Nail, Head, Wallop...

Finding it hard to agree with you here mate. I also go to a majority of the Rhinos games, home and away. I also try and get a few academy games in through the season plus a dozen or so 'grass roots' games.

I guess I'm what you'd class as a so called 'die-hard' fan but what I don't go to watch Leeds (or any other team) do is win. Wining is just a bonus, it's always nice to take the victory and claim the bragging rights but that’s not why I go to games.

It's all about being entertained.

The now famous 70 – 0 against Saints in 2004 was a tremendous match to be at but if we did that every week to every team I be board less and would probably stop going to the games.

Take the first play-off against Saints the year before last, one of the best games I've seen in recent years and we lost. I would rather watch games like that week in, week out and be bottom of the league than watch a crap one sided performance and an easy two points.

The main reason that attendances are down overall this season is due to the fact that SKY have selected our game more than any other season. If you are a floating supporter who has not invested in a season ticket you are less likely to attend the match knowing it is being televised. If the game is not televised then the standard of perfomance although playing a part in their decision will not be the major deciding point it will be the possibility of seeing their side win. Then you get the weather, itorrential rain during the day will further reduce the possibility of the floating supporter turning up. Add to these factors that we are going through a recession not seen since 1929 to all these regular obstacles then I beleive you have the contributory factors for the down turn in attendances.

Every game I have been to this season has been televised, and I live 80 miles away. I may be the exception though

My comments apply to floating supporters. Travelling 80 miles to a game televised by SKY would suggest that you do not come into this category.

The type of supporter I refer to is what used to happen when I was a kid. Being local if Leeds were at home and my Dad had nothing better to do then he would take me to the odd game. It's those type of supporters that GH needs to be attracting to bolster the attendance figures. All the elements I listed in the original post are obstacles that have to be overcome to get them in the ground.

You are correct.

There is no market to the "floating voter" (of which I am one) because the club, along with the rest of the SL clubs, have painted themselves into a corner with their pricing policies, which are generally uniformly set prior to each season (yes I've no doubt that they are not "rigged" but they do all tend to increase by the same amount )

The problem starts with the concession to season ticket holders, if you're only going to discount season tickets by two or two and a half games per season then you limit your options to market individual games to zero.

the season ticket prices are driven by the number of people who will blindly purchase them before xmas each year, if enough are sold then there is no need to discount them further, if you don't discount them further then you cannot offer discounts on matchday tickets to attract the "floating voter", a club caught up in that conundrum can go into a tailspin of falling attendances and have no escape route without alienating a big section of its support.

Only Wigan have broken ranks in recent years and shown some initiative, what its season ticket holders thought of its recent £10 admission prices is not known...

I think it would be an idea to possibly start looking at match grading ala LUFC.
I also think the away end should be capped at 16/17 quid if we can't improve it.
The match grading could be rated by the opponents previous success i.e
Grade A (£20)Saints,Wigan,HKR,Giants etc i.e the play off contenders in the top 6.
Grade B (£1icon_cool.gifCas,Wakey,Quinns and Wire.
Grade C (£17) The rest.
I'd also like to see a family package introduced say a family of 2 adults and 2 kids for £45 for the north and carnegie seats and £38 for the terraces.

Perhaps on a one off game day but Huddersfield have shown some initiative with regards their season tickets this year.

I wonder if the Wigan experiment was deemed a financial success in the end or is it too early to tell?

The problem you have with the line Huddersfield have taken is if it doesn't increase take-up sufficiently to cover the lost revenue on each ticket.

Factoring in additional match day spend such as food and drink from bodies you get through the turnstiles will cover the deficit to an extent, but if you sell 10,000 tickets at £100 and cut the prices to £75 you'll need to sell an extra 3,000 or so to make up the shortfall.

Would there be a demand for tickets that isn't already being met if prices were lowered, and would that demand be enough to meet costs?

As a non-season ticket holder I can identify with McLaren Field's point. There have been games this season I would have fancied taking in as a "one-off", however the pricing structure doesn't encourage that. It's almost as if the club are attempting to charge you extra for having the disloyalty to not buy a season ticket.

Andy, is the walk up price £20? How much would they have to lower it to attract the likes of you and McLaren? How many times would you be persuaded to walk up if they did?

If they dropped the walk up price to attract the likes of you and Mclaren to the odd game how much would they have to drop season tickets prices and what revenue would be lost from that?

Of course the club are charging higher rates to walk up fans. That's the incentive to buy a season ticket!

They also had the free game V Catalans last year, when they announced the season ticket deal.

Then there's the availability of cheap tickets to students through their sponsorhip by the University. I know I got into a couple of games over there for £5 last year with my cousin. Oh, and there was also the opening game of last year against us, when they gave away free tickets to students.

I know most of those are from last season, but I would imagine they've done something similar this year. Of course, the reason they do it is they're still building a fanbase and have a stadium with plenty of spare capacity.

Compare that to Leeds, who appear to have got their average up to pretty much the maximum they can expect, certainly before this seasons dip. I think this can be explained using a variety of reasons, one of which has been the weather. Our last 2 home games have been played on awful days and I think that has stopped some people attending. Certainly away fans, faced with the prospect of standing on an open terrace, will have thought twice, what with the lure of Sky TV as well.

...Indeed. Another point to consider.

If the club drop their walk up prices to attract Mr Gilder and Mr Field to the odd game will the lure of watching any televised games on Sky at home/in the pub or bad weather prevent their attendance anyway?

I have considered this and I am with Mr Hetherington. Screw you Gilderdale. If you want to come, pay the price but I am not jeopardizing the income I generate from my 10,000 season ticket holders and the 17,000 on average who do attend just to charge a price that might suit you to attend the odd game at some point dependant upon TV coverage and rain.

I understand the mechanics of it Gareth, but why not offer say mini-tickets that cover 4 games with a tenner off (so say for £70)? I'd probably be tempted to take one of those, it's not like the sold out signs are up every week so you wouldn't have a H&S issue.

The attitude appears to be at the minute you either buy a season ticket (at a not exactly generous discount) or the club can do without you.

You probably typed that before my 2nd post on the issue above.

The mini season ticket is a good idea so I withdraw my "screw you" comments