Does anyone know the season ticket numbers for the last time we were in League One? Would be curious to see how they compare. 4,700 certainly feels low, but it'd be nice to see the years from our last stint in League One to better understand that number and the trends in terms of fluctuation year to year.
More than four in ten season tickets in their numbers are in the lower north and family - about 1,300 in the lower north and over 700 in the family. I suspect they have put at least 200 freebies in the family, but regardless this is disastrous for revenue.
Allowing for concessions (usually 45%), the net revenue from these 40 per cent of STs will be about £200k if all paid. With the fall in overall numbers It means Meire has halved the £2m net ST revenue she inherited in 13/14, if she is lucky. I would put the current net revenue under £800k. Obviously the level of sales has a knock-on effect on ancillary and commercial revenues, but these sums are trivial next to STs.
Now it may be that many people paying £175 (£134 net of VAT) would not buy at a higher price under her regime and I understand why people would be pleased with the price, but from a business point of view it's not optimising revenue as there is too much incentive to downgrade. It's also likely that some lower north purchasers do not intend to sit there, judging by the look of the ground on matchdays.
She's got fewer than 100 people (73 at last count) in two £500 blocks in the upper west, which shows you that the pricing there is bonkers.
The club has sold fewer than 1,000 tickets in both the lower west and east - and under 500 in the upper west and just over 500 in the north upper. Bugger all in the NW quad.
Taking out likely comps, tickets sold in the west lower is probably under 700.
By the way the club was working with 300 schools in London and NW Kent in 2012, to give a bit of perspective.
I suspect that their definition of "sold" is rather creative. Counting all the freebies might give a superficial gloss to the overall numbers but the actual revenue line will have taken a big year on year hit.
You would have thought she would have wanted to be very coy on the sales of season-tickets.
It is looking likely that they will have lost another 1000 season ticket holders come the 5th August. That roughly amounts to 5000 lost in two seasons, so a downturn of 50%.
Does anyone know the season ticket numbers for the last time we were in League One? Would be curious to see how they compare. 4,700 certainly feels low, but it'd be nice to see the years from our last stint in League One to better understand that number and the trends in terms of fluctuation year to year.
More than four in ten season tickets in their numbers are in the lower north and family - about 1,300 in the lower north and over 700 in the family. I suspect they have put at least 200 freebies in the family, but regardless this is disastrous for revenue.
Allowing for concessions (usually 45%), the net revenue from these 40 per cent of STs will be about £200k if all paid. With the fall in overall numbers It means Meire has halved the £2m net ST revenue she inherited in 13/14, if she is lucky. I would put the current net revenue under £800k. Obviously the level of sales has a knock-on effect on ancillary and commercial revenues, but these sums are trivial next to STs.
Now it may be that many people paying £175 (£134 net of VAT) would not buy at a higher price under her regime and I understand why people would be pleased with the price, but from a business point of view it's not optimising revenue as there is too much incentive to downgrade. It's also likely that some lower north purchasers do not intend to sit there, judging by the look of the ground on matchdays.
She's got fewer than 100 people (73 at last count) in two £500 blocks in the upper west, which shows you that the pricing there is bonkers.
The club has sold fewer than 1,000 tickets in both the lower west and east - and under 500 in the upper west and just over 500 in the north upper. Bugger all in the NW quad.
Taking out likely comps, tickets sold in the west lower is probably under 700.
By the way the club was working with 300 schools in London and NW Kent in 2012, to give a bit of perspective.
Replied to Henry's post before seeing this one. EVEN more damning. I mean that's crazy. Can you imagine another business where someone would be allowed to see revenue drop by ~50% and see the company be demoted in status and yet there would be no sackings?
Actually, I used to work for a company that did roughly exactly that after I left, but still, it's awful.
All that said, and just thinking out loud here, but as I was reading those figures I couldn't help but think "who would take us over with our financials?" Yes, absolutely people will come back once they've gone. But when you consider wages alone against those figures, it can't be good. I know this year's books will see a bunch of transfers hit, and I'm sure that will close the gap. But if I were an investor, I'd be looking at the booked revenue as an indicator, understanding that a club our size is unlikely to sell a player for 11m (or even the 5.5m we got for JBG) every year. It does not look good.
this could be the season that breaks them although IF we get a good run and do go up then people will come back, are people really going to stay away if we were on target to win the league, i'm a charlton fan i like to see us do well and i know i wouldn't, and have been doing 2/3 home games instead of a season ticket for the last 3 years.
Not much of an early bird incentive this year may mean that a few are holding onto their money until the season starts.
What happens to Homes could be a decider as well.
If you book through the official site they will discount tickets bought against the cost of a season ticket. Some will wait until the squad is finalised and then commit.
Final position should be intresting.
Such a pity in our 25th anniversary of returning to the Valley. Should have been a bumper year.
The fewer people that go, the more depressing the match day experience is. Our fantastic ground needs to be at least 3/4s full or it becomes flat! The longer this mob stay on the fewer people will go. This is not sustinable. What bothers me most of all is the damage that is being done to the club long term, beyond this mad man.
This is even more damning when you consider the pricing policy under RD (the only thing he's done right). My east stand block D season ticket in 12-13 was £425. In 14-15 I moved to a front row seat in block K west upper at £225. Despite the odd inconsistency, prices are generally cheaper than they were with loads of £175 tickets available. Goodness only knows what sales would be like now if the pre 11-12 prices had been maintained and increased in line with clubs elsewhere. Whatever other ills we have to bear it is still cheap to watch Charlton. A season ticket is £50 cheaper than Dartford! The fact that I don't want To buy one even at £175 says it all.
The fact is, many of us probably wouldn't go to every game if we were paid to. That says it all. I am wishing Robinson and the players all the best but we need this incompetent, dishonest regime out as quickly as possible.
I'm going on holiday in 3 weeks time and have a decision to make before I go. Charlton season ticket £175. Or Bromley season ticket £200. What occurs in the transfer market will be the deciding factor, unless Roland leaves in which case the decision would be easy.
Come the Portsmouth game on 9 December will there be more or fewer home fans in the Valley than there were in 1992?
Fewer - there will be 3,000 Charlton fans and 3,000 Pompey fans at the game.
More, it should be a come if you can day to celebrate the fact that whilst things are pretty shit under RD, we have had a home for the last 25 years when at one point we might not have had a club at all, let alone a ground to watch them in
The longer RD stays at Charlton, the greater the risk that we will lose a generation of supporters. I can't see us ever recovering from this situation ...
The longer RD stays at Charlton, the greater the risk that we will lose a generation of supporters. I can't see us ever recovering from this situation ...
I suggest we will lose more than that, as we are already losing an established generation, along with future generations.
its a tough one as i can see it myself now, where at least every other saturday used to be watching charlton and sometimes every saturday if doing away games, now i find myself doing other things on a saturday apart from away games, playing more golf, doing bits and peices with the mrs, after a while people get used to staying away.
It's reasonable to expect another 1,000 sales by August, although it appears lower north sales are not only the highest by a distance they are also growing fastest, so the revenue effect will be limited.
I don't think the Portsmouth game will be a particular problem as they will just add thousands of comps if they are likely to be further embarrassed.
But as for extra people coming back in large numbers if the team does better, I don't think that is likely in this division under this regime. Promotion campaigns don't generally drive up crowds until March/April anyway and to take 80/81 as an example at this level crowds remained poor despite the big attendances of the mid to late 70s. The fans had been demoralised by failure after failure and did not come back in significant numbers even though the team was top of the league for most of the season.
There is a shortage of attractive names among the opposition to get people to come back too. Even Football for a Fiver struggled last season.
There's also the problem that the cheaper the STs are the more attractive they are to people who don't want to - or can't - come to all the matches.
I don't think the Portsmouth game will be a particular problem as they will just add thousands of comps if they are likely to be further embarrassed.
..but with comps theres the problem of people feeling less obliged to go, especially if the ticket was free. Even more so if they arent a Charlton fan, which a lot of comps arent.
I don't think the Portsmouth game will be a particular problem as they will just add thousands of comps if they are likely to be further embarrassed.
..but with comps theres the problem of people feeling less obliged to go, especially if the ticket was free. Even more so if they arent a Charlton fan, which a lot of comps arent.
Regardless of the anniversary Portsmouth is one of the more attractive fixtures in this division and they may do quite well. I'd expect to to be one of the bigger crowds of the season, especially with the away turnout.
Wigan in midweek, even in September, may be a problem. Ditto Rochdale on a Tuesday night in November. If the team is top six they might be OK, but otherwise could see Rochdale being 5,000 actual turnout. Free beer might be the answer!
Comments
Allowing for concessions (usually 45%), the net revenue from these 40 per cent of STs will be about £200k if all paid. With the fall in overall numbers It means Meire has halved the £2m net ST revenue she inherited in 13/14, if she is lucky. I would put the current net revenue under £800k. Obviously the level of sales has a knock-on effect on ancillary and commercial revenues, but these sums are trivial next to STs.
Now it may be that many people paying £175 (£134 net of VAT) would not buy at a higher price under her regime and I understand why people would be pleased with the price, but from a business point of view it's not optimising revenue as there is too much incentive to downgrade. It's also likely that some lower north purchasers do not intend to sit there, judging by the look of the ground on matchdays.
She's got fewer than 100 people (73 at last count) in two £500 blocks in the upper west, which shows you that the pricing there is bonkers.
The club has sold fewer than 1,000 tickets in both the lower west and east - and under 500 in the upper west and just over 500 in the north upper. Bugger all in the NW quad.
Taking out likely comps, tickets sold in the west lower is probably under 700.
By the way the club was working with 300 schools in London and NW Kent in 2012, to give a bit of perspective.
You would have thought she would have wanted to be very coy on the sales of season-tickets.
It is looking likely that they will have lost another 1000 season ticket holders come the 5th August. That roughly amounts to 5000 lost in two seasons, so a downturn of 50%.
That is...damning. Very, very damning. That's far worse than I expected.
Actually, I used to work for a company that did roughly exactly that after I left, but still, it's awful.
All that said, and just thinking out loud here, but as I was reading those figures I couldn't help but think "who would take us over with our financials?" Yes, absolutely people will come back once they've gone. But when you consider wages alone against those figures, it can't be good. I know this year's books will see a bunch of transfers hit, and I'm sure that will close the gap. But if I were an investor, I'd be looking at the booked revenue as an indicator, understanding that a club our size is unlikely to sell a player for 11m (or even the 5.5m we got for JBG) every year. It does not look good.
Think we're in for true gates of 5-6k.
The east stand is going to look very depressing/empty......
What happens to Homes could be a decider as well.
If you book through the official site they will discount tickets bought against the cost of a season ticket. Some will wait until the squad is finalised and then commit.
Final position should be intresting.
Such a pity in our 25th anniversary of returning to the Valley. Should have been a bumper year.
Charlton season ticket £175.
Or
Bromley season ticket £200.
What occurs in the transfer market will be the deciding factor, unless Roland leaves in which case the decision would be easy.
The only option is to be invincible especially at home.
I'd expect us to be doing fairly well and with Pompey selling out the away end, i'm sure we can muster 6k home fans.
I don't think the Portsmouth game will be a particular problem as they will just add thousands of comps if they are likely to be further embarrassed.
But as for extra people coming back in large numbers if the team does better, I don't think that is likely in this division under this regime. Promotion campaigns don't generally drive up crowds until March/April anyway and to take 80/81 as an example at this level crowds remained poor despite the big attendances of the mid to late 70s. The fans had been demoralised by failure after failure and did not come back in significant numbers even though the team was top of the league for most of the season.
There is a shortage of attractive names among the opposition to get people to come back too. Even Football for a Fiver struggled last season.
There's also the problem that the cheaper the STs are the more attractive they are to people who don't want to - or can't - come to all the matches.
Wigan in midweek, even in September, may be a problem. Ditto Rochdale on a Tuesday night in November. If the team is top six they might be OK, but otherwise could see Rochdale being 5,000 actual turnout. Free beer might be the answer!