danoafc Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 We seem to have a steady 90/10 split... Interesting to see that 10% have declared us nothing more than a product... I wonder what the split was 10 / 20 / 30 years ago... I wonder what it will be in another 10 / 20 /30 years... The more of a product we come the more our viability will go down... I would suggest we wouldnt need much more of a swing before its good night viena... This is the trend we have to change... We need to make people look at the club as more than a product... Only way is the children... Make them care... But how the hell do we do that with nothing but champions league and premiership football rammed down their throats.... Things like the the Boundary Blue membership helps but I really think we need to start letting them in for free or something. If that dosent destroy the bottom line... Even the BB membership isn't as effective at attracting/retaining the kids this year with there being no lounge. I think part of the attraction for the kids was the lounge with it's tuck shop and playstations etc. The Christmas and end of season parties are still proving popular, but the renewal rate for BB membership was down this season, and I expect it may fall again next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 (edited) Even the BB membership isn't as effective at attracting/retaining the kids this year with there being no lounge. I think part of the attraction for the kids was the lounge with it's tuck shop and playstations etc. The Christmas and end of season parties are still proving popular, but the renewal rate for BB membership was down this season, and I expect it may fall again next season. I started bringing my nephew and its hard to keep him interested. Signed him up to BB. The lounge would of been great for him so he could make friends etc. He goes to the parties which he likes. The Christmas one was good, he won lots of presents Edited February 11, 2009 by oafc0000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edhunteruk Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 for me,latics is more than just a product on the pitch..i have been going to games for over 36 years since the age of 5,it became something different when i started going on my own,think the first time i payed in meself it was £1. it never really mattered if we won or lost,it was a point of being there in case...the atmoshpere was fantastic,the surge you used to get when we scored or a very near miss. it was somewhere to go where you could be yourself for a couple of hours and shout yourself silly,have a go at the oppo fans with the songs of the day...(your going home in a blue n white ambulance) was pure class. slowely but surely the prices rose,the product on the pitch became indifferent with the odd few highlights of cup runs and the promotion...then being in free fall until we went into administration and almost went to the wall for good.. to a certain degree its a way of life....the immense pride you feel when the team does well and puts one over on a local rivalry.....then my son was born and he started comming to games,again a great sense of pride that yet another family generation is watching the beloved oldham athletic. but it does come with a price and cost to pay....and no matter how sentimental you can be about the club and the goings on,there is a limit to how much you are prepared to pay to continue watching the team. i spent a few years in the wilderness,then my brother died and left me some money,and i bought a season ticket again,then continued for another few years,however i havent had one for 3 years now,as i simply cannot afford to pay the money they want....instead i pay on the day,and if im honest to a certain extent pick and choose games,that said if i can afford it on a saturday morning i will attend the game that day,regardless of who we are playing.... it costs me £3 for my lad,i cant argue with that,that to me is a reasonable price to pay for a 10 year old,however when he is old enough and the price rises from junior level it may be a different case. i know myself if they increase prices drastically i will stop going,i cant justify spending a lot of money on 2 hours of entertainment,then having to get by all week on next to nothing. football in this day and age is a luxury product,that only well off people can afford,the ordinary working class folk have to a certain extent been priced out of the game already,there is too much money in the top league that is not getting passed down the leagues to equal things out and distribute the wealth accordingly. if i do get priced out,i wont go and watch some nameless team just because they are cheaper or better or in a higher league,that would be classed as glory hunting,and anybody who supports latics cant be classed as one of those... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Dowds Green Shirt Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It seems to me that you are possibly looking at this the wrong way. People talk about products and brands, but the truth is that football first and foremost is a sport played by 22 men (women sometimes as well allegedly ) chasing a pigs bladder around a field. However, over the years, clubs have sought ways to bring in more funds to buy better players and pay them better wages in order to improve their chances of success and so, what were once purely football clubs which survived on paying customers through the turnstiles, have become much much more and the cycle of growth of income streams goes on as clubs continue to look for ways of funding the buying of more and better players to achieve and maintain some form of success. However, the basic facts of the game remain and only 10 out of 92 teams can be promoted each year, only 4 teams can qualify for the Champions league and only 4/5 teams can qualify for the EUFA cup. So in other words only 18/19 teams each year can have any form of success and out of those teams, 4/5 will have success virtually every season i.e. "the big 4" plus 1 or 2 other "big" team/s. At the same time 12 teams are relegated each year. The rest remain standing still for at least another year. So in effect, clubs are becoming "Brands" and "products" as a by product of todays society of chasing success even though that success is limited to the same number of teams that can achieve any success year in year out. The only thing that has altered is that it costs more money now than in the past to have success, failure or standstill. If you undertsand what I mean. Cheers, Harry. P.S. Don't let the Corp see this thread or we might end up with it extending to 10 pages again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_b_100 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Is it not a religion?? Anyway no other (legal) product can leave you with the euphoric highs and dramatic lows as those associated with sport. The greed and big club syndrome spiralled out of control when sport in general sold itself to Mr Murdoch not just football but rugby racing and people bought in to it. In the way he threw money at the big clubs and the image that they portrayed being a professional sportsman as being the elite. Just a few short years later and the chasm between the haves and have nots is so vast it will never be bridged. While generations of fans remain loyal to their local teams, the money men are only interested in the Premier League and so are the starry eyed youth. I have been lucky enough to experience the very highs (promoton) coupled with play off defeats relegation and administration. Whilst just like some small businesses clubs from the lower leagues will close their business never to re open. when it happens the product will dissapear but the love and memories the product leaves behind will NEVER die in the heart of the fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) The difficult bit - and apologies if I'm repeating anyone - is that it has to work as a product to attract the new people for whom it will hopefully become more than a product. Edited February 12, 2009 by garcon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 The difficult bit - and apologies if I'm repeating anyone - is that it has to work as a product to attract the new people for whom it will hopefully become more than a product. I think if that's true then their is little hope... Can it ever work as a product...I have my doubts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daznathe Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 If Latics were a product in the strict sense of the word, we'd have gone bump long ago. Lets be honest, our core customer base has shrunk somewhat whereas the product has gotten more expensive yet remained practically the same. i was going to say if latics were simply a product then i wouldnt buy it. although, sadly due to external circumstances, i believe my 30+ game seasons are in the past (for now). theres nothing else that ive had to cut back on in my life, that i wouldnt crank right back up to full again given a fraction of an opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daznathe Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 obviously that should be 'WOULD crank right back up..' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlossopLatic Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I think if that's true then their is little hope... Can it ever work as a product...I have my doubts... It depends how you look at it could Oldham athletic survive on the football side of things alone then logic says no as it never makes any profit. However Oldham Athletic has survived since 1895 which means it has survived 2 world wars a great depression countless other recessions and masses of changes in technology and society in all that time it has very rarely been a profitable enterprise and yet in 2009. Looking at this from a consumer/fan point of view well I believe at first you are a consumer when you first step through BP and then it becomes a habit and a way of life the more you get into it so for people like myself and 90% of people on this board it goes way beyond being a product. We cannot offer the quality of football that the premiership or the champions league. However we do offer the one thing that Sky can't and thats being at the game watching live in the flesh. Youngsters still see that as enjoyable earlier this year some of my mums old college friends came up for a weekend they left me in charge of their son who I took to see us play Huddersfield at home which you may remember wasn't the most enthralling game this season but he enjoyed going watching the game live and thats something that we have an advantage on. As for the future of Oldham Athletic well I would hope that despite the fact we have managed to survive so long being a loss making enterprise I hope that we can turn it into something that is atleast breaking even regularly and is self funding not just for TTA but for the next TTA as the current owners are but guardians. In terms of the fans well if you look round BP their is a pretty good mix of ages and kids are as interested in football now as they have ever been. However to get the next generation in we need a period of success on the field. I'm 26 and I can just about remeber the pinch me years thats what got me hooked to anyone younger than myself they haven't really experienced many good times it would be great for them to experience that. I remember the scenes when we beat Man United in 1993 that will live with me for the rest of my life we need those special moments for the younger fans to experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfOAFC Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 It represents where I was born and who I am. if Oldham Athletic were in anyway representative of who YOU are, I certainly wouldn't be anywhere near BP tomorrow no offence like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc0000 Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 if Oldham Athletic were in anyway representative of who YOU are, I certainly wouldn't be anywhere near BP tomorrow no offence like ...no need for that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I remember the scenes when we beat Man United in 1993 that will live with me for the rest of my life we need those special moments for the younger fans to experience. Some great posts on this thread - Ed, Andy, Harry, Glossop. I remember that game well, despite only just turning 9. Sat in the comfort of the main stand on a 10p cushion....my legs were just about short enough to sit there in those days!! I literally cried with joy when Adams scored and was really embarassed about it afterwards! I also remember getting away with swearing at Schmeichel. Whether or not Latics is a product or something much closer to the heart depends on who you are. To fans it is the latter, to anybody else the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I think if that's true then their is little hope... Can it ever work as a product...I have my doubts... Exactly why lower league football is broken at the moment. Costs (particularly players wages) are simply too high for it to work as a product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts