Wigan’s accounts now online - not happy reading at all.

Interesting to read a statement that the “pioneering tour to Australia” apparently “contributed significantly to the Company’s below budget performance in the year”

I recall being shouted down when I questioned some of the claimed benefits of that farce.

WUM

I never really questioned both the Millwall and Australia ‘experiments’ at the time because if you need to generate extra revenue, you’ve got to try something, or you’ll never know.

I started to have my doubts, however, when after the blaze of publicity that both games got, there was an eery silence with regard to the pounds, shillings and pence that may have been generated from the two games.

I’m not knocking Mr Lenagan, far from it, he’s been a huge success for Wigan and it’s clear to see that he’s a forward thinker but it’s kind of ironic that the Australia game has cost us significantly rather than made us money. I’m sure the Millwall game would have done likewise.

Difficult times and not just for Wigan.

I didn’t see the sense in either at the time and I still don’t now. We took games away from our core support, taking them on the road. We should be advertising effectively everyday in and around Wigan. There’s more than enough RL fans in Wigan to fill that stadia 3/4 times over.

Tickets are affordable so we can’t blame that. It’s been poor marketing IMO. You only have to look the other end of the A49 in Warrington to see what effective marketing does for your crowds.

There really needs to be a huge effort to engage the Wigan pubic ahead of next season and our marketing needs to get back to its levels of a few years back. The likes of Hastings, G Burgess and Lam himself are engaging characters and we need to tap in to that. Things like fans forums, Q & A’s etc need to pushed. Mr Lenagan needs to start communicating more and we really need to push hard for season ticket sales. The fact that u8’s can now get a free season ticket should be huge. What young junior rugby player in this town shouldn’t have one of those? Mr Lenagan has put his money where his mouth is, so with some promotion and engagement activities, there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be a massive buzz around the place ahead of 2020.

Could not agree anymore.

Also throw in that you can pay monthly for your season ticket instead of a lump sum as well as the memberships and it makes it much more affordable. The issue is knowing about it. You have to get into the complicated ticketing website to find this out when it should be plastered all over billboards across the town, all over social media, posters at amateur clubs, radio adverts etc.

Season ticket application forms need to be sent to every coach (ages 5-icon_cool.gif for every amateur club in the area. Make a big push on it, send in a couple of senior players during the off season. Meet and greet in the clubhouses, photo opportunities and get kids signed up for their free season tickets.

That's four age groups (4 x 20 kids per club). That's before any of the parents sign up as well.

Edited.

Not going to argue. Season ticket affordability are subjective after all.

I disagree JJ. They are definitely affordable. I'm not sure how much more affordable they could reasonably be expected to be, especially given the new rise of free tickets to cover up to age 8. Whether any given individual can afford them is an entirely different argument.

affordable
/əˈfɔːdəbəl/
adjective
inexpensive; reasonably priced.

Here is the problem. Yesterday we had a full day out in the Lake District. Three ferry trips, car parking, visit to some National Trust pile, couple of pints and a few miles walking. That cost us £50. We can’t do a home game for that but I can watch every second on Wigan TV for next to nothing.
I have no idea how cheap tickets could be if IL really tried but do agree they offer good value compared to other clubs. The problem is that I’m comparing it to a completely different activity for around about the same cost with Wigan TV as my backup.

My word, they are like 2017 for St. Helens. If you consider two back to back years, St. Helens are actually worse with Wigan £-1.8m and St. Helens £-2.1m with only a revaluation of fixed assets apparently making that look better.

Apples and oranges JJ. You can't compare walking in the countryside which is effectively free, with a paid activity. National trust is paid for in other ways, including your taxes, too so we all pay for that already. The same can't be said for Wigan. Did you include your petrol and food in your £50? In addition you'd have to wait around 3 days to see the game on Wigan TV which I would argue is not anything approaching a like for like alternative.

Anyway, I'm certainly not arguing the relative merits of free stuff against paid. My point was that, as season tickets go, Wigan's are very good value and certainly fall within an acceptable definition of 'affordable'. Given the losses posted year on year, more so. As I said above, though, whether any particular individual can afford them is an altogether separate argument and, in truth, is probably more a societal problem and not for these pages.

Only if you don't understand what you're looking at.

And I disagree with you mate. Affordability and value for money are completely different concepts. I think they’re great value but we are a family of 5. That’s 2 adults, a 16 year old and 2 children. Even with the cheapest tickets in the South Stand, it’s £704 a year, plus drinks, food etc on game day. I’d love to get season tickets but the fact is that we have higher priorities to spend the money on therefore for us, they’re not affordable.