ticket pricing

[moneylife]

Hi all, Im sure if any of your have seen me on here before, you will know that I come from the school of thought that football should be affordable to all.
In Torquay there are 1000s of us 20-30somethings who basically earn shite wages, work shite hours and therefore find it impossible to come see all the games live and end up listening to Radio Devon and/or Flashscores.com
I beleive Plainmoor still pulls around 1900 fans on average which I am most proud of and think that is a stand out figure for clubs in our position. However how about we drop the price of Pop Side tickets to "A Suggested £5" for the next couple of home games only. Anyone who can afford it and doesnt mind paying the £15+ it costs can of course pay that but this would enable 100s of others to get involved and will hopefully go a long way to building a big-game atmosphere for the home games.

We need the more support at the ground cheering on the team the better.

The only reason I was able to get into watching footy at Plainmoor when I was very young (back in the Hodges days and bit before) was because they gave tickets away FREE! - I became a lifelong fan and actually didnt miss a home game for 4 years back then.
The stadium holds over 6000 so I dont see it being skin of anyones nose by attracting nearer 3000 and charging less. - Find other ways to make money rather than trying to charge Premier League prices at non-league or even League 2 games!!

[drummergull90]

It sounds like a great idea in principle but unfortunately has been shown not to work pretty much every time it has been tried.

4,000 x 5= £20,000

2,000 x 15= £30,000

Now I know its not that simple but the bottom line is that the pricing structure is worked out in order to maximise our income.

I do think we could do a loyalty card where you pay for five games get one free. Kids for a quid with a paying adult is also a good plan. Some people have suggested letting people in at HT for £5 which I also like. A 'pay what want' scheme could work in terms of people paying more than the face value which I'm sure most of us exiles would do but not below.

[Admiral]

I really think for one match only the club should give away 500-600 free tickets at schools for kids. They are the future supporters of the club and the increased revenue as mentioned before would be welcome through parents, club shop sales etc. At the end of the day the club wouldn't lose anything from this if the kids weren't planning on going anyway, it can only help the club! Tired of seeing the family stand empty

[Southampton Gull]

I really think for one match only the club should give away 500-600 free tickets at schools for kids. They are the future supporters of the club and the increased revenue as mentioned before would be welcome through parents, club shop sales etc. At the end of the day the club wouldn't lose anything from this if the kids weren't planning on going anyway, it can only help the club! Tired of seeing the family stand empty

That is the only sensible approach. It costs the club next to nothing but could well increase future income streams. That said, it could also see the club landing in trouble for causing unnecessary suffering

[Colorado Gull]

I really think for one match only the club should give away 500-600 free tickets at schools for kids. They are the future supporters of the club and the increased revenue as mentioned before would be welcome through parents, club shop sales etc. At the end of the day the club wouldn't lose anything from this if the kids weren't planning on going anyway, it can only help the club! Tired of seeing the family stand empty

Agree with this, I did put this suggestion forward on Facebook. Could go one further and give each kid a 25% off an Adults ticket voucher for the next game, so we can try and attract more.

The issue with making match prices FREE for one game was correctly brought up by our finance admin at the fans forum. Even if it was free to get in, we still wouldn't fill Plainmoor.

[moneylife]

thanks for your replies guys. But I must admit I disagree with the simple maths above. As more bums in seats is worth the minor less ticket revenue. There will be a much better atmos at the stadium each week and also why not sell things such as overpriced Gulls rattles and horns and inflatable gulls etc. Im sure if many got in for free they would happily spend £10-20 inside which would of otherwise stayed in their pockets.

I think if popside was free for the rest of the season we would be topping 4000 every match by end of it

Food for thought anyway, quick income is ok but think about the bigger picture sometimes.

[Modgull]

thanks for your replies guys. But I must admit I disagree with the simple maths above. As more bums in seats is worth the minor less ticket revenue. There will be a much better atmos at the stadium each week and also why not sell things such as overpriced Gulls rattles and horns and inflatable gulls etc. Im sure if many got in for free they would happily spend £10-20 inside which would of otherwise stayed in their pockets.

I think if popside was free for the rest of the season we would be topping 4000 every match by end of it

Food for thought anyway, quick income is ok but think about the bigger picture sometimes.

Except there wouldn't be a club left and no matches to attend! Crazy idea!

[taxilady]

people forget that the income from Boots & Laces, the shop & the food outlets does not currently benefit TUFC as I believe that all these were franchised out by the previous regime (please correct me if I'm wrong). Obviously there must be some income from rental of the premises,but it is fixed & therefore already budgeted. I think the current board are working to bring these back 'in-house' when that becomes legally feasible, but in the meantime it makes no difference to TUFC if they sell one pasty or 2000. That's why the Club are advertising the access to the GUlls Nest for Popside , because that income DOES benefit TUFC by increased sales.

[ferrarilover]

You could always get a better job.

The world doesn't owe you a living and Torquay (a private company) doesn't owe you access to its product. Try writing to Ferrari and tell them to sell 500 cars at £45, you know, so the lame and the lazy can afford them.

Pathetic.

Matt.

[moneylife]

You could always get a better job.

The world doesn't owe you a living and Torquay (a private company) doesn't owe you access to its product. Try writing to Ferrari and tell them to sell 500 cars at £45, you know, so the lame and the lazy can afford them.

Pathetic.

Matt.

But Ferrari dont struggle to sell their cars. TUFC struggles to fill one quarter of its stadium?? That comparison is pathetic and from what I hear Ferrari drivers normally hiding from something inadequate about themselves anyway

****

[leetufc]

Unfortunately it is not as easy as dropping price to fill up the stadium; as much as Torquay drop the price they would need to increase the fans to make the same money. Given previous attempts to drop the price to increase capacity, any drop in price would not attract enough fans to make it worthwhile. We have a core base of support who will come to every match, plus another bunch on top of that who make it to a large number of games, which gives us a good base. Beyond that the public is generally very apathetic to watching Torquay, and any drop in prices would go largely unnoticed or not cared about.

The idea in the original post that there are 1000s of 20-30 somethings out there desperate to watch Torquay is wide of the mark. I doubt there are many put there who would choose to watch Torquay if it was cheaper/they earned more. Yes, wages in Torquay are low. Unfortunately that is the nature of the area and not something which is likely to change any time soon. To earn better wages and get a decent job most people have to move away, and this creates the problem. Fans grow up watching the club, but have to move to better themselves, and therefore cannot support the Gulls on a regular basis. Its one of the reasons we get good away followings with exiles all over the country.

The other issue is the general feeling of a lot of youngsters towards Torquay. In the past to watch pro football on a regular basis you had to watch your local team. Nowadays football is readily available on Sky/BT most nights and weekends, and people grow up watching top flight football. They don't want to watch Torquay. Even if you gave most a ticket for £5 I doubt they would choose to watch Torquay over Chelsea/Man City etc. I say this as a 20 something with friends who have this attitude.

[PhilGull]

You could always get a better job.

The world doesn't owe you a living and Torquay (a private company) doesn't owe you access to its product. Try writing to Ferrari and tell them to sell 500 cars at £45, you know, so the lame and the lazy can afford them.

Pathetic.

Matt.

BOOM! Back, and on top form! :}

[ferrarilover]

But Ferrari dont struggle to sell their cars. TUFC struggles to fill one quarter of its stadium?? That comparison is pathetic and from what I hear Ferrari drivers normally hiding from something inadequate about themselves anyway

****

So, you've disagreed with proven concepts like PED and your English comprehension is dreadful. Starting to see why you've got a shit job and you have to struggle through life.

You're a loser, the world doesn't care and nor do Torquay United. It's no good whinging on about how unfair it all is, put that effort into redressing your half of the deal.

I **** hate limp wristed wetbags like you who spend more time and energy moaning and looking for a free ride than they do putting themselves in a better position. This is precisely why we need to do away with free healthcare and the welfare state. Sink or swim, I'm afraid.

Matt.

[Scott Brehaut]

Which brings us neatly on to this: http://guernseypress.com/news/2015/10/0 ... rk-scheme/

[Dave]

Bringing this thread swiftly back on topic Eastleigh last night did a free entry to all fans promotion, bearing in mind they were playing FGR and this was vital clash between two promotion rivals, the gate was 2884, Eastleigh's average is 1678, this to me shouldn't be taken as evidence such an idea is workable, I don't know how many FGR fans went, judging by their forum a fair few did.

The ground capacity at the Silverlake is listed as 5192, again I also don't know what the normal home and away averages are at Eastleigh, we now have to wait and see what happens to Eastleigh's gate at their next home game when fans have to pay, for me there's plenty of evidence to suggest that Eastleigh were unable to give away a promotion clash free, offering a similar free entry at Plainmoor would tip the club over the edge.