Website subscription
 

Hi all
I'm doing a bit of market research, trying to find out what people would be prepared to pay for a website subscription service.

If the fishy site were to include a section which required you to sign up (and pay for) to access that incorporated some match highlights, audio and video interviews every few days and full commentary on every game home and away, how much would you be willing to pay PER MONTH and FOR THE FULL SEASON.

I've tried to set up a poll, but I'm not sure how to do it, so if all else fails reply with how much and why, or drop me an email to [email protected] if you have any points you'd like to make.
Ta
Dan

re: Website subscription
 

I've put a week on the poll, so if you could get your votes in pronto that'd help...

On a monthly breakdown you'd be looking at approx £4 a month for the £35 annual option, £3 a month for the £20 option and £2 a month for the £10 option.

Again, these are all ballpark figures, but by working out what people are prepared to pay I can work out how many subscribers we need to get for it to pay for itself and whether that will be viable....

Hope that makes sense!
dan

re: Website subscription
 

Can somebody put the B in the thread title please??? Who said men can't multitask!!!

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Done for you.

Is a week long enough on your poll or do you want it or anything else changing?

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Excellent move and with luck something will come of it. £35 quid for quality content would be a small price tp pay for people like me that can’t get anywhere near Accrington anymore. That said Dan; something like this would have to be top quality for the price and not something cobbled together for now’t.

Cheers Dan.

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At the moment I wouldn't pay anything. To be honest until we have changes at the top the only money I am paying is my matchday admittance.

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Actually thats quite a true statement here here yerself:mosher:

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if the club was in good hands then 35.oo. ive put that in dan

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I once applied to LFC TV & they wanted 40 quid, but when it came about that it wasn't Live (visual) coverage as intimated I cancelled ! For Audio as that is mainly what we're likely to get due to FL & FA restrictions/hindrances I'd say 20-30 quid is reasonable, if you can get live coverage (visual) as it's played on the day then you could push the upper limits.

Especially for the likes of myself & others who're overseas & scattered around the globe.

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After all that as transpired over the last couple of seasons and no change in sight should really suggest to people that there won't be any change at the top for the foreseeable future. Isn't it bad enough with what we have, without fans condemning us to the dark ages as well. Just let go and work with it; none of us are big enough or positioned to force any change. Anything that promotes interest or gets the name of Accrington Stanley out in the public eye in a positive light is worth trying and paying for. All this moaning about who runs or owns the club is a big negative.

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I think that facility is only available to Sky & BBC. Some of the bigger clubs do televise live reserve games but thats as much as they can do.

Internal provider or outsourced Dan ?

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I think Manchester City have the best multimedia on their website, take a look here Video - Manchester City FC What's more is that theirs is free.

Now obviously there is an ever so slight financial gap between them and us, so for a level similar to theirs I'd be willing to pay 15-20 notes per season.

35 just 'sounds' too much!

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Sorry Dan but untill we are rid of both idiots at the top then I'm afraid I would not be prepared to pay more penny into the club.
Doug, if you feel that strongly then I'm sure that if you. offered to fund it yourself then.both oneil and. whalley would be happy to take your cash.The only people keeping the club in the dark ages are those two pratts.

Re: Website subscription
 

No need for an apology. If that's your opinion that's your opinion.

All I will say is that I must clarify that nobody "from the club" is behind this research. I have done it from my own initiative with the aim of knowing what the supporters want.

And I think I'm starting to get an idea.

To answer Dave's question above, there are two options on the table. One that the club provides the service and the second that the majority of the service is provided for them. Nothing is set in stone. In fact it is a while since I even spoke to anyone about it. I'm just exploring whether there is an appetite for this kind of thing at all.

Re: Website subscription
 

I enjoyed being kept up to date with the live coverage when it was available earlier in the season for games I couldn't get to, if it adds to the content of the website in terms of more discussion, pre-match thoughts, after match thoughts etc.

Surely that can only be a good thing?

I would however like it to be an internal thing eg perhaps yourself running it Dan and if the funding from it went towards covering costs and improving communication in website content with more news & views?

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To be brutally honest Google Page Ranking the money from the subscriptions would probably just about cover the costs of travel, equipment, line rental and somebody to run it - if the price and number of subscribers was right.

Hence this discussion really!

With the fanbase and the economic climate I think any expectation of this kind of service making a profit ("putting money into the club") would be pretty unrealistic.

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I think most of us would agree Dan, today's economic climate and attitudes towards the leadership in some quarters will undoubtedly minimise the impact of any scheme like this getting off the ground, setting it up and maintaining it without initial financing would be the first of many hurdles no doubt.

Taking this site out of the equation, do you have any idea of how many people actually listened in earlier in the season when we had coverage, do you have any way of knowing how many people outside of the UK got coverage when it was accessible from the fishy site. Also, if its safe to assume that the audience on accyweb and sites such as face book are minimal, is there any other way you have of getting a more realistic response from supporters universally.

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What other audience is there that is going to grasp Dan's possible internet technology from the fishy site that don't have some form of link with one of the other technology sites such as Accyweb or Facebook ?

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Doug,
With the number of people who listened to the free service a subscription service would undoubtedly make a loss.

I don't know how many people are registered on here but there are 600 people on Stanley's Facebook page and a hundred or so following the Twitter. It's by no means the total Stanley fanbase, but it is probably representative of the kind of people that would use a subscription service (ie computer literate, regular internet users as well as having an interest in Stanley)

As I've said before, this is more about judging the mood surrounding this idea than the precise numbers. At the minute the mood suggests that it wouldn't be worth doing but we'll see eh?

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The first option worries me - unless you took on total responsibility for it, Dan.The club does not have an unblemished record in providing service.

Would/could the second option involve your good self?

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I think Dan deserves a medal for continously trying to make things happen :)

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I agree on the medal for Dan, if enough people want this service it can happen

good luck dan

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Not an easy one to answer sorry with many members not using this section of Accrington Web at all.

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the spugster enjoyed listening to the live matches and hes missed em ... now i dont know how much he'd pay listening to em up in sunny scotland ... seeing as he cant get to matches ... but he'd probably put £20 in the pot ...

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was the free service pulled because of the FL, or some other reason ? If so what are their regulations for providing the service ?

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Ok, had a bit of a think on this, IF the setup was TOTALLY independant of the club ie organised and run outside of oneils and whalleys grasp, then I for one would be happy to support the project, couldn't afford much more than the £20 option tho I'm afraid.

Best of luck Dan.

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I dare say if it was totally independent you may even have a chance of sponsorship towards it. Can't see how it could be totally indpendent though because of the football league

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As an exile I would probably take up the option although my nerves were shredded when I listened to Radio Dan earlier this season .... if it works then it would be worth £35 to me, especially if it featured extended (15 mins or so) video highlights as well as live audio.

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I would be more than happy to pay 4-5 pounds a month for live commentary on all games. I reckon there will be quite a few others out there who can't get to many matches and who miss the commentary we used to have. All that being said, I still think the FL shouldn't have stopped the club providing it for nowt!

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I would have no qualms about paying to listen to matches. Ok there is a chance the club would want a cut. That said though I believe its worth the risk providing there is minimal or no interference from the powers that be. At the end of the day if done spot on it
could benifit the club. Its time to look beyond the big little club to little town with a big club loved by many world wide.

Count me in Dan :-D

Re: Website subscription
 

Okay...
I don't think I've ever posted this much on here on a non match day!
The commentary MUST come through Accrington Stanley - they are the rules.
However, what comes out of your speakers and plays out on your screens doesn't necessarily have to come from the club.

If we take only the commentary, this can be provided by a third party (ie a radio station) and a number of clubs do this. Now, aside from the fact that no commercial stations cover the club any more and Lancs don't do commentary, that is something that could be done.

A company (or a radio station, but we'll go for company as a standard term) could provide the multimedia content and in lieu of a fee that company could take a percentage of the subscription money (like the Football League do)

That money would cover staff costs, expenses etc etc.

The Football League would get their cut, then some may go for website hosting (bear in mind this is all theoretical)

There may or may not be some money left over after that. I don't know. That's why I'm trying to gauge interest. It's only an embryo of a beginning of an idea at the minute...

So your money would INITIALLY go to ASFC (cos it has to) but then it would immediately be distributed to the various sources mentioned above.

Please note that this is MY IDEA ONLY - I haven't discussed any details with anyone. Other than you lot. On a public forum...

I'll do my best to answer any other questions, but as I've said about a zillion times now I'm open to ideas.

Dan

P.S. Enough talk of medals you fools - I get paid (a bit) to do something that you lot PAY to do, so it's not me that deserves the medal!!!

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In fairness if the FL didn't enforce certain commercial issues and therefore make relevant payments back to the clubs some clubs would be out of business now.

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I think the point Spuggie raises about worldwide is a very valid one, in that you have to look more beyond your own backyard so too speak.

I think if the website was fresh with regular updates it keeps fans going back to have a look as well as perhaps visiting fans and people who have an interest in football in general.

A player with video & audio content alongside the website would be fantastic and a giant stride forward for the Club maybe opening the door with Commercial & Sponsorship opportunities?

It also serves it's own purpose with news that then filters out to the wider media etc.
that gets people talking and gains their interests and putting us in the public eye.

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What a grand idea. I would find up to 50 pounds if it meant live coverage,visual and audio on the net! I really hope this idea grows legs. C'mon STANLEY.

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This has to be a contender for understatement of the year! Like Cowboy, I'd be prepared to pay around £20 provided it was totally independent.

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firstly dan i think you are doing a sterling job in promoting the club and trying to take things forward and i thank you implissibly for that

secondly i, like many others from scattered shores miss your commentary on a saturday/tuesday/wednesday and would love to hear your vocals once again

as to taking things forward i would happily pay £35 for the ability to hear a live commentary obviously by yourself for each game as i by location cannot get to the majority of matches however love your passionate biased commentary

thirdly i am not getting involved in the politics at the club although realise there is so much crap and ego going on there

simply love ACCRINGTON STANLEY

i wish you all the best in your quest in taking our club forward

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Dan

Could you not put an appeal for feedback on this proposal on the fishy site?

As all content would be through that site and not this one, that would be an appropriate place for such a request.

It would be a great shame if, for just £2 or £3 per month during the season, there wasn't enough interest in this proposal to cover the costs and make it work.

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I think this can work if done properly and for that, Dan's the man :). £20 - £30 depending on content

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Just like the monies due HMRC and all the club's other creditors. You don't really mean immediately do you? More like when legal proceedings are instituted.:rolleyes: This why I said I wouldn't pay anything until we have changes at the top.

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Ok some people do not trust the club to be above board with this which understandable to many. Yet the club can redeem its self in a small way in the eyes of fans and supporters. It would be a good start that shows those in charge want to help the club expand off the field. Out of interest what ís the playing staff think of this as they will be the hero's/villain's in this possible venture?

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It's a poor attitude when you think that legal responsibilites and people's livelihoods should take priority over power & ego's :eek:

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this is the kind of thing that our website really needs and I hope it won't be at the expense of losing our own independant website to one of those mass produced Premium things that most other clubs run.

Much as I'd love it to happen I don't think there would be enough interest to get it off the ground without financial propping up from external sources (ie sponsorships). I would imagine Accy Web would the most indicative of likely audience - how many people are viewing this forum during matchtimes? (25 members and 65 non members) And then I would imagine no more than 75% of those people would be likely to subscribe and pretty much only for the commentary. Anything else contained on the site would be fluff. If the quality of the fluff was goo enough and regular enough then there would the possibility of grabbing a lot more of the crowd to visit the website after games as well - and that would be where the money is.

As you walk around Accy town centre on a saturday afternoon there is no interest in the game or the team - I would like to walk past market stalls and hear the commentary coming through radios hung over the back of the stall.

For the record I'd happily pay £35 but would hope for a figure of £19.99 in order to appeal to the most possible tightarses!