City Matters thread

[blue44]

The dynamics of attending football games has changed to something I never thought I'd see when I started standing on the Kippax as a kid in 1968. Back then you could turn up at almost any game in the country, queue up, pay cash at the turnstiles and go in. The only exceptions were the Derby and big cup games. Season tickets were a good way of ensuring clubs had a guaranteed income each season and those fans had first shout for big game tickets. The rest of us had to present our vouchers on the voucher sheet which usually came in the seasons first programme. ( If I remember correctly)

Fast forward and things have changed beyond belief. No more cash at turnstiles ( Or indeed anywhere else in the ground) nor can you just turn up and pay into a game anywhere. The premier league clubs are now just an entertainment industry that will sell tickets to anybody irrespective of years of support or loyalty, so long as you pay the price and buy the relevant package you're in. The very top clubs have realised they don't need the steady revenue season tickets once brought. They still get part of that by charging for a membership or this Flexi package. Then they can charge what they like per game. A less attractive fixture, drop the price. A more attractive one crank it up to the max.

This is a slightly risky policy of course and relies on the clubs continued success. Hopefully we all hope it continues but a few years of no trophies and mid table mediocrity would see us struggling to fill the ground. They can of course then start selling season tickets again but will people buy them? Interesting times.

I'm 60 next feb and of your generation.
My son is still only 17 and been a season ticket holder since he was 4,thankfully.
He'll qualify for that 18-25 year old away ticket allocation next season (very slim chance he will get an away ticket mind ) ,he,now like me as virtually zero chance of away tickets,i know many that do get them via hospitality cos of their money, supporters clubs,friend of friends etc
when his kids come along i can't imagine what the situation will be if we continue with the success we've been having, but if it all goes to pot ,and it will sooner or later , and the current team who decide prices ,season cards etc have fled and City go back to attracting locals again as we've always done, I'll advice them not to bother.
They once cared,actually all our history until circa 2010-2024 .

that bob hat City once had, blue fan,red fan,tourist , local . Do they want tourist,tourist ?

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

They will start dropping prices and trying to flog season tickets again. Those frozen out now may take them up. It's a calculated game they're playing.

Perhaps. I think once you’re out of the habit of going it’s easy to stop. Why would you come back knowing the club will ditch you at the first sign of success.

You can notice it when you go to a league match vs fa cup games. Usually full of younger fans, families and priced out people compared to league matches where the average age must be 50+.

 

[Stephen230]

For pretty much every season since season tickets were introduced up into the last few years, anybody who wanted a season ticket could happily buy one, no problem.

This current cycle of non stop success won’t last forever. They never do.

And when things turn a bit shit on the pitch, I’m sure we’ll quickly return to the days when they are freely available.

I do genuinely have sympathy for people who are wanting to attend every home game and are having to fight for the privilege of buying them at the best part of a ton a pop.

But unfortunately that is probably going to happen at any club in the world when you want to get on the season ticket ladder during the most successful period in the club’s history.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Instead of committing to 19 home games for a fixed price, you pay £150 for a flexi ticket. That guarantees your seat for all 19 games in theory. Several weeks before each game, you confirm if you are attending and pay an extra charge on top for each game. If not, the seat is released to sell by the club to someone else. You have to attend 10+ games to qualify for a flexi ticket ( though no-one knows what would happen if you didn't)

No idea why they are the only ones for sale - the assumption is the club want to maximise the seats available to sell to others including their hospitality options and avoid seats being left empty by non-attending season ticket holders....

Thats's the theory anyway

The concept of flexi-gold came out of discussions with City Matters about no-shows. Not enough people were reselling seats if they couldn't attend a game, leading to significant numbers of no-shows. In one midweek game it was nearly 15% of capacity. People have the attitude "It's my seat and I'll do what I want". Well it's not their seat, it's the clubs and they should be able to benefit if you choose not to use it.

There can be a great benefit to a flexible season ticket if the club pitch it right. But knowing the club, they'll fuck it up.

 

[Bozzie]

But no one is being charged more. If you have a Flexi gold and attend all games, my understanding is that you won't pay any more than if you had a season ticket.

I thought Flexi Gold season card holders received a discount on their match tickets which would, over 19 matches, equate to the cost of a season ticket?

 

[blue44]

The concept of flexi-gold came out of discussions with City Matters about no-shows. Not enough people were reselling seats if they couldn't attend a game, leading to significant numbers of no-shows. In one midweek game it was nearly 15% of capacity. People have the attitude "It's my seat and I'll do what I want". Well it's not their seat, it's the clubs and they should be able to benefit if you choose not to use it.

There can be a great benefit to a flexible season ticket if the club pitch it right. But knowing the club, they'll fuck it up.

Thats now why they've brought in the current 14 game rule isn't it ?
I'm currently 1 game down now through non attendance ,even though i was there,because of their crap mobile system.

Edit

when was that midweek game with 15 % down btw ?

 

[M Gaudino]

I gave up my season ticket in 2016 (great timing!) due to personal circumstances. Had had one with my old man since 1989. Now that my kids are a bit older and im a lot more divorced than i was then, i was thinking of trying to get it back - but its impossible isnt it? The seat is in the 3rd tier of the Colin Bell and my old man is still in his seat, it hasn't been sold on to another season ticket holder.

In the interim years I haven't even bought citizen membership mainly because i think its a pisstake to pay £35 or whatever for the right to then buy a ticket.

If i want to go i buy one on my dad's login but its basically impossible for premier league and had to leave it to champions league games and FA cup with my kids.

And that's another thing - kids prices. How are long term fans like me supposed to get the next generation continuing the cause if it costs c. £150 to take them to a weekend game? They cant go to mid week as its too late finishing so its basically become a yearly hope that we get a Saturday/Sunday 3rd or 4th round home game.

 

[Jesus H Gabz]

I really don’t get these point. Why would you need to transfer a ticket to a friend or family. You’re buying the tickets 3 weeks before. If you know you can’t go, don’t buy it. Same applies to the ticket exchange. There’s no reason you’d need access to it.

I don’t get all the hate for them. You’re GUARANTEED a ticket for EVERY game. They’re a lot better option than what you were on being a match day member. That’s £35 membership and then £60-£70 a ticket. On top you’re panicking at the start of the season in a queue of 20,000 whether you’ll get a ticket for the games you want.
You can also join all 3 cup schemes which will guarantee you a ticket for United or Liverpool in the fa cup semi finals and finals and any home champions league ticket which, following the piss poor performance a couple seasons ago for Madrid in the semi final, it’s a massive bonus.

All very true, if you have one you’re delighted to be out of the match day membership trap, it’s bloody expensive! And if City are reasonable with pricing and issue a good number of extra SC’s then it should be considered as acceptable, but this is City & modern football were cash is king, and the general consensus is prices will rise & rise, if you look at example pricing, the leap from say Arsenal to Ipswich is quite large, the cynic in me says they’re hoping you can afford Ipswich but not Arsenal, and for some that will eventually become a choice due to finances.
There’s also a train of thought that the club has throttled supply with the intention of introducing these tickets, meaning whatever they did there would always be someone who bites, and I say that as a person who’s family has benefited from Silvers and FG’s

 

[jrb]

Really poor from the club this. Hope they have a rethink.

We’ve been asking the club to have a rethink for years, not only about normal season tickets, annual season ticket prices, annual match day ticket prices, etc. But the people running the club, Khaldoon, Soriano, Danny Wilson, the other directors aren’t interested. They gave up engaging with and listening to the fans years ago, and haven’t engaged or listened since.(apart from through City Matters at times) The sole remit of the people running the club now is increased revenue by whatever means possible and acceptable to them, regardless of how it impacts a cross section of our fan base.

The clubs get out of jail card is this. Continued success on the pitch because of Pep. And and influx of new fans, tourists, day trippers, football fans, who now make up a large percentage of our match day support, and don’t think twice about paying what they have to pay for a match ticket, for hospitality pacakages, and buying merchandise.

Our match day support is now no different to that of Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, United, Liverpool, etc. And that’s exactly what the club have been planning for and want.

 

[Manchester33]

I really don’t get these point. Why would you need to transfer a ticket to a friend or family. You’re buying the tickets 3 weeks before. If you know you can’t go, don’t buy it. Same applies to the ticket exchange. There’s no reason you’d need access to it.

I don’t get all the hate for them. You’re GUARANTEED a ticket for EVERY game. They’re a lot better option than what you were on being a match day member. That’s £35 membership and then £60-£70 a ticket. On top you’re panicking at the start of the season in a queue of 20,000 whether you’ll get a ticket for the games you want.
You can also join all 3 cup schemes which will guarantee you a ticket for United or Liverpool in the fa cup semi finals and finals and any home champions league ticket which, following the piss poor performance a couple seasons ago for Madrid in the semi final, it’s a massive bonus.

It's better than a membership but it's significantly worse than a seasoncard.

My point is that a seasoncard is far more flexible than flexigold and £150 cheaper.

Also, life can happen within 3 weeks - you can get sick, something comes up unexpectedly. I think 3 weeks is quite a long time.

 

[Really_here]

I gave up my season ticket in 2016 (great timing!) due to personal circumstances. Had had one with my old man since 1989. Now that my kids are a bit older and im a lot more divorced than i was then, i was thinking of trying to get it back - but its impossible isnt it? The seat is in the 3rd tier of the Colin Bell and my old man is still in his seat, it hasn't been sold on to another season ticket holder.

In the interim years I haven't even bought citizen membership mainly because i think its a pisstake to pay £35 or whatever for the right to then buy a ticket.

If i want to go i buy one on my dad's login but its basically impossible for premier league and had to leave it to champions league games and FA cup with my kids.

And that's another thing - kids prices. How are long term fans like me supposed to get the next generation continuing the cause if it costs c. £150 to take them to a weekend game? They cant go to mid week as its too late finishing so its basically become a yearly hope that we get a Saturday/Sunday 3rd or 4th round home game.

Live games are now a major expense, and if you've got kids as well it's become ridiculous but supply and demand will always be in operation and it won't be getting cheaper any time soon. When I used to go the 1970's if you weren't at the game you didn't see it , if you were lucky it might feature on Match of the Day so you got to see some of it. These days the HD TV broadcasts with a 65" TV and a surround sound system mean you get to see all of it, instant replays, loads of angles etc etc. All while sitting in your own chairs, no queues to get a beer or a snack or use the toilet, no hassle with shitty traffic, rip-off parking and so on. I do get it that nothng beats being there but it's a bloody good next thing.

 

[Manchester33]

I thought Flexi Gold season card holders received a discount on their match tickets which would, over 19 matches, equate to the cost of a season ticket?

@Prestwich_Blue

You're both incorrect on this....

If you attend all 19 games, you will pay the normal cost of a season ticket + £150 (or £75 if you're a child).

So if I pay £700 for my season ticket, and the person next to me is on Flexigold. If he attends all 19 games he pays £850 for the same thing.

(Club have confirmed this to CityMatters reps that I've spoken to).

 

[jrb]

It's better than a membership but it's significantly worse than a seasoncard.

My point is that a seasoncard is far more flexible than flexigold and £150 cheaper.

Also, life can happen within 3 weeks - you can get sick, something comes up unexpectedly. I think 3 weeks is quite a long time.

Exactly.

Just because a person has bought a match ticket via a Flexi Gold season ticket 3 weeks in advance doesn’t mean he or she will definitely 100% turn up. All this nonsense that a Flexi Gold season ticket will guarantee a person will turn up is just that, nonsense.

In that case, why doesn’t the club get rid of all season tickets completely and give all current season ticket holders, regardless of the type of season ticket, a 3 week window before the match to buy the ticket at the season ticket price split over home 19 games. Surely that will guarantee every season ticket holder will turn up for every home match, just like Flexi Gold will do, apparently. Arf!

 

[Manchester33]

Exactly.

Just because a person has bought a match ticket via a Flexi Gold season ticket 3 weeks in advance doesn’t means he or she will definitely 100% turn up. All this nonsense that a Flexi Gold season ticket will guarantee a person will turn up is just that, nonsense.

In that case, why doesn’t the club get rid of all season tickets completely and give all current season ticket holders, regardless of the type of season ticket, a 3 week window before the match to buy the ticket at the season ticket price split over 19 games. Surely that will guarantee every season ticket holder will turn up for every home match, just like Flexi Gold will do, apparently. Arf!

There would be uproar if that happened... unfortunately many of our fans won't care about this because it doesn't affect them directly. Short-sighted attitude, especially when we need fans to collectively stick up for each other to gain concessions.

 

[jrb]

@Prestwich_Blue

You're both incorrect on this....

If you attend all 19 games, you will pay the normal cost of a season ticket + £150 (or £75 if you're a child).

So if I pay £700 for my season ticket, and the person next to me is on Flexigold. If he attends all 19 games he pays £850 for the same thing.

(Club have confirmed this to CityMatters reps that I've spoken to).

It’s exactly like block/row pricing.

It’s possible for you to sit one row below me in a block and pay more than I do for a season ticket and a match day ticket.

 

[moomba]

For pretty much every season since season tickets were introduced up into the last few years, anybody who wanted a season ticket could happily buy one, no problem.

This current cycle of non stop success won’t last forever. They never do.

And when things turn a bit shit on the pitch, I’m sure we’ll quickly return to the days when they are freely available.

I do genuinely have sympathy for people who are wanting to attend every home game and are having to fight for the privilege of buying them at the best part of a ton a pop.

But unfortunately that is probably going to happen at any club in the world when you want to get on the season ticket ladder during the most successful period in the club’s history.

High demand shouldn't be an issue with the increased capacity.

It appears to be a conscious decision by the club.

 

[TheRubberRing]

Ive just had an email about my cup scheme payment for Feyenoord on 18th December.
the payment is coming out TOMORROW!

 

[paulchapo]

The concept of flexi-gold came out of discussions with City Matters about no-shows. Not enough people were reselling seats if they couldn't attend a game, leading to significant numbers of no-shows. In one midweek game it was nearly 15% of capacity. People have the attitude "It's my seat and I'll do what I want". Well it's not their seat, it's the clubs and they should be able to benefit if you choose not to use it.

There can be a great benefit to a flexible season ticket if the club pitch it right. But knowing the club, they'll fuck it up.

Yes and no. It's obviously the club's seat but whoever purchased it for whatever game for that duration of time it is their seat. If I am not going to a game for whatever reason I will always put my seat onto the ticket exchange, it would be stupid not to. They don't always sell though, depending on who the opposition is. Also if you're in the cup schemes you can't put those tickets on the ticket exchange which is a bit baffling why this option isn't available.

 

[jrb]

There would be uproar if that happened... unfortunately many of our fans won't care about this because it doesn't affect them directly. Short-sighted attitude, especially when we need fans to collectively stick up for each other to gain concessions.

There would be.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if the club has looked at that or something similar.

Flexi home match tickets throughout the season.
Includes a £150 charge at the start of the season.
Buy a match ticket 3 weeks in advance and guarantee your seat for the match.
There’s no need for a season ticket anymore.

Imagine that, 62,000 Flexi home match tickets, including an additional £150 per person at the start of the season. That would be an extra £9,300,000 every season.

 

[paulchapo]

Live games are now a major expense, and if you've got kids as well it's become ridiculous but supply and demand will always be in operation and it won't be getting cheaper any time soon. When I used to go the 1970's if you weren't at the game you didn't see it , if you were lucky it might feature on Match of the Day so you got to see some of it. These days the HD TV broadcasts with a 65" TV and a surround sound system mean you get to see all of it, instant replays, loads of angles etc etc. All while sitting in your own chairs, no queues to get a beer or a snack or use the toilet, no hassle with shitty traffic, rip-off parking and so on. I do get it that nothng beats being there but it's a bloody good next thing.

As you age it does start to beat being there. None of the hassles you mention to deal with and if the game is boring or nervy you can turn it over, pop into the garden or kitchen and escape the boredom or pressure for a while lol.