We don’t have the plastics like United and Liverpool have. Even Arsenal are suffering from empty seats at the Emirates. Only United and Liverpool can fill their stadiums for most home games. A few empty seats have started to appear at United of late.
What we do have is a solid and expanding hardcore of fans. The vast majority are low to middle income working class fans, with a small percentage of wealthy fans. We’ve also got a slowly growing fan base from outside Manchester. This is evident in PL games, and more so in CL games. We also get a lot of football tourists coming to watch City at weekend home matches
But we’ve lost a lot of local fans through season ticket and match day ticket price increases over the years (here jrb goes again), and through forced relocations inside the stadium on different occasions and throughout the years to make way for new corporate areas and seating. We need to get those fans back for a start. And also attract new local City fans with more cheaper season ticket and match day ticket prices. The games in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, and CL group stages prove cheaper tickets do attract more local fans. Over the last few seasons we have had 50,000+ attendances for early round FA Cup games.
If the club expands the North Stand it has to somehow balance match day income with cheaper season tickets and match day tickets in an effort to attract those City fans that have walked away and City fans who are desperate to watch City, but are priced out at current season ticket and match day ticket prices. If City did that they could fill an expanded North Stand and a 60,000 capacity Etihad.
We don't have slowly growing anything.
Our fan base Worldwide now numbers 100 million, with 1% of those in the UK, that's 1 million.
5 years ago when we played in the USA, opposition fans in the stadiums outnumbered City fans 10 to 1.
This pre season it was the opposite, 90% City, all in the new tops!
Even outnumbered Bayern, the biggest brand in the World.
My son is down in Devon presently, with his mates. They watched the match in a pub where City outnumbered United fans watching their game, they left sharpish, and the place filled with City for our game.
Don't underestimate our rapidly growing fan base.
Yes ticket prices need looking at, but unfortunately the 'day tripper' is who clubs want to attract
They have more disposable income, spend more on food, drink and merchandise, even hospitality.
Maybe we need to do what West Ham have done. They have 55000 season ticket holders, and seem to fill the seats with few no shows. Maybe their system of passing on the ticket is easier to fathom out.
I'm trying with my sons who will still be in Devon next Saturday. Yes I can try and sell it on ticket exchange, thats piss easy to do, but how do I give it one of my mates FFS?
We don’t have the plastics like United and Liverpool have. Even Arsenal are suffering from empty seats at the Emirates. Only United and Liverpool can fill their stadiums for most home games. A few empty seats have started to appear at United of late.
What we do have is a solid and expanding hardcore of fans. The vast majority are low to middle income working class fans, with a small percentage of wealthy fans. We’ve also got a slowly growing fan base from outside Manchester. This is evident in PL games, and more so in CL games. We also get a lot of football tourists coming to watch City at weekend home matches
But we’ve lost a lot of local fans through season ticket and match day ticket price increases over the years (here jrb goes again), and through forced relocations inside the stadium on different occasions and throughout the years to make way for new corporate areas and seating. We need to get those fans back for a start. And also attract new local City fans with more cheaper season ticket and match day ticket prices. The games in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, and CL group stages prove cheaper tickets do attract more local fans. Over the last few seasons we have had 50,000+ attendances for early round FA Cup games.
If the club expands the North Stand it has to somehow balance match day income with cheaper season tickets and match day tickets in an effort to attract those City fans that have walked away and City fans who are desperate to watch City, but are priced out at current season ticket and match day ticket prices. If City did that they could fill an expanded North Stand and a 60,000 capacity Etihad.
