According to Mr Bassini we've almost reached the same mark (8k) as last season in terms of selling the above which is a positive thing as the club will get increased revenue and maybe with more in the ground our vocal support might improve. I wonder what a new East stand would do to attract even more supporters in terms of improvement in facilities but guess we won't know for a while. BTW Did anyone see QPR's prices have gone up 40%..talk about taking advantage of promotion eh? They weren't that cheap beforehand.
i don't believe in the end we'll sell many more season tickets than we did last year. The early bird period is over. We're bound to sell more during that time than after it. It'd be interesting to know how many we'd sold at the end of the early bird period last year to compare. I think this is all a bit of spin from Mr B...but i'll be happy to be proved wrong.
I don't see how Mr B can spin the facts. Last season we have 8,630 and we have just passed 8,000 this year. I think we will at least match last season and that will only be positive considering SOME people's reaction to the new owner and the current financial climate.
"Right now, it looks like we're on course to surpass last season's final total. "Very careful consideration was given to season ticket packages, given the current economic climate," he added. "So I'm really pleased to see so many Watford fans show us that they feel what we offered was a fair deal." It's no surprise that, after a good season, people want to renew, especially with some of the season tickets costing less than last season. But as far as i know they haven't yet announced prices, post early bird...so it will be interesting to see how many tickets are sold between now and the beginning of the season. To be honest, when buying a season ticket, a new owner wouldn't be a deciding factor for me...would it be for other people? I'm not sure...i think it's more about players, the manager, and the previous season...and yes, the current financial climate.
Matching last season's numbers would be a miserable failure in my book. We've seen some tremendous football, and even without Graham there are some pretty exciting players who will continue to provide value for money, win or lose. Couple that with a slash in kid's prices and a marginal rise in adult prices, 8,630 would be nothing short of a catastrophe. No doubt Dasani will be dancing from the rooftops when we hit 8,640 though.
As stated Mr B hasnt done anything wrong.........yet apart from his err secretive nature!!!! At least he has gone to the games ,However I still feel there is a big "Oh No" just around the corner!
I would have thought that maintaining the same level of ST sales would have been the target. There will always be a few people who cannot renew for many reasons i.e. they move from the area, financial constraints - but these would be balanced by a few new ST purchases. So I see the core pretty much stays the same - but the big question is how do we increase that core support? If people do not already go, how do they know the things that NNW states? I have the same horrible feeling Norway...
Anyone with a connection to the club can get a feel for it. During the first half of the Boothroyd era, we were content because we were winning, and to an extent that translated beyond Vicarage Road itself. Contrast that to this season, where the results have been on a par with Boothroyd's last four months, but yet there is a real buzz about the club, a buzz that extends beyond the 23 home matches.
NNW - But how could we translate that to increased ST sales? I fully agree with you regarding the buzz around the club, but we need to increase our core support..
I think this is great news given the financial difficulties we all face. Keeping the kids fo a quid days helps too - get 'em in young and by playing the attractive football MM has us playing, offering decent facilities and fair prices this will help keep them. The difficulty in increasing the attendancies has more to do with the ground location, transport infrastructure, draconian parking (which will surely only get worse as councils seek to fleece motorists for every last penny) and indifferent support (at best) over the years from WBC. Yeah, okay, new East Stand blah blah.... but take it from a construction professional, this is a very expensive undertaking - possibly more money than it's really worth in pure financial terms (aesthietics, atmosphere, feel-good factor etc notwithstanding) because of what is involved. Remember, the Rous is built off the existing foundations and terraces - cheap and (in the lower tier) nasty. It was all we could afford - or at least all JP was prepared to afford - so that's how it is. That kind of build is not an option this time around. It needs careful planning to get it right and there will be one hell of a bill for the groundworks (probably complete removal of the existing, some deep piling on not very good ground etc etc)... the superstructure will be relatively inexpensive. It is a real pain in the arse getting to games from my Buck's home - which is the main reason why I don't get to see Sarries so much these days - particulary on public transport. I would favour a new ground should the conditions be right (which I doubt they ever will) but I do believe the club is doing the best it can under the circumstances. Let's be honest here, they'd be complete idiots if they did not.
W_Y: The way I see it, our potential season ticket base is around the 16-18,000 mark, but that is assuming that we are competitive in the bottom half of the Premier League, which we haven't been for 25 years. At the moment, we're at around 9,000. A minority of those 7-9k are what can best be described as plastics: people who would only consider buying Premier League tickets. The majority can be put down to things like the cost of bringing kids, disillusionment at the style of football, issues with seating etc, their personal financial situations, etc. For us to drastically reduce the cost for kids, and off the back of playing some of the best stuff we've seen in years, to still only just scrape above last season's figure (which in turn came off the back of an administration threat) is disappointing. There are other factors, not least the rugby and pitch situation, but in my view some of the blame has to be placed at Dasani's door.
For some of these guys its not the on pitch stuff that puts them..but the where they have to watch the games. http://www.wfcforums.com/showthread.php?t=37854
The concessions for families and offers for kids were very good in the "early bird" package, and may have boosted numbers without doing much for revenue. We might expect a good turnout at the "away" end when West Ham, Birmingham, Southampton and Brighton visit, which will compensate for losing QPR and Norwich. But it will be important to get off to a good start next season if we want to maintain numbers.And to find a player with the audience appeal of Graham. People do come to watch a goalscorer.
Let's not forget that the club has already sold its season ticket soul for ready cash in order to keep going. And while an increase on last season's sales will undoubtedly be a good thing, there will be no financial windfall unless there is a massive rise in sales.
Oh, even if sales go well, ST money will be down this year because of that deal (I don't blame Dasani, or anyone else, for that. It was necessary).
My guess would be that the board were worried that sales might fall off in a big way. All the talk of player sales, no new pitch, nothing as yet about other ground improvements and of course Mr. B himself did nothing to get a wave of enthusiasm going. I agree with Roger that people will turn up to see a goalscorer and there we will have to wait to see if we will have one for next season.
