Announced today that ticket prices for 2014 will be frozen for the following offer:-
Fans can buy these now with 6 monthly payments of £30 for the terrace & £37.50 for the stand-. starting 20th May
The usual concessions apply.
All money will go into a ring fenced bank account only to be used next season

Presumably if its six monthly payments with last one to coincide with the normal season ticket deadline then the cutoff date for signing up is 20th may?. Seems a bit short notice. Only worry is they'll base next years playing budget on number that sign up for the scheme. For various reasons not everyone will do so could affect budgets.

I heard on the radio that this is part of a campaign to try to get back to selling 10K season tickets.

Shouldn't think for a minute that they would assume nobody else but up-takers will get a season ticket next year - that would be illogical. Can't see any problem with it myself, a reasonable marketing tool aimed at those who'd appreciate the opportunity to pay for a season ticket by instalments.

It also says that in the T&A. It's also smart by the club to mention that they don't get the money until 2014 so those season tickets go towards the 2014 salary cap rather than the 2013 one.

Also, should we infer from the advert on the Bulls site that both Addy and Foster will be announced with new deals shortly?

Unless the advert is supposed to say "The only way these guys will be at Odsal next year is if they take part in this offer too"

Does this mean that prices are likely to be higher if we just wait and buy one in October/November?

Reading all the literature it looks like it's going to be the same price as the early bird but paid for over the 6 months leading up to the deadline.

It says prices are frozen so assume that applies to normal ticket sales as well as payment plan ones. Someone asked on twitter earlier if they could wait and pay the 180 in one go as usual and was told yes.

Just asked gledhill and he's checked and confirmed price is same whether you do the payment plan or pay in one go before early bird deadline same as usual. Payment plan is just to help people spread the cost if they want to.

Got to admit I'm slightly puzzled by the emphasis being put on season ticket sales.

We never had anything like 10k passes sold until the cheap deals from a couple of years back and the majority of fans, even in the 'glory' years, have traditionally been walk-up, not pre-bought. To me, ST sales, which are currently somewhere around the old 'normal' levels, are never going to reach those cheap deal figures any time soon, if at all.

Please don''t get me wrong, I fully appreciate [iwhy[/i the club would like more fans to buy tickets up front as it would be an advantage at all sorts of levels, but surely the main aim is to attract fans through the gate - however they pay? Setting high targets and then falling short only gives the impression that the club is somehow 'failing' on a broader level and doesn't look good when it's reported.

In short, I fully support the push for more ST sales but should we be hanging our hat on it?

Pretty certain the current level of season tickets sold (6.5k) is significantly better than the old normal levels. Remember a figure from club during first or second season of pledge that at height of bullmania we never had more than 5k season ticket holders. Think the emphasis on season tickets is twofold. The obvious one is that it makes budgeting for next year a lot easier as they know a siginificant proportion of income beforehand and it isnt going to be affected by a poor run of results as walkup support can be. Second reason I think comes from RFL who seem to have placed and emphasis on club memberships over last couple of years.Its noticeable that most club now talk about season ticket holders as members nowadays. Maybe by quoting total league 'membership' numbers it helps RFL when negotiating SKY/sponsorship deals ? (not that they seem to be doing a brilliant job of that by any means).

I don't see that we are. I reckon that there's now one more and quite easy method of getting a season ticket, that wasn't there before, so the more options people have, the chances of extra sales must increase? Can't do any harm.

You don't think that quoting targets, like 10k, isn't setting yourself up for a fall? I said before there is certainly every reason to aim for higher ST sales and I stand by that, but the harm the public targets can do is to create an aura of failure when they are inevitably missed.

We had lots of negative posts at the start of the season about the current figure but, without the fact that it missed the self imposed target, that figure would have been celebrated as a very reasonable success - given the surrounding economic circumstances. For me the publicly announced targets are just creating negativity, which we can do without. Believe me, no-one would be happier than me if we got 10k [or even somewhere near] but as things are I can't see it.

Maybe they are setting themselves up for a fall, but I like them being prepared to be bold, and stick their heads above the parapet. If we don't do it, so what? The type of people that will carp or gloat about it would in general be the type of people the club can very safely ignore.

Agreed.
The club has aspirations towards 10,000 ST sales. Nothing can guarantee that they get them but this innovation is a positive one.
Some fans will take it up and others will not - but hey! its an option.

They underlying good news is that ticket prices for 2014 are frozen.

While i agree trying to increase season ticket sales is important i also think you risk taking your eye off the walk up fans who like to pay on the day.
As a season ticket i who lives on Teesside i used to watch Middlesbrough FC,now there seem to be over worried by season ticket holders and have neglected walk up fans who like to pay on the day.

The end result is relatively cheap season tickets but high pay on the day tickets causing lower gates,imo i would prefer cheaper on the day ticket prices as this doesnt alienate fans from the club.

I followed MFC for over 40 yrs but never go now,its easier to stop going to matches than to go back again,so i hope the Bulls dont go the same way as my home town club,all fans are equall allways remember that.

Anybody else having trouble downloading the application form from the Bulls website?