Opinion The Club and the way they communicate with us

[catempire]

For the record, another example of the club recognising it needs to improve engagement with fans to increase revenues and succeed:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-17/we-cant-match-them

 

[Willo_]

How the hell can almost a quarter of the season seat holders not show each week (I understand it's likely not the same people every week)... seems selfish if they don't bother reselling or letting the club know

 

[catempire]

How the hell can almost a quarter of the season seat holders not show each week (I understand it's likely not the same people every week)... seems selfish if they don't bother reselling or letting the club know

A lot of it has to do with the quality of matches. It's hard to convince a friend to take your ticket to a match vs a cellar dweller on a wet July afternoon. Yes, you could put it back in the pool to sell but again, who is interested in buying a ticket to a match like that?

We need matches against the bigger clubs at Simonds which won't happen until the ground is fully redeveloped.

 

[dazbroncos]

A lot of it has to do with the quality of matches. It's hard to convince a friend to take your ticket to a match vs a cellar dweller on a wet July afternoon. Yes, you could put it back in the pool to sell but again, who is interested in buying a ticket to a match like that?

We need matches against the bigger clubs at Simonds which won't happen until the ground is fully redeveloped.

I guess its all perspective. I travel 17500 kms to stand in the rain at a VFL game that costs me $1200.00.

Now, would I do that if I had the opportunity every week? Maybe not. But it completely depends on life, perspective and money.

Granted, Im sure that you could resell tix at a reduced rate day of the game. Im sure that full gate toll would be preferable but surely one resale is better than no resale. The premise or model being the Times Square Ticket place that sells day of ticket to Broadway shows. They are reduced price off face value, only available day of and first in best dressed. You can get some pearler tickets for 33% off.

Would still require the seller to put them back to the club in advance of course but they would get some credit back on the sale, the club gets money back and the buyer gets off face value.

Sure, Cats V Demons may not be the drawcard game like Cats Hawks but I just spent 140 bucks for 2 tickets in the members presale.

Its funny too how Mark Cuban ( MAVS owner in Dallas) says that his gate take for the season is one of the most insignificant form of revenue as opposed to all other sources. He invests in it however as without the home crowd, the atmosphere is dead. As such, he actually reduces his mid level membership/season tickets to appeal to more supporters. While he looses at the gate a little, he gains more people thru the door.

Id say the AFL v NBA difference is in the number of games and the that fact that the AFL membership for clubs is till the backbone of revenue.

I would have thought that getting 8 home games out of 23 would be enough reason to front up to KP for those events. You can understand people missing some of the 41 home games in the NBA - 8 just seems such low number to buy and then not go to. Again, each to their own.

GO Catters

 

[catempire]

I guess its all perspective. I travel 17500 kms to stand in the rain at a VFL game that costs me $1200.00.

Now, would I do that if I had the opportunity every week? Maybe not. But it completely depends on life, perspective and money.

Granted, Im sure that you could resell tix at a reduced rate day of the game. Im sure that full gate toll would be preferable but surely one resale is better than no resale. The premise or model being the Times Square Ticket place that sells day of ticket to Broadway shows. They are reduced price off face value, only available day of and first in best dressed. You can get some pearler tickets for 33% off.

Would still require the seller to put them back to the club in advance of course but they would get some credit back on the sale, the club gets money back and the buyer gets off face value.

Sure, Cats V Demons may not be the drawcard game like Cats Hawks but I just spent 140 bucks for 2 tickets in the members presale.

Its funny too how Mark Cuban ( MAVS owner in Dallas) says that his gate take for the season is one of the most insignificant form of revenue as opposed to all other sources. He invests in it however as without the home crowd, the atmosphere is dead. As such, he actually reduces his mid level membership/season tickets to appeal to more supporters. While he looses at the gate a little, he gains more people thru the door.

Id say the AFL v NBA difference is in the number of games and the that fact that the AFL membership for clubs is till the backbone of revenue.

I would have thought that getting 8 home games out of 23 would be enough reason to front up to KP for those events. You can understand people missing some of the 41 home games in the NBA - 8 just seems such low number to buy and then not go to. Again, each to their own.

GO Catters

bcook@geelongcats.com.au

 

[dazbroncos]

bcook@geelongcats.com.au

Think its worth it?

GO Catters

 

[thegerman]

I guess its all perspective. I travel 17500 kms to stand in the rain at a VFL game that costs me $1200.00.

Now, would I do that if I had the opportunity every week? Maybe not. But it completely depends on life, perspective and money.

Granted, Im sure that you could resell tix at a reduced rate day of the game. Im sure that full gate toll would be preferable but surely one resale is better than no resale. The premise or model being the Times Square Ticket place that sells day of ticket to Broadway shows. They are reduced price off face value, only available day of and first in best dressed. You can get some pearler tickets for 33% off.

Would still require the seller to put them back to the club in advance of course but they would get some credit back on the sale, the club gets money back and the buyer gets off face value.

Sure, Cats V Demons may not be the drawcard game like Cats Hawks but I just spent 140 bucks for 2 tickets in the members presale.

Its funny too how Mark Cuban ( MAVS owner in Dallas) says that his gate take for the season is one of the most insignificant form of revenue as opposed to all other sources. He invests in it however as without the home crowd, the atmosphere is dead. As such, he actually reduces his mid level membership/season tickets to appeal to more supporters. While he looses at the gate a little, he gains more people thru the door.

Id say the AFL v NBA difference is in the number of games and the that fact that the AFL membership for clubs is till the backbone of revenue.

I would have thought that getting 8 home games out of 23 would be enough reason to front up to KP for those events. You can understand people missing some of the 41 home games in the NBA - 8 just seems such low number to buy and then not go to. Again, each to their own.

GO Catters

Surely this is party to the AFLs new fan strategy by lowering food and entry prices.

I remember going to supercats games in the 80s, prices were ridiculously low even back then. But the crowd was amazing.

I think lowering prices, is a great business advantage, especially to supporter based events. More sales in food and merchandise back to the club.

 

[catempire]

Think its worth it?

GO Catters

Definitely some good ideas in there Daz. I don't think the current system of resale works that well.

Certainly they should be looking at price reductions as incentives to get people through the gate to the lower-drawing games. That's a no-brainer.

 

[fpm84]

I've never resold my seat (it's extremely rare that I don't make a home game) - how much credit does the club give you for selling it back?

If it's a paltry amount, many people may think it's not worth the effort. I'd prefer, for example, a $25 Cats Shop voucher instead of selling my ticket back to get $10 off the cost of my reserved seat next season. And by giving Cats Shop vouchers they're ultimately encouraging extra spending with the club.

 

[Zouz Kitty]

Heaps of club boards have formed relationships with their club. RFC_Official has ~3500 posts on BigFooty.

Geelong has rejected our attempts.

Forgive me if you've stated this previously, please SJ? Did the Club give you a reason why they won't contribute to BF? They have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram +++ social media. BF is for the more serious supporter, isn't it? Is the Club fearful of being asked difficult questions? Or is because of the reasons Jub stated?

Can you blame them ?
This board has so many whiny trolls it's probably turned them off the idea

Hey Jub, is whiny trolls a euphemism for drama queens

dazbroncos - great post, good points raised.

I'm a little similar to daz, I drive from north of Sydney to games in either Geelong or Melbourne. While it's not a huge amount of $$$ for Geelong, there are still $$$ spent for hotel accommodation, food, petrol, game tickets, dinners with friends (which goes to Lingy usually), Cats Shop, retail shops etc. I used to buy a HouseCat membership, which I changed to a Home Game membership in 2012. With the HouseCat membership for $50 you'd receive some great Cats memorabilia. With the Home Game membership you get a scarf or a beanie I probably go to about six games a year. I could easily continue with the HouseCat membership, which provides entry to three games + there are usually another three games offered if ticket sales are great to games with Clubs lower on the ladder. This season I'm going to Rd1, Crows game in Adelaide + WEC game if it's in Perth.

With regard to nonmembers becoming members, I'd love it of the benefits of becoming a member were more clearly stated. I'm a new fan of both the club and the game, only got interested about round one last year, and only started supporting geelonh after that win against the Hawks in round 5 or something. So as someone whose never been to a game even, or played the sport as a junior, membership for me isn't something I'm too interested in. But I did check it out. I found two things. That A. The clubs website isn't designed to work well on mobile devices, and B. The benefits of membership either weren't explained well enough or didn't attract me. I suppose though I'm not exactly the kind of person, as in won't be attending games too often if ever, that clubs seek to convince into making a financial contribution?

Warsaw the Cats have mobile apps, did you try using the app? The problem with the AFL + Club websites is that they are designed + run by Telstra. You can't contact the Clubs or AFL through the website, everything goes to Telstra, who don't give a flying fig.

As some have said, Warsaw is the type of supporter Geelong should want to attract. I find it easier to speak to the membership department, who can ascertain what membership is best for you. Might be difficult for you to ring, if you are overseas.

A footy friend asked Geelong why they didn't give the spare seats in the ChSquad away, before the game, as an empty ChSquad looks very sad + was told they only sell those seats to ChSquad members. Wouldn't it be a fantastic PR opportunity to give those empty seats to local school kids? Rotate the schools throughout the Geelong area. It's a chance to get them young + engender loyalty by giving the kids a terrific experience? Lots of families just can't afford to go to every game.

 

[catempire]

I've never resold my seat (it's extremely rare that I don't make a home game) - how much credit does the club give you for selling it back?

If it's a paltry amount, many people may think it's not worth the effort. I'd prefer, for example, a $25 Cats Shop voucher instead of selling my ticket back to get $10 off the cost of my reserved seat next season. And by giving Cats Shop vouchers they're ultimately encouraging extra spending with the club.

That's a good idea. Credits are explained as follows. Just worked out that they give you about a third of what the seat is worth. There's a slight problem to begin with.

 

[you pick one]

Just another side to resale to think about, people who buy reserve seats are in the main dedicated Supporters who enjoy their footy and are looking for a comfortable friendly environment to watch the game,imagine turning up for the game with mum and the kids and being stiff enough to find yourself smack bang in the middle of a bunch of blow in ferrels.

 

[Moggy]

I would like to see the stadium full for every game.

Long term, having the stadium packed with a lively crowd improves our chances of driving up membership and getting more big, televised games at KP.

Make it happen, dazbroncos!

 

[abet]

The club needs to rethink how it sells the seats if they want a resell option. 8 games Gold reserved seating costs a total of $213.00 which is $26.63 per game.

What if the club only charges $106.50 which is $13.32 per game up front as a holding deposit with another $13.32 payable on confirmation two days prior to the game.

With this scenario you have a holding deposit for all 8 games, if you want to attend you pay the balance and if you don’t attend the club resells the tickets, this way it hasn’t cost you the full whack and no need for the club to reimburse.

 

[Pivo]

Just another side to resale to think about, people who buy reserve seats are in the main dedicated Supporters who enjoy their footy and are looking for a comfortable friendly environment to watch the game,imagine turning up for the game with mum and the kids and being stiff enough to find yourself smack bang in the middle of a bunch of blow in ferrels.

At least they'd be, I'd imagine, Geelong supporting ferals in the main.

In games against Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon and Carlton it feels like I'm always surrounded by ferals and they usually ain't the Geelong supporting kind.

 

[catempire]

The club needs to rethink how it sells the seats if they want a resell option. 8 games Gold reserved seating costs a total of $213.00 which is $26.63 per game.

What if the club only charges $106.50 which is $13.32 per game up front as a holding deposit with another $13.32 payable on confirmation two days prior to the game.

With this scenario you have a holding deposit for all 8 games, if you want to attend you pay the balance and if you don’t attend the club resells the tickets, this way it hasn’t cost you the full whack and no need for the club to reimburse.

But if the club can't resell the ticket it is then out of pocket. Whereas now the club gets paid whether you show or not.

The problem the club is referring to is when a person doesn't show, while the club already has the revenue from the seat sale, it fails to derive any further profit through food, beverage and merchandise sales from that no-show person.

It needs to find ways to either get season ticket holders to attend more games, or to get unused seats on-sold to others.

If you want to stimulate demand you either increase the quality of the product or you decrease its price. Let's see if they do either.

 

[abet]

But if the club can't resell the ticket it is then out of pocket. Whereas now the club gets paid whether you show or not.

The problem the club is referring to is when a person doesn't show, while the club already has the revenue from the seat sale, it fails to derive any further profit through food, beverage and merchandise sales from that no-show person.

It needs to find ways to either get season ticket holders to attend more games, or to get unused seats on-sold to others.

If you want to stimulate demand you either increase the quality of the product or you decrease its price. Let's see if they do either.

The club doesn't have a problem with selling tickets. If you go through stats you'll find they sell all the seats but just can't get bums on them.

 

[catempire]

The club doesn't have a problem with selling tickets. If you go through stats you'll find they sell all the seats but just can't get bums on them.

Er, exactly what I said.

 

[abet]

Er, exactly what I said.

Er, but you also said that the club might not be able to resell the ticket and i reckon it would have no problem reselling them.

 

[catempire]

Er, but you also said that the club might not be able to resell the ticket and i reckon it would have no problem reselling them.

I disagree. Particularly for the crappy games. People don't show up because they are low-appeal games. They don't sell out, so it's not like people can't get their hands on tickets. So having more tickets on the market isn't the solution. Pricing them differently might be.

 

[abet]

I disagree. Particularly for the crappy games. People don't show up because they are low-appeal games. They don't sell out, so it's not like people can't get their hands on tickets. So having more tickets on the market isn't the solution. Pricing them differently might be.

You may disagree but the fact that there was 11 games there last year with a total attendance of 373,038 for an average of 33,913 per game in a ground that holds 34,074 tells me otherwise.

 

[catempire]

You may disagree but the fact that there was 11 games there last year with a total attendance of 373,038 for an average of 33,913 per game in a ground that holds 34,074 tells me otherwise.

Your numbers are wrong. Geelong played four home games in Melbourne.

 

[abet]

Your numbers are wrong. Geelong played four home games in Melbourne.

Apologies your right, i averaged all 11 home games

 

[Pivo]

The 7 Skilled games in 2014 averaged around 25,000

 

[SJ]

I disagree. Particularly for the crappy games. People don't show up because they are low-appeal games. They don't sell out, so it's not like people can't get their hands on tickets. So having more tickets on the market isn't the solution. Pricing them differently might be.

Let's not forget that the time slots are not there to promote match attendance first and foremost.