Decisions Decisions

[Tigerbeat]

The Club are being realistic in the approach is possibly assuming that average attendances would be 19000 is and have based tickets prices around that. Important part of the budgeting plan and and tickets sold over and above the average is only good for the club. It would be nice to see full houses at every game but the financial state of the club has to be maintained so players can be paid and investment made in other areas of the club.
A crowd of 24000 will require more stewards than for a game of 19000.

[Rugbygramps]

Increased costs are not just affecting families, but also businesses and they cannot afford to carry all the costs especially when big losses have been made in the last two years. For the rugby club to survive they need to generate income and prices are probably based on an average crowd of 19-20K and any more bought is good for the club. It is a difficult area but Tigers are a business, not a charity. Some people are not going to be able to afford to watch games and have difficult decisions to make around spending priorities in the current climate.

Not getting the jist TB,cheaper ticket prices doesn’t automatically lower revenue at all. The costs for Tigers running a match is the same whether there’s 19k in the ground or 24k. So how can they lose revenue if there’s 5K more in the ground? We are not talking about discounted tickets from day one,just deals put on during the last week or two when they can see there isn’t going to be a sellout,the club won’t be losing revenue then whatsoever. It’s pretty basic stuff that happens at a lot of events

They aren’t though Scott, the flexible overheads will increase as attendance does. Increased stewarding, increased cleaning staff, sounds daft but even stuff such as loo paper hand soaps etc have to be taken into consideration, do more programmes need printing. You are saying 19k to 24k that’s almost a 33% increase in all those costs

[Scott1]

Increased costs are not just affecting families, but also businesses and they cannot afford to carry all the costs especially when big losses have been made in the last two years. For the rugby club to survive they need to generate income and prices are probably based on an average crowd of 19-20K and any more bought is good for the club. It is a difficult area but Tigers are a business, not a charity. Some people are not going to be able to afford to watch games and have difficult decisions to make around spending priorities in the current climate.

Not getting the jist TB,cheaper ticket prices doesn’t automatically lower revenue at all. The costs for Tigers running a match is the same whether there’s 19k in the ground or 24k. So how can they lose revenue if there’s 5K more in the ground? We are not talking about discounted tickets from day one,just deals put on during the last week or two when they can see there isn’t going to be a sellout,the club won’t be losing revenue then whatsoever. It’s pretty basic stuff that happens at a lot of events

They aren’t though Scott, the flexible overheads will increase as attendance does. Increased stewarding, increased cleaning staff, sounds daft but even stuff such as loo paper hand soaps etc have to be taken into consideration, do more programmes need printing. You are saying 19k to 24k that’s almost a 33% increase in all those costs

Surely it's the same amount of Stewards whether there's 19k or 24k,I thought the only time that would change is if a whole stand or one side of the ground was shut off. Loo paper and soap can be bulk buyed and has a long shelf life so can be stored for the next game. Tigers run out of programmes regardless lol,i hear you but I'm quite certain Tigers would come out in front money wise

[Rugbygramps]

Stewards are per capita. Yes you are right about consumables but the sooner they are used up the sooner they have to be replenished and have to appear on the match costings.
This is against something like floodlights that will cost the same to switch on if there are 2000 people in the ground or 20000. That’s how I understand it anyway, you may have a different understanding

[Scott1]

Stewards are per capita. Yes you are right about consumables but the sooner they are used up the sooner they have to be replenished and have to appear on the match costings.
This is against something like floodlights that will cost the same to switch on if there are 2000 people in the ground or 20000. That’s how I understand it anyway, you may have a different understanding

You could hazard an educated guess though that the money made in ticket sales, beer,pies,merchandise etc is comfortably more than the price of consumables,steward wages etc even at a discount

[mol2]

"Average" attendance is not a good comparator for a one off European quarter final.

I was surprised that Tigers did not sell out the match.

When it became apparent that the sales were petering out, the marketing of the game didn't seem to ramp up.

We have experienced difficulties getting tickets for Wasps matches at the Ricoh, seemingly they would rather give them away to youngsters than sell to the opposition fans. Why did we not give away tickets to school children or to the emergency services when it became apparent the tickets were not being sold? Disappointing really.

[ay2oh]

Well the upside is that the club made some money.

[Rugbygramps]

"Average" attendance is not a good comparator for a one off European quarter final.

I was surprised that Tigers did not sell out the match.

When it became apparent that the sales were petering out, the marketing of the game didn't seem to ramp up.

We have experienced difficulties getting tickets for Wasps matches at the Ricoh, seemingly they would rather give them away to youngsters than sell to the opposition fans. Why did we not give away tickets to school children or to the emergency services when it became apparent the tickets were not being sold? Disappointing really.

Emergency services I get, but as for giving free tickets to schools, rugby clubs with 2 weeks notice for a 5.30 pm kick off I imagine it would have been a logistical nightmare in terms of distribution, getting accompanying adults, do they get free tickets too. The junior rugby season used to finish May 1st, so I would imagine a lot of kids are now playing summer sports.
Wasps will never come close to filling that stadium so they are able to plan well in advance what free tickets are given where and when

[longlivethecrumbie]

What you also have to bear in mind is that there are supporters who play other sports which are clashing big time this season due to the late start/end of the season. I made the choice to play cricket (as have several others I know on the circuit) rather than take up the option to pay extra for another game.

[johnthegriff]

Tickets being given to school children requires the available tickets to be in blocks, schools needing time to organise the trip with responsible vetted adults and of course most schools had just returned from Easter holiday.
Tiger's pricing was in line with charges by other clubs for category A matches, Tigers wanted to maximise revenue from the event and probably did that.
The timing late on a Saturday probably caused problems for some requiring public transport and also for those with other family plans or sports to participate in. having to reserve a number of tickets for opposition supporters and our own season ticket holders that were only released onto general sale shortly before the game probably also affected take up. There needs to be more time between last 16 matches, quarter finals, semi finals and final, I see from the dates released that the authorities have taken this on board and ignored it; why am I not surprised?

[TigerFeetSteve]

Tickets being given to school children requires the available tickets to be in blocks, schools needing time to organise the trip with responsible vetted adults and of course most schools had just returned from Easter holiday.
Tiger's pricing was in line with charges by other clubs for category A matches, Tigers wanted to maximise revenue from the event and probably did that.
The timing late on a Saturday probably caused problems for some requiring public transport and also for those with other family plans or sports to participate in. having to reserve a number of tickets for opposition supporters and our own season ticket holders that were only released onto general sale shortly before the game probably also affected take up. There needs to be more time between last 16 matches, quarter finals, semi finals and final, I see from the dates released that the authorities have taken this on board and ignored it; why am I not surprised?

100% agree with all the above...

Especially with the addition of South African teams there needs to be significant gaps between knockout rounds

[Tiglon]

Leicester Tigers is a premium brand.

Anyone saying "just lower prices and you'll make more money" has clearly never managed a premium brand. It really isn't that simple, and the arguments for being cheaper are based on some very big assumptions and ignore some very complex considerations.

[Scott1]

Leicester Tigers is a premium brand.

Anyone saying "just lower prices and you'll make more money" has clearly never managed a premium brand. It really isn't that simple, and the arguments for being cheaper are based on some very big assumptions and ignore some very complex considerations.

Have you?! The “premium brand” nonsense doesn’t wash. There are many football clubs bigger than ours that do deals and comp tickets,”premium” fights in Vegas that comp tickets,Anthony Joshua is a “premium” boxer who has had fights that have comped tickets and done deals to attain full capacity. Sorry but you’re wrong. BTW I’m not saying discount ticket prices from day one,all I’m saying is more of a marketing effort needs to be made once the club knows they are not going to reach capacity. Do they even try? Have they ever tried? (Not knocking the club just genuine questions)

[Tigerbeat]

Leicester Tigers are premium brand in the rugby market and cannot be compared with other sports as it does not generate the same levels of income as football, boxing etc. and does not have the number of viewers.

[GETHIN EXILE]

If the club started discounting ticket prices to try and fill the stadium and it became common knowledge don't you think a lot of the occasional purchasers would wait until the last minute to get their tickets at a cheaper price?

The tickets were realistically priced for the level of game and opposition. The fact that we have to offer the opposition 25% of the tickets, even though they were not likely to take up the full quantity, does not help local supporters who may have to wait for the category of ticket they would like to become available.