29 replies to this topic

[barrowraiderskid]

After averaging over 2000 in 2009 and dropping to about 1800 in 2010 what should we aiming for our average attendance for the 2011 season?

[Bluenwhite]

2500

[Baaarrow]

2500

3,000. Should be achievable in a town with a population of over 80,000 when you include Dalton and Ulverston.

[fozzy3]

anythings possible if its promoted enough ie round the schools and local superstores with the signings the club have made the club just need to grab the attention of the people of furness.

[Michael Ashton]

I hope I'm wrong but I think these gates are wildly optimistic. Everything depends on results and if we do get off to a bad start recovery on gates will take a long time. On paper I agree we have a terrific team and should be able to beat any team outside SL but games aren't played on paper.

Even if we start winning all games I think we will be lucky to average more than 2000.

Whether we like it or not soccer has a higher profile than RL and look at the gates at Holker Street.

[fozzy3]

i dont think the soccer has a bigger profile at the levels barrow afc are playing at for sure when the rugby season is up and running the rugby near on double afcs crowds.i still say the club needs to get into the supermarkets and schools again and try and grab the publics attention.

[off the wall]

lets be the first. let all away fans in for nowt if they buy a programme and a half time draw ticket. it will improve gates and the atmosphere. im sure with the average away fan numbers we could have a trial run on this.

[bwa]

lets be the first. let all away fans in for nowt if they buy a programme and a half time draw ticket. it will improve gates and the atmosphere. im sure with the average away fan numbers we could have a trial run on this.

We could all walk in as away fans couldn't we !!!!!!!!!!!!! good idea, not that simple to implement i don't think.

[harpic]

Think the key is major advertising and promotion of the friendlies perhaps with some offers on entry to entice more people in. If the team then do their job on the pitch and there's some decent half-time and pre-match entertainment, perhaps local bands but at the least some rousing music to sing a long too then hopefully more will come for future matches. Dalton Zoo has never been busier during the winter months than it has been recently with the free entry offer and people spend on the food and drink which makes the money back - maybe there's a lesson to learn there.

Pre-Christmas is always a difficult time to get people to spend especially when there's more than one to pay for - fiver entry for friendlies perhaps?

[richie keay]

Think the key is major advertising and promotion of the friendlies perhaps with some offers on entry to entice more people in. If the team then do their job on the pitch and there's some decent half-time and pre-match entertainment, perhaps local bands but at the least some rousing music to sing a long too then hopefully more will come for future matches. Dalton Zoo has never been busier during the winter months than it has been recently with the free entry offer and people spend on the food and drink which makes the money back - maybe there's a lesson to learn there.

Pre-Christmas is always a difficult time to get people to spend especially when there's more than one to pay for - fiver entry for friendlies perhaps?

From a purely selfish point of view and with a young family I hate the 6.30 k.o's in fact I missed more home games than attended last season, there's absolutely no point in me buying a season ticket.
Bring back Sunday afternoon's for me, at least until the floodlights are sorted out, by then my kids will old enough to come with me on a Saturday night.

Edited by richie keay, 20 November 2010 - 06:32 PM.

[mick wilson]

Think the key is major advertising and promotion

Agreed, a major publicity drive will reap rewards even if slowly at first, do we try to intice folk in from Kendal, Windermere, G over Sands & Ulverston etc

Would our coach company put on a subsidised bus from the lakes into Barrow & home again , charge just 2 pound return, with their local papers advertizing it along with the various local radio stations, surely we could fill a bus or 2 with enough prolonged promotion ?

Invite various sports clubs & businesses etc get then on the day out excursion

[harpic]

My school gets footie tickets given by premier clubs and we use them as reward prizes with a member of staff taking kids along. We could do something like that. Will be interesting to see how big the crowd is at cp tomorrow with a £3 entry. (that's cheaper than the reserves games were!)
Let's hope some of the suggestions on here get discussed further and hopefully put into action.

[Shipbuilder]

A regular average of 2,000 is the minimim we should be aiming for next year with a bit more if we get a good cup draw. It's not a big target but we can't be daft and say Barrow should get 4,000 - some SL clubs don't get that ( and I dont just mean Harlequins & Crusdaders).

If the club does it's planning on a basis of 2,000 it can then assess how we can drive it up to a regular 2,500. It's easy to get a one off big gate it's keepinh it that is hard.

[MikeHool]

Bradford Bulls marketing of cheap season tickets certainly seems to be successful

http://forums.rlfans...p?f=19&t=476558

some interesting facts here on how gates are declared !!

[Baaarrow]

Since the announcement regarding the new coaching staff at Barrow RLFC, there has been a massive surge in media interest surrounding the club.
It was great to see us dominating the front page of today’s League Express – something which would have been unthinkable a few years ago !
The ‘Upfront’ column on page 2 of the same paper suggests that Schofield’s appointment should bring some welcome publicity to the Championship and that the club should be able to convert the interest into increased crowds.
Let’s hope this is the case.
We have a real chance here to elevate the popularity of the club !
With good P.R. and marketing we should be seeing the best crowds at the stadium for over twenty years.
Roll on 2011 !!!!

[SRC]

Bradford Bulls marketing of cheap season tickets certainly seems to be successful

http://forums.rlfans...p?f=19&t=476558

some interesting facts here on how gates are declared !!

I did the sums a few weeks ago about this and posted on the forum. It is a massive gamble by Bradford and smacks of desparation. It's OK being 'innovative', but that doesn't pay the bills. Charging the equivelant of £5 a match means that the income on the gate (even with 11,000 attending) is less than half of what you get when 7,000 attend at full price.

Attendances will go up (which the RFL will love), but the income goes down. Also, the season tickets are that cheap that if the results aren't so good, fans won't think twice about not turning up to matches.

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[SRC]

I think the club needs to have a realistic 'target' to aim for in each fixture. The marketing of each game needs to be tweaked to suit the opposition and gravitas of each fixture. Some clubs bring very few away fans and other clubs quite a few more.

What about grading fixtures by number of potential away fans and attractiveness of the fixture. Then aim for a minimum attendance target .....

GRADE A (3,000 target)
Featherstone
Halifax
Leigh
Widnes

GRADE B (2,300 target)
Dewsbury
Sheffield
York

GRADE C (2,100 target)
Toulouse
Hunslet
Batley


If the targets were hit, then the league average would be 2,520. Anything above would be a bonus.

[a.n.other]

I did the sums a few weeks ago about this and posted on the forum. It is a massive gamble by Bradford and smacks of desparation. It's OK being 'innovative', but that doesn't pay the bills. Charging the equivelant of £5 a match means that the income on the gate (even with 11,000 attending) is less than half of what you get when 7,000 attend at full price.

Attendances will go up (which the RFL will love), but the income goes down. Also, the season tickets are that cheap that if the results aren't so good, fans won't think twice about not turning up to matches.

It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Let's not also forget geographical location. Any increase in Bradford's pool of fans due to cheaper season tickets will probably be at the expense of another local club (Leeds or Huddersfield). Getting previous generation fans back through the turnstiles is the problem which Barrow face. Don't have any answers but I'm sure success on the field will be the key.

[millomite]

Give EVERY primary school kid in the area a free season ticket on the proviso that they need to attend with an adult. The club needs a headline grabber, something like this would work wonders for PR. Let's say approximately 150 under 11s attend games currently, fiver a head, £750 total. Not sure whether that's a valid estimate but use it as a basis. Say each of them spends £3 on pop, crisps etc that's £1200.

How many primary schools in the area? I know there's 3 in Millom, each with seven year groups of approximately 25 pupils, about 500 pupils. I can only guess but say there are 20 more in Barrow, Ulverston, Dalton etc. probably with slightly more pupils. Rough estimate of 150 pupils x 25 schools = 3750. If a free ticket entices even 15% to go to a game, just over 550 kids, each spending £3 on pop and crisps plus at least one parrot paying full price. £1600 on food etc, plus parents gate receipts. Even if they all don't return frequently, some of them will catch the bug. Frequent notices to the schools, marketing etc would help researches the initiative throughout the season. These kids will form the basis of the supporters for years to come, catch them now while they are still impressionable. With the team we have, and a few good results to start the season, it'd capture their interest.

Break the mould, do something different and ram it into peoples heads. These kids will be playing mini rugby, it'd Help the links with the amateur clubs, ultimately supporting the academy and the first team in future years. May have been mooted before, but it's just an idea, one I think would work

[barrowraiderskid]

Give EVERY primary school kid in the area a free season ticket on the proviso that they need to attend with an adult. The club needs a headline grabber, something like this would work wonders for PR. Let's say approximately 150 under 11s attend games currently, fiver a head, £750 total. Not sure whether that's a valid estimate but use it as a basis. Say each of them spends £3 on pop, crisps etc that's £1200.

How many primary schools in the area? I know there's 3 in Millom, each with seven year groups of approximately 25 pupils, about 500 pupils. I can only guess but say there are 20 more in Barrow, Ulverston, Dalton etc. probably with slightly more pupils. Rough estimate of 150 pupils x 25 schools = 3750. If a free ticket entices even 15% to go to a game, just over 550 kids, each spending £3 on pop and crisps plus at least one parrot paying full price. £1600 on food etc, plus parents gate receipts. Even if they all don't return frequently, some of them will catch the bug. Frequent notices to the schools, marketing etc would help researches the initiative throughout the season. These kids will form the basis of the supporters for years to come, catch them now while they are still impressionable. With the team we have, and a few good results to start the season, it'd capture their interest.

Break the mould, do something different and ram it into peoples heads. These kids will be playing mini rugby, it'd Help the links with the amateur clubs, ultimately supporting the academy and the first team in future years. May have been mooted before, but it's just an idea, one I think would work

Don't forget about secondary school kids. If you walked into my school you couldn't even tell if there was a rugby team in the area. Someone in my year who moved from america to barrow in september only found out there was a professional rugby team in the area because someone asked him if he was going to attend games next year, pretty poor really. With some decent publicity and special offers we should be able to average 2500. Work needs to be done though.