Average attendances

[hrtbps]

The results are in for the Rovers:

2017: 2457

2018: 2316

2019: 2304

(Source: https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2019/04/uk-championship-attendances-2019.html) 

So not much change then over what have been a tumultuous few seasons in terms of turnover of playing staff. So what conclusions can we draw?

[haskey]

To me it proves that the game is stagnating, with inept referees, rule changes, and league structure changes part of the reason.As far as Fev are concerned we are a championship team a few miles from 2 SL teams and only a village . I live in Cas but would never go there ,but how many more of us are there??

[Blue Pike]

With loads of new builds going up in Pontefract,Featherstone and neighbouring areas I would have expected our average to increase especially with a Team that wins more than it loses.Maybe with the possible chance of our games being televised on terrestrial tv it may get a few coming through the turn stiles but it has always been a problem for lowish averages at Fev since I started watching them and it’s mainly us loyal ones that are in this figure.I dread to think how many there will be if the drawbridge shuts for entrance into SL as I for one will walk away but like my mother says “ Dont worry about it,it may never happen “.

[MADREDNIGE]

As a postie delivering in Featherstone i speak to many many people about Rovers and some haven't been since SL, some say we will never go up because we arnt wanted, some simply can't afford it and some would rather spend their money in the pub butt some of them will put in an appearance for finals or a(big) game. I have never seen as many c@$ shirts in Featherstone and a lot of that is because they come to live in the new builds. We must get more combined from the surrounding areas then from Fev. 

[Chris Taylor]

3 hours ago, hrtbps said:

The results are in for the Rovers:

2017: 2457

2018: 2316

2019: 2304

(Source: https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2019/04/uk-championship-attendances-2019.html) 

So not much change then over what have been a tumultuous few seasons in terms of turnover of playing staff. So what conclusions can we draw?

I'm sure this will be part of the clubs marketing strategy that they will be building up to know what works, where fans come from, general feedback, etc. 

Maybe the clubs brand has been damaged in the last 12 months which put's people off? 

Supporters maybe down, but how does this compare with the commercial side of things? Are there more sponsors? Are they paying more? 

[jamescolin]

With the assets we have we should diversify and bring in income from  other quarters rather than gate money. As a small town we have to realise that gates are not going to increase tremendously but to use our assets to their best advantage. We do not market properly and have taken certain steps that drive people away. We should be looking at other ways of raising money and using our assets to the fullest.  I was in marketing and worked on the principal it is not what I want to sell but what the customer wants to buy and adapt the product accordingly. In the 70's and 80's I increased productivity by 4 million over three years. Knowledge of customer and business requirements are the first step, then fill the requirements to the best of your ability. Gates afre nbot the only sourcs of income if the right track is followed.

[jamescolin]

Sorry about the last sentence hope you can read it. Bit of wrong finger action.

[sentoffagain2]

  If we could get the average up to 3000 it would mean an extra £120G in income plus extra spend in the ground.That would get us three decent players on £40G contract money.

[marklaspalmas]

It's impossible to extrapolate any useful information from those stats. I think the club does reasonably well at selling itself locally given the proximity of SL rivals and the general disregard for our league from the wider sport/RL audience.

It's worthwhile remembering that back in the glory days when Fev won the league with some of the sport's finest players, plenty of quality internationals, etc we had a crowd average of 2,700.

As others have said, external money is what will keep the club afloat and take it forward, be that a sugar daddy, TV cash, or even a land development project.

[Fev1983]

4 hours ago, jamescolin said:

With the assets we have we should diversify and bring in income from  other quarters rather than gate money. As a small town we have to realise that gates are not going to increase tremendously but to use our assets to their best advantage. We do not market properly and have taken certain steps that drive people away. We should be looking at other ways of raising money and using our assets to the fullest.  I was in marketing and worked on the principal it is not what I want to sell but what the customer wants to buy and adapt the product accordingly. In the 70's and 80's I increased productivity by 4 million over three years. Knowledge of customer and business requirements are the first step, then fill the requirements to the best of your ability. Gates afre nbot the only sourcs of income if the right track is followed.

Colin, what would you do, the club would benefit from your marketing expertise, what is the first thing that you would do to bring in extra money?

[gingdong]

3 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

It's impossible to extrapolate any useful information from those stats. I think the club does reasonably well at selling itself locally given the proximity of SL rivals and the general disregard for our league from the wider sport/RL audience.

It's worthwhile remembering that back in the glory days when Fev won the league with some of the sport's finest players, plenty of quality internationals, etc we had a crowd average of 2,700.

As others have said, external money is what will keep the club afloat and take it forward, be that a sugar daddy, TV cash, or even a land development project.

the difference in them days we could draw crowds upto and over 10k for big cup games

[jamescolin]

2 hours ago, Fev1983 said:

Colin, what would you do, the club would benefit from your marketing expertise, what is the first thing that you would do to bring in extra money?

I would send a circular around the district asking what they would like to see or do at the ground that is extra to matches . Then using our facilities I would take the assets we have and accommodate the requests as much as possible to bring in more income. Not a guessing game ask the local population what they would like and accommodate accordingly.  Lots of good work is being done but have we actually asked what people would like?  Then do it at other times in addition to match days. If you look around the area you will see companies that have successfully diversified.  Other ideas but basically marketing is finding out what the potential buyers want instead of trying to flog things they are not interested in. Another thing that gets overlooked is overheads. They should be looked at closely to see if any overheads could be cut. When you are close to something after a while you don't see it.  If any project is loss making look at it. Are lights and heating left on when not used. Adjust your payments so that you pay out when you have had payments in. That way you save debit interest on you account. If you have a credit balance make sure you are getting interest. I could go on but that is the basic way of increasing income.

[jamescolin]

Incidentally I had 34 staff when I retired. On my first day I told them: 'You work for me and I will work for you'. They worked their socks off promoting the branch and its facilities. I got every one of them upgraded or promoted as well as bonuses. Team work is all important.

[jamescolin]

Further from a goodwill point of view I would stop searches of bags of people entering the ground. It puts people off and the income from it is negligible . People want to feel welcome and this not a way to do it. People will just stop going.

[marklaspalmas]

46 minutes ago, gingdong said:

the difference in them days we could draw crowds upto and over 10k for big cup games

Yes, the Cup was a much bigger attraction in those days and could 'make a season financially. Or we drew a big club away in the first round and went straight out.

[MADREDNIGE]

Too many different things to do these days especially in summer that's another reason folk don't go. 

[jamescolin]

4 hours ago, MADREDNIGE said:

Too many different things to do these days especially in summer that's another reason folk don't go. 

Yes that is quite right. So how many of those things can we incorporate into our business without them having to travel to do it? Find out and do what we can.

[tms]

id kick off later let people do stuff with family  in the day then treat them to a game in the evening plus you've got all the cricketers  who can't come  at  3

[MADREDNIGE]

39 minutes ago, jamescolin said:

Yes that is quite right. So how many of those things can we incorporate into our business without them having to travel to do it? Find out and do what we can.

Caravan at the coast or some have them at York, Skipton and other places. So you can't do anything about that. Iam sorry to say but in general the public of Featherstone arnt bothered about watching Rovers. As i stated in another post there's many  reasons they won't go. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

28 minutes ago, POR said:

id kick off later let people do stuff with family  in the day then treat them to a game in the evening plus you've got all the cricketers  who can't come  at  3

Not a bad idea from a fans' perspective but not sure many players would be keen on playing in the evening before a work day.

[gazza77]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Not a bad idea from a fans' perspective but not sure many players would be keen on playing in the evening before a work day.

Equally, those of us that travel to home games from further away would potentially be less likely to attend. Ultimately, you'll never please everyone, as seen everytime a game isn't played at 3pm on a Sunday. At least our games are, in the main, played at the same time and day, which makes planning around them easier. 

[saddleworth]

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 07:57, hrtbps said:

The results are in for the Rovers:

2017: 2457

2018: 2316

2019: 2304

(Source: https://rugbyl.blogspot.com/2019/04/uk-championship-attendances-2019.html) 

So not much change then over what have been a tumultuous few seasons in terms of turnover of playing staff. So what conclusions can we draw?

I would hazard a guess that it is an ageing population who attend the games.

[sentoffagain2]

6 minutes ago, saddleworth said:

I would hazard a guess that it is an ageing population who attend the games.

Why not do a family membership for new supporters.£250 for 2 adults and up to 3 children,My daughter supportes Huddersfield and her family ticket was less than that.Mind you i would want paying to watch Huddersfield.

[sweaty craiq]

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 19:44, jamescolin said:

Further from a goodwill point of view I would stop searches of bags of people entering the ground. It puts people off and the income from it is negligible . People want to feel welcome and this not a way to do it. People will just stop going.

and when some knob sets of a flare or worse - who takes the can, that's why clubs have searches. Some clubs go OTT though, LSV (ours) is one yet fails to find anything with away support as demonstrated recently when Widnes threw a flare onto the pitch.

[jamescolin]

Those nobs  wont be carrying a carrier bag like a lot of the lady supporters do. The nobs will have them concealed about their person. A lot of middle aged people are being upset at being searched  because the club wants them to buy a bottle of beer, sweets or pop from the ground. Poor from  a 'Please support us' aspect for a bit of income. If a person goes into the ground they have already PAID to see the match and therefore  any slight previous purchase should be ignored.