A missed opportunity

[Ferrite]

It’s a nice idea but I think this ticket promotion for the Gloucester City match is a real missed opportunity because for whatever reason the decision has been made that only a relatively small section of the population can benefit from it.

https://www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk/news/2023/october/the-smoking-goat-to-offer-tickets-to-key-workers-for-gloucester-city-clash/

Why not try to appeal to students, the unemployed, ethnic minorities? We need all the fans we can get and there’s a significant chunk of Scunthorpe’s population who – for whatever reason – don’t feel that football is for them. It would be great to see efforts made to try and change that.

Hopefully we’ll see some more promotions in the coming weeks on top of this one to grow the fanbase and benefit the club. Up the Iron.

[Apollo11]

Ferrite wrote:

It’s a nice idea but I think this ticket promotion for the Gloucester City match is a real missed opportunity…

… Hopefully we’ll see some more promotions in the coming weeks on top of this one to grow the fanbase and benefit the club.

You’ve said it yourself, though – hopefully there will be more of this sort of thing.

Just having a general ‘£5 tickets’ promo isn’t as immediately attention-grabbing as ‘key workers for a fiver’ (and, in weeks to come, ‘students for a fiver’ etc).

It needs a demographic to be marketed to. Good effort, imho.

[Ferrite]

I would argue that this is more likely to replace people who would normal pay full price anyway, not sure it’s going to grow the crowd much. I look forward to being proven wrong on that score.

[Apollo11]

Ferrite wrote:

I would argue that this is more likely to replace people who would normal pay full price anyway, not sure it’s going to grow the crowd much. I look forward to being proven wrong on that score.

You may be right, but they need to try every idea they can think of and see how it goes.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ferrite

[Awaywego]

How can it be a missed opportunity if the smoking goat have bought the tickets at full price to almost give away (small donation required) for key workers and service personnel with the donations going to Scunny.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Sanfran49, Heath

[Cliff Byrne’s Right Peg]

You’re probably right in the respect that is only a limited number of armed personnel and health workers whom will take up the offer.

However, if people with blue light cards don’t want to go, ask to use the card and distribute the tickets out. It may encourage a few hundred who normally only go casually to attend.

There’s been some good initiatives released today and it’s refreshing to see, some will work, some won’t.

I do feel the ‘hardcore’ support have a big part to play in this. We have to do our bit encouraging casuals to attend, even if it’s only a couple of times per year.

[Apollo11]

It’s a very bold gesture by The Smoking Goat people, but perhaps a little bit OTT? Aim big, sure – but a hundred or, pushing it, two-hundred and fifty tickets is surely more realistic a figure than a thousand? I mean if we’re thinking about giveaways that will actually be used…

[Awaywego]

If just attracts a few more to come along regularly then it’s a success, as a season ticket holder my £10 ticket will go to someone who goes on a fairly regular basis not to someone who doesn’t, maybe not the clubs intention but is mine.

[Ferrite]

Awaywego wrote:

If just attracts a few more to come along regularly then it’s a success, as a season ticket holder my £10 ticket will go to someone who goes on a fairly regular basis not to someone who doesn’t, maybe not the clubs intention but is mine.

That’s exactly my point: will it attract any more people to come along regularly?

[Awaywego]

It will if we can get plenty of school children there, so easy to get them hooked and most have to bring a parent along.

[Northumbiron]

We all know what encourages people to come along regularly, and playing at National League North level doesn’t!

Winning 6-0 & 6-1 may be a lever but that’s not going to happen every game.

Classic Catch 22. We need to be higher up the FL Pyramid to get the crowds but to get there we need better attendance now!

1 user thanked author for this post.

bartonscorpion

[Ferrite]

Northumbiron wrote:

We all know what encourages people to come along regularly, and playing at National League North level doesn’t!

Winning 6-0 & 6-1 may be a lever but that’s not going to happen every game.

Classic Catch 22. We need to be higher up the FL Pyramid to get the crowds but to get there we need better attendance now!

That’s true to an extent NI but it’s worth looking at the average crowds during the “boom” years under Swann – they didn’t increase by much and what increase there was largely down to big away followings.

Of course, I can’t imagine what reasons the people of Scunthorpe might have had for not warming to such a charming & successful businessman…

[Cliff Byrne’s Right Peg]

Northumbiron wrote:

We all know what encourages people to come along regularly, and playing at National League North level doesn’t!

Winning 6-0 & 6-1 may be a lever but that’s not going to happen every game.

Classic Catch 22. We need to be higher up the FL Pyramid to get the crowds but to get there we need better attendance now!

I’m not sure this applies tbh, we are not far off the home crowds when we were thumping sides in league one.

Many teams of a similar stature have had a renaissance in non-league and boast larger crowds than they ever did in the EFL.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ferrite

[Apollo11]

Northumbiron wrote:

We all know what encourages people to come along regularly, and playing at National League North level doesn’t!

Winning 6-0 & 6-1 may be a lever but that’s not going to happen every game.

Classic Catch 22. We need to be higher up the FL Pyramid to get the crowds but to get there we need better attendance now!

I think the home crowd is probably about maxed out (ie. about as much as it’s ever going to be in League One, League Two, National League or National League North). The issue is actually the away attendances. This season we can’t yet have had 1,000 through the turnstile in total?

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Deereyme66, Northumbiron, cassidystash, bartonscorpion, TheJuryeffsOut, doris

[Sanfran49]

It is HIS money and it is what HE wants to do to help the club.

So it is up to him.

[Apollo11]

Sanfran49 wrote:

It is HIS money and it is what HE wants to do to help the club. So it is up to him.

I don’t think anyone is arguing otherwise?

[bartonscorpion]

I think that the attebdances that the club are getting this season are really good for a team playing in National League North, the club have lost many regular fans over the past six or seven years, mainly due to very poor results and the lack of entertaining football, add to that the Swann facter.

When the club were in League 1 and 2, as stated above, many away teams supporters filled the railway end section, in this league there is usually under 100, so actually the home fans are doing a great job in sticking with their team. I cannot see the club increasing present crowd levels, yes it is easy to say give tickets away free, but that does not put money into the club, and only a handfull will return when having to pay.
I would think that a few hundred have returned to GP, simply because they have been bored to death with previous boring years, and that the team are actually winning games and scoring goals.

I do not know what propotion of the £11-99 fee from watching each game on Streaming, but the club could surely add to their funds if they advertised Live Streaming access like the Speedway promotion do. I have never seen any reference to Streaming on the Scunthorpe web site.

But as stated, get the team out of this League, and more fans will return.

Another way is to give leaflets to schools , for each kid to take home, use the Railway End of GP for kids free if accompanied by a £10 paying Parent, this has been used in the past, but for only one game per season, and it worked a treat, and with just the present few away fans,they can be relocated into the SE corner of the SE corner of yje East stand.

[WonderGoals]

Awaywego wrote:

How can it be a missed opportunity if the smoking goat have bought the tickets at full price to almost give away (small donation required) for key workers and service personnel with the donations going to Scunny.

This sums it up perfectly. How this gesture can even begin to be questioned is beyond me ?. People are questioning if it has any long term benefit but I suggest you just take it for what it is.

You have a local business “catering company” who happens to cater for us and they’re looking to get involved by buying 500 tickets out of their own pockets to give to people who wouldn’t necessarily come otherwise with the proceeds/donations coming the clubs way.

Swann and Hilton needed to be questioned but this doesn’t.

I thought this would have been celebrated instead of questioned. Baffles me at times this forum !

4 users thanked author for this post.

backofthenet18, SDH57, open hearth iron, Awaywego

[Apollo11]

WonderGoals wrote:

Awaywego wrote:

How can it be a missed opportunity if the smoking goat have bought the tickets at full price to almost give away (small donation required) for key workers and service personnel with the donations going to Scunny.

This sums it up perfectly. How this gesture can even begin to be questioned is beyond me ?. People are questioning if it has any long term benefit but I suggest you just take it for what it is.

You have a local business “catering company” who happens to cater for us and they’re looking to get involved by buying 500 tickets out of their own pockets to give to people who wouldn’t necessarily come otherwise with the proceeds/donations coming the clubs way.

Swann and Hilton needed to be questioned but this doesn’t.

I thought this would have been celebrated instead of questioned. Baffles me at times this forum !

I don’t think anyone is questioning the gesture, more the nuts and bolts of how it will work out there in the real world.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Deereyme66

[Heath]

The point of the offer is not just to get a few extra on the day. They are trying to build on the message that the club needs more support at this time and the town needs to get behind the club.

Seems a great initiative to me. I would rather see ideas tried and possibly fail than no ideas at all.

5 users thanked author for this post.

backofthenet18, SDH57, Ferrite, Cliff Byrne's Right Peg, Deereyme66

[Cliff Byrne’s Right Peg]

Heath wrote:

The point of the offer is not just to get a few extra on the day. They are trying to build on the message that the club needs more support at this time and the town needs to get behind the club.

Seems a great initiative to me. I would rather see ideas tried and possibly fail than no ideas at all.

You’ve hit the nail on the head.

[Awaywego]

Off piste but.The Sheff wed owner is giving an opportunity to keep their club afloat he wants £2 million in donations in the next few days or more sanctions will come,

[Apollo11]

Awaywego wrote:

Off piste but.The Sheff wed owner is giving an opportunity to keep their club afloat he wants £2 million in donations in the next few days or more sanctions will come,

In cash? ;-)

1 user thanked author for this post.

Awaywego

[Ferrite]

WonderGoals wrote:

You have a local business “catering company” who happens to cater for us and they’re looking to get involved by buying 500 tickets out of their own pockets to give to people who wouldn’t necessarily come otherwise with the proceeds/donations coming the clubs way.

I’ll spell it out for you:

1. Why is it just for people with certain jobs? There are lots of people struggling to pay bills at the moment.
2. Is this going to grow the attendance or just save a few quid for people who would be coming anyway?
3. There are lots of people in Scunthorpe who have never been to a game, are we doing enough to reach them?

Also, if you read the title of the thread, I’ve said this feels like a “missed opportunity” rather than a mistake. That means I think that this gesture of giving away up to 1,000 tickets could have been a chance to contact new potential fans.

[CMC]

There’s been a couple of suggestions where families struggling to heat and feed their kids would love a couple of tickets to see a match and they’re being shot down by the mob as usual.

Also the tickets have “Complimentary” on them so I doubt he paid for them.

Just trying to build up publicity for his business, that’s all.

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Ferrite

[Deereyme66]

Do they come with a complimentary cholesterol checker?

[Author]

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