I understand the because of work issue & the money issue but I am sure others just cannot be bothered.

If a newcomer or resident in the Doncaster MBC



Doesn't have access to a computer

Doesn't take a local or national newspaper

Doesn't look at the teletext sporting pages

Doesn't have Sky

Doesn't listen to local radio

Never drives by Tattersfield or the Keepmoat



How would they know when the Dons are playing at home?

Id say they must live in a bubble and have no interest in life. Finances are a big factor today, kids stay on at school longer or go to uni , so can't afford the full price, but are over 16, perhaps a student price for 16-18 year olds in education ?

I was in Doncaster town centre on Saturday & I didn't see any posters promoting the Swinton game.



The Dons always used to advertise there home games with posters stuck on the inside of the windows of the buses it was a simple & cheap way of promoting the home games.

Surely if you were interested in going to a rugby match you would find out where there is one .

I do think that on my side of town, (Intake), that there could be more at say asda or the dome, lots of traffic, a nice big sign would be good. But with finances so tight i suspect it is something the club cant do. I am aware that people will say that traditionally Dons support came from over the bridge, well yes it did but times have changed and all areas should be targeted. To be honest ive only seen the sign at bentley on pictures, as its somewhere i very rarely go, dont need to, so most on our side will not be aware of it.

Paul I can see why you didn't have a career in sales & marketing

I donot think the Dons donot have much money to spend on sales & marketing .

A few posters in shops in the town centre & market place wouldn't cost a fortune



A stall giving out hand-outs advertising home games in Morrison's store on York Rd I understand there manager Tony Haigh is very amenable towards local sports clubs it must be worth contacting him.



If the public aren't coming to the Dons the Dons need to get out among the public Golf Days,Race Nights Ladies Days don't seem to have the desired effect the club needs to think outside the box.

In the 1950s and 1960s there were very few things for people to do with their leisure time. Sporting activities were at the top of people's list of very few options.



Nowadays, competition for people's time and money is huge. It's difficult to get noticed and for the most part not cheap to get noticed. The bottom line for all businesses is that if you don't get noticed, you will suffer a decline in your business.



As a club, we need to look at what is cheap but may be effective. As Weighman said, we don't have a lot of cash to throw at the problem.



Posters in shops around town seems like a must do, as Geoff mentioned. I'd even consider giving shopkeepers a commission for selling tickets which in effect encourages them to become sales agents for the club.



As a one off, I'd allow all Rovers season ticket holders into a Dons game for nothing - possibly the Sheffield game. If they won't come for nothing, we know we're wasting our time targeting them in future.



If they do come, we can work on them further to convert them into long-term, paying spectators.



The Swindon double-header was a complete flop last year but that doesn't mean we should give up on the hope of getting some Rovers fans through our turnstiles. After all, we know they are prepared to pay to watch sport, which is probably something that the majority of Doncaster folk aren't prepared to do.



Improve links with supermarkets. Most Donny folk will visit one at some time. It's in the business interest of the supermarkets to be seen to be supporting local communities. We need to use this to our advantage.



As Donny hkr mentioned, on our side of town in Intake, we see nothing about the Dons. We have to reach out to the people, we can no longer rely on people finding us. Let's get some posters up in the out of town areas too.



Give pubs half a dozen free tickets to use as prizes for their pub quizzes on the condition they put up a matchday poster for us.



I'm sure we can come up with lots more ideas that might work. We need to try as many as possible because we don't have a magic wand that tells us whether any will work or not, but collectively they ought to do some good.



I'm sure the club have tried lots of things that we're not aware of, and Ray Green probably shakes his head in despair because the people of Donny don't turn out, but we need to keep trying ... because the Dons are in all our hearts and we want to see them succeed!

I live in Westwoodside and it's still the 1960s out here! But seriously i know we come under North Lincs but you wouldn't know the Dons existed out here, even though we're not really that far away. Axholme is an untapped area for support. Why not send a batch of free tickets out to the pubs in Westwoodside, Haxey and Epworth. Surely there's nothing to lose?

Plenty of opportunities around Doncaster for free of cheap advertising.



I work at the college, and there is nothing about The Dons upcoming games despite two of the college staff being first team regulars.



As others have mentioned supermarkets are a good way to capture people, as are buses and the bus station.



At the moment the club is good at informing the converted, but they need to start reaching out to those who never thought of Rugby League match as something they would want to watch. Its not just about getting old fans back its about attracting new fans and families.



We have a couple of home games left, how about a kids go free policy (ie under 12's). Give them a signed program from the match and their photo taken with the squad. Costs very little but can grow an interest in young minds.



The club has to do a bit of a carrot and a stick trick to get people in offer them something beyond just a match.



Face painting at games, there are several out there who will attend for free and just take donations for a charity of their choice, again a way to get the kids interested.



DM's idea of giving shop keepers a small commission for selling tickets its great it means there is something in it for them.



My personal reason for not attending the games is pricing £15 to get in £2 for a program and £4 to park (buses would cost me more as I'd need to catch 2) for and hour and a half's entertainment for me on my own. To contrast that me and my wife went to the cinema on Saturday night (which I also feel is overpriced) but for us both to see a recent film and partake in some refreshments it came to under £25 for the pair of us for 2 hours entertainment.



Money is tight for many people in Doncaster we are not an affluent town on the whole I feel that the pricing structure of the clubs (Dons, Knights, Rovers) needs to reflect this. Doesn't just have to be cheaper prices offers like Family tickets, Buy one get one half price deals, discounts for those on benefits/pensions all can put extra bums on seats, but the most important thing about any of these offers is that they TELL PEOPLE outside of the already interested Rugby fans.

Having spoke to a lot of people on this there are two main issues at play:



Firstly, there are a lot of other things to do nowadays that we (and everyone else) has to compete with, and plenty of stuff which is pretty much free.



Secondly, the price, £15 was a step too far for a lot of people, particularly those who may have only just got the bug back last year.



The Season Ticket offer is fantastic, but no-one is going to spend £120 on anything as a first investment without having been for a season or so first so is no good for getting new people in

The Knights only charge a tenner to stand on the terrace for a League game.

Could the club look at mini season tickets like football clubs do? So perhaps supporters over the year can buy a ticket mid season.

I'll charge you £5 to watch my grass grow

That's as may be, but they can still attract two or three times more people to watch their grass grow than the Dons are pulling in for a league game. The point i am making is it is an affordable price for watching a professional sports team regardless of your opinion of that particular sport.

Jemmo's right. The season ticket offer is great but it's not going to get new people to come down.



The cost of getting into games is obviously a critical factor - both for fans and the Dons. The Dons have to make a judgement as to where to pitch the pricing levels.



If dropping prices to £10 would double the attendances, it would be a good move, but if it made no difference, it would be a disaster.



We should certainly get some posters put up at the college, as Geoff says.



With communications from DonsNews, the club has improved relations with current fans considerably and we are certainly better informed than previously.



The area that we're not making any headway is with match day attendances.



Can DonsNews tell us if there is a marking plan at the moment, and which of our suggestions the club think could be taken on board?

When we had a lottery , the agent used to drop posters off.

With todays improved technology may be fans who are willing could download a poster . May be an idea for next season !

There have been some good ideas , but they need people to help the club.

Isn't it the same price at castle park to sit, ie: £15?, im sure if there was a standing area at the keepmoat it would also be cheaper. And the terrace isn't covered , so you are open to the elements. If i were to go there i would pay to sit anyway, that's my preference , so would be no difference for me. As it is the Dons play in an all seater stadium, so unless something happens to change that, can't really see a price drop. As has been said season ticket offer was fantastic, less than a tenner for a game, nobody could complain at that. But yes first you have to get people there for interest to grow. No easy solution to that one.

By that token, the prices at the Rovers are twice ours and their attendance are 5-6 times so we should double our price.



My point is, when comparing apples with oranges there is whole range of factors

Football is a much more mainstream and well supported sport than either code of Rugby, not just in Doncaster I mean across the UK.



The comparisons between the Knights and the Dons are valid in my eyes.

I'd say they're closer related, but it's still not the same. Rugby Union gains most of its following from its Old Boys networks and the media outlets they run generating national interest. League has not, and probably never will have, that same level of presence in the main stream culture.



The only like for like comparison you can do is compare how attendances this year, with our attendances last year, and the year before that. Every club, in every sport has their own "micro-climate" around them which is unique to them

From my point of view, its obvious that attendances across the board at all levels of RL are lower than they have been for a long time. Now, is it financial, or is it just apathy from supporters who are showing their disdain for the wider product on offer?



I think we're always looking at ways of increasing support, and to be honest, the product on offer on the pitch from the Dons over the last couple of seasons has been worthy of extra fans, and I feel that people are beginning to notice this.



Its not helped with the fact that possibly the biggest match, gate wise, this season, Featherstone, was played on a Thursday night, and put on TV, so theres always other ways we can look at it.

A chance to speak to Ray about your ideas , see Race Night thread.