Commercial Activity

[The Bewilderedbeast]

Apparently that's the rule (law). Whether is SPFL, SFA rules or Legislation wasn't made clear. But that's what was said. 

[Cet Homme Charmant]

150th anniversary merchandise collection

https://www.smithsofgreenock.co.uk/product-category/greenock-morton-fc/greenock-morton-fc-greenock-morton-150th-anniversary/?fbclid=IwAR1anY84MSOCkT4lpwnsmVUrOxmmAP-OERXbUkOTEhKRfqAg3A8MKwr9OH4 

[Jamie_M]

1 hour ago, The Bewilderedbeast said:

Apparently that's the rule (law). Whether is SPFL, SFA rules or Legislation wasn't made clear. But that's what was said. 

Has to be some crossed wires somewhere otherwise there would be no concessions, no free tickets etc.

Rule definitely in place that you can charge away fans more for equivalent tickets but discounts for specific groups seems fair game.

[Jamie_M]

Somebody's reading the commentary.

Merch tweet out of nowhere.

 

[TRVMP]

Just ordered a sack full of tat. International shipping is a flat rate of 20 quid so I loaded in more stuff to make it 'worth it'. Had I not seen this I wouldn't have done it. I have personally funded the George Oakley extension.

[Deego]

1 hour ago, Jamie_M said:

Somebody's reading the commentary.

Merch tweet out of nowhere.

 

There was a question last night about merch so maybe a follow up to that.

(The question was about the arrangement with Smiths, which’ll be reviewed. Dale said something along the lines of expecting a club our size to be generating more from merch than we are. Seemed to be a real frustration point for him so be interesting to see how that develops).

[Jamie_M]

1 hour ago, Deego said:

There was a question last night about merch so maybe a follow up to that.

(The question was about the arrangement with Smiths, which’ll be reviewed. Dale said something along the lines of expecting a club our size to be generating more from merch than we are. Seemed to be a real frustration point for him so be interesting to see how that develops).

Know they have said that in the past so good to see it's still on the agenda. Catering should also be looked at if we still just get a flat fee for it.

[Toby]

6 hours ago, The Bewilderedbeast said:

Something similar was suggested, Dale pointed out that if the club offers discounts then the same deal HAS (by law) to be offered to all supporters, home and away throughout the season.

As he said, if they do that then the club would be basically giving money away.

 

The question of stewarding also came up. Dale said that he and the head of the stewarding company had, what he described as a "tense" meeting on Tuesday and several issues had been raised.

He confirmed that things, which had previously gone on, would no longer be going on. He didn't elaborate on what these things are or were. Though, I'd imagine that the issue of people being denied entry if they turned up late would be one of them.

He also acknowledged that if someone was approached aggressively then they themselves would become aggressive in return. 

The club have purchased a 2 bedroom flat in Dunlop St for the use of players on the basis that a new signing can be offered accommodation as part of their contract (Jordan Davis springs to mind). This means the flat is a club owned asset and there are no outgoing such as rent etc.

All in all I thought it was a fairly positive meeting, and to boot I learned a new word.....Organigram.

Can’t say I’m not disappointed with the club’s lack of a response to my complaint about this.

I’ve not spoken to my mate since the weekend, but to my knowledge he’s not heard anything from the club beyond his refund, which I assume he received.

And given that the complaint came from myself, neither have I since the admin boy, Alistair told me he had passed on my complaint to the General Manager.

I don’t think that just giving a refund with no explanation or apology to my pal, or reassurance to me that an investigation is taking place is enough, to be honest.

I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt for not replying immediately because everyone inside the club would have been busy in the lead up to the Hearts game, but hearing nothing two weeks after making a valid complaint, and a week and a half after the big event that consumed their focus is poor.

[vikingTON]

On 3/20/2024 at 9:49 PM, Mr.Blue said:

MITC engage with over 500 kids through their football teams, community sessions and holiday camps. Seems like the club and the community could be missing a trick there.

First team players are regularly involved in those engagement activities though, as a browse through MITC content would demonstrate. Leaving aside the fact that it's not actually a footballer's contractual obligation to grow the fanbase - that's commercial/marketing behind the scenes - the idea that they're not doing their bit is nonsense. 

[vikingTON]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:38 AM, The Bewilderedbeast said:

Something similar was suggested, Dale pointed out that if the club offers discounts then the same deal HAS (by law) to be offered to all supporters, home and away throughout the season.

As he said, if they do that then the club would be basically giving money away.

Perhaps Dale has misunderstood the question posed, as providing a concession on certain grounds should apply all season and should apply to both home/away fans. That's not money wasted, so long as the club does eligibility checks at a ticket booth. There's no magic law compelling SPFL clubs to offer their existing discounts based on age or economic activity either - although if a club did something buckshee like giving a tenner off after a pint in Chaplin's or whichever wine bar/bistro Partick fans frequent before their home matches, then you'd still expect the SPFL to knock heads together.

Regardless, given our track record, I wouldn't be taking any Morton club official's insistence that something can't be done for Very Important Reasons seriously until Warren 'Iron Man's Hawke's tenure is a fairy tale used to frighten weans into eating their broccoli.

Edited March 22, 2024 by vikingTON

[Toby]

While you do in theory have to provide the same discount for away fans, that’s where multi-game offers are the way forward, and to be fair to the club, they did offer this for the four games from Airdrie until next week’s game against Queen’s Park.

My only criticism of that would be that the Airdrie game came just before the end of the month, when many folk are typically paid, so shelling out £70-odd for a modest discount just before your wages come in isn’t always ideal.

Doing a monthly deal might be an idea- if there are two home games in a month, offer a £40 ticket and if there are three do one for £60.

[Mr.Blue]

3 hours ago, vikingTON said:

First team players are regularly involved in those engagement activities though, as a browse through MITC content would demonstrate. Leaving aside the fact that it's not actually a footballer's contractual obligation to grow the fanbase - that's commercial/marketing behind the scenes - the idea that they're not doing their bit is nonsense. 

I didn't say anything about players not doing their bit?

I do think with the 500 odd kids involved with MitC through football the club could be more proactive with that partnership. If the kids sign up for a team or a community session then could we have them as part of a 'Young Ton' group or something similar where they get a newsletter, tickets to games, vouchers for merch on their birthdays etc. Just a suggestion. 

[vikingTON]

Just now, Mr.Blue said:

I didn't say anything about players not doing their bit?

I do think with the 500 odd kids involved with MitC through football the club could be more proactive with that partnership. If the kids sign up for a team or a community session then could we have them as part of a 'Young Ton' group or something similar where they get a newsletter, tickets to games, vouchers for merch on their birthdays etc. Just a suggestion. 

That was the entire premise of the post you responded to, with a 'missing a trick' claim.

I'm hardly chief cheerleader for Community based engagement, but I'm really not seeing how we're missing out on some obvious sure-fire way to build the fanbase, on top of what is already taking place along similar lines. 

[Mr.Blue]

7 hours ago, vikingTON said:

That was the entire premise of the post you responded to, with a 'missing a trick' claim.

I'm hardly chief cheerleader for Community based engagement, but I'm really not seeing how we're missing out on some obvious sure-fire way to build the fanbase, on top of what is already taking place along similar lines. 

No it wasn't. 

[GiGi]

15 hours ago, Toby said:

While you do in theory have to provide the same discount for away fans, that’s where multi-game offers are the way forward, and to be fair to the club, they did offer this for the four games from Airdrie until next week’s game against Queen’s Park.

My only criticism of that would be that the Airdrie game came just before the end of the month, when many folk are typically paid, so shelling out £70-odd for a modest discount just before your wages come in isn’t always ideal.

Doing a monthly deal might be an idea- if there are two home games in a month, offer a £40 ticket and if there are three do one for £60.

Agree. To split hairs, if I was marketing it I'd say 2 games for £39. Looks better and you can say saving a fiver. And so on.

[vikingTON]

5 hours ago, Mr.Blue said:

No it wasn't. 

Yes it really was though:

"As has been said we need to get more involved in schools. Back in my day even the likes of Martin Doak, John McNeil and Jim Holmes would even turn up to Cubs and Boys brigade events and they weren't even full time!!

Reaching out to local boys clubs who obviously have an interest in the game is a no brainer as they would provide coaches to watch the youngsters and it would be highly likely to add some parents through the turnstiles.

We have "a good bunch of lads" who were not utilising enough if @ all in the future support. How often is there a first team player or 2 showing up at youngsters prize giving events/sports days nowadays? First team football doesn't end when you walk off the training pitch imho."

 

[Greacen2000]

Just seen a tweet from the club saying todays match can be streamed (including in UK) - what happened to the blackout on broadcasting 3 o’clock kick offs?

[Stevie Aitken's Love Child]

1 minute ago, Greacen2000 said:

Just seen a tweet from the club saying todays match can be streamed (including in UK) - what happened to the blackout on broadcasting 3 o’clock kick offs?

International weekends are exempt from that rule I think.

[Mr.Blue]

5 hours ago, vikingTON said:

Yes it really was though:

"As has been said we need to get more involved in schools. Back in my day even the likes of Martin Doak, John McNeil and Jim Holmes would even turn up to Cubs and Boys brigade events and they weren't even full time!!

Reaching out to local boys clubs who obviously have an interest in the game is a no brainer as they would provide coaches to watch the youngsters and it would be highly likely to add some parents through the turnstiles.

We have "a good bunch of lads" who were not utilising enough if @ all in the future support. How often is there a first team player or 2 showing up at youngsters prize giving events/sports days nowadays? First team football doesn't end when you walk off the training pitch imho."

 

It really wasn't.

Regardless of what posts you quote that wasn't the reasoning behind my point.

[TONofmemories]

 

99 quid a ticket...

https://gmfc.net/greenock-morton-player-of-the-year-hall-of-fame-dinner-2024/