Open Letter on Season Tickets and Pricing | Club announce price freeze on "general admission season tickets & PL match tickets" for next season (p163)

[Jazzyblue]

Seems to me this freeze is the beginning of an understanding that they do need us fans. Seeing those empty seats - and the fact for us protesters the sacrifice was quite easy - will have frightened the club that they’ve unleashed something they can’t control. We have to make sure that they know this genie hasn’t gone back in the bottle because it’s in the long term best interests of the club. The majority feels that football has run away from incomes. Filling seats of the priced out regular with occasional visitors might have seemed viable in the days when we were scoring six goals a game all the time, people were rushing back to events after Covid, no other team knew how to handle us on the pitch, we were playing more interesting footy than all our rivals and the geopolitical climate was relatively stable. Those days are behind us and who knows when they will be back. Attendances at the end of this season will not be what they were.

 

[The Northern Baptist]

Let’s not kid ourselves, the only reason for the price freeze is because we sit in 6th place. If we were going for the title there would be the 2.8% increase. It’s the first time since forever where the ground conditions on the pitch mean they can’t justify an increase.

 

[M18CTID]

The club should be careful in the direction they are going. This is the first season in quite a while we haven't been challenging for the title and on top of that the football on show has been pretty poor. We are still however fighting for a champions league place and are in the fa cup semi final but there are empty seats everywhere. Nobody seems to post attendance figures anymore but there was a lot of empty places against Leicester. Let's see how many there are against Palace. If we have thousands of tourists and newly acquired fans desperate to see us play why aren't these tickets being snapped up? Don't forget this has been the most successful period in our history and we are still not selling out games. They need to look their policies again.

It's a combination of factors for me. As you say, it's been our worst season in relative terms for a few years now. And although there's still so much to fight for on the pitch IMO, any kind of drop-off will put some fans off going. Add to that the extortionate match day prices and the fact that thousands of tickets farmed out to third party ticket agencies are being returned to the club for some games at short notice, many fans aren't going to be tempted. £114 is the cheapest anyone will pay for an adult and child for a rearranged midweek match against Aston Villa in a couple of weeks just after most kids are back at school following the Easter break. Hardly any fucker is going to be tempted at those prices in those circumstances. Now if those tickets were more reasonably priced and ticket availability had been showing sooner - instead of the club coming out with this sold out bullshit for months on end - then far more would've shifted.

The club need to have a huge rethink on both match day ticket pricing and the way they sell match day tickets. Simply freezing prices for next season is nowhere near enough, and you can again envisage that at the back end of next season we could well be faced with the same situation where games are being moved to midweek slots. Plus we'll have 8000 more seats to sell. And the way they appear to be going about that, insofar as making the majority of the new stand reserved for match day tickets only, could lead to no-shows that dwarf what we're currently seeing.

 

[DTKOAG]

View attachment 152488
Think we can make an exception for the Veneza women’s current centre forward.

But does she track back ?

 

[paulchapo]

It's a combination of factors for me. As you say, it's been our worst season in relative terms for a few years now. And although there's still so much to fight for on the pitch IMO, any kind of drop-off will put some fans off going. Add to that the extortionate match day prices and the fact that thousands of tickets farmed out to third party ticket agencies are being returned to the club for some games at short notice, many fans aren't going to be tempted. £114 is the cheapest anyone will pay for an adult and child for a rearranged midweek match against Aston Villa in a couple of weeks just after most kids are back at school following the Easter break. Hardly any fucker is going to be tempted at those prices in those circumstances. Now if those tickets were more reasonably priced and ticket availability had been showing sooner - instead of the club coming out with this sold out bullshit for months on end - then far more would've shifted.

The club need to have a huge rethink on both match day ticket pricing and the way they sell match day tickets. Simply freezing prices for next season is nowhere near enough, and you can at the back end of next season we could well be faced with the same situation where games are being moved to midweek slots. Plus we'll have 8000 more seats to sell. And the way they appear to be going about that, insofar as making the majority of the new stand reserved for match day tickets only could lead to no-shows that dwarf what we're currently seeing.

It's insanity. Given the cost of living atm I'm surprised anybody can afford to go and take one or two kids as well. For anybody living outside Manchester and using public transport all the rearranged games must be a nightmare. Aside from the stress of hoping we win the game going to the match should be an enjoyable experience, but these days it's more like some sort of reality tv challenge gameshow.

 

[Jazzyblue]

It's insanity. Given the cost of living atm I'm surprised anybody can afford to go and take one or two kids as well. For anybody living outside Manchester and using public transport all the rearranged games must be a nightmare. Aside from the stress of hoping we win the game going to the match should be an enjoyable experience, but these days it's more like some sort of reality tv challenge gameshow.

£80 for me to take two kids to Villa, with the ‘discount’, at 8pm on a Tuesday. The price of a week’s food shop for many families. I couldn’t have afforded that for a long time - I now can - but it doesn’t mean it’s not madness

 

[bluestevei]

The club should be careful in the direction they are going. This is the first season in quite a while we haven't been challenging for the title and on top of that the football on show has been pretty poor. We are still however fighting for a champions league place and are in the fa cup semi final but there are empty seats everywhere. Nobody seems to post attendance figures anymore but there was a lot of empty places against Leicester. Let's see how many there are against Palace. If we have thousands of tourists and newly acquired fans desperate to see us play why aren't these tickets being snapped up? Don't forget this has been the most successful period in our history and we are still not selling out games. They need to look their policies again.

Now I don't know, but could the empty seats be season ticket holders that have gone on holiday or sick or any other thing,

 

[DiscoSteve]

Insanity it is - but you can't actually blame the club, they are caught in an insane trap caused by the leeches (agents) in and around the players, and the players themselves. I said this right at the start of this thread, but THIS is the root cause of all of this - how have we collectively got to the point where anyone thinks its acceptabe to pay people 6 figures a WEEK to kick a ball around the pitch...

 

[paulchapo]

Now I don't know, but could the empty seats be season ticket holders that have gone on holiday or sick or any other thing,

No idea but they have the option of putting their ticket up for sale and getting their money back if they can't attend. The club have tightened up on this, I think you have to attend 14 games or put them on the exchange if you can't go or risk losing your season ticket. Therefore I'd think if they were season tickets and put up for sale they haven't sold.

The new criteria is outlined below.

Season Ticket Members must attend the game, list their ticket on the Ticket Exchange, transfer their ticket or donate your ticket to City in the Community for at least 14 home Premier League matches.

We understand it’s not always possible to attend all Premier League home matches but the flexible options allow other City fans to cheer on the team.

 

[wearethesouthstand]

Let’s not kid ourselves, the only reason for the price freeze is because we sit in 6th place. If we were going for the title there would be the 2.8% increase. It’s the first time since forever where the ground conditions on the pitch mean they can’t justify an increase.

they would still get annihilated by the fans over a 2.8% increase because it is so so very pointless. the PR of it would mean why eveb think like that ? it will take more than 1 protest to change their mentality.

as for "if we were going for the title" the argumentr remains, £71 aduts £43 kids v villa, family of 4 = £208 before any food drink tansport programme. £250 night out and tat's if ou are local. league positionb doesn't justify that.

london has now just dropped out of the list of 5 most wealthiest cities in the world. our prices are set to be comparable with chelsea arsenal and spurs. london waiting not taken into consideration, our prices , it could be argued, should be 20% cheaper than those clubs to take into consideration fairness to supporters.

 

[CoventryBlue]

A bit unfair even if right in principle. Nothing wrong with a bit of back slapping when something, anything is achieved in the face of obduracy.

Keep up pressure, certainly. Personally, I think this is all that could have been achieved at this time. Pressure from the owner to sort it out balanced with letting Soriano save face. Let's face it, Soriano is a management consultant, he won't do anything without expensive studies and surveys anyway. So, expect plenty of those before next season ....

When it happens, make sure you fill them in correctly, everybody. Maybe replies should be suggested on here so they get the right message often enough.

Spot on. You have to applaud the efforts and bravery of the striking CM members and also the other groups who stood up. Regardless of outcome, their backs deserved to be slapped

 

[CoventryBlue]

Similarly, Platinum is not ethical either.

Paying an extra £50 for double points has never sat right with me. I went with the decision after doing it for two years to get rid of it… everybody should have done the same.

It's a hard one because as someone who pays the extra £50 and always has done, in terms of access and potential savings, it's good value

I base that off knowing what people paid for Champions League finals, FA cup finals etc. when not on platinum and cup schemes

Once they removed points for away games then there probably wasn't a need and it's just a money grab so agree overall

 

[CoventryBlue]

Insanity it is - but you can't actually blame the club, they are caught in an insane trap caused by the leeches (agents) in and around the players, and the players themselves. I said this right at the start of this thread, but THIS is the root cause of all of this - how have we collectively got to the point where anyone thinks its acceptabe to pay people 6 figures a WEEK to kick a ball around the pitch...

Slightly disagree. The increased money in the game generally comes from broadcast rights. These didn't go up because the clubs had big wages to pay, the players/agents demanded more share of the broadcast revenue

I know it's a cliché but we can all make the "nurses get paid this much vs. footballers" argument but the money is in the game, it's only right the players get that

Where you are right is that agent fees and maybe a slight drop in wages could cover the increase in ticket price rises but it's not root cause of them raising prices, it's just a result of greed and wanting to mirror what other clubs do

With our owners, we had a real chance to be different and stand out where pricing was concerned but as the CFG group grows, they'll be hiring people who only care about "graph goes up" numbers

 

[The Northern Baptist]

they would still get annihilated by the fans over a 2.8% increase because it is so so very pointless. the PR of it would mean why eveb think like that ? it will take more than 1 protest to change their mentality.

as for "if we were going for the title" the argumentr remains, £71 aduts £43 kids v villa, family of 4 = £208 before any food drink tansport programme. £250 night out and tat's if ou are local. league positionb doesn't justify that.

london has now just dropped out of the list of 5 most wealthiest cities in the world. our prices are set to be comparable with chelsea arsenal and spurs. london waiting not taken into consideration, our prices , it could be argued, should be 20% cheaper than those clubs to take into consideration fairness to supporters.

They’d get annihilated by a small, albeit vocal, section of the support. There would be limited wastage in seasoncard holders not renewing that would be easily picked up by others waiting for a season ticket. The vast majority would pay their money and carry, like they have done for the past 10+ there have been increases.

The fans protests will have played a very limited role in these price freezes.

As for the Villa prices, they need to maintain a level of consistency in pricing across the season. People will have paid for these tickets way in advance at increased prices, to maintain integrity they aren’t introducing dynamic pricing which would allow them to reduce when demand is low. The price is the price and it will be the same next season as they have frozen them.

 

[M18CTID]

They’d get annihilated by a small, albeit vocal, section of the support. There would be limited wastage in seasoncard holders not renewing that would be easily picked up by others waiting for a season ticket. The vast majority would pay their money and carry, like they have done for the past 10+ there have been increases.

The fans protests will have played a very limited role in these price freezes.

As for the Villa prices, they need to maintain a level of consistency in pricing across the season. People will have paid for these tickets way in advance at increased prices, to maintain integrity they aren’t introducing dynamic pricing which would allow them to reduce when demand is low. The price is the price and it will be the same next season as they have frozen them.

There's so much wrong with this post that it's difficult to know where to start but just on the bolded underlined bit did you not get the memo that the club aren't issuing any new season tickets?

 

[paulchapo]

They’d get annihilated by a small, albeit vocal, section of the support. There would be limited wastage in seasoncard holders not renewing that would be easily picked up by others waiting for a season ticket. The vast majority would pay their money and carry, like they have done for the past 10+ there have been increases.

The fans protests will have played a very limited role in these price freezes.

As for the Villa prices, they need to maintain a level of consistency in pricing across the season. People will have paid for these tickets way in advance at increased prices, to maintain integrity they aren’t introducing dynamic pricing which would allow them to reduce when demand is low. The price is the price and it will be the same next season as they have frozen them.

About the only thing you've got right in that post is that the majority of season ticket holders would have reluctantly sucked up another price increase. That's because the alternative is to have to pay for a membership for the 'privilege' of then paying £60+ a game.

 

[The Northern Baptist]

There's so much wrong with this post that it's difficult to know where to start but just on the bolded underlined bit did you not get the memo that the club aren't issuing any new season tickets?

No, I didn’t get the memo. But it supports my theory even more, they don’t think non-renewals of season ticket is an issue because the slack will be taken up by other people. If that isn’t going to be season ticket holders it I’ll be people paying on a match by match basis.

 

[M18CTID]

No, I didn’t get the memo. But it supports my theory even more, they don’t think non-renewals of season ticket is an issue because the slack will be taken up by other people. If that isn’t going to be season ticket holders it I’ll be people paying on a match by match basis.

You also didn't get the memo that thousands of tickets remain unsold for the Villa game a week on Tuesday. So maybe you can explain to us all how they're going to fill all those seats plus thousands more when the expanded North Stand opens next season if they're not going to bother reducing the extortionate match day prices?

 

[The Northern Baptist]

About the only thing you've got right in that post is that the majority of season ticket holders would have reluctantly sucked up another price increase. That's because the alternative is to have to pay for a membership for the 'privilege' of then paying £60+ a game.

You also didn't get the memo that thousands of tickets remain unsold for the Villa game a week on Tuesday. So maybe you can explain to us all how they're going to fill all those seats plus thousands more when the expanded North Stand opens next season if they're not going to bother reducing the extortionate match day prices?

It’s £113 for me to take my daughter to the Villa game.

What is your theory as to why it is so much and why they haven’t dropped the price to get those seats filled? Seeing as you said my theory was wrong.

 

[M18CTID]

It’s £113 for me to take my daughter to the Villa game.

What is your theory as to why it is so much and why they haven’t dropped the price to get those seats filled? Seeing as you said my theory was wrong.

Because the club arrogantly thought that there were more than enough fans waiting in the wings to snap up match day tickets, no matter how high they price them. Obviously they've been proven completely and utterly wrong this season.

Can you please explain why you're so confident that you think those seats will all be filled next season at those prices - along with the many thousands more that will be available - if they can't always fill them this season? Where do you think all these extra fans are going to come from? Do they grow on trees?