Season Tickets - 2024/25

[manclad]

How it started:



How it’s going:

Excellent observation and just about sums up the whole current attitude from the executives who are at the helm of the good ship " Manchester City FC " !!!

 

[p.taker]

How it started:



How it’s going:

 

[colinthewindowcleaner]

This is what I find curious about Flexi-Gold. It's better than nowt for a fan...but from the club's perspective I don't see how it deals with the problem of people snubbing the less glam fixtures. What's to stop someone paying £150 to reserve a seat for Rags, Scouse, Arse, Spuds, Chelsea, throw in Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle, Villa, West Ham...and then relisting the rest...at least Silver bundled up the Cat B and C fixtures

Think I noticed that with flexi gold season tickets you can’t relist any ticket on Ticket Exchange or Transfer.

 

[BlueMoonday]

I get what you’re suggesting, but long term using an external site (Facebook) can’t be the solution. That comes with its own issues, especially for people who don’t use Facebook. You can also end up with scammers on there as well.

Maybe in the short term that’s a good idea, but it’s on the club. They should be distributing tickets properly and being transparent with what they are doing with tickets - why so many are ending up on ticket sites, which are linked to the club.

When there's a points system in place, we shouldn't be in a mad rush to buy matchday tickets released on one day. That was a shambles with the site crashing as every man and his dog scrambled to buy tickets with no criteria in place. For matchday tickets, the club need to stagger sales for next season using the points system.

Bad enough with matchday tickets pushing on £67 for certain game but is really toss losing out to tourists and touts.

 

[Beaker]

When there's a points system in place, we shouldn't be in a mad rush to buy matchday tickets released on one day. That was a shambles with the site crashing as every man and his dog scrambled to buy tickets with no criteria in place. For matchday tickets, the club need to stagger sales for next season using the points system.

Bad enough with matchday tickets pushing on £67 for certain game but is really toss losing out to tourists and touts.

Exactly, it’s a double whammy for match day members. Not only are tickets majorly expensive but you’ve got to fork out for them all in one day too. They should go on sale approx six weeks before the game.

 

[Match Fixer]

I would be delighted to pay the extra if it meant a treble had been won, although I do understand a lot are feeling the pinch.

 

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

***Long Post Alert***

Renewal window closes today and as a guess I reckon 95% will have done so (if it is lower that's a plus for the club). For the third year running no new Golds will be sold so that leaves the Flexi Gold concept offer.

What is it? What it isn't is a full Gold SC but it's deliberately not clear what the offer is at this stage. I can't imagine any full SC holder being tempted to downgrade to a Flexi so it is then being aimed current non SC holders. Other than it costs £150 pricing is as clear as mud. Posters are hoping / misinterpreting what has been released as you would then get your seat for 1/19th of the price of the actual SC price of that seat subject to attending a minimum of 10 games. That actually would be a great deal for people who currently buy lots of tickets at match day prices. The downside for the club is that if you went to the 'top ten' games it would only be an additional £15 a time to the club and less if you attended all 19. You could swerve Sheffield United on a February Wednesday and leave the club to sell the seat for £60 plus. I can't see that being the case so I expect pricing would be something like a halfway house between the SC and match day prices.

Furthermore, I can't see any new Golds being issued at all in the future. This coming season is a trial for the opening of the expanded NS in 2025. A limited number of Flexi Golds will be sold in the coming weeks and they may make tweaks for the grand opening. Only Flexis will be offered for sale next year and subsequent years after each renewal window. The club gets to further reduce the number of legacy SCs whilst maximising income. Commercially it all makes sense until we have a drop off on the pitch. Even just being in and around the CL places and winning the occasional domestic cup won't be enough for a lot of our new support and then tickets will be much harder to shift. That won't be Soriano's problem though as he'll be off to pastures new.

 

[Jazzyblue]

Think I noticed that with flexi gold season tickets you can’t relist any ticket on Ticket Exchange or Transfer.

@prestwich blue said as much as too, but as I understand it if you’re on a Flexi-Gold you don’t have to buy them all either. So whereas a season ticket holder on a gold relists the ones he can’t get to, a Flexi-Gold holder simply doesn’t buy the ones he can’t get to or doesn’t fancy. So unless I’m misunderstanding some other t/c, someone could use it to buy into the biggest games and ignore the others. Which seems a bit of a risky strategy from the club because while we’d have no extra trouble shifting thousands of extra tickets for the derby, lower table games are the ones most likely to see any potential stagnation in demand considering everything else going on - parking problems, price rises etc. From a supporter perspective it’s certainly better than no season ticket at all though.

 

[Jazzyblue]

***Long Post Alert***

Renewal window closes today and as a guess I reckon 95% will have done so (if it is lower that's a plus for the club). For the third year running no new Golds will be sold so that leaves the Flexi Gold concept offer.

What is it? What it isn't is a full Gold SC but it's deliberately not clear what the offer is at this stage. I can't imagine any full SC holder being tempted to downgrade to a Flexi so it is then being aimed current non SC holders. Other than it costs £150 pricing is as clear as mud. Posters are hoping / misinterpreting what has been released as you would then get your seat for 1/19th of the price of the actual SC price of that seat subject to attending a minimum of 10 games. That actually would be a great deal for people who currently buy lots of tickets at match day prices. The downside for the club is that if you went to the 'top ten' games it would only be an additional £15 a time to the club and less if you attended all 19. You could swerve Sheffield United on a February Wednesday and leave the club to sell the seat for £60 plus. I can't see that being the case so I expect pricing would be something like a halfway house between the SC and match day prices.

Furthermore, I can't see any new Golds being issued at all in the future. This coming season is a trial for the opening of the expanded NS in 2025. A limited number of Flexi Golds will be sold in the coming weeks and they may make tweaks for the grand opening. Only Flexis will be offered for sale next year and subsequent years after each renewal window. The club gets to further reduce the number of legacy SCs whilst maximising income. Commercially it all makes sense until we have a drop off on the pitch. Even just being in and around the CL places and winning the occasional domestic cup won't be enough for a lot of our new support and then tickets will be much harder to shift. That won't be Soriano's problem though as he'll be off to pastures new.

Great post - I’m of a mind that this is a trial for the new NS. The risk for the club is that, at a time when they have thousands more seats to sell, they don’t get enough people taking up the routine, less glam fixtures because prices are too high, trams are too inconsistent, parking is too difficult, matches are clashing with Co-op Live, performances have dropped off, loyal and local fans feel taken for granted and become more selective with their spending. Of course This is City, we have a devoted fan base and always have had. But that still needs nurturing with fan friendly conditions…especially if you’re going to chuck thousands of extra seats into the mix…tourists won’t be taking those up at £60 on a wet weekday if our performances drop.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Great post - I’m of a mind that this is a trial for the new NS. The risk for the club is that, at a time when they have thousands more seats to sell, they don’t get enough people taking up the routine, less glam fixtures because prices are too high, trams are too inconsistent, parking is too difficult, matches are clashing with Co-op Live, performances have dropped off, loyal and local fans feel taken for granted and become more selective with their spending. Of course This is City, we have a devoted fan base and always have had. But that still needs nurturing with fan friendly conditions…especially if you’re going to chuck thousands of extra seats into the mix…tourists won’t be taking those up at £60 on a wet weekday if our performances drop.

My reading is that it's a trial for flexible ticketing all over the stadium. If people don't take up the option for the less popular games, they'll use dynamic pricing to try to sell the tickets.

As an example, if we're playing a relegation contender on a January midweek date and we're struggling to shift the spare tickets. These might be £45 if you book in advance but £25 if you wait until 48 hours before the game.

In my personal view that's potentially a good thing as it will encourage people to buy tickets at £25 that they wouldn't buy at £45. Of course it'll piss off those who did pay the £45 but that's the chance you take.

 

[East Level 2]

My reading is that it's a trial for flexible ticketing all over the stadium. If people don't take up the option for the less popular games, they'll use dynamic pricing to try to sell the tickets.

As an example, if we're playing a relegation contender on a January midweek date and we're struggling to shift the spare tickets. These might be £45 if you book in advance but £25 if you wait until 48 hours before the game.

In my personal view that's potentially a good thing as it will encourage people to buy tickets at £25 that they wouldn't buy at £45. Of course it'll piss off those who did pay the £45 but that's the chance you take.

That last sentence could lead to an almighty scramble in the 48 hours before a match some find less attractive.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Just for information:
(a) For a few hours yesterday 1,000 tickets were being reposted per hour for last night’s game, on the most popular Man Ciry Face Value Ticket Page. That illustrates how keen many season card holders were to avoid last night’s game. The legacy fans deserted the lads in their droves.
(b) 8.15pm kick offs diminish demand from people travelling a decent distance to the game (unless it’s a very glamorous match). I got home at quarter to 2am last night. The train that goes across the Pennines after the game (usually the 10.57pm but the train I could catch last night was the 11.17pm) was virtually empty. It’s normally full of several hundred Blues going home to Bradford, Leeds etc.
(c) if younhaven’t got a season card and fancy a Flexi Gold, go for it,

 

[dickie davies]

My reading is that it's a trial for flexible ticketing all over the stadium. If people don't take up the option for the less popular games, they'll use dynamic pricing to try to sell the tickets.

As an example, if we're playing a relegation contender on a January midweek date and we're struggling to shift the spare tickets. These might be £45 if you book in advance but £25 if you wait until 48 hours before the game.

In my personal view that's potentially a good thing as it will encourage people to buy tickets at £25 that they wouldn't buy at £45. Of course it'll piss off those who did pay the £45 but that's the chance you take.

It'd be better if the club started with them at the lower price, say the equivalent of a season card in that area and then increased the price as the game moved closer
Eg a £560 season card =£40 per game
The seat is for sale at £40 up to 15 days before the game
At 14 days left it moves to £50
At 7 it moves to £60

This is for lower category midweek matches

 

[blueparrot]

It'd be better if the club started with them at the lower price, say the equivalent of a season card in that area and then increased the price as the game moved closer
Eg a £560 season card =£40 per game
The seat is for sale at £40 up to 15 days before the game
At 14 days left it moves to £50
At 7 it moves to £60

This is for lower category midweek matches

Isn't that how airlines do it, cheaper to start with, increasing, then maybe reducing for last minute if any seats are unsold.

 

[Jazzyblue]

Just for information:
(a) For a few hours yesterday 1,000 tickets were being reposted per hour for last night’s game, on the most popular Man Ciry Face Value Ticket Page. That illustrates how keen many season card holders were to avoid last night’s game. The legacy fans deserted the lads in their droves.
(b) 8.15pm kick offs diminish demand from people travelling a decent distance to the game (unless it’s a very glamorous match). I got home at quarter to 2am last night. The train that goes across the Pennines after the game (usually the 10.57pm but the train I could catch last night was the 11.17pm) was virtually empty. It’s normally full of several hundred Blues going home to Bradford, Leeds etc.
(c) if younhaven’t got a season card and fancy a Flexi Gold, go for it,

Precisely why the club needs to stop fannying about, widen the pool of season ticket holders and recognise that there’s a cost of living crisis whacking families of all incomes across the country. Mortgages doubled last year for many, many people and PL clubs are turning the screw on us for relative pennies on their overall income. It’s the Easter holidays, there are lots of younger fans from within easy travelling distance who would have loved last night’s game, they would pick up the slack if they weren’t being priced out.

 

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

Precisely why the club needs to stop fannying about, widen the pool of season ticket holders and recognise that there’s a cost of living crisis whacking families of all incomes across the country.

Or alternatively reduce the ridiculous cost of match day tickets. My seat in mid SS3 would have cost £61 for match day last night. Crazy

 

[Corky]

That last sentence could lead to an almighty scramble in the 48 hours before a match some find less attractive.

City tried that 2 seasons ago, around 15 PL games were reduced to £30 in the last week when there were singles left. People complained and cancelled their tickets and rebought (even in the last 7 days), and people who knew what was going on could monitor the site and wait until the last 5 or 6 days and get a single in 9320 for £30.

Since then the prices have been increased mid season in the last two seasons, they have well and truly trialled cutting prices in the last week and have know gone the other way.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

The dynamic pricing already exists on the Club’s godsend. The Face Vamue ticket pages. Particularly, the page City tried for years to close down. There were loads of ticket available for last night at around £20.

 

[Edghill OG]

When there's a points system in place, we shouldn't be in a mad rush to buy matchday tickets released on one day. That was a shambles with the site crashing as every man and his dog scrambled to buy tickets with no criteria in place. For matchday tickets, the club need to stagger sales for next season using the points system.

Bad enough with matchday tickets pushing on £67 for certain game but is really toss losing out to tourists and touts.

CB3 there's only a few that I recognise each time. Germans behind me and to the right last night and a Chinese lass in front. Relocating on the 12th. Seem to get Scottish schools up there a fair bit bizarrely. Had a couple of pints in town and there were Belgians, Americans etc all going to the game.

I do wonder whether all the tickets going on sale at the start of the season is to cater more for the tourist types. Booking flights, accommodation etc. Quite obvious it makes it hard for a working class individual to attend regularly. A good way of killing two ducks with one stone.

 

[Jazzyblue]

Or alternatively reduce the ridiculous cost of match day tickets. My seat in mid SS3 would have cost £61 for match day last night. Crazy

Ideally both!