The next generation of fans

[southern hibby]

Now that we have the stadium in place would it be benificial for HIBS to give very cheap tickets to young teenagers for certain games? By this i mean all season long that are not against any of the bigger clubs.

We could charge roughly a couple of pounds, have a section were they could all go and then it would allow them to get to watch Hibs and maybe when they start working they would possibly buy a season ticket. This in the longer term would mean more fans paying to watch us and potentially bigger crowds.

There must be hundreds of young teenagers with nowt special to do on a Sat afternoon that would MAYBE come along.

Not saying it would work but I know from experience that I was hooked on hibs by the time I started working and now travel up from Oxfordshire to watch them, as often as poss.

[Toaods]

I think lesser sports than us have been running these incentives for a few years now without too much success overall. kids tend to prefer sitting in front of am X-box to being bored senseless inoffensive subzero temperatures. Football needs to improve the product and people will come to watch.

[Hibs On Tour]

Think the club have to be looking at EVERY possible way of doing things like that. FWIW I think its slightly different with football compared to other 'more minor' sports because the media give football so much more coverage. For that reason I think stuff like the above would have comparitively more effect than in those other sports - not saying it would be massive but still worthwhile for me if we get in any extra young bods through the door who turn out to be lifelong fans thereafter...

[Craig_in_Prague]

Or kids get in for free, when taken by a parent?

I know when I was young I could still get 'lifted over' ..... and I know that kids ST are probably cheap, but nonetheless, some fathers might not be able to afford it, where as if they can go and take the kid for free, you might then have 2 more fans, as apposed to none, coz maybe some fathers don't have groups of hibbies that they can/do go with... and taking their son along would appeal.

just a point.

[MacBean]

i would agree with the OP to an extent. I would love to see the place full every week!

Hibs kinda do something of the sort anyway, you pay so much money up front and you become a hibs kid. you get to go to 4(?) home games a season for sod all extra! usually these kids come with Adults who aren't regulars (an extra £20 in the coffers for Hibs) and want to come back.

In saying that i think offering it to all children under 16 will be an attraction to parents too who want to get the kids out of thier hair whilst they go shopping and such like!

The other thing is... Women and Children (dont know the figure for kids alone) make up nearly 40% of the hibs ST holders so we would LOSE revenue if we offered cheap tickets for kids...

[CallumLaidlaw]

Or kids get in for free, when taken by a parent?

I know when I was young I could still get 'lifted over' ..... and I know that kids ST are probably cheap, but nonetheless, some fathers might not be able to afford it, where as if they can go and take the kid for free, you might then have 2 more fans, as apposed to none, coz maybe some fathers don't have groups of hibbies that they can/do go with... and taking their son along would appeal.

just a point.

:agree: under 12's, or even under 8's should be free with an adult

[matty_f]

While I can see the logic in making football more accessable to kids/teens, I'd like to see that extended.

I think Hibs offer relatively good value for the Season tickets, particularly if you're getting a family ticket (IIRC, the deals for family tickets gave fairly big savings), however - we have a big new stand, and with it an increased capacity.

We're going to have a lot of unused seats most weeks, IMHO. Even if we're off to a flier and playing great football, it still takes time for that to translate into bums on seats.

So rather than having these seats going empty, I'd like to see the club offer a limited amount of tickets for walk-up sale at a heavily discounted price, available on a first-come, first-served basis at the ticket office.

Because the tickets would be limited, there'd be no guarantee of getting the cheap one, therefore a full price season ticket retains it's benefits, and if people are down at the ground hoping to get a cheap ticket, if they miss out they may well be prepared to buy a full price one anyway.

I'd also be getting tickets out to schools in the area - and making them free with a paying adult, or organising groups of kids for a pre-match tour and to take in the game.

[derekHFC]

I've said for i don't know how long that we should be looking to encourage more youngsters along to the stadium. Look at the Yams as an example and they now have 400,000 fans.

Being serious for a moment, surely we should look to give away say 1,000 tickets for category B games to local schools, football clubs and youth clubs to try and encourage more youngsters to come along. Even if this means we lose some revenue through the gate, most kids will want something to eat and drink in the ground and what you lose in gate money, you'll make up for in food/drink sales and maybe even merchandising.

[Danderhall Hibs]

While I can see the logic in making football more accessable to kids/teens, I'd like to see that extended.

I think Hibs offer relatively good value for the Season tickets, particularly if you're getting a family ticket (IIRC, the deals for family tickets gave fairly big savings), however - we have a big new stand, and with it an increased capacity.

We're going to have a lot of unused seats most weeks, IMHO. Even if we're off to a flier and playing great football, it still takes time for that to translate into bums on seats.

So rather than having these seats going empty, I'd like to see the club offer a limited amount of tickets for walk-up sale at a heavily discounted price, available on a first-come, first-served basis at the ticket office.

Because the tickets would be limited, there'd be no guarantee of getting the cheap one, therefore a full price season ticket retains it's benefits, and if people are down at the ground hoping to get a cheap ticket, if they miss out they may well be prepared to buy a full price one anyway.

I'd also be getting tickets out to schools in the area - and making them free with a paying adult, or organising groups of kids for a pre-match tour and to take in the game.

Some similar ideas to this on the other thread. :agree: Be careful though there are a lot of folk out there who think the prices to get into the football are justiifed.

[Antifa Hibs]

Absulutely no chance. This has been tried before (Think it was Motherwell) and look were it got them. Also do you not think Petrie has thought about this and the sums don't add up. For Hibs to progress as a football team we need as much income as possible, so i'd infact charge them more.


Now in all seriousness, yes they should. I'd even go as far as saying we should be giving away 50-100 tickets for games not involving The Old Firm, Hearts and maybe Aberdeen. Give 50 one week to Leith Athletic, 50 the next week to a local Polish community group, 50 next week Craigmillar Community Centre, 50 to the local Mosque and so on.... Hibs only sold out 1 match last season, we now have an increased capacity so its not as if we are short of space and wouldn't cost Hibs a penny. In return our PR man could get us some great publicity (Like Rangers and what they done for the soldiers), we get as many people from different cultures in ER supporting the Hibs, the kids may well just get hooked and go more regulary etc etc.

The adult prices in this country are a joke, but concession prices are nothing short of a disgrace. As I said in another post i've seen a fair few fitba matches in different cultures. I always seen groups of kids/teens going to the games together, something you don't see here. From Hibs's typical 'catchment area' (Drylaw/Muirhoose right along to Wardieburn, upto Leith/Lochend and Niddrie/craigmillar), how many kids will be able to afford £12-£14 for a Hibs home match, not many i'd imagine.........

[MrHibs1982]

What about offering some kind of discount to all fans who go in after the kickoff. Have a couple of turnstyles left open or open from 3.05 and you get in for half price or get some kind of deals. You might end up missing 15-20 minutes (and who knows all the good stuff) but the staff are already in place inside the ground so all this is really pure profit as all overheads are already covered except the turnstyle staff working an extra hour on minimum wage.
Just an idea that came to me the now so not fully thought it over but i think its a good one :)

[MacBean]

Absulutely no chance. This has been tried before (Think it was Motherwell) and look were it got them. Also do you not think Petrie has thought about this and the sums don't add up. For Hibs to progress as a football team we need as much income as possible, so i'd infact charge them more.


Now in all seriousness, yes they should. I'd even go as far as saying we should be giving away 50-100 tickets for games not involving The Old Firm, Hearts and maybe Aberdeen. Give 50 one week to Leith Athletic, 50 the next week to a local Polish community group, 50 next week Craigmillar Community Centre, 50 to the local Mosque and so on.... Hibs only sold out 1 match last season, we now have an increased capacity so its not as if we are short of space and wouldn't cost Hibs a penny. In return our PR man could get us some great publicity (Like Rangers and what they done for the soldiers), we get as many people from different cultures in ER supporting the Hibs, the kids may well just get hooked and go more regulary etc etc.

The adult prices in this country are a joke, but concession prices are nothing short of a disgrace. As I said in another post i've seen a fair few fitba matches in different cultures. I always seen groups of kids/teens going to the games together, something you don't see here. From Hibs's typical 'catchment area' (Drylaw/Muirhoose right along to Wardieburn, upto Leith/Lochend and Niddrie/craigmillar), how many kids will be able to afford £12-£14 for a Hibs home match, not many i'd imagine.........


I've said for i don't know how long that we should be looking to encourage more youngsters along to the stadium. Look at the Yams as an example and they now have 400,000 fans.

Being serious for a moment, surely we should look to give away say 1,000 tickets for category B games to local schools, football clubs and youth clubs to try and encourage more youngsters to come along. Even if this means we lose some revenue through the gate, most kids will want something to eat and drink in the ground and what you lose in gate money, you'll make up for in food/drink sales and maybe even merchandising.


While I can see the logic in making football more accessable to kids/teens, I'd like to see that extended.

I think Hibs offer relatively good value for the Season tickets, particularly if you're getting a family ticket (IIRC, the deals for family tickets gave fairly big savings), however - we have a big new stand, and with it an increased capacity.

We're going to have a lot of unused seats most weeks, IMHO. Even if we're off to a flier and playing great football, it still takes time for that to translate into bums on seats.

So rather than having these seats going empty, I'd like to see the club offer a limited amount of tickets for walk-up sale at a heavily discounted price, available on a first-come, first-served basis at the ticket office.

Because the tickets would be limited, there'd be no guarantee of getting the cheap one, therefore a full price season ticket retains it's benefits, and if people are down at the ground hoping to get a cheap ticket, if they miss out they may well be prepared to buy a full price one anyway.

I'd also be getting tickets out to schools in the area - and making them free with a paying adult, or organising groups of kids for a pre-match tour and to take in the game.

I'd say they are all very doable ideas.

As Antifa says though we have to be careful that we dont give away too many tickets. We have 19 home games and to give away 1000 tickets for one of these games would be a huge loss of revenue - as people will find out where they are being "handed out" and get thier hands on them as opposed to paying for them. I'd go with this idea about local Schools, perhaps giving out 50 tickets here n there every week will give hibs a broad pool of cultures to attract!

[LancashireHibby]

We have to be VERY careful not to give away too many tickets, and particularly to the same groups and possibly even those who would otherwise still attended the game and therefore losing out on gate money.

I have first hand experience of, more than anything, how this can majorly pish off your season ticket holders and in the end it has a negative effect - case in point being that for all bar two games for the past two seasons, Wigan Athletic gave out 3,000 junior tickets - all that happened was a drop in season ticket holders each year because people weren't prepared to pay out for season tickets because they knew it was so easy to get their hands on a freebie.

[marinello59]

What about offering some kind of discount to all fans who go in after the kickoff. Have a couple of turnstyles left open or open from 3.05 and you get in for half price or get some kind of deals. You might end up missing 15-20 minutes (and who knows all the good stuff) but the staff are already in place inside the ground so all this is really pure profit as all overheads are already covered except the turnstyle staff working an extra hour on minimum wage.
Just an idea that came to me the now so not fully thought it over but i think its a good one :)

That would conflict with existing advice from the club which is to be in your seat 15 minutes before kick off. They can hardly go on to say, ''But if you can't manage that turn up late and get rewarded with a cheaper ticket.''
It might have been workable in the old terracing. Not so easy in an all seater stadium where a steady stream of latecomers on cheaper tickets has everybody else constantly standing to let them past.