18 hours ago, J*B said:

I believe the following is correct... The losses to fail FFP are 36m. Last year we lost 17m. Simply put, we can lose 19m over the next two seasons?

I think it is £39m. I might be wrong but I don’t think the season in league 1 counts towards the loss for the 3 years. So it will be what ever the loss is for this season and the next 2. To be honest I’m not sure our ambition should be to lose another 40m, and to be fair still not have spent enough to get promoted. I believe we are already on track for a 39m loss over 3 seasons, so I guess we will see. 

The Derby county situation is odd. One minute they were up for sale for a quid the next their owner is buying pride park for well over its market value. Could even more bizarre if he sold it back for peanuts. It’s not a long term plan as you can only do this once. On Derby county and possible promotion they have been contenders for years there turn over won’t actually be massively different to Rovers. Due to attendances maybe 2/3m more I’m talking before player sales as they have sold a few over the years. But let’s say that extra 10m over 3 seasons on top of the allowed losses of £39m - could be why they have had no sanctions so far.

I would be interested to know how large the database is for say the last 5 years. It would be a good figure to know how may indivuals have attended during the season for example. Does anybody have an idea ?

Regarding season tickets I think prices will be frozen at pre last seasons early bird. However if the early bird price is£379 the club will still say it’s been frozen. Happy to pay £350 again or could move to the riverside. 

Back on topic. If think the ticket deal is good and will get us over 20k. It should be more but I think it will add to the issue of cheaper does not always increase attendances. Incidentally the weather while a factor probably did not really contribute much to the oxford attendance as most will have bought tickets in advance. Ie it could have easily rained that day. Any how I’m ringing tomorrow to get an additional ticket.

Just had a look into 18-25 year old pricing and the first thing that stands out is the fact we don’t have this we have 18-21 , these are at decent prices both for match day and season tickets. We need to move with the times. The age where you are considered an adult seems to be blurred, different issue entirely but we have 18/19 year olds trying to pass as juniors then trying to by beer on the concourse. No one wants to pay more but you have to make a decision on what is classed as adult. 18/21/25. personally I think 22 is fine, but clearly not the case.

What percentage of clubs have season tickets on sale already ?what is the earliest Rovers have ever put tickets on sale ? As an aside I would be very interested in some stats the make up of season ticket holders, such as where they travel from ? How long they have held a ticket ?  The club will of course know all this information.

i have a feeling a large amount will be new supporters I don’t recognise as many on a match day so much any more. 

I think it is best to indroduce players slowly. We can’t field too much inexperience all at once as some of the regulars are also young. They have all signed new contracts but I think the message is/should be that there are places in the squad to be had but work hard keep doing what your doing and your chance will come. 

This is a great idea. I like it. The best part is while we only offered 2500 we had over 3500 applications. I think you always have to set a cap at what you give away. Maybe some of those that missed out will buy a ticket anyway ? 

I think the idea of the contract extensions was to try and keep a core squad together for a period rather than buying 10 players every summer. 

13 hours ago, McClarky said:

Listening to Radio 5 today about FFP.  If we have a similar season this year to last we’ll be struggling to get under the £39m over 3 years loss target either next year or particularly the year after.  Assuming our income will go up with more TV money but the outgoings will be much more than last year with new signings.  If so we’ll need to make big savings (how?) or sell Bradley Dack to balance the books.  

 

Not certain but I believe this will be our 1st year under these rules. Certainly last seasons loss was allowed in league 1. If we were in a position where Dack had to be sold to balance the books, i think as fans we would have to understand.

However a number of our out goings are excempt from the FFP - and I think this seasons loss will be much smaller depends how much Brereton and Armstrong cost.

The money owed to the parent company, as this is the legal term that must be used; Has no period for repayment and has no interest. The liability will grow and grow.

The loss during this last period was budgeted for, decision were made to extend contracts sign various players for transfer fees- the loss will not have surprised anyone within the club or Venkys.

 The basic running of the club is around 6m, this fixed costs such as facilities and academy and before salaries. Salary’s will be at £18.5m - so we need a turnover of £24.5 to break even, I suspect we are nearer 19m. So really we should be operating with a wage bill of 11-12m. However would fans be happy ? Could we compete? Could we atract and retain decent players ? 

On 23/02/2019 at 11:43, HowieFive0 said:

My opinion BB ..I see empty seats at Ewood...lots.

It was never full... Attendances on the increase across the board. Even Rovers are having their best crowds for 4 years.

I get to about half the home games. each season I work out if it would be better to take the gamble and just pay on the day. every time i come to the conclusion that the season ticket is far to good value. I don't think it matters so much whenn season tickets are put on sale as i know roughly how much they will be etc. the club know when people tend to buy their tickets im sure and being on sale for longer does not change a thing. half seson tickets and 6 game tickets were on sale for weeks without much take up.

On 17/02/2019 at 00:18, blueboy3333 said:

https://www.soccerstats.com/attendance.asp?league=england2

At an average of 14,141 we are 2k down on Waggott's target of 16k for home attendances.

Waggott's  target was extremely ambitious I'm not sure it can be used as a stick to beat him with. Attendances are up.

If every season ticket holder brought a friend the Ground would have been full, as it was 1 in 10 might have done, but a good portion of those would have attended anyway and paid full price (Fact) - there were people at the ticket office yesterday. we did not get a bigger attendance yesterday despite a pretty good offer.

Everyone certainly makes a valid point on  this matter.. I believe we have to get the season ticket cost right. Majority of the ground is £350 or less which I think is fine. £300 is the lowest I think we should charge. Match day tickets need to be in line with this to make season tickets good value. 

If season tickets were reduced too much we would have a situation where loads would be sold but games would still be poorly attended. For example mr smith who currently goes to 10 games per year now buys a season ticket because it’s better value but still shows up 10 times per year. Essentially I think increasing season ticket sales can only come at the detriment of match day walk ons and further loss of revenue.

im a season tick holder who already only attends about half league home games at the most..

3 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

10k ST holders at an average of £350 is £3.5m

15k ST holders at an average of £200 is £3m

Add in the extra revenue from food/drinks/merch those extra 5k fans bring and the difference would be negligible. 

you did not factor in concessions for juniors or seniors. also can we guarantee 5000 increase in home attendance. do these extra people already buy match by match already. in any case 15000 is hardly rocking is it ?

the club needs to maximise revenue. currently matchday revenue is around 5M. we need this to increase. seaso  tickets are cheap enough. Gate receipts, tv, sponsors all add up. we should not be wholely reliant on the venkies. i honestly dont think 200 season tickets would improve atmosphere, many people still would not attend all matches. 

That’s it tv companpanies pay huge amounts for the privilege of showing live football and highlights. I have enjoyed his videos myself but there is an obvious issue. Tv is one of rovers biggest income streams and sky and the like won’t ingnore this stuff. Also you tubers can make a living of their channel so was only a matter of time.

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If we can get past Newcastle, hopefully the same ticket arrangement will be in place for Watford. That will be the real test for very cheap tickets. To be honest the 2quid concession tickets there should be no excuses for a low crowd on Tuesday night. I recon will be near enough or just over 15,000 on.

For weeks I have been reading 20 is plenty bla bla bla.. the club offer tickets (adult) @ 20 quid and everyone says it not an offer I can already sit in ( half empty ) riverside for less than that already. Normally the issue is with the cost to take the family, well here you go 2 adults 2 kids less than 50quid. Anyway it’s irrelivant because it should see and increase in attendance whether liked or not. It’s a funny weekend the weekend before Christmas, the club has tried to do something. 

I’d say friend 1 was rewarded for being able to commit earlier. However I recenly took my 5 year ol daughter but could not get through by phone and decided to buy her ticket from the ticket office. I had completely forgot about the surcharge which virtually doubled the price of a junior ticket I was shocked but paid.

I keep reading attendances are at an all time low, or comments similar. They are not, I have said before and I’ll say it again. This season will be our highest average since relaxation from the premier league. However football attendances generally are on the rise and rovers figures are still disappointing. 2016/17 season we had addendances around 10k on a regular basis in fact on one occasion dropped below 10k.

i have attended many Rovers premie league games where the crowd was less than 20,000 ( less than 16k as well) I’m not sure the desire to attend is always that great.

1 hour ago, Stuart said:

I went glass half full with my maths. Your way just makes it even more damning.

13k averages it is then and the wave of momentum we gave to the club last season has been thrown back in fans faces.

The average attendance is pushing 15,000 through. 12.500/13,000 is the lowest it will be this season for any given match. I would put money on are average being closer to 16,000 by the end of the season. 

These train strikes are so hard to follow. Coming from stockport yesterday, there was an apt ion to go via Preston, this is more expensive and times coming back were no good, so we took the rail replacement service ( was decent actually, only dodgy bit was pic to Bolton, the rest of the way was a proper coach) took a bit longer but was okay. Next week there will be nothing. If it were just consistent it would not be so annoying. Home game against Rotherham I’ll have to drive or miss the match.

Season tickets are excellent value for money. The fact Bolton are getting praised for similarly priced season tickets is odd. Yes, £350 is a lot of money upfront, but payments can be spread over 10 months as well as other payment options. Also worth stressing, having to renew a season tickets comes as no surprise- so you can save up/plan ahead. 

To me having a season ticket does not mean I’ll attend every game but will work out cheaper as long as I go to enough matches. I understand people can not always commit, but that is the value of a season ticket. If it were £20 or less on the day I would only pay for the games I could go to. (Which by the way could well be 10+ but not more than 15) 

i feel this would reduce the number of season tickets sold, we would be riliant on an unknown amount of “walk ons”  I’m just not sure this would increase attendances. If I were to start buying match day tickets I reckon I would go to even fewer games as I oftenn have to a range in advance things like child care etc.

Reducing season ticket prices is an option, how ever I already feel they are good value.

finally I expect the early bird price to be £400 next year. (350 riverside)