Most liked posts in thread: Should Season Tickets Include I-Follow?

It is an idea but it should be an add on rather than part of the normal deal and only available to season ticket holders for home games.

For away games the price should be set by the hone team so they can make the decision about balancing bums ons seats and viewers

 

Just an observation - but would any change to the current iFollow broadcast rights need the agreement of all the clubs signed up to to iFollow?

 

Well, thankfully we have a young sprog in charge of the day to day running of the club, one who is well versed in modern communications etc. so hopefully we will not be left behind as things change going forwards.

 

I think its a problem generally in football where its fan base hankers for the past a bit too much. There is stuff i miss about the old days of football, the atmosphere which generally had died over in this country. But other stuff such as using phones to enter stadia and pay for food and drink should be a given these days as should general facilities such as toilets and wash basins. I'd not really used ifollow much due to being able to get to a lot of the games but have seen its benefits during the pandemic. Despite what some say, its here to stay and should be used to its full potential.

 

And that is the crux of the matter - you can't beat being there in person. Everyone that is suggesting a continuation of ifollow will lead to lower attendances at the ground would do well to remember that the vast majority of fans hold the view that being there is far superior to watching on ifollow. I think continuing with it is a real opportunity to increase revenue, not lose it, for all of the reasons already mentioned by others in this thread.
I wonder how many that are calling for season tickets to be increased are also the ones saying no to ifollow still being an option going forward? I would argue that the former runs the risk of lowering attendences far more than the latter does, yet plenty are saying it should happen.

 

If this virus is still in fairly wide circulation it wouldn’t make sense thousands of fans going all over the country. An I follow ticket would make sense for everyone

 

The case for combining home attendance season tickets with a TV package outside of lockdown is a non-starter. I think i-follow will continue to develop as its own entity as restrictions ease, having greatly benefitted from our recent enforced exposure to it, and yes a possible inclusion with future development of away attendance packages.

 

Talking of away days and the atmosphere etc, the last one I got to was Morecambe, Oct 2019. City fans everywhere, noisy bunch, hard to get that "feel" on telly. A proper day out. That said, ifollow has a role to play.

 

I agree that iFollow needs to be an option, and they should tailor deals to the individual to some degree. I live in Bradford, so I go to all the home games, I'd like to be able to buy an iFollow season ticket for the away games on top of that, but they should also retain the pay-as-you-go options.

It might be a concern if Bradford City went on another horrific run of form in League Two and people took to iFollow rather than trailing out in the cold and rain, but not enough to warrant looking a gift horse in the mouth. This is a time when the sport should be looking to maximise income for obvious reasons; what I'm not sure about is broadcast rights. Aren't iFollow only allowed to broadcast every game because people aren't allowed to go?

Anyway, absolutely bang on about the at-the-game opportunities. The food and drink offer is pathetic and the value for money is worse, and given the number of top food brands in our city, it makes zero sense to persists with an exclusive offering of pies, sausage rolls and crap coffee. I don't buy any food or drink when I attend a game because the value for money is the drizzling sh!ts.

I swear I was reading ideas about 20 years ago ideas about embracing the city's cuisine options as part of the in-stadium product, but there probably wasn't any appetite to change on the tired old formula - it would be nice to get a bit of a Bradford Festival vibe when it comes to food and drink. I'd be much more likely to skip lunch if I knew I could have a kick ass curry at the game for £6.

 

It could still be difficult to make a midweek game after work from some of the postcodes in the BD region. Getting home after work from Settle for example at 6.30 then trying to get to the ground and find a parking space before kick off would be a push.

Regarding ifollow passes, the EFL could restrict the number available to say 250 - 500 per match. They could then close sales 48 hours before kick off giving those missing out a chance to make arrangements to travel to the game. Hopefully the impact to the atmosphere at the ground won’t be adversely affected.

 

As others have said, the genie is out of the bottle now, ifollow isn't going to go away and there will have to be some outside of the box thinking to solve these issues. Perhaps consideration needs to be given to non-league playing their games on a Sunday - that could potentially increase their casual fan base even further.

 

Televising Live games will kill football, The stadiums will be empty, Who will go to matches when can view in front room, ( The view of some on the FA when SKY deal proposed )

 

Agree. I posted earlier in this thread. I only go to a few away games because I can't afford the time for the longer trips. If ifollow was available I would still go to the same number of away games because as you say it's about the matcday experience. I would however pay to watch the games I can't get to, so someone is missing out on potential income from me and I expect many thousands of fans across the country

 

Its another debate but maybe low attendances at VP when a big game is on telly is down to the cheap season tickets attracting more casual fans. Maybe it's just me, but I doubt many on this board would miss a City game to watch CL on telly

 

I agree to a certain degree and I’ve used ifollow several times in the past where I’ve been unable to attend a game.
We just need to be careful to avoid ifollow being a choice rather than a necessity

 

Have you seen one post saying 'If ifollow continues to be available after Covid, I am never stepping foot inside Valley Parade again'? No, you haven't because that would never happen. Likewise, it won't impact negatively on away followings; those that enjoy the whole experience of an away day will continue to do so.