Given you are in retail surely even you can see why such a strategy is deployed. It is only aimed a small section and companies do it all the time to attract people with a view to further purchase.
I am not sure if it would be allowed under league rules but I would have looked to make the opening game £1 for all attendees and offer free transport and parking in an attempt to secure repeat business.
Yeah I can see why a strategy like that is deployed but normally it is for purchases made at the same time. You don't go into Tesco and buy one and then a few days later pick up the free one. If it was get a hospitality ticket and you can bring a mate or the other half for free then you're exposing the matchday experience to more people and therefore increasing the potential numbers who might be persuaded to come back on a regular basis. However it would only increase attendance for one game where as this method will generate that for two.
However they're having to do this because as I said in another thread they're no longer stacked on an eye level shelf in a premium location (if we're talking retail) and that will hurt them a lot in terms of sales. Yes some regular purchasers will go and hunt for them on another lower or higher shelf in another aisle but a lot won't and the possibility of an impulse buy is greatly reduced. For this BOGOF to work they're going to need to get repeat purchases i.e. bums on seats. As I've no idea what the margins are like for catering I've no idea what part of the price is the ticket and what's the food, it could very well be a loss leader. However if it is a loss leader they're gambling on generating repeat custom with it and at a guess they'd need another hospitality purchase from that customer to make it break even or turn a profit.
Don't forget though that they're unlikely to be getting 100% of the profit on any restaurant sales as it is likely to have a split with NTFC so they've probably had to agree to underwrite the offer financially. If they get people to come back then that's great they'll break even or make money but if they don't get that repeat custom then (if they've had to underwrite it) they'll be making up any shortfall in revenue.
It's a gamble and who knows it might pay off.
