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Results of match day attendance survey: TOO EXPENSIVE

Thanks to 2K fans who completed our recent short survey.

A resounding verdict that L1 prices at The Valley are not good value for money and that the cost is the main reason putting non-season ticket holders off attending more regularly.

We will share with the club and have offered more analysis - with such a large number of respondents, we can easily drill down into more detail - if the club wish to take notice.

https://www.castrust.org/2022/08/results-of-match-day-attendance-survey/
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Comments

  • Uboat
    Uboat Posts: 12,196
    Why would the club listen when they already have an expert consultant to guide them? 
    Plus I think the Charlton Women/Ladies incident gave us a good insight into how good a listener TS is. 
  • MuttleyCAFC
    MuttleyCAFC Posts: 47,730
    For me the Key words are League and One. 
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,855
    The biggest ticketing failing was with the season ticket pricing for this season, as once you change excessive prices for season tickets (outside the lower CE and family section) then the matchday pricing has to be expensive also, or else you could end up with ST holders paying more than those just picking and choosing.
  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    edited August 2022
    So taking the 1130 (of 2000 total surveyed) non-season ticket holders only, 87% said pricing was too high. Looks pretty damning.

    Would it also be useful to ask what pricing would make them more likely to attend and differentiate between midweek and weekend games?

    We used to do random walk up surveys (around a hundred) to validate the online responses.

    good work by the trust here, it is this kind of work that should be the backbone of FTV
  • cantersaddick
    cantersaddick Posts: 16,934
    No shit sherlock!
  • Covered End
    Covered End Posts: 52,008
    True, but I should imagine the people most likely to fill out surveys are older fans.
  • razil said:
    So taking the 1130 (of 2000 total surveyed) non-season ticket holders only, 87% said pricing was too high. Looks pretty damning.

    Would it also be useful to ask what pricing would make them more likely to attend and differentiate between midweek and weekend games?

    We used to do random walk up surveys (around a hundred) to validate the online responses.

    good work by the trust here, it is this kind of work that should be the backbone of FTV

    This. Absolutely.  Bet loads would say about £20-25. Which ironically is the price they could buy one in the Lower North.  Trouble is people have been banging on about £35 or whatever the top price is as though it is the only price available.
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  • oohaahmortimer
    oohaahmortimer Posts: 34,149
    I think we need a following wind for our crowds to pick up 
    improvements on the footballing side with genuine enthusiasm for a push for more support with fans like in the 90s without everything aligned you could offer the whole ground free and the interest just isn’t there. 
    It’s a dull pastime down at THIS LEVEL with zero fixtures to stir the blood .
    Even if we go up and stay up apathy would eventually set in and our crowds would not improve by too much .
    our hardcore 7-8k will be there come what may we might add 2-3k to that with a promotion and with more attractive fixtures in the championship combined with better away numbers (oooooerrrr) it’ll puff up a bit but we probably won’t average much over 16k without a play off push .
    TS is having to smell the reality that his increased income x2 or x3 is just pie in the sky and not achievable in league one ever .
  • "83% overall disagree that present League One match day prices of £23 to £34 at the Valley represent good value for money."

    Who are the 17% of rich fuckers who feel those prices are good value?
  • MuttleyCAFC
    MuttleyCAFC Posts: 47,730
    edited August 2022
    His initial view seemed to be to get out of it a.s.a.p. and as that seems harder than expected he is treating League One football as something it is not. Not because it is, but because he wants it to be. But we all know it is third division football and the third division is a league we have had short visits to in the past, but we see ourselves as a Championship club and the fact we are establishing ourselves at this level is downsizing the club. This is due to poor decisions and many of those were before Sandgaard, but he can't totally wash his hands of them.

    We are now in a position where we need a bit of investment to give the squad a chance, not of exceeding where it should be but getting back to where it should be, and it is not forthcoming despite money being wasted in previous seasons. Crowds will improve if we are up there fighting with the top teams but despite getting a good manager in and some excellent players for the level, most of us feel we will come up short without squad strengthening in a couple of key areas. Sandgaard has to realise that you can't polish a turd and any revenue increasing plans rely on success on the pitch. 
  • Oggy Red
    Oggy Red Posts: 44,955
    MrOneLung said:
    But the lower north is a shit seat, with shit legroom and with a shit view 
    And not all the crowd can sit there!


  • I really don't understand why he didn't drop ST prices significantly this year to drive some volume.  

    My local group of around twenty regular season ticket holders has dwindled to about 6 in the last couple of years, with only three of us attending regularly.  Some have moved across a block to save 100 quid but mostly it's because the football has been too dire to justify the considerable overall expense.

    I'm trying to clap that little bit more loudly to compensate and maintain the AC stand's reputation for enthusiasm but it's getting harder!
  • shine166
    shine166 Posts: 13,922
    But we are based in London so he can take the piss.

    *club logic not mine
  • Valleysarr
    Valleysarr Posts: 1,098
    32 quid to get in Covered upper on Sat - arrived to buy ticket admittedly late due to travel probs at 2.55 - got in at 3.20! 
    Got to swerve at these prices now ! 
  • "83% overall disagree that present League One match day prices of £23 to £34 at the Valley represent good value for money."

    Who are the 17% of rich fuckers who feel those prices are good value?
    well the Sandgaard family being some 
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  • Bangkokaddick
    Bangkokaddick Posts: 4,297
    The East stand has been embarrassingly empty for every game so far. TS will sit right opposite and it must be evident that this should be addressed. 

    I filled in the survey as a season ticket holder but answered as though I weren't as the questions were partly worded to take into account friends and family who might go. Seems like I agreed with the majority.
  • Airman Brown
    Airman Brown Posts: 15,739
    edited August 2022
    razil said:
    So taking the 1130 (of 2000 total surveyed) non-season ticket holders only, 87% said pricing was too high. Looks pretty damning.

    Would it also be useful to ask what pricing would make them more likely to attend and differentiate between midweek and weekend games?

    We used to do random walk up surveys (around a hundred) to validate the online responses.

    good work by the trust here, it is this kind of work that should be the backbone of FTV

    This. Absolutely.  Bet loads would say about £20-25. Which ironically is the price they could buy one in the Lower North.  Trouble is people have been banging on about £35 or whatever the top price is as though it is the only price available.
    The club only ever talks about the cheapest price, so that’s hardly the problem. And until this season it only talked about a price that wasn’t available in isolation and which it was almost impossible to buy as few seats were available.

    The main problem is that most seats that were £23 last season are now £29 - a 26% increase - if bought early. That is beyond the point at which many previous purchasers will buy them and most will not sit in the lower Covered End.


  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,855
    razil said:
    So taking the 1130 (of 2000 total surveyed) non-season ticket holders only, 87% said pricing was too high. Looks pretty damning.

    Would it also be useful to ask what pricing would make them more likely to attend and differentiate between midweek and weekend games?

    We used to do random walk up surveys (around a hundred) to validate the online responses.

    good work by the trust here, it is this kind of work that should be the backbone of FTV

    This. Absolutely.  Bet loads would say about £20-25. Which ironically is the price they could buy one in the Lower North.  Trouble is people have been banging on about £35 or whatever the top price is as though it is the only price available.
    A stand that holds around 3000 people, and is pretty full already
  • Croydon
    Croydon Posts: 12,728
    "83% overall disagree that present League One match day prices of £23 to £34 at the Valley represent good value for money."

    Who are the 17% of rich fuckers who feel those prices are good value?
    Thomas, Raelyn and Martin
  • SantaClaus
    SantaClaus Posts: 7,658
    Santa Jr turned 11 a few months ago and I felt the jump in price from £5 to £15 was pretty steep. Even more so when my ticket was well over £30.
  • IdleHans
    IdleHans Posts: 10,971
    The £23 seats are awful
    Apart from terrible view and lack of legroom, there's a good number of idiots down there whose proximity makes spending another £6 to go elsewhere money well spent. Except then it's £29 and when you can stream for a tenner it's not a hard choice. I will still go, but my overall spend on tickets and in-ground purchases will be less than in previous seasons.
  • T_C_E
    T_C_E Posts: 16,421
    Croydon said:
    "83% overall disagree that present League One match day prices of £23 to £34 at the Valley represent good value for money."

    Who are the 17% of rich fuckers who feel those prices are good value?
    Thomas, Raelyn and Martin
    And Tony 👍
  • Weegie Addick
    Weegie Addick Posts: 16,522
    I would professionally always advise against asking hypothetical questions about what price someone will pay - what people say is not always what they do, especially when it comes to price. Many a product has fallen by the wayside by asking 'Would you pay x for this?' then launching and finding people won't in real life. 

    We therefore specifically based this survey on attendance at a recent match to understand the barriers - we assumed cost was the biggest turn-off and the survey has now proven and quantified this. The results for the Plymouth match are indisputable. It shows a clear difference between non-season ticket holders where price was far and away the biggest issue compared with season ticket holders who were more likely not to attend due to holidays and other commitments - they have already paid in advance of course so price is not relevant for individual match attendance.

    Asking a more general Q on whether or not something is value for money gives much clearer results than trying to ask hypothetically about a price. To compare to these figures, we sometimes include this question in surveys for the holiday company I run. We would get very worried if more than a very small % (low single figures) said our holidays were not VFM. That doesn't mean they are cheap but it does mean people feel they are getting what they pay for in terms of product, quality and service.
  • jimmymelrose
    jimmymelrose Posts: 9,753
    IdleHans said:
    The £23 seats are awful
    Apart from terrible view and lack of legroom, there's a good number of idiots down there whose proximity makes spending another £6 to go elsewhere money well spent. Except then it's £29 and when you can stream for a tenner it's not a hard choice. I will still go, but my overall spend on tickets and in-ground purchases will be less than in previous seasons.
    But? In the UK?
    I assume that you're changing your IP address.