Ideas for Additional Revenue at Edgar Street

Much has been made of the lack of off-field activities at HUFC. Such activities generate considerable amounts of revenue and one might suggest that the club are missing out on a considerable budget increase as a result.

The following article, written by Welsh Bull, offers ideas and strategies to ensure a steady flow of additional revenue to add to what is already coming into the club.

Tickets:

In an ideal world, the Junior Bull season ticket offer would apply to all sections of the ground, but it seems logical that the club made some educated forecasts of sales figures for the tickets at each price and determined that restricting the offer to just Block D would generate more income for the club - whilst still providing the opportunity of a vastly reduced season ticket.
For example, if 100 children buy a season ticket at £224 each, the revenue generated from this would be £22,400.
With the Junior Bull £80 deal expanded to the entire ground, the club would have to sell 280 season tickets just to match that £22,400 figure.
So it seems the club forecasted that the discounted tickets would not increase the sales figures by the necessary amount to cover the cost and therefore a stadium-wide Junior Bull discount would not be in the best interest of the club.

Onto another issue. Those up to the age of 16 can buy a reduced season ticket at £224 (or £80 Junior Bull), however those in Post 16 education are effectively, still in the same boat as U16's and so I believe a Student Season Ticket should be introduced at £224 each - the same as for children and Senior Citizens. A 16 year old could be a Junior Bull member and purchase an £80 season ticket, only to be forced to pay £300 the following season when they turn 17 and no longer qualify as a junior! This is a staggering increase for someone of that age and I feel a student season ticket would help to bridge the gap. A valid student ID card should be presented in order to obtain the reduced season ticket. This, imo, would encourage more students on a tight budget to invest in a season ticket. As a student myself, I can assure you that when we see a discount, we promptly take advantage of it!

Furthermore, another way of re-structuring season tickets to generate more income is allowing fans to pay for their season tickets using a payment scheme. Whether or not this is feasible for the club (as they may need the season ticket funds immediately) I don't know - but it seems a very good idea in principle and, in my opinion, would increase season ticket sales by a significant amount. This payment scheme would break the payment of a season ticket down into monthly installments, thus making the purchase of a season ticket appear far more attractive to those who can't fork out a big sum of money in one go (as is the case for a lot of people!).

I don't know what other clubs who run this scheme do, but maybe the club could add a slight rate of interest onto the payments, which as well as increasing sales figures, would generate even more revenue! However, if other clubs are running this interest free, then we should probably go with that. Perhaps a small initial charge instead?

Anyway, the only real downside to this is the prospect of having to chase up overdue payments.

The final strategy I have to offer of generating a greater turnover via ticket sales is to introduce a half season ticket. I believe this could be a potential gold mine if the tickets are put on sale a few weeks before christmas. It's a perfect cristmas present for any HUFC fan, especially children and I think they would shift extremely quickly. The prices would be simple to calculate - just split the home games into 2 halfs and calculate the total price at normal admission for each half before applying the appropriate discount factor.

In my opinion, this is the simplest suggestion and potentially a massive earner.


Club Shop (stock and the selling of):

First of all, we need more of it. A greater range of merchandise to suit a range of needs and provide a broader choice for fans and a greater potential for increased revenue.
In addition to this, stock needs to be replaced - and quicker. There was an item of clothing I wanted on the online shop about 2 years ago and it vanished - never to be seen again! The stock levels need to be managed so when they drop to a certain amount, a new order can be made for fresh stock.

The club need to take advantage of club high's such as promotion! Such events create a euphoric atmosphere around the club which people get caught up in and therefore it provides the perfect opportunity to target fans. People want souvenirs, collectables - memories! Items like a DVD of the promotion season (which apparently is on its way), promotion scarves, mugs, stickers and other such merchandise that fans tend to snap up quickly during such periods. In my view, this is a perfect example of a fantastic, money spinning opportunity that the club has missed. The revenue generated from special promotion stock would have been significant.

The Christmas period is a similar story that needs to be capitalised on in order to maximise turnover. Interest in a football club provides a very easy option for people to buy Christmas presents, for children imparticular. So the club should ensure they have extra stock to meet demand. Also, items like Santa hats with a HUFC badge on to be worn at the Christmas fixtures would sell extremely well. This type of approach would only be successful and the stock will only shift, IF it is marketed properly. Which brings me to my next point...

None of the above will be effective if the stock is not marketed effectively. It's not a huge task either - simple things like posters, adverts in the programme, adverts in the Hereford Times and announcements at the games would go a long way to ensuring as many people know that there is a wide range of HUFC merchandise waiting to be purchased! When appropriate, a point needs to be made of the fact that special, limited stock is available such as promotion merch and Christmas merch, so fans must get their hands on it quickly! Effective promotion of goods should maximise the sales figures and vastly increase our revenue from the club shop.


Maximising Attendance Figures:

Our attendances are staggeringly low at the moment - we were getting considerably more in the Conference! Whilst losing games doesn't help, we're not doing a great deal to pick the numbers back up (aside from the club freezing ticket prices). A start would be promotional posters for each game - these could be plastered all around the city, in workplaces, shops, schools - everywhere!

Another strategy to push the numbers back up as well as getting more involved in the community is organising for some of the players to visit the local schools. This would provide a fantastic opportunity for children to meet their heroes as well as to entice others to come to ES and watch for the first time. The players could give a small talk and maybe hold a mini training session - this would leave so many kids nagging their parents to take them to a game. A free batch of tickets could be given to the school's for them to distribute as they wish - perhaps give them to the best performers or best attenders?

Also, a cost free way to try and bring the crouds in and create a better atmosphere is to have themed match days. All that would be required is an announcement and perhaps a notice in the programme. Much like the 'yellow away day' at Brentford, the club could announce themes such as a wigs theme (picture the ME covered with people in big wigs of the club's colours), a balloons theme (the terraces packed with black and white balloons) etc. etc. There's so many ideas that could help bring the numbers in and improve the atmosphere at ES - all that's needed is a tiny bit of creativity!

Additionally, a range of special offers could be implemented to bring in the fans. Much like the one last year, which allowed a season ticket holder to bring a friend for free. This was not as successful as what was hoped for, but it shows they're thinking! I like that. Sometimes a bit of trial and error is necessary to realise the most effective strategies.


Other Possible Aeas of Income:

Competitions! A great money spinner that allow people to willingly give money to the club in the hope they will win a prize! In order to maximise profits made from competitions, the club could give non-cash prizes such as a tour of the ground, a chance to meet the players, watch a training session, or other similar ideas. Obviously GT won't want fans in and around the club/on the training pitch every day - but if competitions were run monthly, such opportunites would surely arise to treat a lucky competition winner. Simple idea but effective.

More events need to take place for the community. The lack of an open day for 2 years running is a big dissapointment and I'm sure a fair bit of money was missed out on. I understand that the pitch wouldn't have appreciated being trampled all over after great care has been taken to maintain it - but how difficult is it to find another suitable venue?

In addition, the introduction of an Official Supporters Club could rake in the cash, whilst providing loyal fans with benefits and a sense of belonging. With each member paying about £15 to join, the revenue would soon accumulate. I think it would be good to use the Junior Bulls as a smaller scale test run if you will - if GT see's the cash rolling in from this, perhaps he may move in favour of expanding such a scheme to the wider audience? A membership could be made very attractive with a small discount in the club shop, a small range of merchandise upon joining and other cost-free benefits such as a chance to meet the players.


You, like I, may be thinking how on earth is GT supposed to find the time to make all these ideas happen? Which brings me to my final and most controversial thought...

Too Much for GT?:

Some of what I have mentioned probably isn't feasible for one reason or another, but there are a lot of solid suggestions which seem certain to generate a good cash return. But these are not being implemented at the moment, because GT is busy managing the finances and trying to assemble a decent squad! On the whole, I believe he has done an excellent job at both and I do think he can perform both roles adequately. However, the commercial area which is supposed to generate extra income and ensure a good relationship with the club's fans seems to be lacking somewhat. Just one extra pair of hands, which would be commited to this area of the Club could do wonders in terms of finances and public relations. Yes, a PR Manager would require a salary, but I'd like to think that this addition would pay for itself. There would also be a need for some initial investment for office space and equipment but I'd imagine the payback period on this investment would be very short as long as the PR Manager performs his job sufficiently.

I just feel that GT is currently doing well at what he does, but if he were to move over to the commercial area and implement many of these suggestions, his current tasks would suffer; therefore, a PR Manager would ensure this area of the club is sorted without any other areas suffering as a result. This would result in a better club for GT and a better, more accessible club for the fans.

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