I can sorta answer the opening post

I pledged earlier this afternoon and got the auto email thing saying that I needed to contact the Ticket Office to try and be part of the guaranteed 3000

When I rang I asked whether I could still get the fixed price and was told that there were still less than 3000 people who had pledged and paid, but that it was getting close to the number and I really ought to pay if I wanted to be sure

Might have been marketing hype of course, but if true it would suggest a figure of maybe somewhere between 2500-3000. That would be 'paid up' memberships though - there will be others who have pledged but not paid

The number of people who have already paid isn't really the issue. Right now all we need to do is reach the highest number of pledges possible. Chasing payment comes afterwards once the final price has been determined.

I wouldn't put too much stock in the counter if last years is anything to go by.

After all, they took it down early as they weren't able to up date it quickly enough.

This post will only interest me if we get stuck at 11,999 or 15,500 pledges

Just been and paid for 3 Terrace season tickets as I could not get through on the telephone number given out by the txt mesage.

think there was an element of marketing in not updating counter last year too. when it looked like we were going to come up short it gave all supporters an incentive to try and persuade non pledgers to pledge, in order to reduce amount they would have to pay. If they had announced we'd reached target early that incentive wouldnt have been there.

Is the pledge legally binding ?
Just a 'for instance' like , but ..
Say you got 15k pledges and the ticket prices dropped to a minimum . What if only 9k actually paid ? Would you still get them for the minimum price ? Or would the club chase payment and not give you the cheap tickets until they were certain of all pledged payments actually being paid ?
Do you have to make a pre-payment , or arrange payment on an 'if' basis as part of the pledge ? You sign up to the scheme , and the money is transferred out of your bank at the amount that the final number of tickets sold determines ? If so . How are people dealt with who want to pay cash ?

We are ahead of the pledge total when compared at the same point last year.

Spread the word and keep pledging

The paid pledges will break the 3K mark either tomorrow evening or early Saturday so be quick mate.

Is there an option for I will be there when ever there is hospitality pledge?

The first 3k to pay get them for £75 even if the final tickets price ends up higher due to not enough pledges. If the club get more pledges and the final price ends up below £75 then the 3k who have already paid get a refund of the difference. Think club is only accepting money off the first 3k and wont take money off any above that figure until final price is set.

Yeah I've already paid mate

From what I have read on here I understand the first bit . But how do they go about getting the money in for the other pledges ? They must have a system in place for if people decide to not go through with their pledges . 15k pledges to lower the price would do the coffers no good at all it there is only say 9k or so decide to actually pay up .

Once they set the final price its a trust thing that pledges will pay up. Also extra tickets tend to be sold once is set. Converted pledge percentage last year was very low and more than offset by extra tickets sold after pledge finishes. The pledge is a contract and club could theoretically go after non payers but in practice its not worth costs. I'd imagine they would go after someone who was obviously being mischievous and making silly amounts of pledges.

Currently saying 2096.

Way to go, yet.

After last year I'm taking this 'current total' figure with a pretty big pinch of salt.

Went to the ticket office and paid for my renewal last night - bargain of the year!

Paid for my renewal at 7 pm last night so they can't have the 3k yet, though how they sort out between callers in the office, texts and phone calls I don't know.

My guess is that they will just keep taking the payments up to the 3,000 regardless of the pledge count, since anyone paying has by implication pledged, so for that purpose the pledge count is irrelevant.

When I paid, over the phone, the guy asked if I had pledged (I had). Which suggests they were trying to ensure that double-counting of pledges did not take place for those who had pledged then subsequently paid?

From Bulls site:

Bradford Bulls are calling on all 2011 members to PLEDGE NOW for the 2012 season.
To date, there are still 9,349 people who have been members for the 2011 season that have not yet pledged for the 2012 season.
This combined with over 2,000 pledges already received, many of which have come from new members, will get the Bulls within reaching distance of the 12,000 target.

Actually I was thinking more about when they cut off for the 3k rather than the correlation between pledges and payments . If the office is open but they have a few hundred unopened posts on the table (maybe containing cheques) and people in the office or ringing in it might be a bit blurry round the edges. Though I'd guess they would stop it at an 'appropriate moment, probably at the end of the day's trading, around the 3k mark, rather than make great efforts to separate no. 3000 from no. 3001.

Is it just me that's worried over this increasing tone of desperation?

There are pretty compelling reasons why most of those 9349 are not rushing to pledge. And simply bashing them over the head with 'please...please...PLEASE PLEDGE' isn't going to do the trick for most of them IMO

Quite possibly. One man's increasing tone of desperation is another man's reasonable attempts to keep the pot boiling

IYO fair enough, but IMO as soon as last year's pledge was announced - and it took similar flak, in spades, for weeks if not months - the bottom line was it was too good an offer to miss, and so I said confidently they'd do it, and of course they did. If the marketing tacticians got it right last season - why do we have doubters this season? It's illogical. Anyway, they now have solid form for "doing the trick" so I'm not "worried" at all. I think predictions of between 10K - 12K are eminently sensible. But my point is, the Bulls proved the knockers and doubters and naysayers 100% wrong last year, so maybe you should give them the benefit of your doubt?

Not from me. I confidently expected the pledge last season to top 10K.

The difference this time is that those many, many floaters who were enticed not only be low prices, but by promises of much improved performances, signings 'to whet the appetite', improved game day experience etc etc, are highly likely to be somewhat more cynical this time around. Personally I have spoken to people who were fans back in our glory days a few years ago, drifted away, and were enticed back last year. In all cases, they aren't pledging for next year. The 'novelty factor' that our marketing team had last season simply doesn't exist this time around.

I'd love to be proved wrong on this, of course - and, just in case anyone wonders, I have already pledged and paid for 2012.

totally agree with the last post, This new deal is still by far one of the best in the league but how do you entice the floaters this time around. I myself jumped back on the s/t bandwagon last year after the original pledge was launched having picked and chose my games due to work/family commitments the previous two years and i was partially influenced by the "promises" re signings, new dawn, and with a young family now ,the improved gameday experience but im afraid out of the 4 of us i will be the only one returning next year.