Are paper football programmes on their way out?

[Blue_and_Gold]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60994152

[Mallard]

Part of the match day experience for the elder generation.  Not sure the younger ones are bothered with a programme.

If the programme is not cost effective for the smaller Clubs then you can understand why they are pulling away from a hard copy.  Clubs need a decent print run and good advertising uptake to make it viable.  Plus a reasonable cover price.  I guess KL fail on all three parts ?

[Blue_and_Gold]

Part of the match day experience for the elder generation.  Not sure the younger ones are bothered with a programme.

That was my initial thought too. I'm sure that paper based programs will eventually cease at sometime, and that the age of a Clubs supporters could well be a contributing factor as to when that happens.

Maybe Lynn will retain a paper program for a bit longer than some other clubs, due to their older fan base. 

A printer I use told me only last week that they had just had a 13% increase in the materials they use to produce their magazine, and obviously that has to be passed across to the end user. They also produce an on-line version which I assume does not suffer from such increases.

Would an on line program be more attractive to advertisers, if a link to their business was included in the ad?

Just one click away from engaging a business with someone looking for their services.   

[TonyM]

As someone who has always (and continues) to buy a programme I can see this from both sides and can appreciate that the days of a paper programme are numbered, particularly at non-league level where lower volumes mean it will be harder and harder to justify the cost involved.  SC is of a similar age to me and is very keen on programmes himself so there is an emotional as well as a commercial aspect to why we have continued with a paper programme up until now but maybe it could be something that needs changing for next season when he does his post-season review, although I think he would still want some sort of medium (other than the EDP) to communicate to the fanbase.

Personally I liked the Boston approach of a programme plus the teamcard (for a £1 that went towards the youth set up) and maybe that is the way to go with the programme element moving across to a digital platform (dare I mention NFTs)

[Blue_and_Gold]

As someone who has always (and continues) to buy a programme I can see this from both sides and can appreciate that the days of a paper programme are numbered, particularly at non-league level where lower volumes mean it will be harder and harder to justify the cost involved.  SC is of a similar age to me and is very keen on programmes himself so there is an emotional as well as a commercial aspect to why we have continued with a paper programme up until now but maybe it could be something that needs changing for next season when he does his post-season review, although I think he would still want some sort of medium (other than the EDP) to communicate to the fanbase.

Personally I liked the Boston approach of a programme plus the teamcard (for a £1 that went towards the youth set up) and maybe that is the way to go with the programme element moving across to a digital platform (dare I mention NFTs)

Yes, two sides of this one at the moment.

Personally I think there's so much that can be done with an on line version when compared to a paper based one, although I do wonder if it would suit Lynn FC.

[Mallard]

That’s all well and good suggesting an online version would prove beneficial but it needs to organised and be professional in the approach.  We don’t appear to have that within the club at present judging by the Matchday coverage that the PR team are putting out there.

[Anton]

Another thing you have to remember is the internet! Years ago the only way you could find informaion was via the programme and word of mouth from other supporters. Today all the information is on the net. On a personal note I still think there is a place for a programme. Hard case fans collect programmes the same as Speedway fans do.

[TonyM]

Bradford bite the bullet and scrap their physical programmes for 2022-23 https://www.bradfordcityafc.com/news/2022/july/matchday-programme-to-be-discontinued/ will this be a lone example or will others now follow suit?