" CARDIFF CITY MUST KEEP UP WITH RIVALS IF "
Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:17 am
Cardiff City MUST keep up with Championship rivals if they're serious about selling more season tickets
5 July 2015
OPINION BY SCOTTJOHNSON
Cardiff City columnist Scott Johnson takes a look at the Bluebirds' rivals and their innovative season ticket sales inducements
What do Manchester United, Arsenal, Bolton, QPR and Cardiff City have in common? Debt. Oodles and oodles of debt.
These sides are some of the top clubs in the Premier League and Championship in terms of money owed and, while United and Arsenal have their present situations under control, the other three find themselves in a truly perilous position.
So, Cardiff’s struggle to shift season tickets, while a relative drop in the ocean, could not have come at a worse time. But what can they do about it?
There is a sense of apathy among supporters. The number of people I have spoken to this summer that have decided to opt out because they can’t be bothered any more is alarming.
The club claim they have sold around 10,000 tickets thus far, but like the reported 20,000 that were attending home games last season, the number of empty seats will speak louder than words.
Cardiff City have lots going for them; a lovely stadium, a good side playing in a kit that was universally well received, but an unpopular manager remains and, as already mentioned, apathy reigns.
There is no quick fix to get people inspired again but as Wales have demonstrated, it can happen pretty quickly.
Where the FAW have made incremental improvements, Cardiff now need to follow suit.
In terms of the incentives the club could have offered, I looked at what the competition is doing to entice supporters and some Championship clubs have adopted innovations that would certainly boost flagging sales.
Free tickets for juniors
Cardiff currently offer fairly competitive prices for juniors, which fluctuate depending on where you sit.
They also offer a £699 family season ticket, which is a more affordable way for a family of four to attend games. But some clubs currently offer free tickets for children, which I’m sure would prove very popular if introduced at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Birmingham City offer free season tickets for under-11s, while Blackburn allow under-eights free access in their family stand. Derby are once again advertising free under-12 tickets, MK Dons too, while QPR admit free under-eights if accompanied by a full-paying adult.
It’s important to look after the future generations because attending football matches is an expensive hobby with an ageing demographic.
Why not go one step further? With a brand new stand mothballed for the forthcoming campaign, why not pack it out every week with school kids?
The club did this for the final home game of last season and it proved very popular, why not do it every week? It would improve the atmosphere and even if a small percentage returned as paying customers the following year, it will have been worthwhile.
Structured payments
Season tickets are expensive, especially when you have to play the total amount in full.
Several hundred pounds, potentially in multiples if you attend with children and family members, is a big ask, so why not spread the cost?
Why can’t you pay for your season ticket in monthly instalments?
It’s all well and good offering finance packages to cover the cost via a third party, but some people won’t qualify or be willing to get into debt. It may well suit the club to have a large sum of money arrive in their coffers so that they can plan their transfer activity, but now that income is tailing off, they may have to rethink their approach.
At present, Bolton offer a 12-month interest-free direct debit option, as do Bristol City and Rotherham.
Incentives
In terms of incentives, Cardiff are not offering anything enticing this year.
The five-year price freeze has ended and the benefits are pretty standard while their peers appear to be trying to push the envelope.
Some clubs run a loyalty scheme, akin to the Tesco Clubcard, where everything you spend earns points that you can use to obtain discounts on tickets or merchandise. Birmingham again lead the way on this, but Brentford also run a similar initiative.
Other clubs are also promising big reductions on future season tickets if the club are promoted.
Blackburn are offering a 25% discount, while Derby, who have spent heavily on their squad and look a favourite for promotion, have stated 50%. Preston offered a 25% discount if you renewed ahead of a certain date too.
Free or exclusive access to bars are on offer at Charlton and Wolves, while Reading have a voucher scheme where over-25s get £15 off the release of their new kit plus a further £10 off tickets or merchandise. Under-24s will receive two vouchers to enable them to bring friends to a game of their choice.
Free shirt
After three years of playing in red and a general lack of interest in merchandise, Cardiff would probably have been crazy to offer free shirts as an incentive as record breaking weekend sales show it's been a tidy earner.
But all things considered, it would probably have been the best incentive to renew they could have used.
At Bristol City, they provide a free shirt with season tickets for under-12s and at MK Dons they have incorporated a #MyMateMyShirt initiative.
Each season ticket holder over the age of 18 that signs up a friend for a season ticket will receive a voucher for a half-price adult 2015-16 away shirt, plus earn money off their season ticket for next year.
Of course, nothing packs in the punters more than big signings, attractive football or a winning side, but it is very difficult to predict Cardiff’s immediate future, on and off the pitch.
That uncertainty is probably the biggest turn-off for fans, which is why emulating their competition in terms of ticket sales and promotions has never been more important.
5 July 2015
OPINION BY SCOTTJOHNSON
Cardiff City columnist Scott Johnson takes a look at the Bluebirds' rivals and their innovative season ticket sales inducements
What do Manchester United, Arsenal, Bolton, QPR and Cardiff City have in common? Debt. Oodles and oodles of debt.
These sides are some of the top clubs in the Premier League and Championship in terms of money owed and, while United and Arsenal have their present situations under control, the other three find themselves in a truly perilous position.
So, Cardiff’s struggle to shift season tickets, while a relative drop in the ocean, could not have come at a worse time. But what can they do about it?
There is a sense of apathy among supporters. The number of people I have spoken to this summer that have decided to opt out because they can’t be bothered any more is alarming.
The club claim they have sold around 10,000 tickets thus far, but like the reported 20,000 that were attending home games last season, the number of empty seats will speak louder than words.
Cardiff City have lots going for them; a lovely stadium, a good side playing in a kit that was universally well received, but an unpopular manager remains and, as already mentioned, apathy reigns.
There is no quick fix to get people inspired again but as Wales have demonstrated, it can happen pretty quickly.
Where the FAW have made incremental improvements, Cardiff now need to follow suit.
In terms of the incentives the club could have offered, I looked at what the competition is doing to entice supporters and some Championship clubs have adopted innovations that would certainly boost flagging sales.
Free tickets for juniors
Cardiff currently offer fairly competitive prices for juniors, which fluctuate depending on where you sit.
They also offer a £699 family season ticket, which is a more affordable way for a family of four to attend games. But some clubs currently offer free tickets for children, which I’m sure would prove very popular if introduced at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Birmingham City offer free season tickets for under-11s, while Blackburn allow under-eights free access in their family stand. Derby are once again advertising free under-12 tickets, MK Dons too, while QPR admit free under-eights if accompanied by a full-paying adult.
It’s important to look after the future generations because attending football matches is an expensive hobby with an ageing demographic.
Why not go one step further? With a brand new stand mothballed for the forthcoming campaign, why not pack it out every week with school kids?
The club did this for the final home game of last season and it proved very popular, why not do it every week? It would improve the atmosphere and even if a small percentage returned as paying customers the following year, it will have been worthwhile.
Structured payments
Season tickets are expensive, especially when you have to play the total amount in full.
Several hundred pounds, potentially in multiples if you attend with children and family members, is a big ask, so why not spread the cost?
Why can’t you pay for your season ticket in monthly instalments?
It’s all well and good offering finance packages to cover the cost via a third party, but some people won’t qualify or be willing to get into debt. It may well suit the club to have a large sum of money arrive in their coffers so that they can plan their transfer activity, but now that income is tailing off, they may have to rethink their approach.
At present, Bolton offer a 12-month interest-free direct debit option, as do Bristol City and Rotherham.
Incentives
In terms of incentives, Cardiff are not offering anything enticing this year.
The five-year price freeze has ended and the benefits are pretty standard while their peers appear to be trying to push the envelope.
Some clubs run a loyalty scheme, akin to the Tesco Clubcard, where everything you spend earns points that you can use to obtain discounts on tickets or merchandise. Birmingham again lead the way on this, but Brentford also run a similar initiative.
Other clubs are also promising big reductions on future season tickets if the club are promoted.
Blackburn are offering a 25% discount, while Derby, who have spent heavily on their squad and look a favourite for promotion, have stated 50%. Preston offered a 25% discount if you renewed ahead of a certain date too.
Free or exclusive access to bars are on offer at Charlton and Wolves, while Reading have a voucher scheme where over-25s get £15 off the release of their new kit plus a further £10 off tickets or merchandise. Under-24s will receive two vouchers to enable them to bring friends to a game of their choice.
Free shirt
After three years of playing in red and a general lack of interest in merchandise, Cardiff would probably have been crazy to offer free shirts as an incentive as record breaking weekend sales show it's been a tidy earner.
But all things considered, it would probably have been the best incentive to renew they could have used.
At Bristol City, they provide a free shirt with season tickets for under-12s and at MK Dons they have incorporated a #MyMateMyShirt initiative.
Each season ticket holder over the age of 18 that signs up a friend for a season ticket will receive a voucher for a half-price adult 2015-16 away shirt, plus earn money off their season ticket for next year.
Of course, nothing packs in the punters more than big signings, attractive football or a winning side, but it is very difficult to predict Cardiff’s immediate future, on and off the pitch.
That uncertainty is probably the biggest turn-off for fans, which is why emulating their competition in terms of ticket sales and promotions has never been more important.
Re: " CARDIFF CITY MUST KEEP UP WITH RIVALS IF "
Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:13 pm
The other way to get the fans back is to play attacking attractive football something we have not seen for sometime. It was noticeable last season that up to 5K gave up on attending games because of the poor boring football.
The problem is, is Slade capable of constructing a team who can play that style of attacking football with pace, good passing and banging the goals in? Based on the last 6 months I would say no but it would be great if I was proved wrong and the ' missing fans' return to support the Bluebirds.
The problem is, is Slade capable of constructing a team who can play that style of attacking football with pace, good passing and banging the goals in? Based on the last 6 months I would say no but it would be great if I was proved wrong and the ' missing fans' return to support the Bluebirds.