mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Appreciate the back-and-forth, Feelin Blue. I'm still not persuaded that the idea's impractical, though.
They segment the crowd at most concerts. You can pay for a single session at a Formula One event. Public protest marches can be directed into defined zones. Point is, crowd control is a fine art but it's one that's been learned, and I'm sure that administrators could use this capability to make the single session thing happen.
1. Wouldn't work everywhere, but on most grounds you could cordon off a stand pretty easily, with its own toilets etc. And if there was only one premium session per day, you couldn't exactly hide in the dunnies and sneak back out for the next session.
2. You'd be surprised at what people pay for. Remember, this is targeted at the cash-rich, time-poor fan. They're not exactly known for doing their research. Give them premium seats and a few bells and whistles and they'll happily pay more than full match ticket prices for just the single session.
3. Works for concerts, though. Security is used to picking these things out at a distance. We used to have under-age areas cordoned off at one of the venues I worked for, and if a kid sneaked through to the other areas and didn't have a wrist-band they were spotted pretty quickly.
4. Maybe. Remember, we're not just relying on honesty here. People are presumably paying for a single premium session because they don't have time for the whole test match. I reckon you'd be more likely to find 80% have left by the end of the session than 80% stay for the next one.
mrtwisties added 3 Minutes and 11 Seconds later...
Here's a sixth idea to go with the first five:
6. Grounds access. During test matches, let people onto the grounds during the innings break (or perhaps even during session breaks), so that they can inspect the pitch / play matches on the ground, etc. A test match audience is mostly made up of die-hard fanatics, so they're likely to both appreciate the opportunity and not ruin things afterwards. This would contribute to a convivial atmosphere at test matches, and help persuade test match newbies to come back after they've given it a try the first time.
They segment the crowd at most concerts. You can pay for a single session at a Formula One event. Public protest marches can be directed into defined zones. Point is, crowd control is a fine art but it's one that's been learned, and I'm sure that administrators could use this capability to make the single session thing happen.
1. Wouldn't work everywhere, but on most grounds you could cordon off a stand pretty easily, with its own toilets etc. And if there was only one premium session per day, you couldn't exactly hide in the dunnies and sneak back out for the next session.
2. You'd be surprised at what people pay for. Remember, this is targeted at the cash-rich, time-poor fan. They're not exactly known for doing their research. Give them premium seats and a few bells and whistles and they'll happily pay more than full match ticket prices for just the single session.
3. Works for concerts, though. Security is used to picking these things out at a distance. We used to have under-age areas cordoned off at one of the venues I worked for, and if a kid sneaked through to the other areas and didn't have a wrist-band they were spotted pretty quickly.
4. Maybe. Remember, we're not just relying on honesty here. People are presumably paying for a single premium session because they don't have time for the whole test match. I reckon you'd be more likely to find 80% have left by the end of the session than 80% stay for the next one.
mrtwisties added 3 Minutes and 11 Seconds later...
Here's a sixth idea to go with the first five:
6. Grounds access. During test matches, let people onto the grounds during the innings break (or perhaps even during session breaks), so that they can inspect the pitch / play matches on the ground, etc. A test match audience is mostly made up of die-hard fanatics, so they're likely to both appreciate the opportunity and not ruin things afterwards. This would contribute to a convivial atmosphere at test matches, and help persuade test match newbies to come back after they've given it a try the first time.
