We got the whole season ticket thing very badly wrong last year. From Cheltenham on 1st January to Doncaster on 30th April we saw 98k fans at the Kassam including 6 10k+ games. A good number of them were new fans, or returning fans, and there were large increases in the number of families coming to games.
Season ticket deals should have been in place prior to that last game with fans encouraged to sign up through various different payment plans that could have taken a modest first payment on what was a pay day weekend. Even with a modest increase in costs, many more would have signed up if we'd done any marketing or promotional work at all.
Instead we had the absurdity of season ticket details released after the final game with a pathetic media message, and further delays for anyone new who wanted to buy a ticket, because for some reason it was impossible to process a renewal and a new sale together. The momentum was lost, and we struggled to get it back, and actually things became much worse.
We've had a year to get this right (or significantly better if not perfect). I'd like to see a proper season ticket launch, with a build up to the launch across social media platforms. I'd like a pay freeze for all renewals and a decent early bird period for all new season tickets that offsets any increase in costs (if there are any). We have to do a lot better with junior season tickets, and there has to be greater clarity in any related benefits for season tickets and memberships.
And finally there needs to be far better communication with how many sales we have and build towards each incremental target. Use case studies of someone renewing and signing up for their first season ticket to promote selling the first 1000, again for 2000, families and what it means to them at 3000, returning friends for 4000 etc etc. There is an opportunity to start from scratch on the way we promote our club and communicate with fans new and old. With 3 years to build towards a new stadium and a target of 10k season ticket sales, we simply have to get this right.