North Stand Expansion

[jrb]

You know what, I actually fully agree with all of that.

There is however a fair bit of distance between that, and the inference that those 648 seats will 'ruin' the stand as a whole or will stop it being a proper home end etc. That's where I tend to disagree and say so.

But yeah, there is no real obvious case to be made for it, other than potentially a loose planning gain one. A part of me is quite interested in hearing the club's explanation of that one to the groups at the meetings, if they actually offer one.

Hopefully Alex, the other City Matters Reps, 1894, the OSC(I won’t hold my breath), etc, will get the club at the meeting to truthfully explain exactly why they have decided to locate 700 GA+ seats at the front of NSL2, bar the obvious reason of additional match day revenue, as I can't think of any other reason than that.

It’s going to be an interesting meeting. I hope the club are ready to answer all the questions honestly and with some detail, rather then the usual powder puff detail and guarded replies.

 

[HelloCity]

I’m not opposed to the ‘premium’ section at the front of NS tier 2 if the tier is safe standing and they’re just sold as safe standing+ where you get a better view and a private bar for paying a bit more.

 

[jrb]

I’m in 115 and were staying.
No pissing about with stairs and with being next to the away fans, you do get good banter/atmosphere.
Plus we have a pre-match and half-time DJ ;-)

I’m also staying in SSL1. I made my mind up after thinking about it long and hard. Safe standing, singing section, being next to the away fans, having a really good bar, easy access into and out of the ground, buses back into town parked up across the road, etc. That doesn’t mean I won’t try the new NSL2 out as I believe there will be plenty of tickets available for most matches throughout the season, bar for the big games.

 

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

Out of interest, what would people consider the 'right' pricing to actually be? I'm in SS3 with no intention of moving but it's just for curiosity/starting a debate.

My view is that pricing will be nothing like the mid and upper sections of SS3 (A-K is priced at £745 so not particularly cheap). The front section of the enhanced NS (not GA+) will be prime L2 so I'd expect £850 as an absolute minimum with middle and upper sections less but not SS3 less.

Would that tempt you?

 

[jrb]

I’m not opposed to the ‘premium’ section at the front of NS tier 2 if the tier is safe standing and they’re just sold as safe standing+ where you get a better view and a private bar for paying a bit more.

That’s a good idea. Padded Safe Standing GA+ Lol!

 

[Coatigan]

If it happens it needs to be from the beginning so that arrangements can be made for singing groups to move across from the South Stand before other people settle in to that area.

They can’t bring everyone into a seating area and then a year later tell them it’s going to be standing. It would piss everyone off who is already there and cost more money to replace all the seats they’d only just put in.

If the club don’t make the move to make this a standing home end then it will be pretty comedic since we’ll have this giant tier with loads of day trippers in and all the singers in smaller tiers at the opposite end. It would be bizarre.

Maybe. Seen how quickly clubs have done the change to standing though, so I myself don't think it is as much of an issue as you suggest.

 

[supercity88]

Maybe one day, they will be. It lends itself to it. Who knows why the club are not going straight into safe standing, and why they are doing seats first that can relatively easily change to it. Maybe they think it is too much of a jump and filling it is their first priority and then seeing after that whether there is appetite for safe standing. Maybe they think it is an easier ride through planning, or the build. Agree though, that would be great to see.



I can't imagine it being about money. Not primarily. Just how much extra money can that 8% of new seats really bring in as a blick itself, what maybe an exta 5-10% income to the whole? Hardly that noticeable in the grand scheme of things, there will be far more profitable areas of the stand than that, including the hotel suites and vip offerings. I would imagine it is more about making it seem more attractive to a large group of varied fans they can sell it to, or help decide to relocate there. Maybe there is a bit of planning apeasement in it too. Again, just my own guesswork.

I can't see it being for any other reason mate. I'm cynical about what the club are trying to do. We saw cheap tickets with SSL3 and it was great. I'm hopeful we see benefits in reduced prices for loyal fans, and the GA+ being for loyal fans willing to pay a little bit more for great seats. Then the skybar suites getting flogged.

We need to increase matchday revenues. Hopefully the additional seats and wider offering do that, and we see some incentives financially to get this off the ground.

But I'm cynical because we see a CL QF game full of away fans and tourists despite having specific sales criterion. And away games are the same now, tourists getting tickets. I don't believe blues are selling tickets on. I believe the club are selling groups of tickets to tout sites to make more money.

And I'm worried the GA+ is a touted section where it's full of neutral/away fans for Real Madrid in the CL QFs and then empty for Burnley at home.

There are a few critical things to address.

Ultimately our revenue from matchdays is £72m. The rags are £110m, Spurs £115m and Barca £160m. Per fan it's £42 vs £43.60 for Rags, £78 for Spurs/Barca.

There's not much more we can do to the hardcore fanbase. There's a London premium. More seats helps. Flogging the hospitality also does. But the club have probably identified the fact that they can make more touting tickets than getting people to buy cityzen membership and selling properly.

It's front and centre of the new stand and an ideal place to maximise revenues. We're seeing so many random tourists/away fans in the home end for games that have strict criterion for tickets. So the club are selling to tout sites. I'm sure 650 people per game would pay big money for seats together in the "home end" in a great location via a ticket tout website. And that's why people are concerned. Because then you'll get empty seats there for Burnley at home, and a bunch of away fans for the big games undoubtedly. The club really aren't helping themselves and it's why so many people are cynical.

I'm hopeful it's a seasonticket offering for a price slightly above the GA pricing and it's full of proper blues. But when you see away fans in the home end so often, tourists galore at away games and tickets for every City game available on tout sites you have to be sceptical.

 

[jrb]

Bardhok Ndoji / Alamy Stock Photo

 

[Coatigan]

I can't see it being for any other reason mate. I'm cynical about what the club are trying to do. We saw cheap tickets with SSL3 and it was great. I'm hopeful we see benefits in reduced prices for loyal fans, and the GA+ being for loyal fans willing to pay a little bit more for great seats. Then the skybar suites getting flogged.

We need to increase matchday revenues. Hopefully the additional seats and wider offering do that, and we see some incentives financially to get this off the ground.

But I'm cynical because we see a CL QF game full of away fans and tourists despite having specific sales criterion. And away games are the same now, tourists getting tickets. I don't believe blues are selling tickets on. I believe the club are selling groups of tickets to tout sites to make more money.

And I'm worried the GA+ is a touted section where it's full of neutral/away fans for Real Madrid in the CL QFs and then empty for Burnley at home.

There are a few critical things to address.

Ultimately our revenue from matchdays is £72m. The rags are £110m, Spurs £115m and Barca £160m. Per fan it's £42 vs £43.60 for Rags, £78 for Spurs/Barca.

There's not much more we can do to the hardcore fanbase. There's a London premium. More seats helps. Flogging the hospitality also does. But the club have probably identified the fact that they can make more touting tickets than getting people to buy cityzen membership and selling properly.

It's front and centre of the new stand and an ideal place to maximise revenues. We're seeing so many random tourists/away fans in the home end for games that have strict criterion for tickets. So the club are selling to tout sites. I'm sure 650 people per game would pay big money for seats together in the "home end" in a great location via a ticket tout website. And that's why people are concerned. Because then you'll get empty seats there for Burnley at home, and a bunch of away fans for the big games undoubtedly. The club really aren't helping themselves and it's why so many people are cynical.

I'm hopeful it's a seasonticket offering for a price slightly above the GA pricing and it's full of proper blues. But when you see away fans in the home end so often, tourists galore at away games and tickets for every City game available on tout sites you have to be sceptical.

Yeah to be clear I wasn't suggesting they wouldn't, or didn't want to make extra money. Just that it is such a small section and the price difference is never going to be so vast that in the grand scheme of things it is 'the' big money maker.

My speculation on it is no better than anyone else's, and I am open minded to and interested in any explanation to it. What I don't think is that the club are doing it deliberately to spite the fans or ruin the stand. Whatever their reasoning, I would imagine they think it is a good addition and can work with the stand. Just given the thought and work that has gone into the rest of it all, if nothing else.

Because the project sailed through planning we maybe take it a bit for granted the work that went into this being approved so comfortably. But it is a process, and we know that the design team had bi-weekly meetings with Planners for months, before the submission going in. That area and the bar in particular may well have helped at some point, and that could be part of the reason for it.

 

[jrb]

I can't see it being for any other reason mate. I'm cynical about what the club are trying to do. We saw cheap tickets with SSL3 and it was great. I'm hopeful we see benefits in reduced prices for loyal fans, and the GA+ being for loyal fans willing to pay a little bit more for great seats. Then the skybar suites getting flogged.

We need to increase matchday revenues. Hopefully the additional seats and wider offering do that, and we see some incentives financially to get this off the ground.

But I'm cynical because we see a CL QF game full of away fans and tourists despite having specific sales criterion. And away games are the same now, tourists getting tickets. I don't believe blues are selling tickets on. I believe the club are selling groups of tickets to tout sites to make more money.

And I'm worried the GA+ is a touted section where it's full of neutral/away fans for Real Madrid in the CL QFs and then empty for Burnley at home.

There are a few critical things to address.

Ultimately our revenue from matchdays is £72m. The rags are £110m, Spurs £115m and Barca £160m. Per fan it's £42 vs £43.60 for Rags, £78 for Spurs/Barca.

There's not much more we can do to the hardcore fanbase. There's a London premium. More seats helps. Flogging the hospitality also does. But the club have probably identified the fact that they can make more touting tickets than getting people to buy cityzen membership and selling properly.

It's front and centre of the new stand and an ideal place to maximise revenues. We're seeing so many random tourists/away fans in the home end for games that have strict criterion for tickets. So the club are selling to tout sites. I'm sure 650 people per game would pay big money for seats together in the "home end" in a great location via a ticket tout website. And that's why people are concerned. Because then you'll get empty seats there for Burnley at home, and a bunch of away fans for the big games undoubtedly. The club really aren't helping themselves and it's why so many people are cynical.

I'm hopeful it's a seasonticket offering for a price slightly above the GA pricing and it's full of proper blues. But when you see away fans in the home end so often, tourists galore at away games and tickets for every City game available on tout sites you have to be sceptical.

Not much pressure on Alex is there. I know Alex is made of stern stuff and he won’t duck asking the questions. :-)

Alex.

Please ask the club if they are directly selling home tickets to 3rd party ticket touting websites. If they are, why, as they know it allows away fans to buy seats in the home ends.(which in-turn causes trouble inside the ground) Something you see at Barcelona(cough!) and Real Madrid. If the club aren’t selling tickets directly to 3rd party ticket touting websites, let’s give the club the benefit of our doubt, do they know who is, and how these 3rd party ticket touting websites are getting so many home tickets, and what are the club and the new ‘ticket compliance manager‘ going to do to stop it happening?

Thanks once again Alex.