Individual Match Tickets - 2024/25

[ftg89]

In the small print of the email I got, I am sure it said there were 600 flexi golds. After yesterday and today, I’m feeling very fortunate that I managed to get one!

 

[bluenova]

Sorry to hear about the hassle many have been through today.

As some of you may know, City Matters worked with the Club after the Real Madrid debacle in 2023 to improve match day criteria - explicitly rewarding prior attendance. That's worked relatively well on occasion, such as Madrid last season, but we still believe that the criteria should be organised around ticket points and that for Premier League games in particular it should be tighter.

The Club's view is that they want to ensure that those who purchase a membership are not locked out from buying tickets. So the current approach helps to sell memberships. It also creates a higher demand on days like today, which is probably good from a marketing perspective. Likewise, sales in advance does provide relative financial certainty from their perspective (although I don't think we would have to worry about ticket sales if we priced match day tickets accordingly, but I digress). But my primary concern is that it creates a poor experience for supporters and does not adequately reward prior attendance.

Believe it or not, yesterday and today could have been worse. The initial plans were to use three games as the criteria for the United, Liverpool and Arsenal matches. We managed to get this changed back to five games. The Club also intended for the final home game of the season to be sold to those who purchased membership at any time, but they changed this to before the fixtures were announced.

Whilst I am evidently pleased with those changes we achieved, it's also plainly obvious that they do not go far enough. It gives more evidence to my views outlined in the second paragraph, although I think the case was already compelling in that regard.

As one slither of silver lining, the Club have agreed that any tickets returned by an away team will be capped at £30. This makes sense given that the Club will have accounted for a £30 sale in their business plan. So, there is likely to be a number of matches with (relatively) cheaper tickets on sale at short notice.

Another element to this is All Games on Sale, which I don't particularly support given the financial outlay required and the free for all it creates. That said, the Club have agreed to bring in a sales window three weeks out from each game (in part, I think, due to the Flexi Gold sales). I am still waiting for clarity on the numbers that will be available in isolation from Flexi Gold, but I will be pushing that there is robust ticket point criteria in place.

Alex - It would be interesting to know (or for the club to know), what tickets fans bought. Did a lot of those who got through yesterday, snap up all three games for example?

Same with today - did the first few thousand pick up Chelsea, Spurs and Bournemouth?

I get the impression that we ended up with a random draw, and if you won, you won big.

Not sure how easy it is, but if they're going to do the bigger games with separate criteria, and we know they're going to easily sell out, then initially maybe a limit of one per member? That way they get spread out a little, and hopefully make it a bit harder for the touts.

It's clearly not going to go back anytime soon to the way things were a few years ago, but at least spreading out the bigger games, would result in less unhappy people.

 

[xgorton]

Sorry to hear about the hassle many have been through today.

As some of you may know, City Matters worked with the Club after the Real Madrid debacle in 2023 to improve match day criteria - explicitly rewarding prior attendance. That's worked relatively well on occasion, such as Madrid last season, but we still believe that the criteria should be organised around ticket points and that for Premier League games in particular it should be tighter.

The Club's view is that they want to ensure that those who purchase a membership are not locked out from buying tickets. So the current approach helps to sell memberships. It also creates a higher demand on days like today, which is probably good from a marketing perspective. Likewise, sales in advance does provide relative financial certainty from their perspective (although I don't think we would have to worry about ticket sales if we priced match day tickets accordingly, but I digress). But my primary concern is that it creates a poor experience for supporters and does not adequately reward prior attendance.

Believe it or not, yesterday and today could have been worse. The initial plans were to use three games as the criteria for the United, Liverpool and Arsenal matches. We managed to get this changed back to five games. The Club also intended for the final home game of the season to be sold to those who purchased membership at any time, but they changed this to before the fixtures were announced.

Whilst I am evidently pleased with those changes we achieved, it's also plainly obvious that they do not go far enough. It gives more evidence to my views outlined in the second paragraph, although I think the case was already compelling in that regard.

As one slither of silver lining, the Club have agreed that any tickets returned by an away team will be capped at £30. This makes sense given that the Club will have accounted for a £30 sale in their business plan. So, there is likely to be a number of matches with (relatively) cheaper tickets on sale at short notice.

Another element to this is All Games on Sale, which I don't particularly support given the financial outlay required and the free for all it creates. That said, the Club have agreed to bring in a sales window three weeks out from each game (in part, I think, due to the Flexi Gold sales). I am still waiting for clarity on the numbers that will be available in isolation from Flexi Gold, but I will be pushing that there is robust ticket point criteria in place.

I like to know all my membership points I have from years of watching City count for fack all,why ?

 

[Buckshaw Blue]

That's right. I think there's just over 1,000 Flexi Gold tickets.

Appreciate that it isn't easy on whether we use attendance in competition or ticket points for matchday criteria. I err towards the latter given the practical alignment with how we structure other ticket sales, but also to reward those with attendance over a number of seasons. I think in practice, given that we are talking about the match day membership which buy and large do not have that many ticket points, this wouldn't restrict those who had become a member more recently had they attended a number of fixtures.

I've asked around the three weeks before but I'm still waiting for some of the finer detail. I think given the demand shown over the past few days, there should really be criteria (as there should be anyway).

The Club confirmed to me that for the foreseeable future, the only new season tickets that would be made available will be Flexi Gold - so I would assume if there are any new ones offered next season, they would try to offer Junior Flexi Gold again too. I also assume that there will be 'standard' season tickets on offer when the North Stand re-opens.

How sure can you be about standard season tickets becoming available next season? I’d be amazed if there’s anything but a select few flexi gold made available as the club seem hell bent on selling matchday memberships.

 

[RegMuffin]

Being able to scoop up tickets based on a random place in a queue is a lottery system. One ticket got you access to all the games, by adding matches to baskets before checking out. The rest of us waited.

City are now selling tickets through a lottery system and City Matters, supporters and the club need to name it for what it is.

So without a season ticket my 40+ years of loyalty mean absolutely sod all today because my numbers didn't come up.

 

[blueparrot]

Alex - It would be interesting to know (or for the club to know), what tickets fans bought. Did a lot of those who got through yesterday, snap up all three games for example?

Same with today - did the first few thousand pick up Chelsea, Spurs and Bournemouth?

I get the impression that we ended up with a random draw, and if you won, you won big.

Not sure how easy it is, but if they're going to do the bigger games with separate criteria, and we know they're going to easily sell out, then initially maybe a limit of one per member? That way they get spread out a little, and hopefully make it a bit harder for the touts.

It's clearly not going to go back anytime soon to the way things were a few years ago, but at least spreading out the bigger games, would result in less unhappy people.

I've never quite understood why they changed the Match day ticket system,maybe about 7/8 years ago. Back in the day they didn't put all the tickets on sale in the summer. Tickets for games went on sale a few weeks before,usually when the TV rearrangements were announced.There were points windows used,not huge ones maybe 500 and 1000. So no huge scramble of people getting in filling their boots while others wait based on nothing but luck.
Seems to me a far better fairer and less stressfull system,and cost spreading too.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I’m glad people weren’t put off buying flexi golds. They will prove a godsend.

 

[Beaker]

I've never quite understood why they changed the Match day ticket system,maybe about 7/8 years ago. Back in the day they didn't put all the tickets on sale in the summer. Tickets for games went on sale a few weeks before,usually when the TV rearrangements were announced.There were points windows used,not huge ones maybe 500 and 1000. So no huge scramble of people getting in filling their boots while others wait based on nothing but luck.
Seems to me a far better fairer and less stressfull system,and cost spreading too.

I agree with you wholeheartedly but the club want to give the impression that purchasing memberships gives you a shot at tickets straight away, hence the extremely lenient or non existent criteria for the games.

The club have manufactured this scramble/lottery for tickets deliberately, the next step is a ballot I reckon.

 

[Blue Steel]

I think it’s disgraceful it’s been turned into a lottery and if you get lucky you have to take out a massive financial outlay to snap up as many matches through the season as you can at one time.

I got lucky yesterday and got tickets for Brentford but again the stupid timing of the release (a weekday morning) hindered me as I had to juggle purchasing my tickets with chairing a meeting at work (after an hour and half wait in the queue). I simply couldn’t stay on longer to buy tickets for other games so had to finish there.

So when I decide I want to go to other matches in the winter I’ll have to wait for the next lottery. I question the value of the £35 matchday membership when it guarantees you absolutely nothing despite going to many previous matches including the dreadful Spurs away!

Not to mention it’s impossible to get two seats next to each other.

I always end up sat next to tiktok tourists these days anyway who don’t even bother watching what’s going on in front of them.

 

[blueparrot]

I agree with you wholeheartedly but the club want to give the impression that purchasing memberships gives you a shot at tickets straight away, hence the extremely lenient or non existent criteria for the games.

The club have manufactured this scramble/lottery for tickets deliberately, the next step is a ballot I reckon.

Think the extension is an opportunity to reset.If 3 or 4000 seats are kept for Match day it will ease a lot of the pressure. Hopefully there is enough thought going into Match day sales and keeping seats Matchday only in various blocks around the stadium in any future relocation windows. There would still be plenty of games for those new members without points to get tickets, just not the big games but they could build points towards that.
Don't think it's entirely manufactured by the club the success was always going to attract new fans wanting to go to games and they have responded by extending again, it's how they allocate those extra seats now that they will be judged on.