If I am not mistaken though you can still be liable if you cancel. I am not sure if we are strictly asking folk to 'pay for the season ticket by direct debit' more than we are asking people to pay for their season ticket in instalments (via direct debit). There is still a commitment on behalf of the customer to pay in full.Spyman wrote:A Direct Debit can be cancelled by the supporter at any time - you're only committing a month at a time effectively. So the supporter gets a discounted price but the club doesn't get money up front or a guaranteed commitment.
You make a big purchase on credit with regular instalments just because you cancel the DD doesn't mean that you are no longer liable for the product you now have (in this case it would be a season ticket).
As Divas says beyond flattening out our revenue over the year so we don't have such a cash flow problem in the winter months there is a benefit to those fans who perhaps can't afford the upfront cost of the season ticket and by spreading it out over a year it becomes more affordable. You are going to be looking at what £20 per month for a ticket that just 'sounds' like good value to me.
It also perhaps stops that issue we also have when games come thick and fast "3 home games in a week that is £36..." and there are potential dips in attendance for those games.
The 500 club was a deliberate strategic act with a view that returning home would generate greater incomes than the lost annual revenue from the club itself. I am not sure it was quite as emotionally driven as you are suggesting.jjljks wrote:Agreed that the 500 club put their money where their mouths were when there was only hot air and a burning sense of injustice to get the club back together. OK it was a good deal at the time, but we shouldn't keep extending it and drawing on goodwill to fund our future. The idea of 1200 people putting £40 per month into the coffers without getting anything in return is a non starter in these times of austerity.