprecedented increase in people turning up so I don't feel we should. Doesn't mean that I think we don't need some strategy to attract more through the gates; I just don't think one-off offers are the answer.

[robf]

For me, it's like all marketing initiatives in that:

 

1. You can't expect instant results from one-off promotions.

2. You need to have a long-term plan and have goals to reach. For instance, reducing tickets will almost certainly have an immediate loss attached to it but what will be the benefit to the club in 3/5/10 years if some of the new people attracted are regulars/season ticket holders?

3. You need to try a promotion multiple times, have the ability to see and understand the results and be able to adapt and tweak things over time. Not every initiative succeeds but if you have the ability to see the results you can still learn from mistakes.

 

I think where Vale have always failed in the past is the lack of total commitment to something. It's either a token gesture (because other clubs do it) or not done properly (because of lack of staff, planning or both).

 

However, the one occasion where I think it did work and shows what potentially could happen was the marketing/promotion under Paul Wildes - particularly for the closing home games of the 2013 season.

 

Why was that different? First off, they planned ahead. They started at the beginning by looking at what they thought the club should stand for and then came up with small but significant things like using the same font, colour set for images and sending out proper, scheduled press releases. Not only that but they used social media to "build the excitement"

 

To do that they used a marketing agency and had a reasonably sized marketing team.

 

Obviously they were helped by Vale going for promotion at the time too but for me, that was the only time in recent years when I actually got excited about Vale's marketing campaign and felt like we had a long-term plan.

 

I think the clubs who succeed on these sort of things have long-term plans and "do it properly" - token gestures and one-off, last-minute promotions won't cut it.

[Owd 'un]

There are 2 issues here; a reduction in prices for the Sunderland game to boost attendance for that game only and an overall reduction in ticket prices to get supporters back long term.

 

As far as the Cup game is concerned this will be the third successive home game so I think that one way of looking at this is to use the Cup game to get people to all 3 of these games. A discount for the Cup Tie for those attending either(both?) the previous League games therefore seems a reasonable approach. A similar discount would then have to apply to season ticket holders. I'm not sure if this would then result in a reduced price for visiting supporters.

 

Reducing prices overall to try to increase attendances is a recurring theme and quite frankly I don't think it works by itself. You get far more bums on seats with a winning team or a strategic plan/campaign like the season ticket promotion we did a few years back. I remember V2001 taking over with a promise to reduce ticket prices to appease stay away supporters who used the high admission cost as their excuse for not turning up. Prices were reduced and it made no difference to attendances so after about a dozen games the Board increased prices back again - amid roars of disapproval from the fans. Once again the higher price made no difference to attendances.

 

There are limits to all of this of course but I doubt we'd even get 25% more through the gates even if it was free to get in, unless we have a winning team.

[For Us All]

I'd go for:-

Adults £15

Seniors £10

18-21 yr olds £5

Under 18's. £5

[Valiant62]

I’d go normal prices. These discounts don’t work.