Pep, 2016-17 Ticket Prices etc.

[dave_blue12]

I have been reading this thread and all the valid arguments. It got me thinking to possible solutions that might tick a few more boxes.

There has to be a fine line between making something cheaper, yet ensuring people will still attend, willing to take a hit, because it's so?

What would people think of my proposal. Tickets reduced by 30 per cent, across the board (maybe not on the £299), commensurate with where you sit in the ground?

The caveat being, the club can make an automatic surcharge of £20 per game, direct from your account, should your seat not be used for any reason.

Implemented very much along the lines of the current direct debit you hold with the club, the charges will then be added to whatever your regular monthly season ticket outgoing is.

Eg: my season ticket currently costs £600 to sit in South Stand level 3. If this were reduced by the 30 per cent it will cost me £420. I have been unable to attend or pass on my ticket about five times this season, which would equate to an additional £100 I would owe on my City season ticket account?

City's personal reduction to me (in real terms) would equate to only an £80 drop if I am able to attend the remainder of the games this season.

A little more acceptable to the club's bean-counters? The by-product being there are clearly thousands who are not able to occupy their seats 100 per cent of the time.

Rather than cheapen the product, this could surely be seen as a two-way street? The club are then seen to be lowering prices (with the headline saving being 30 per cent reductions) when it's probably going to be closer to 10 or 15 per cent, taking into account non-attendance.

I think this would also solve a few issues in the family stand on late match night, and elsewhere. The kids tickets should maybe increased to around £199 for the season, the increase there offset by the adults' own saving on their own ticket.

This would cover the cost of around five games the younger fan was unable to attend at the extra £20 a game surcharge.

Those who did manage to attend every game, are rightly rewarded with their 30 per cent reduction and perhaps also get an extra 200 loyalty points on their next season card, which would also be a better solution to the fatally flawed Platinum scheme.

Great minds and all that. This is exactly the same idea I came up with although I didn't get as far as working out the % drop and the surcharge to be levied.

Obviously I think it's a great idea ;-)

 

[CatMan]

There are plenty of executive boxes at £60k a season left empty for certain games; so making an argument that tickets must be expensive to ensure fans turn up just doesn't hold water. In fact all that would do is is cause people not to renew, not as some think, renew at increase cost and then attend all games at increase cost, just to justify their new increased cost Seasoncard.

For me the fundamental problem is accessibility not only in terms of cost but also in terms of logistics. In a time when we have contactless payments by the swipe of a card, why have the club not led the way with a system that allows fans to declare they can't make a particular match (much like ticket exchange now) but then have this information fed directly to turnstiles, which in turn could allow fans to see if spare seats are available and simply do a contactless swipe of a Bank card to gain entry.

This would allow ease of access for 1st time fans, or those who suddenly decide that they will go to the match.

Yes, and I'm waiting for it, we will here the security argument, but the bank card would prove names and addresses and the ground is riddled with CCTV. Any idea the club's ticketing policy is in anyway 100% safe for all was shot to pieces at the Everton game anyway.

Prices for those last minute tickets should be the pro-rata of what's been originally paid by the absent Seasoncard holder plus £5 admin; not as City do now were you get the pro-rata back as credit but then the seat is sold at full cost.

For too many years now accessing football on impulse has been virtually impossible. Much the same as when people get addicted to cigarettes, they will have done so on the back of impulse and accessibility of those 1st few fags. I'm fairly certain that if you had to register as a smoker and then pay for a year's supply up front, then hardly anyone would start smoking. Why is it then that we use that very same logic yet can't grasp why the flow of new fans into the stadium is a problem.

 

[MatthewEdwards95]

I can only afford the £300 season ticket and if that increases next year I will not be renewing. What clubs have to understand is that competition in the market does not work for football. I am a Man City fan, I do not care what United or any other club charge, I only want to watch City play. They have to show the fans some respect and have a complete overhaul of the system.
My proposal:

- Most expensive season ticket capped at £475 (£25 a game)
- Prices for season tickets can go below £475 depending on age group, and location in the stadium
- General sale tickets capped at £30 for home games.
- Away games capped at £20 with the club, or premier league, striking a deal with train companies for seasoncard holders to get heavily discounted train travel. Our deal with Virgin was a good start but we have to go much further.
- The club is allowed to reserve a small percentage of seats, that they can charge above £475 a season for because they are 'premium seats'. This will account for a very small percentage of the capacity and will be for the richest fans.

To offset the cost, although I do not agree with this entirely, as a compromise, the club could do the following:

- Make cup schemes compulsory for season ticket holders. Cup attendances have not been great but they could justify a compulsory cup scheme with the major cost reductions listed above.
- Cup schemes can only be compulsory with match tickets capped at £20 maxium for the earlier rounds (can be lower depending on opposition).This price is for season ticket holders. For general sale cup tickets, prices should be capped at a max £25. This includes the Champions League, as well as the League Cup and FA Cup.
- From the QF stage onwards, the club's cup ticket cap should increase from £20 to the same price caps for the league. This would mean a £25 cap for season ticket holders, and a £30 cap for general sale tickets.

These proposed changes would drastically improve the atmosphere as more seats would be filled. The type of fans filling these seats, are more likely to be working class, and as such improve the atmosphere. This could actually help the premier league sell the product aboard when negotiating TV rights. Foreign broadcasters could sell the atmosphere as part of the package to get foreign viewers interested in the game. If the atmosphere picks up across the premier league it may lead to even better TV deals. This will eliminate, if not at worse reduce, the cost of implanting these changes.

 

[Why Always Ste]

If cup schemes became compulsory I will cancel straight away.
I shouldn't be forced into buying something I don't want.
I am already in the domestic cup schemes anyway, but refuse to pay for the UCL as I disagree with the competition and the corrupt state of it.

 

[dickie davies]

These proposed changes would drastically improve the atmosphere as more seats would be filled. The type of fans filling these seats, are more likely to be working class, and as such improve the atmosphere..

It doesn't stop middle class season ticket holders, who can already afford £750 for a season card, buying cheaper tickets and not turning up

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I can only afford the £300 season ticket and if that increases next year I will not be renewing. What clubs have to understand is that competition in the market does not work for football. I am a Man City fan, I do not care what United or any other club charge, I only want to watch City play. They have to show the fans some respect and have a complete overhaul of the system.
My proposal:

- Most expensive season ticket capped at £475 (£25 a game)
- Prices for season tickets can go below £475 depending on age group, and location in the stadium
- General sale tickets capped at £30 for home games.
- Away games capped at £20 with the club, or premier league, striking a deal with train companies for seasoncard holders to get heavily discounted train travel. Our deal with Virgin was a good start but we have to go much further.
- The club is allowed to reserve a small percentage of seats, that they can charge above £475 a season for because they are 'premium seats'. This will account for a very small percentage of the capacity and will be for the richest fans.

To offset the cost, although I do not agree with this entirely, as a compromise, the club could do the following:

- Make cup schemes compulsory for season ticket holders. Cup attendances have not been great but they could justify a compulsory cup scheme with the major cost reductions listed above.
- Cup schemes can only be compulsory with match tickets capped at £20 maxium for the earlier rounds (can be lower depending on opposition).This price is for season ticket holders. For general sale cup tickets, prices should be capped at a max £25. This includes the Champions League, as well as the League Cup and FA Cup.
- From the QF stage onwards, the club's cup ticket cap should increase from £20 to the same price caps for the league. This would mean a £25 cap for season ticket holders, and a £30 cap for general sale tickets.

These proposed changes would drastically improve the atmosphere as more seats would be filled. The type of fans filling these seats, are more likely to be working class, and as such improve the atmosphere. This could actually help the premier league sell the product aboard when negotiating TV rights. Foreign broadcasters could sell the atmosphere as part of the package to get foreign viewers interested in the game. If the atmosphere picks up across the premier league it may lead to even better TV deals. This will eliminate, if not at worse reduce, the cost of implanting these changes.

Good post

I think the Club have made good progress with the print tickets off at home functionality. There may be some fans who would turn up on impulse but I don't think there would be that many. I struggle to give spare tickets away unless I give people a few days notice.

I disagree with compulsory ticket purchases. Also, having many other fans coming for weekend cup games over the last few years helped to build our supporter base, thus leading to the expanded North Stand.

 

[MatthewEdwards95]

Good post

I think the Club have made good progress with the print tickets off at home functionality. There may be some fans who would turn up on impulse but I don't think there would be that many. I struggle to give spare tickets away unless I give people a few days notice.

I disagree with compulsory ticket purchases. Also, having many other fans coming for weekend cup games over the last few years helped to build our supporter base, thus leading to the expanded North Stand.

Like I said, I do not agree with it entirely. It is merely a suggestion for a compromise with the club. You have to be realistic and accept you won't get everything you want. I was merely saying, the positives outweigh the negatives of the compulsory cup schemes. Of course there are other compromises, other than compulsory cup schemes, that could be suggested. I was just throwing one option out.

"It doesn't stop middle class season ticket holders, who can already afford £750 for a season card, buying cheaper tickets and not turning up"

In terms of getting people in seats, I think some good suggestions have already been made on this thread. Getting people who already have tickets to turn up is something the club needs to work on drastically.

 

[MatthewEdwards95]

If cup schemes became compulsory I will cancel straight away.
I shouldn't be forced into buying something I don't want.
I am already in the domestic cup schemes anyway, but refuse to pay for the UCL as I disagree with the competition and the corrupt state of it.

I am on the FA Cup and League Cup scheme only, like you I refuse to join the UCL scheme due to the corruption of UEFA and how they treat us. That is why I said "although I do not agree with this entirely", it was just one potential compromise to offer the club. There are other compromises that could be made instead!

 

[LadislavMplmx]

It doesn't stop middle class season ticket holders, who can already afford £750 for a season card, buying cheaper tickets and not turning up

my seasoncard costs considerably more than £750 a season....i am in no way "middle class".....where has that bollocks come from?

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

The only way the club would even entertain talking to a supporters group is if it was properly organised like a union, with a complete registered membership and elected representatives

We used to have a forum called Points of Blue, which any fan could attend. Meetings were held at the Etihad three of four times a year and there would be people like Vicky Kloss, Sara Billington, Peter Fletcher there for the club. You could bring up anything and discuss it with the club and they could tell us what was happening and what they could or couldn't do. So one thing we achieved was that we got an understanding about which would be standing areas and which wouldn't in PoB. It also helped that it was fans who generally attended home and away games, so really knew all the problems and had some good suggestions. But that was stopped when Soriano came along and replaced by City Voice.

We do have an Official Supporters Club - have they said anything on the issue? There are people on here who belong to branches so has anything been said at branch meetings?