Post
by Paul Waine » Wed Apr 18, 2018 8:33 pm
[quote=Burnley FC - borrowed from aggi's post above:
The ticket allocation for Arsenal was decided upon due to a number of factors.
The decision to take the allocation had to be made via Arsenal 2 weeks ago.
Our last visit to the Emirates had an away attendance of 1422.
The game has recently been rearranged to the Sunday, with limited transport options for fans due to it being a bank holiday. In addition, at the time of the decision the actual time and date of the reschedule was unconfirmed and could have been on the Monday evening (7th May)
A similar situation occurred at the Everton away match this season where BFC took the maximum allocation of tickets and there were similar transport issues for fans. Ultimately only around half of these tickets were purchased by fans and BFC had to pay for the rest, due to Everton’s selling conditions of no sale or return.
The game also clashed with the original date of the Player of the Year Awards dinner which has just under 1000 fans attending.
So while in isolation I understand that some fans may feel aggrieved to not be able to get a ticket due to the clubs position in the league, and the potential repercussions of the game, this wasn’t to be known at the time of the decision being made. Therefore bearing all the above into consideration the ‘next to maximum’ ticket allocation has been taken on this occasion.[/quote]
My thoughts:
1) Who makes the decision about the day/time of the match? If this is not decided between the two clubs, and the Prem League makes the decision, couldn't the two clubs have two ticket allocation agreements, one for Sunday and a different one for Monday?
2) Bank holiday, rather than "limited transport options" it is also the opportunity to enjoy a bank/hol w/end In London - which it would seem many fans were planning to do;
3) Burnley has a number of supporters who live in the South East and other areas "in exile" from N.E. Lancs. Many of these supporters will pick out all the games played in the south - as well as some travelling regularly to t'Turf. I don't know how many "southern exiles" we have, however, Chelsea was sold out at the start of the season - I wanted two tickets, I could only get 1. I believe that the away allocation was sold out at Spurs. Perhaps others remember whether this was the case for other southern games.
4) Whether a game is on TV or not should be expected to impact tickets sales. Wasn't the Everton game on tv - when we passed the ball 24 times before Jeff Hendrick put it in the net? (I remember watching that game while on Costa del Sol).
5) Were we going to allow the Player of the Year Awards to clash with the game at Arsenal? Or, could we have re-scheduled?
6) Last away game of the season, a game against the only team we haven't (yet) taken at least 1 point from this season, we are standing in 7th and Arsenal in 6th. Wouldn't we expect that is a game fans would make the extra effort to get to? (I accept that we didn't know we would we'd be 6th v 7th when the game is played - and with a chance, at this time, of going ahead of Arsenal).
7) Did Arsenal ask for "sale or return?" They appear to have had a lot of empty seats the past several games. Did we try and negotiate on "sale or return" terms? How about "we g'tee to buy/pay for the same proportion as Arsenal have sold for average of the past X games?"
8) And, Everton - if that game was on tv, isn't the tv game money, in part, paid to compensate for lost revenue from fans watching from the "armchairs? "
And, my last thought:
9) Aren't we trying to build a bigger fan base? Aren't we trying to "hook" the next generation? Limits on capacity at Turf Moor apply. Shouldn't we be prepared to test the demand for away tickets, especially for "big games" against the "big 6 clubs" and see if we can win a few more fans - who would otherwise not have the chance to get into the habit of watching the "mighty clarets?"
What better time to have "no risk" marketing/promotional campaign with a game away at Arsenal?
UTC