Jump to content

Can tickets be too cheap


Recommended Posts

29 minutes ago, Jonty58 said:

Ticket prices are like any other business.

They are worth what the buyers are prepared to pay for a product.

I don't agree with this and don't think it is the case when they are set the way they are in Rugby League, often poorly and seemingly with little research. Are you saying that no one would be prepared to pay more than £65 for a season ticket?

In a similar vein I have never paid anywhere near what I would be prepared to pay for a big RL event. Nearly every Challenge Cup final I have been to I have paid half price when I would have paid full price. The Grand Final has been a similar story. For things like the 2013 World Cup I got unbelievably cheap tickets for matches I would have gone to anyway.

In RL people are often prepared to pay more than they need to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 120
  • Created
  • Last Reply

£65 is for under 30's, a demograph of fans we have struggled for years to attract, the hope is they can go to the rugby then up to town/night out after, these are the area of fans we need more of, the rest of us it's £125, yes cheap but something Ken is prepared to lose money on.

One day i hope and pray the public of Huddersfield pay him back but i doubt it, they aren't and never will be interested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, daz39 said:

£65 is for under 30's, a demograph of fans we have struggled for years to attract, the hope is they can go to the rugby then up to town/night out after

Surely this cant be true. One of your fellow Huddersfield fans stated "News flash, most under 30s are skint." He even claimed this as an actual fact. Now though you are saying they can afford a season ticket and a night out too.  The way things are these days a night out that will cost in excess of £65!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, northamptoncougar said:

£65 is too cheap, this working class thing doesn’t wash, there’s 100,000’s following football up north every week all under 30 spending more that £65 on a Saturday.

Cheap prices only attracts a certain market, the game consistently cheapens itself. If the product and the game day experience is good (not just the 80 minutes) people will come and happily spend money.

So people who aren't attracted to buy a Giants season card at £125 will be if it costs more?

As a club we know our fan base is pretty much stuck at the numbers it has been for a few years so i presume making them double the price will possibly mean losing a large chunk of our regular fans with no hope of replacing them, as i said people in Huddersfield aren't interested in the Giants or rugby league.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, daz39 said:

£65 is for under 30's, a demograph of fans we have struggled for years to attract, the hope is they can go to the rugby then up to town/night out after, these are the area of fans we need more of, the rest of us it's £125, yes cheap but something Ken is prepared to lose money on.

One day i hope and pray the public of Huddersfield pay him back but i doubt it, they aren't and never will be interested.

Ticket pricing is just one lever you have as a marketeer. Be that in RL or in any other entertainment business.

I'm assuming the strategy is to pull in the under 30's with cheap tickets as a loss leader, so they come in large numbers and the incentive is then to get them to spend on other things in the ground (likely beer and pies)... what else are Hudds doing to get this target group of people in the ground early to keep spending that money whilst they are there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, daz39 said:

people in Huddersfield aren't interested in the Giants or rugby league.

The answer is to make the Giants more appealing to the people of Huddersfield and make Giants games something that people want to pay for. Not to just keep hacking away at the price until someone goes "oh, go on then, it's something to do I suppose....." 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Suppose you gave a culture war and nobody came?

Huddersfield are charging Wetherspoon's prices but not getting a crowd ... is that a good thing, do you think? If it's not just the price then what's going on?

What's deemed a crowd?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Dave T said:

They are certainly at the lower end of what I have seen. 

For adults they charge £198, versus £250-380 at Northampton and £306-391 at Forest Green. 

What's clear is that there are wild variations in pricing based on loads of factors. 

Where I think Hudds could work is if they go big on all other aspects of themselves as a source of entertainment. In effect, with prices like this they have ruled out the excuse of the prices being too high. Pretty much nobody can claim that. So if you go big on match day experience, catering, player signings, communication etc then you will have a good reflection of demand and interest in your club, without price sensitivity being a factor. If the only thing they are doing is putting out cheap tickets then I think it will fail. 

Problem is we don't have the money to pay staff to do those things, or make those signings, catering wise we have no say and no benefits as it's contracted out by the stadium company.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes tickets can be too cheap- as in life when you give people things for free or at give away prices they don't value ( or look after) them.

I remember my old dad, when he became a pensioner refused to go through the OAP gate at the ground as he wanted the club to have that few extra ££ - he carried on until he passed away in his mid 80s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, whatmichaelsays said:

The answer is to make the Giants more appealing to the people of Huddersfield and make Giants games something that people want to pay for. Not to just keep hacking away at the price until someone goes "oh, go on then, it's something to do I suppose....." 

I totally agree and have offered plenty of ideas over the years, truth is the stadium is run by a management company so we have no say on what can happen, likewise the catering /bars, we have very few staff and have very little money to pay any more so were kind of stuck with what we have!!.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ultimately this is quite a simple numbers game. If you are going to go with radical pricing you really need to sell at scale. Bold pricing needs to lead to huge demand to work. 

Also, if they don't have the opportunity to capitalise on ancillary sales, then they may just be better off with 3k at full price rather than 5k at rock bottom prices. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

That’s true about most clubs but Leeds have a big number of corporate attendees at every game. They’ve worked hard to build it up over many years and expanded the corporate capacity massively with the stadium renovations. 

Good shout. 

Leeds deserve credit for this. More clubs could learn from them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, whatmichaelsays said:

If you're making the case that Huddersfield are a bit of an easy target to gang up on here, you'd have a very fair point. But it's also fair to say that Huddersfield have arguably made themselves that easy target with what seems to be a perpetually confused and erratic ticket pricing policy. 

But I think it's fair to say that if the cheap season tickets don't work, then what? Where does the club go from there? As you say yourself, the club seems incapable of enhancing the matchday experience to appeal to those younger demographics and, unless Davy is prepared to subsidise that investment, giving away margin on ticket sales is only going to make investment in that area even harder. 

 

Davy is, and has continued to subsidise the club, that's what he does, that's why the club, the fans and the town need to support him and take some of the burden away from him.

And people say it doesn't or won't work, but I've still to set what the "it" is that's not working?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wigan gave away hundreds of complimentary tickets for tonight's game v Catalan. Any company who has sponsored a player this season were given tickets to hand out. My step-daughter who bought her car from the local Toyota dealers was offered 3 tickets. Sadly she accepted the offer 🙄

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with the comments above. For the U30s market in Huddersfield is there a link between the club and the University to try and attract students to games? I know Leeds have been successful with Uni tie-ups in the past and Huddersfield did do it by a quick Google search in 2014/15 with the Students Union.

Without sounding too negative the John Smith Stadium has a capacity of 24,000 with Huddersfields attendances being in the 8,000 mark. They could dedicate a stand to students if they wanted to similar to the Western terrace at Headingley behind the sticks opposite end of where the away fans are and build an atmosphere and you would do well in beer sales too. 19 mins walk from campus to stadium. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Damien said:

I don't agree with this and don't think it is the case when they are set the way they are in Rugby League, often poorly and seemingly with little research. Are you saying that no one would be prepared to pay more than £65 for a season ticket?

In a similar vein I have never paid anywhere near what I would be prepared to pay for a big RL event. Nearly every Challenge Cup final I have been to I have paid half price when I would have paid full price. The Grand Final has been a similar story. For things like the 2013 World Cup I got unbelievably cheap tickets for matches I would have gone to anyway.

In RL people are often prepared to pay more than they need to.

What you are  saying may apply to dyed in the wool Rugby League fans but not apply to people that are not supporters of this game.

Huddersfield appear to be trying to attract new younger fans to the game, in my opinion the price will be a critical factor in their decision making.

You have a lot better chance of attracting people to a minority sport for a day out and maybe continued attendance if your initial cost is not prohibitive.

There are plenty of options for people to spend their money on nowadays and cost is a factor for most people unless they are wealthy or stupid.

See the highlight in your post,

Why would you pay more that you need to anyway? If I want to support my Club I would rather buy Merchandise or buy a few more Beers or Food at the ground rather than pay overs for a ticket, that sounds like supporting a charity.

Hudds are not trying to discount to their existing fans they are trying to drag new fans in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 17/09/2021 at 16:07, Dave T said:

The problem we have is when I look at Wires pricing for the playoff next week. Its a quarter final, and I'm sure it will be a great game, but we'll probably get around 6k. The tickets are full price, and it'll be a bit of a damp squib. 

I know these are SL events so the clubs are a little limited, but I hate the fact that non-season ticket games like this and the cup are so empty. 

why don't they include play-offs in the season ticket price. I'm fortunate in that I have an hospitality season ticket at Leeds and play off games are included if lucky enough to have play-off games at Headingley. A  few years ago that was handy as we had plenty years with play-off games.  I assume the "freebies" was priced in somewhere and depending upon success or not either I or the club benefitted sometimes.

Challenge Cup games being a different competition is another matter. Their its a case of revitalising the competition so as to increase demand.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 16/09/2021 at 13:57, whatmichaelsays said:

Interestingly, there was a Twitter thread doing the rounds yesterday comparing RL prices to Bristol Bears, who charge £70 for an adult ticket in some parts of the ground. Bristol will, I've no doubt, sell out their first game of the season, so the price is clearly attractive to someone. Someone tried to argue that there's simply more money in Bristol than in RL land, but the average FT earnings in Bristol is on a par with Leeds and actually less than in Manchester, so it's not that there isn't money in the north of England. RL just doesn't know how to appeal to it. 

As a reference my exact seat to where my season ticket is at the AJ Bell £30 per game for SRD and £42 for Sale.

As a season ticket, mine is £300 just under and £437 for the Union "guys."

I once was "treated" to a Sale game in my RED season ticket seat and we were next to Jon, an engineer and his son, surrounded by polite, knowledgeable lower middle class folk from Cheshire and south Manchester, as opposed to being beside John, an engineer and his son and  the polite, knowledgeable working class folk from Salfordshire and north Manchester.

Therefore it could be argued the price matches the market or more crudely it is costed as much as you can away with. 

I am sure the advertising in the League Express is different from whatever the Union version is. Or maybe not. Given Warrington (south), Leigh, Wakefield are all Tory seats maybe it might erm change. 

If you get Huddersfield away in the loops, is it worth getting a Giants season ticket and making yer way to the away section?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed today that the Giants fan base was old , compared to what I see at Leigh 

Also the lack of a decent drinking establishment outside the stadium makes it feel very ' drab ' , and low key 

Yes I know today's visitors aren't going to bring in the crowds , but it really doesn't work , not sure what they can do to improve it 🤔

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

I noticed today that the Giants fan base was old , compared to what I see at Leigh 

Also the lack of a decent drinking establishment outside the stadium makes it feel very ' drab ' , and low key 

Yes I know today's visitors aren't going to bring in the crowds , but it really doesn't work , not sure what they can do to improve it 🤔

   My daughter is a Giants member and dosn't like the ground.Believe it or not she likes going to Cas  as she hates the new type model stadiums.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 18/09/2021 at 07:23, BridBeachRL said:

I agree with the comments above. For the U30s market in Huddersfield is there a link between the club and the University to try and attract students to games? I know Leeds have been successful with Uni tie-ups in the past and Huddersfield did do it by a quick Google search in 2014/15 with the Students Union.

Without sounding too negative the John Smith Stadium has a capacity of 24,000 with Huddersfields attendances being in the 8,000 mark. They could dedicate a stand to students if they wanted to similar to the Western terrace at Headingley behind the sticks opposite end of where the away fans are and build an atmosphere and you would do well in beer sales too. 19 mins walk from campus to stadium. 

We don't get crowds of anywhere near 8,000 and haven't done for almost 10 years, ironically, when we had a partnership with the university of Huddersfield!

But, IMO, we failed drastically to capitalise on that partnership, what was a perfect opportunity for the Giants to become a major part of the town's biggest employer stopped dead once the partnership ended.

Why we never put any lasting roots or ties with the university has baffled me for years, we could and should be reaping the benefits by now but nothing ever came of it!

Beer sales are irrelevant as we don't make any money whatsoever on concessions within the stadium.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 18/09/2021 at 13:04, Jonty58 said:

What you are  saying may apply to dyed in the wool Rugby League fans but not apply to people that are not supporters of this game.

Huddersfield appear to be trying to attract new younger fans to the game, in my opinion the price will be a critical factor in their decision making.

You have a lot better chance of attracting people to a minority sport for a day out and maybe continued attendance if your initial cost is not prohibitive.

There are plenty of options for people to spend their money on nowadays and cost is a factor for most people unless they are wealthy or stupid.

See the highlight in your post,

Why would you pay more that you need to anyway? If I want to support my Club I would rather buy Merchandise or buy a few more Beers or Food at the ground rather than pay overs for a ticket, that sounds like supporting a charity.

Hudds are not trying to discount to their existing fans they are trying to drag new fans in.

That's the one, we are desperate to try and attract a younger crowd to the Giants, preferably young families for the Sunday games and groups of 18-30s for the Friday night out type.

Which again, leaves the whole university thing such a headscratcher!

23 hours ago, voteronniegibbs said:

If huddersfield are trying to bring in New younger crowds then they need to grab their interest. Take a leaf out of Bradford Bull's book when we went to summer rugby and rebrand, bring in the razzmatazz. Also change the clubs colours and ditch the Giants nametag, they're boring. 

I think you're taking the P, but I'll reply anyway.

Different times, different era, different demographics, different game even now.

What should the name and the colours be changed to, to attract, new, younger audiences?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

I noticed today that the Giants fan base was old , compared to what I see at Leigh 

Also the lack of a decent drinking establishment outside the stadium makes it feel very ' drab ' , and low key 

Yes I know today's visitors aren't going to bring in the crowds , but it really doesn't work , not sure what they can do to improve it 🤔

Yes, the fanbase is ageing at Huddersfield, but it's the same across the game as a whole is that.

Thats why we are trying to target a younger fanbase by offering them cheap season tickets, the problem is that they aren't marketing the club well enough, so no one knows about it, if we really push it, it might work but we don't and so it's making it cheaper for our current fans in reality.

Unfortunately the Giants don't have any say in drinking establishments around the stadium, needless to say the HGSA members bar, is now the only one, we allow away fans in for £1 donation, but we would really like the place to be full of Huddersfield fans and specifically HGSA members.

But thanks to the Leigh fans who were happy to donate to our academy by chucking their £1s in and most of them were friendly too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.