Most liked posts in thread: I-Follow & City:The Future or The end of the Away Day?

Sun shining.Flag flying.Ifollow paid. Three points please City.

 

And this is the reason I don't understand why some people are set against it. Nobody that is in favour of ifollow continuing to be offered is saying it will lead to them going to fewer games, but they are saying (if it was available), that they would purchase an ifollow pass to watch the games they were never going to be attending in the first place! That is extra income for the club right there, and I don't see why anyone would be against that. Sparks has said he wants to see it continue to be offered so he obviously feels it is an income generator going forward, rather than devil in disguise some on here seem to think it is.

 

I disagree... I only get to 2 / 3 / 4 away games a season, depending on the fixtures. I'd still go to every away game I was going to anyway because that's a full day out but I'd then watch pretty much every single away game I couldn't get to on iFollow - that's £180 extra revenue for someone there across a season

 

This is a reason why I would be against season tickets including ifollow passes when we get back to being able to attend at full capacity in the grounds.

A lot of fans would get used to sitting at home and watching it from the comfort of their homes at the first sign of a bit of rain or cold weather, greatly reducing the atmosphere on matchdays.

 

I don't buy this argument that it will stop people going, its just not true. You might get a few dozen people that will decide to watch on TV rather than go to the game but i personally don't know of anyone who will use ifollow when they have the opportunity to go, merely only using that opportunity when being there is not an option.

 

Exactly. The away following might be slightly down, but not by much because most away fans are committed and love their away trips. But that slight decrease would be dwarfed by the number subscribing to iFollow who would never have gone to the game anyway.

 

Well said Idle. As a current season ticket holder, whilst I really appreciate the product being offered this season by ifollow, moving forward I am against the idea of ifollow passes, however it may look like, when grounds reopen.

It will IMO drive laziness, excuse, apathy which will drive down attendances over time.

Once out the bag, the iFollow product will grow at the expense of attendance

 

Sorry, but that's utter bollocks.
Obviously football is much better with fans in stadia. But the fact that 3000 people are buying iFollow subscriptions for nearly every away game proves that its anything but pointless.
I've missed going to VP, but I've absolutely loved being able to watch every away game live and, clearly, so have many others. And I'd love to be able to continue to do so - providing revenue for clubs where I'd otherwise only be listening on the radio. It won't stop me attending any away games that I wish to go to, because that's a completely different experience.
If football without live attendance is 'pointless' how come we're all still so engaged in discussion on this site?

 

I definitely fall into that category.
Used to travel to every away game years ago.
Circumstances changed and attend only a few now.
Watched every away game this season and would definitely do the same next season if it’s made available.
It’s an absolute no-brainer for me.

 

I get my little lad to sit behind me and kick my chair to try and make it feel a bit realistic.

 

I'd suggest with a year of people getting used to being able to watch all away games on TV that ship has already sailed... when people who aren't going to the game anyway aren't given the opportunity to pay to watch it live in the future they are left with the option of using an illegal stream for free or not watching at all. Either option leaves the clubs short of the money they might have paid.

I do understand what you're saying with regards to the risk of lower away attendances... it's probably going to be weighing up the costs either way but I suspect most people who would go to an away game would go anyway, it's not just about being able to watch the game. The hope is the relatively few people who don't attend to watch it on home instead are outweighed by those who watch at home when they wouldn't have done so at all

 

Sorry Monkey, the vast majority of people will still go to away games regardless of ifollow, the ones that watch on ifollow wouldn't have gone to the game anyway.

 

This is the correct answer. Anyone who thinks ifollow would make a 30% reduction in away followings is deluded. The benefit of ifollow outweighs any negatives.

 

Give over the pair of you.... Direct East Coast train to Stevenage return, day out. 3 points... Jolly good sing song on a bank holiday.

You want to watch it on telly..... Blahhhhhhhh...

Up the City!!

 

But you can use illegal streams anyway, whether it's available to buy or not... you're just removing the option to actually pay for it.

You may have a drop off in some fans not going but that would need to be offset against how much extra revenue you'll generate by making it available to pay for... and people are already used to being able to watch it now. Maybe it should be the revenue for away following goes to the home team? I don't know the actual figures but I'm sure the numbers are being crunched somewhere

 

Personally I’d pay up-to double my season ticket price if it included the I-follow option (home matches).
I get to around 50% of home matches as I work away most weeks so either aren’t around or I’ve got back late Friday night and not seen the kids/ ball & chain since the Sunday before. Would I honestly attend even less? Not sure.....
I already pay £45 per year to listen to Dumb & Dumber on I-follow audio! I’d be lying if I didn’t think having I-follow might make me think twice about attending Barrow at home if it was freezing and raining sideways. But in the scheme of things, as long as the club are maximising profits do we really care?
BTW The same arguments have been used historically for many things, Cinema would kill theatres, Television would kill Cinemas, live Saturday radio coverage would damage attendance, Sky football coverage would kill UK football attendances!
In the end there’s room for various roots to consume the product. I’ll personally never illegally stream because I don’t want to take money from the club......,plenty will though especially if it’s not available officially.