Firstly, I know these sort of surveys are not everyone’s cup of tea and we also flagged it straight off the bat that it didn’t intend to be anything ground-breaking. It was originally a ‘post that was starting to get a bit long', realised it might work better in survey form, and twenty mins later there it was.
No doubt it could have more in depth or probing, and could easily have doubled or tripled in the amount of questions. But the intention was not to be too in depth, but purely to get a quick snapshot of the general mood of our users ahead of the ST renewal deadline and any increase in pricing, and hopefully it has achieved that.
So thank you very much to the 660 users who completed the survey. Given it was up for just two-days, we really appreciate the solid response as that gives us what I hope would be a decent size sample that captures the cross-section of our (adult) support. (Note, there will be some % rounding imperfections)
Apologies too for the delay in getting this out. The last week hasen’t gone to plan, so I’m going to keep the breakdown and Question commentary to a minimum, and hopefully others will step in and give their take on it all.
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Q1 was aimed at CURRENT ST HOLDERS
Current ST Holders interestingly made up around 70% of our sample. Whether that’s an accurate indicator of the weighting of ST holders who use our forum, or it was the fact that current active goers were more interested in completing the survey as opposed to an ex-pat / non-attendee, I don’t know.
Q1 asked for an indication of the current ST Holder’s intentions for the following season.
The breakdown was as follows:
a. Renewed already / Will renew ahead of deadline - 71%
b. More than likely to renew, but will wait until post deadline (primarily dependent on financial reasons / cost increase) - 8%
c. More than likely to renew, but will wait until post deadline (on football reasons; what division, squad / manager business) - 9%
d. Unlikely to renew as no longer enjoying it enough - 5%
e. Unlikely to renew as can no longer afford it - 2%
f. Unlikely to renew due to location / re-location / other reasons - 6%
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The question was aimed at the specifics of the renewal, with the result as follows:
a. Retaining the same seat - 85%
b. Relocating to a cheaper option - 12%
c. Relocating to a more expensive option - 2%
d. Relocating to a same price option - 2%
As expected, there was a huge majority that ‘don’t do change’, though it would be interesting to compare this with normal renewal figures as I would guess in previous years, the renewal level of the same seat would probably be 95%+ (Airman may know more).
The introduction of varied price points has had a clear impact, with a far greater amount switching to a cheaper area than those switching to a comparative or more expensive area.
Given that the cheapest price point appears anecdotally to have proved very popular in switches from the North Stand (which is a halving of individual revenue), if what our sample shows is matched on complete figures there is likely to be a significant reduction in like-for-like revenues for next seasons renewals.
We asked of their intentions towards next season’s STs
a. Have purchased / likely to purchase ahead of deadline - 13%
b. Likely to purchase post deadline, primarily depending on financial reasons / cost increases - 5%
c. Likely to purchase post deadline, primarily depending on football reasons; division, squad / manager business - 9%
d. Unlikely to purchase as don't enjoy it enough - 10%
e. Unlikely to purchase as can't afford it - 12%
f. Unlikely to purchase due primarily to location - 28%
g. Unlikely to purchase due to other reasons - 24%
From the above, approx. 27% have / are considering acquiring a ST.
That is fairly encouraging, though I would expect the likelihood of the actual follow-through on this to prove slightly lower. An extended question set here could have delved into how many of those in this subset used to have a ST at some time in the past / would consider again in the future etc. As seen to a lesser extent in the current ST holders question, location is proving an ever-increasing problem for CAFC with supporters continuing to migrate away from local areas at a growing pace.
In the same question to ST Holders and Non-ST Holders, the club’s likely football business intentions over the summer appear more influential than the financial considerations of whether those in the 'Uncertain camp' renewed / acquired a ST.
It was driven at getting an insight into those individuals, and why they were likely to purchase:
a. A previous ST Holder primarily returning due to attractive pricing - 24%
b. A previous ST primarily returning due to other reasons - 59%
c. Acquiring a ST for the first time due to attractive pricing - 12%
d. Acquiring a ST for the first time due to other reasons - 5%
The result showed surprising results, particularly when applying to returning ST holders. Other reasons were considerably higher the reason than the pricing offers, though I question whether there was some form of psychological defensive approach to answering that question. Even so, the result surprised me given anecdotal evidence of former ST holders who are now occasional buyers investing in the cheap level ST.
Those acquiring for the first time were only 1.5% of the sample and the result should be viewed accordingly,
a. No (ST only) - 95%
b. Lounge / Suite / Boardroom pass - 3%
c. Car parking - 1%
d. Other - 1%
e. A combination of b, c and d - 1%
As expected from a sample of hard-core support, a ticket purchase is as far as it goes in terms of revenue maximisation. The TRUSTs separate survey on Matchday Experience goes into more details re: catering, matchday options.
It was attempting to come slightly away from the ST angle and look in a crude form a little wider at people’s approach to the feelings towards the Club and their likely support next season. The wording of the question was 'As a result of the ownership / managerial / squad changes at the Club this season, at this point in time do you see yourself being:'
a. More active in your support next season - 10%
b. Less active in your support next season - 16%
c. Unchanged to current level of support - 74%
The interesting aspect of this question was that with the Yeovil game in the middle of the survey poll, how much of a short-term impact a result can have on people’s moods.
Ahead of the Yeovil KO, the percentage that answered Less Active was more than double that of the More Active response. Following the victory, the polls being answered from that point were a lot more weighted to More Active.
What does this tell us? Little if we are honest, other than capturing a snapshot of the current mood. How people answer a question such as this in advance can sometimes be very different to what emerges, and what emerges is undoubtedly dependent on what happens on the pitch.
I suspect though that there can be little argument that our support is currently more fragile than it has been for 30 years, and the mood and approach can change significantly in a short space of time.
This question wanted to get a snapshot of the current mood of whether the supporters had confidence in Championship survival. The wording of the question was 'At this point in time, what is your gut instinct on what division Charlton will be in next season'
a. Championship - 65%
b. League One - 13%
c. Genuinely don't know - 22%
The result was naturally accentuated by the Yeovil result, but not as much as you would think. There was a clear weighting towards Championship survival in the polling ahead of the victory, and given the fear factor and lack of faith generally associated with Charlton in general (sometimes with good reason!), a two thirds reading I think showed very strong support given the picture at the time.
a. Good value regardless of division - 42%
b. Good value in Championship, fair value for League One - 31%
c. Good value in Championship, poor value for League One - 10%
d. Fair value in Championship, poor value for League one - 10%
e. Fair value regardless of division - 6%
f. Poor value regardless of division - 1%
It was obvious in hindsight this was a bolted-on question and I accept it could have been worded / split far better and taken account of the different price points. However, what is clear is that the people actually paying out for the tickets perceive them to be of good value.
Why ? Well, it is very easy to talk about things being good value, but I wanted to see if people’s perceptions are different depending on whether they were actually forking out a few hundred quid or not.
a. Good value regardless of division - 36%
b. Good value in Championship, fair value for League One - 23%
c. Good value in Championship, poor value for League One - 11%
d. Fair value in Championship, poor value for League One - 13%
e. Fair value regardless of division - 13%
f. Poor value regardless of division - 3%
Turns out no, not really (from my uneducated eye)!
We'll try and keep a consistency in the questioning going forward to see how things compare.
Be grateful for any thoughts on the above
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/54054/poll-will-you-buy-a-season-ticket-for-season-2013-2014/p1
More in depth than my dissertation.
The Trust survey on matchday packages had a far more positive response which might be down to any number of factors - sampling methods, prizes, timing (before the crossbars relaunch)
Asking the right questions over time can help fans understand the picture and shifts without simply relying on individual posters on here.
Fundamentally we all support a club which needs to get its act together on and off the pitch...let's hope the last five games give us something to look forwards to next season.
However, taking the figures above at face value, and assuming that everyone that says they are 'likely' to buy an ST will, and everyone that says 'unlikely' won't:
- We will lose 60 existing ST holders (660 x 70% x 13%).
- We will gain 53 new ST holders (660 x 30% x 27%)
So, a net loss of 7 in a sample of 660, or just over 1% - not the mass exodus that some have been predicting.
Obviously revenue will be down where people are moving from one section of the ground to a cheaper area - but what we will probably never know is to what extent this is compensated for by extra matchday sales. Bear in mind as well that each person that takes up the much-maligned Crossbars package (and a good number will), more than makes up for one person moving from, say, the North Upper to Block A.
Also, I don't agree with the analysis of Q5, that "ticket purchase is as far as it goes in terms of revenue maximisation". The question was very clearly related to the purchase of season-long add-ons and hospitality, which will not be for the majority of supporters. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't other ways to increase matchday revenue from these people. For example, I answered 'No' to this question, but that doesn't mean that I don't buy programmes, food and drink in the ground, and also doesn't mean that I wouldn't consider paying for matchday hospitality on a match by match basis (e.g. Legends meal) if the price was right. This is where the club should be focussing in terms of revenue maximisation IMO, and initiatives like the extra beer stands in the North stand will help.
In any case, the number of people who have answered this question positively is probably in line with expectations. 4% of, say, 10,000 ST holders (combination of answers b and e) is 400 people. Assuming the majority of these are Crossbars, as the cheapest option, I can't imagine the club would want many more than this as it would reduce the exclusivity and probably make the package less attractive.
Anyway, that's just my take on it all - don't want to come across as negative towards the survey as it's great that we have such an active forum to do this sort of thing, and without the hard work of AFKA and the mods we wouldn't have all of these figures to debate and disagree over - so thank you.