New York is the city that never sleeps, and Paul Barber is the football CEO who never stops emailing.
As you may have seen elsewhere, there's been an exchange of correspondence between NSC and PB in relation to fixture movements due to TV scheduling.
This morning we took the opportunity to ask a couple of other questions, so here are the replies:
Question 1: In relation to ST non-renewals, do the club follow up the reasons why some fans don't renew? I appreciate there could be a myriad of reasons (change of circumstances, financial, transport, not enjoying the experience etc.)
Q2: Could you also advise that, should the club be promoted, what will be the policy in relation to the maximum number of ST's that could be sold in 2016/17?
3: Are there any more contributory factors to ST no-shows at the Amex?
As you may have seen elsewhere, there's been an exchange of correspondence between NSC and PB in relation to fixture movements due to TV scheduling.
This morning we took the opportunity to ask a couple of other questions, so here are the replies:
Question 1: In relation to ST non-renewals, do the club follow up the reasons why some fans don't renew? I appreciate there could be a myriad of reasons (change of circumstances, financial, transport, not enjoying the experience etc.)
yes, we do. For the first time last season, we included an "exit interview" as part of the ST cancellation process.
- the most common reasons are personal financial, work/family moves, personal circumstances (eg divorce), illness/death.
- rarely (even including last season), do we get someone saying they weren't enjoying the football or the match day experience.
- even less common is that the ST is simply too expensive (it's the change of financial circumstances that puts it beyond reach).
Q2: Could you also advise that, should the club be promoted, what will be the policy in relation to the maximum number of ST's that could be sold in 2016/17?
- we haven't yet decided what our ST cap will be but PL rules require a minimum number of match day tickets to be available in all price categories.
- once you take in to account, away fan allocation goes to 3,000 and increased demand for hospitality, we don't expect to sell many more STs beyond current numbers.
- hence our messaging around expectations of possible ST sell out this year; again, these messages do have logic behind them.
- now we must complete the job of actually getting up as soon as possible!
3: Are there any more contributory factors to ST no-shows at the Amex?
I think (and it's a theory backed by our research), another general socio-economic reason related to our general ST no shows - and that is the relative wealth of our fan base.
A large section of our fans are, generally speaking, more affluent than the Championship average and as such tend to miss more games across the entire season as they take weekends away, more holidays, and are able to afford a range of different interests.
This combination means that whilst there aren't many that miss more than 3 or 4 games, there are a much larger number than the norm for clubs that miss up to this number. It's an interesting stat that speaks to the way the club's fan base has evolved.
And one other point you can add:
- we DO take in to account supporters' travel when considering the impact of live TV games. This relates to both HOME and AWAY games. So, for example, when the Wolves game was switched to New Year's Day, we made sure our regular travel plan could be operational before agreeing to the switch. For away games (and only 2 away games have moved dates for TV purposes), we know that even when train timetables may not work perfectly (or at all), various supporters' coach services will still be running and that people can also drive their own vehicles or share cars and mini buses - and many do. The reality is that for all away games, the train is simply one mode of transport for our fans. There are many others. As I have repeatedly said, there's only so much we can do to marry up the various, often competing or conflicting, interests around a live TV match and we have very few options to refuse a live match. Unfortunately, as much as we might try to influence, we cannot control train timetables.
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