Cost of Being a Mascot

[Harold Finch]

Outrageous that EPL clubs are charging up to £700 for kids to be mascots, can't get my head around that. Even Swansea are charging up to £478........£478 to be a mascot at Swansea in The Championship. Good on the clubs that are still doing it for free

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46526716

[WeighorstsWang]

I seen on Twitter yesterday that Bournemouth charge £185. That doesn't include a match ticket. Effectively you can pay near £200, lead the team out onto the pitch, shake everybody's hand and then be ejected from the stadium prior to kick off. At about 10 years old.  

[islaydarkblue]

15 hours ago, Harold Finch said:

Outrageous that EPL clubs are charging up to £700 for kids to be mascots, can't get my head around that. Even Swansea are charging up to £478........£478 to be a mascot at Swansea in The Championship. Good on the clubs that are still doing it for free

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46526716

Hi Harold.

Dundee FC are not exactly cheap when it comes to the cost of being the club mascot. I had a bit of difficulty finding the enclosed information in the Commercial section of the club website. I had to type in ‘Mascot’ into the search box of the Commercial section of the club website.

The prices have not increased since July 2016 and are listed as follows.

Category A game £295 + VAT = £354

Category B game £245 + VAT = £294

https://dundeefc.co.uk/commercial/hospitality/the-mascot-package/

I suggest that this topic should be moved to the Dundee FC section of this forum.

It would be interesting to know how other many posters are aware of the current cost of being a club mascot at Dens. I always thought that parents applied for their sons/daughters to be selected as club mascot and it was free of charge. Two years ago I discovered that is not correct but as it does not affect me I have never posted anything about it.

[Attilio]

Sometimes it is free.  I am told that if the club are short of paying mascots for any home game then they choose and phone around any Junior Dees who have a birthday at the time of that game and who are on their register to make up the numbers.  Free of charge. 

[Dundeefc93]

Its shocking that any club can take money off kids for being a mascot what about the kids that can't afford it disgrace. all money grabbing b*****ds

[BCram]

Think most clubs see this as a revenue raising opportunity, and they would not be able to  charge if there was no demand. 

[dblair]

3 hours ago, Dundeefc93 said:

Its shocking that any club can take money off kids for being a mascot what about the kids that can't afford it disgrace. all money grabbing b*****ds

Exactly this. £300-£350 for the priviledge of being a mascot at Dens, you Can phuck in poke that Tim Keyes. Disgrace

I as many others I know were selected via junior dark blues and were invited along. I honestly cannot get my head around that!

[islaydarkblue]

4 hours ago, Attilio said:

Sometimes it is free.  I am told that if the club are short of paying mascots for any home game then they choose and phone around any Junior Dees who have a birthday at the time of that game and who are on their register to make up the numbers.  Free of charge. 

Hi Attilio,

I think that it is very unfair that some people are charged for their sons/daughters to be the club mascot while members of the Junior Dees whose birthday is at the time of the game are selected to be the mascot free of charge due to a shortage of paying mascots. 

There is a simple solution. People should stop paying for their sons/daughters to be the mascot until the club either greatly reduces the charge for being the mascot or only select members of the Junior Dees free of charge. 

I must admit I am very disappointed in the Commercial and Marketing department at Dens. I would have thought that with American owners they would be very interested in getting young supporters involved as club mascot free of charge as they are the Dundee supporters of the future. 

[an-dee]

I remember being a mascot at Dens in December 2001. I was a Junior Dark Blue at the time and luckily got the chance to do it for free, both me and my brother. It was a great experience especially with the players we had at the time. Don't believe the club should be charging for this kind of thing. 

[Verity]

I am replying with the  mascot information as some of the statements above are incorrect.

We have 4 mascots for each home game, 2 from the Junior Dees and 2 from Commercial/Hospitality.

The Junior Dee mascots are chosen at random during the month of their birthday. If they have a birthday outwith the football season these kids are split evenly throughout other months. All under 12 season ticket holders are automatically registered as a Junior Dee but if you are not a season ticket holder you can join for £5. The mascot can bring 2 people with them and they get a tour of the dressing room, some photos and walk out with the team. They are seated in lower stand to watch match and get half time refreshments.

The cost of the Commercial Mascot package is either £295+VAT and £245+VAT. This package includes a full strip (home/away/3rd kit or goalkeeper) for the mascot, buffet hospitality with pay bar for 4 people, tour of dressing room area, directors box seating, walk out with team, half time refreshments and lots of photos. The hospitality runs from 12.45 until 6pm.

If there are no commercial packages sold we do not phone around offering it to people, we give the extra place or places over for more Junior Dees to be chosen at random. We have also donated many of these packages to charity so children who may never get a chance due to circumstance can get an opportunity to be mascot. There are occasions when someone may drop out so we will call some people last minute, but we would rather this than have empty spaces. 

A big issue we come across when selecting Junior Dee mascots is a lack of contact details. We do ask that people remember to put their email address and contact phone number on their child's season ticket application form so we can get in touch. If your child is under 12 season ticket holder and you are not sure if you have put contact details with the rest of their information please email juniordees@dundeefc.co.uk with their name, date of birth, address, contact number and email address.

If you have queries regarding Commerical or Hospitality please email verity@dundeefc.co.uk or commercial@dundeefc.co.uk , if you have a query regarding Junior Dees please email juniordees@dundeefc.co.uk

I hope this information is of help to you.

[chomp my root]

Thanks for taking the time to clear that up Verity.

I'm looking forward to the impact of your post.