Look around the stadium on game day, it's obvious to see that we do have have a large % older supporters. That's no shock as it's been discussed many times on here before. Over the last 10-15 years we have lost a lot of younger supporters to football in the town however there has been a bigger push with season tickets this year to tackle this problem (free to u8's... etc).

That's your opinion but not one I share. I have a 13 yr old who goes to a prominant rugby playing school in Wigan who has got his first ST this year but he doesn't know one other kid in his year that goes to matches. I made a point of looking round me Sunday and the mean age of our row and the ones behind and infront was well over 50. I know the club have identified this and is a reason they have made an adjustment to their ST prices to keep junior memebrs into early adulthood.

Great and work they should continue.

To me this is why it should be aimed at this age group. The attendances have dropped worryingly the last few years and the matchday experience is very stale and cliched. Either getting fans to return who followed as kids or attracting floaters who are put off matchdays by the bland matchday experience has to be a target over the next couple of seasons to arrest the decline.

But this is just more of the same that is already catered for with Riversiders meetings. I get that this appeals to some folk but why just recreate it in a different format?

So your solution to dwindling crowds is to alienate a large proportion of our loyal fanbase in favour of a demographic who have amply shown that they stop following (if indeed they ever followed at all) at the drop of a hat? In addition, how many new fans would actually fork out £20+ quid a match or a few hundred for a season ticket because there was a bar they could go to before the game? I'd put that number somewhere around zero. Meantime the club loses thousands every week supporting a half empty facility instead of a thriving, well supported, all-inclusive one just to satisfy the vanity of people like yourself who think they're somehow a special case by virtue of being younger than someone else.

Great business plan.

I'm not in that age demographic. I have however noticed how much it is missing from the stands.

Let's assume that none of the existing loyal fanbase felt in any way alienated by the existing provision that has kept them coming for the last few years and wouldn't immediately leave because an additional facility has opened up, alongside the existing facilities that they clearly have found adequate up til now.

Let's also assume that the marketing department at Wigan has been tasked with some kind of response to the dwindling crowds. PART of that solution might be to look at the matchday experience, no? I find it odd that anyone would object to attempts to engage/re-engage with non-attending supporters and looking at doing things differently to maybe encourage them to purchase firstly a one off and then as a result attending more regularly.

If the actual plan of the fanzone is to just to attract the pre-match income from drinkers that already use the South Stand Bar or concourse then that's their call and will make some impact on club revenue, but I'd like to think there's a wider plan to it all.

You must be kidding. It's an ageing fan base. Most young un's sack it off when they're old enough to go somewhere else with their mates and I can't blame them. Mighty Max, a kiddy pom pom dance troupe on the pitch and getting told to sit down by old folk with tartan travel rugs on their knees. It's dying on its backside. There's almost a full generation missing on matchdays. The club finally set up a venue that might be appealing to that demographic and the Riversiders have reserved table signs up by week 3.

Firstly, we can't assume that as the revenue from the SS bar not going into club coffers has been a bone of contention amongst fans for decades. To be excluded from any plans to redress this by virtue of their age would not sit well in the slightest. If you need further proof just take a look at the people who are actually now going to the fanzone bar. It's self evident.

Secondly, your last paragraph is exactly the main raison d'etre of the new fanzone. I'm not saying they don't have further hopes around picking up new fans, I'm sure they do, but that wasn't the main thrust of the initiative. How do I know this? The club themselves have said so on numerous occasions. Additionally, there is no way that having a club bar would have a significant impact on ticket sales anyway. For 99% of people going, the rugby is the overriding consideration when deciding to buy a ticket. A bar would, for the most part, not be a deciding factor. It may help make the game day experience better but, in and of itself, would not persuade someone to buy a ticket who otherwise would not have done.

So the premise of your argument is flawed and that's before we even get into the poor economic business model you're proposing.

But here's the real crux of my argument. I'm not in the 60+ demographic you've mentioned either but I do strongly object to the direct and unashamed ageism of your post. Below, I've taken the liberty of posting the final part of your initial post but replaced the words "the 60+ age bracket" with the word "gays". Would you still be happy to post?

"certainly to myself and it would appear to several others on this thread is cheesy and dated and much more suited to gays."

I'm guessing not.

It’s hard to squeeze in a good match day experience on a Thursday or Friday night. For a better match day experience we need to move home games to Sunday’s. Then you get the travelling away fans being able to attend, younger kids (under 4) being able to attend because it’s not too late, you could play the reserves game before the first team game at Robin Park just before the game and make a day of it. They’ve put on buses to a couple of areas but they need a couple more routes.

Sunday games usually have smaller crowds than Friday nights

The same generation that has gone missing from virtually every sporting audience worldwide with the exception of electronic sports events. Go figure.

But if you’re trying to make the experience better for the fan, you don’t get enough time to do it other than a Saturday or Sunday. That way you can play a game whether it’s 19s or reserves just before it for the fans to watch too at Robin Park and make a day of it.

But if crowds are smaller then why would we go to the trouble/cost?

I still see them at the football ?