New pricing policy from derby

DERBY County are launching a new ticket pricing system in a bid to boost attendances at Pride Park Stadium.

The Rams will become the first club in the country to introduce "demand-based" prices for match tickets.

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Pride Park

This means the cost of admission for individual fixtures will keep changing, depending on various factors, such as who the opposition are, the time and date of kick-off, the team's form, and even the weather.

The initiative will come into effect from the start of the 2012-13 campaign.

Derby's vice president of operations, John Vicars, said: "It's a new way of selling tickets.

"Most people will be aware of the concept and have probably used it before to book a flight or a hotel.

"It's about supply and demand – people who buy early will get the best deals and then the price will rise in the weeks prior to the game.

"We are looking at new fans or those who have not been coming to Pride Park for the past few years.

"We want to increase attendances, which will improve the atmosphere and also bring in more revenue.

"We will be working hard to put two or three thousand on the crowd each game and maybe turn some 30,000 gates into 33,000 (Pride Park's capacity).

"We think prices will be very attractive for Championship football."

The Rams have also moved to allay any potential criticism from season ticket holders, assuring them they will still get the best deal on prices.

Season ticket holders have been sent a letter breaking down their package into individual games – showing how much of their money has gone on each fixture.

For example, based on a "band D" season ticket costing £300, Platinum fixtures have been priced at £18, with Gold £15, Silver £13.25 and Bronze £7.

So, the visit of Nottingham Forest (Platinum) will be worth more than the home game against, say, Barnsley (Bronze).

"The good news for season ticket holders is that they will never be undersold," said Vicars.

"They will still always get the best deals and will be able to work this out from the letter we have sent out to them.

"Our guarantee is that nobody else will ever buy a cheaper ticket in their part of the stadium. They will always get the best possible deal.

"We need to do this in a way that doesn't disenfranchise our loyal season ticket base."

The new system, which has been approved by the Football League, is widely used in American sport, having been pioneered by the San Francisco Giants baseball team in 2009.

"When San Francisco Giants introduced it, they saw home gates increase straight away," said Vicars.

"I've not spoken to anyone who saw any negative effect on the fan base or attendances.

"I think around 50% of North American sports teams are now using demand-based ticket prices.

"We are the first sports team in the whole of the UK to be using this method and, to the best of my knowledge, the first in Europe."

Derby have teamed up with Indiana-based Digonex to provide the service, utilising their Sports and Entertainment Analytical Ticketing System (SEATS), which recommends prices.

Price updates will be available online and in the club's ticket office.

Rams chief executive Tom Glick added: "We are very excited about the positive impact demand-based pricing will have on both our attendance and revenue next season.

"We are confident that SEATS will help us identify the best price for our tickets, allowing us to provide Derby County fans with more price options."

Derby's average attendance in 2011-12 was 26,020 – the third highest in the division behind West Ham United and Southampton and slightly up on the previous year's figure of 25,892. However, that was well down on 2009-10, when the average gate was 29,230.

 

Can't fault them for it. That's the way to do it.

 

Good to see we got a mention.

Talk about complicated.

Anyhow, Barnsley folk won't to pay more nearer the day simply because they didn't have the means to buy early. And I agree.

 

Sports and Entertainment Analytical Ticketing System (SEATS)

designed by Computer User Non Technical Staff.

 

I hope bronze games are a fiver.

 

Good, but they're not the first. Blackburn brought this in a couple of seasons back.

 

Can't think of owt more daft. Talk about over-complicating matters.

 

People won't have a clue how much they are going to be charged so will most likely not bother.

 

Exactly, our fans got pissed off with 2 or 3 prices known in advance, imagine having to wait for weather forecast to find out!

 

Doesn't matter what price it is at jokewell...........if we are shlte ....folks won't come anyway.

Only way to improve gates is win consistently..........end of

hth

 

Not sure this is true. The old £2 discount on tickets bought prior to matchday was about as straightforward a system as there is, and there weren't many complaints about it.

 

I could see that going down well, it was bad enough when we went past the first deadline for season ticket renewals and folk saying they shouldn't go up!

 

Fecking bronze. Surely we're higher up the demand scale than a team like Bristol City.

 

The evidence suggests that it works, so why not try it. We are all used to the concept of supply and demand when buying other price sensitive purchases such as flights, as the article says - how many people are registered with Easyjet.com so that they are emailed as soon as the next batch of flights become available so that they can buy early at the cheapest prices - I know I am.

Why can't it work with football as well? As demand goes up, price goes up - incentivices people to buy early and commit to coming. If the demand is not there as the game gets closer then the price stays low - can't see a problem with it myself - sounds great. Oh for BFC being so radical.