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barcahibs
07-10-2009, 04:50 PM
Apologies this is quite a long one but I've been thinking about the idea of a club membership scheme raised last night.

One of the questions raised at the agm was from a guy who asked if the club had considered offering discounted family tickets for the South Stand for the rest of this season.

The reply from... Fyfe? was that they wouldn't do this because that would undermine the value of the season ticket - it would effectively mean that walk up fans would be getting in cheaper than season ticket holders.

The questioner then countered this, stating that as a season ticket holder himself he would be happy to allow this if it meant a full stadium. Fyfe suggested that the vast majority of season ticket holders would disagree with this statement and that even if that were so it would mean a massive reduction in season ticket sales next year as people realised it was cheaper to just pay at the gate.

At the time I have to say I agreed with Fyfe, one of the major factors behind buying a season ticket is surely the value for money aspect but on the car journey home and today I've been having a chat with a couple of mates about it and now I'm not so sure.

Having chatted about it it turns out that one or two guys I know would be happy to allow other fans in cheaper if it meant bigger crowds and more income for the club. I'm not sure how far I concur with that but then it is generally agreed by everyone who knows me that I'm a mean bugger. But given that these people clearly do exist shouldn't the club look to take advantage of it?

Having thought it through even further it occured to me that I made a loss on my season ticket last year. And the year before that. I'm going to make a loss on this year's one too and I knew that when I got it. And yet I got it anyway. Shouldn't the club take advantage of idio... - erm I mean loyal fans - like me?

The thing is that although we're all conditioned these days to think of football as a business its really not. Hibs are not Tesco. For many people there is a certain cachet attached to being a season ticket holder that goes beyond its market value. I buy a season ticket because.. well because I'm a Hibs season ticket holder. I like the fact that by doing so I'm supporting my club. I'm not much of a singer so I contribute by bunging them a few extra quid. Well it sort of makes sense to me anyway.

I think this is where a club membership scheme could come in.

Basically split season tickets into two levels. Still offer a normal season ticket but make it no cheaper, or only very marginally cheaper, than walk up prices, make these as low as you possibly can.
The advantages of this 'basic' season ticket will be the existing ones of getting your regular seat and access to a discounted cup top up scheme plus being able to set up a direct debit with the club and do the whole 'managing your monthly finances' thing that was mentioned at the AGM. Beyond that the key advantage will be the fact that you are a season ticket holder and thus better than ordinary fans (I say that tongue in cheek of course! Though theres no doubt that some people will count this as a factor)

Above this offer the Club Membership package. This will be significantly more expensive than either walk ups or the basic season ticket - pricing this will be key it must still be within the reach of most ordinary people.

Most of the benefits of this will be intangible, the big one will be the ability to call yourself a Club Member, but I'm sure there are many others that could be rolled into it.
Make it include your cup top voucher automatically for example. 10% off at the shop, a few % off your beer behind the goals or a 'free' pie at half time every week, 'free' Hibernian TV for your pc, exclusive email newsletters, access to club events - such as the AGM for instance - priority access to sell out games (I'm thinking cup finals and Europe - touch wood!), free entry to the reserves if they ever come back.
I dunno what else, a pin badge and a certificate to frame on your wall saying you're officially Uncle Rods Best Friend Forever?

Clearly it would need a lot of further thought to flesh out the details! :greengrin

Basically what I'm proposing would be a way of lowering 'ordinary' ticket prices in order to encourage bigger crowds and then - since we know that these bigger crowds wouldn't cover the shortfall in income - subsidising this by allowing those who choose to pay extra to do so. This would also hopefully allow the club to be more innovative with pricing schemes without upsetting season ticket holders.

The dangers I see here are creating divisions within the support - I don't want 'basic' and walk up fans feeling any less valued to the club because of it - especially as I'd likely only be a 'basic' season ticket holder myself considering the state of my finances. Then again doesn't the current system of season tickets and walk up create something of a two tier support anyway? I certainly remember things getting heated around the subject of cup final tickets a few years ago.
I'm not entirely sure how this fits with the concept of the Hibernian 'Family' that the board seem keen to push, but I think if marketed in the right way it could be part of it. The club would need to be careful to make sure that members are not considered 'better' than other fans, just fans with a few more perks.

Is this viable at all as an idea? I'm sure there are some who would be willing to pay the extra but are there enough of them? Or am I talking out of my :asshole: as usual? :greengrin

Mikey
07-10-2009, 05:07 PM
I don't really see how a model that allows some fans to have discounted access can work. Over time you'll find that more and more people will opt for the cheaper option. If they fill those empty seats this season at say £15 a pop there will be plenty of people who will hold off next season to see if they can get the same deal.

I like the sound of the monthly payment plan and if they can put it in place I reckon it'll be very successful. Hopefully it'll be up and running in time to catch a whole pile of new half season ticket holders in December/January.

ancient hibee
07-10-2009, 05:34 PM
The main problem I think is that there is just not enough money or fans kicking around.Say 2000 new season ticket holders signed on -this might generate £600K but if most of them were already attenders at ER the NEW money received would not be all that much-the one advantage being that more would be received upfront.The small amount of cash means that it is difficult to tinker around with the different schemes without bringing into play the dreaded Law of Unintended Consequences.

barcahibs
07-10-2009, 06:55 PM
I don't really see how a model that allows some fans to have discounted access can work. Over time you'll find that more and more people will opt for the cheaper option. If they fill those empty seats this season at say £15 a pop there will be plenty of people who will hold off next season to see if they can get the same deal.

I like the sound of the monthly payment plan and if they can put it in place I reckon it'll be very successful. Hopefully it'll be up and running in time to catch a whole pile of new half season ticket holders in December/January.

yeah, was just talking about it with a mate and we both eventually agreed on that point. You probably would get some people to do it, but if theres a cheaper option then eventually more and more people will drift towards taking it til eventually theres no-one paying the extra.

Thats me shot down in flames as usual :greengrin

I still say that Hibs are not a traditional business. The club have a massive well of goodwill and customer loyalty that any other company would kill for and there must be some way of taking advantage of that.

Will take better minds than mine to come up with what though :greengrin

LancashireHibby
07-10-2009, 07:58 PM
Think we need to bridge the gap between POTG fans and ST holders, to be honest. I'd happily pay £30 a season if it got me a couple of quid off match tickets and priority on tickets before they go on general sale. In fact, taking it one step further, one successful scheme they had with the memberships at Bolton was that you became a member and, whichever game you attended, you only paid the price of the lowest category. Still works out more expensive than buying a season ticket, but gives the impression of better value for money when you can see the Rantic and Hertz games for £22.

Joe Baker II
08-10-2009, 01:44 PM
What might be worth doing is giving ST holders a free/reduced price ticket for an away game of their choice each season (excluding Hearts and any ther games where tickets may be restricted potentially).

There would be a cost though not a huge one (unless Hibs persuade other clubs to reciprocate in which case it would be cost-neutral probably) but benefit would be getting increased comittment of fans/more in habit of going to away games etc which with the exception of the recent Hamilton game has declined since Collins resigned. And most important is the goodwill this would generate.

I have stopped my ST this year but fact club would get more money from me than if I paid on match by match basis given I tend to miss a few games was actually an INCENTIVEfor me to buy season ticket. (Giving it up was not to due to cost, only the number of absurd 1215-30 kick off times.)