Blackburn Rovers’ marketing team are considering all sorts of novel ideas to help boost season ticket sales. One of these is to bring out a new kind of way of watching the blue and whites. It would be based on fans buying a timeshare season ticket.
This would entail supporters joining an exclusive seat buying club at Ewood Park, starting at one game a season, for years to come. This seat could then be passed on to the subscriber’s children, future descendants or friends, for time immemorial. After a one-off payment of an undisclosed amount, an annual maintenance charge would be levied before each season to help look after the holder’s seat.
Just think, you could pick a home match at a certain time of the year and know you have a guaranteed seat – for the rest of your life – and even longer! You could also be awarded a bonus match by upgrading your membership (for an additional fee).
Rovers intend to recruit staff with experience of timeshare marketing, preferably having worked in places like Spain, Portugal or the Canary Islands, where this practice has been established for many years. Sales personnel, known as Waggo-Waggo Men, would be sent out around the local area with raffle tickets and invitations to lively presentations, featuring beer and wine tasting events, held in Blues Bar at Ewood Park. Their presence should be noticed when you hear their shout of: ‘You’ve won! You’ve won! You’ve won!’
Over in India, Venky’s probably see Rovers as their own dodgy timeshare. There are similarities to what may have befallen gullible Brits on the Spanish Costas. They were taken in by snake oil salesmen, paying what they thought was a decent price at the time. Then they have had to pour endless maintenance fees down a bottomless pit for years to come. But like most timeshare victims, they are loath to admit they were taken in and want to get rid of their investment without losing face. But they can’t even give it away now and will never get their money back.
At least this seat buying club claims it is prepared to give Rovers fans the benefit of the doubt, should they have a change of heart after purchasing a timeshare season ticket. If you want to chat about it, call in at any time in either their office in Pune, or their other in the Cayman Islands.