Priced out?

[Prestwich_Blue]

When I brought that up our resident happy clappers defended the club for running their very own secondary market ticket touting business.

Stockholm syndrome is fucking rife on here.

I'm no happy clapper but this view is complete nonsense. People say "Its my seat & I'll do what I want". They're wrong. It's the club's seat and if you put it on the ticket exchange you get back what you paid for it, pro-rata. The club then sell it at the same price as any other spare seat in the same price bracket. I really don't see the problem with that. You've not lost out and the person buying it has paid the going rate. No one has been ripped off.

People tell those unable to use tickets to advertise them on here, or other sites, at "face value". But what is "face value" for a season ticket; is it the pro-rata price or the price the club are asking on the open market? If you're asking the latter, then it's you who is ripping someone off as you're making a profit at their expense.

 

[BungleBear]

Tamworth will net about £50-£60k from the gate.

The majority of usual fans will have season tickets and it may save them having to do other fund raising ventures this season.

They nomally get 1,300 and the crowds have dropped over 100 from last season when they got promoted, so they will have higher costs and lower income. Often happens when a team gets promoted then struggles.

They will sell out 4k, and the ones moaning probably never go.

 

[jrb]

I'm no happy clapper but this view is complete nonsense. People say "Its my seat & I'll do what I want". They're wrong. It's the club's seat and if you put it on the ticket exchange you get back what you paid for it, pro-rata. The club then sell it at the same price as any other spare seat in the same price bracket. I really don't see the problem with that. You've not lost out and the person buying it has paid the going rate. No one has been ripped off.

People tell those unable to use tickets to advertise them on here, or other sites, at "face value". But what is "face value" for a season ticket; is it the pro-rata price or the price the club are asking on the open market? If you're asking the latter, then it's you who is ripping someone off as you're making a profit at their expense.

I sell my seat ticket to friends for £30 if I can’t make the match. The same price as an away ticket. Most people think £30 for an away ticket is a fair price. I think £30 for a home match ticket is a fair price.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

I'm no happy clapper but this view is complete nonsense. People say "Its my seat & I'll do what I want". They're wrong. It's the club's seat and if you put it on the ticket exchange you get back what you paid for it, pro-rata. The club then sell it at the same price as any other spare seat in the same price bracket. I really don't see the problem with that. You've not lost out and the person buying it has paid the going rate. No one has been ripped off.

People tell those unable to use tickets to advertise them on here, or other sites, at "face value". But what is "face value" for a season ticket; is it the pro-rata price or the price the club are asking on the open market? If you're asking the latter, then it's you who is ripping someone off as you're making a profit at their expense.

I know how ticketing works, I work in the events industry. I do this for a living.

Of course the way the club operates is up to them but it is still unethical in my view. They force season ticket holders to use the exchange by intentionally making it as much of a pain in the arse as they can to use any other method. They do this so they can sell the returned ticket for a higher price. They make far more profit from individual ticket sales than they do from season tickets.

I can see a medium term future where season tickets are phased out entirely. Season ticket holders pay less for tickets and I would imagine spend a lot less in the stadium than occasional tourists too. The club do not value "legacy fans" and haven't for a long time, arguably since Cook was shown the door. They are an inconvenience.

 

[johnnytapia]

I'm no happy clapper but this view is complete nonsense. People say "Its my seat & I'll do what I want". They're wrong. It's the club's seat and if you put it on the ticket exchange you get back what you paid for it, pro-rata. The club then sell it at the same price as any other spare seat in the same price bracket. I really don't see the problem with that. You've not lost out and the person buying it has paid the going rate. No one has been ripped off.

People tell those unable to use tickets to advertise them on here, or other sites, at "face value". But what is "face value" for a season ticket; is it the pro-rata price or the price the club are asking on the open market? If you're asking the latter, then it's you who is ripping someone off as you're making a profit at their expense.

“ The club then sell it at the same price as any other spare seat in the same price bracket.” They also sell them as part of a “package” though don’t they? That’s my understanding. The club give you £50 quid but sell it for £499. Not every ticket but certainly a good few. Or have I got that wrong?

 

[jrb]

How many friends and family can you do to your list?

 

[Psychedelic Casual]

The next five to ten years are going to be really important for City in the stands. I don’t think the club are envisioning what’s about to come.

A huge proportion of our season ticket holders are older blokes. Soon they will be getting to the age where they will have to pack it in due to it being too much of a struggle to attend, too unwell to attend or, unfortunately, they die.

Add to that the constant loss of season ticket holders due to price rises.

Add to that the constant loss of season ticket holders due to getting fed up of the sanitised bollocks and influx of tourists at City games.

I know approaching 30 lads who’ve given up their season tickets. I know three more who are thinking about doing so.

Add to that the very expensive individual matchday tickets, especially child tickets, and local fans and local families especially not being able to afford to go.

Add to this the lack of initiatives for local fans, like Liverpool have.

I think the club are, with no long term vision, actively loving all these ‘legacy fans’ dropping away from being season ticket holders so they can sell them as match tickets to tourists and earn more money to go towards their annual targets which allows them to earn their annual bonuses.

But that strategy is slowly ruining our support. Since the treble (or including the Bayern and Madrid home games in the treble season) the amount of tourists in the ground has noticeably increased, same at away games. They add nothing toward the atmosphere. Many aren’t even there to support City: some are just there to take in a game, some are fans of the opposition, some are fans of an opposition player and some are fans of a City player but have no interest in City winning.

This dilution of our support in the stands cannot keep happening.

Add to this that there are no new season tickets for the next generation of local fans, once all these older fans end their attending of City games, and City aren’t as successful on the pitch so attract fewer tourists, who are the club going to fill 62,000 seats with?

I live in Manchester’s Garden City, the city’s largest district (by some distance), in Wythenshawe. Wythenshawe is swarming with City fans yet City are not a presence in the Wythenshawe area… at all! If you are a citizen of Wythenshwee and didn’t have the internet or SkySports/TNT, you wouldn’t know City existed.

City are constantly boasting about where Shauny Wright and Lescott are around the world with the trophies, yet in all the years we’ve been winning trophies now in this era, the trophies have never been to Wythenshawe. You don’t see City in the local schools round here and there seem to be very few CITC initiatives around here (they did some Summer holidays sessions at the Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre a few years ago but little else).

These are the kind of areas that City are going to need to rely on in the coming years due to the concentration of City fans in this area, yet they aren’t acting like they understand this. They’re not envisioning the future coming years.

We’ve already seen this season that empty seats are starting to become noticeable. The prices for Boxing Day were so out of touch they were ridiculous. £66-78 for adult tickets, £38-42 for child tickets, that have to be paid for before Christmas, with the game on Boxing Day when there are no trains and you’re relying on local fans? Fucking stupid by the club. At £30 for adults and £15 for kids, a family of four could have attended the other day for £90 as a Christmas family treat… but not in City’s eyes, they’d rather have empty seats.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I know how ticketing works, I work in the events industry. I do this for a living.

Of course the way the club operates is up to them but it is still unethical in my view. They force season ticket holders to use the exchange by intentionally making it as much of a pain in the arse as they can to use any other method. They do this so they can sell the returned ticket for a higher price. They make far more profit from individual ticket sales than they do from season tickets.

I can see a medium term future where season tickets are phased out entirely. Season ticket holders pay less for tickets and I would imagine spend a lot less in the stadium than occasional tourists too. The club do not value "legacy fans" and haven't for a long time, arguably since Cook was shown the door. They are an inconvenience.

No one forces you to use the exchange. There's a ticket forum on here, and there's other sites on social media that only allow sales at face value. If you're an OSC member, you can advertise it via your branch, as mine and others do.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

“ The club then sell it at the same price as any other spare seat in the same price bracket.” They also sell them as part of a “package” though don’t they? That’s my understanding. The club give you £50 quid but sell it for £499. Not every ticket but certainly a good few. Or have I got that wrong?

I think you've got that wrong. For one thing the packages are mostly done via the official partner agencies, who will have paid us for that authorisation. The chances are the club is making tickets available well in advance and not at thr sort of price, if they're charging the agency anything at all.

Also, they have blocks of seats set aside for the agencies as I understand it, rather than take a chance on a seat coming up. And if the club are directly offering a seat at a premium price, that would either be a premium seat or you'd get a meal for that. The club aren't charging £499 for a bare general admission seat.

 

[johnnytapia]

I think you've got that wrong. For one thing the packages are mostly done via the official partner agencies, who will have paid us for that authorisation. The chances re the club is making tickets available well in advance and not at thr sort of price, if they're charging the agency anything at all.

Also, they have blocks of seats set aside for the agencies as I understand it, rather than take a chance on a seat coming up. And if the club are directly offering a seat at a premium price, that would either be a premium seat or you'd get a meal for that. The club aren't charging £499 for a bare general admission seat.

Okay; I’ve got that wrong. Ta