Season Tickets - 2023/24

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

Maybe true but we were worse than we are now over 25 years ago. If you didn’t have a season card we often had to pay over the odds. That includes watching bore draws against the likes of West Brom and Port Vale over the festive periods when the only tickets available to buy were inflated corporate tickets.

It’s easy to look back with blue tinted spectacles but we now pay to watch the best football in world football. According to Bastien Schweinsteiger on Talkshite, adoption of Peo’s style of play has even managed to ruin the German National team lol.

I hope the expanded North Stand will satisfy all the Blues desperate for a season card.

I'm afraid the last bit of your post is wishful thinking unfortunately.

In my view, there is zero chance of significant numbers of new, Gold, seasoncards being issued when the extended NS opens as the policy now is to reduce the proportion of SC holders (Silver is just an extended ticket bundle). Say, for example, 5000 'SCs' are offered then firstly they will be offered to existing L2 SC holders who will be being moved in order to expand corporate / premium seating in other parts of the stadium. Then all other existing SC holders will be given the opportunity to relocate. After that then some / most seats will be offered as Silver only. The vacated seats around the stadium will be only sold on a match by match basis in the main.

Final outcome? Seasoncard holders will make up around 60% of capacity compared to an estimated 75% (my estimate based on a figure of 40k generally reported over recent years). From a commercial aspect the club will consider them akin to handing out free money to supporters.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I'm afraid the last bit of your post is wishful thinking unfortunately.

In my view, there is zero chance of significant numbers of new, Gold, seasoncards being issued when the extended NS opens as the policy now is to reduce the proportion of SC holders (Silver is just an extended ticket bundle). Say, for example, 5000 'SCs' are offered then firstly they will be offered to existing L2 SC holders who will be being moved in order to expand corporate / premium seating in other parts of the stadium. Then all other existing SC holders will be given the opportunity to relocate. After that then some / most seats will be offered as Silver only. The vacated seats around the stadium will be only sold on a match by match basis in the main.

Final outcome? Seasoncard holders will make up around 60% of capacity compared to an estimated 75% (my estimate based on a figure of 40k generally reported over recent years). From a commercial aspect the club will consider them akin to handing out free money to supporters.

That may well be the case but let’s hope there are at least a few thousand new season card holders.

I’m not sure letting all existing season card holders have priority over match day Cityzens members for “all” new season cards in the expanded North Stand is essential. The Club could decide on a ratio eg 50/50 between season card holders and match / day members. I’m not sure if that is unfair? There needs to be input from 1894 in filling the singing blocks etc.

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

Maybe true but we were worse than we are now over 25 years ago. If you didn’t have a season card we often had to pay over the odds. That includes watching bore draws against the likes of West Brom and Port Vale over the festive periods when the only tickets available to buy were inflated corporate tickets.

It’s easy to look back with blue tinted spectacles but we now pay to watch the best football in world football. According to Bastien Schweinsteiger on Talkshite, adoption of Peo’s style of play has even managed to ruin the German National team lol.

I hope the expanded North Stand will satisfy all the Blues desperate for a season card.

In all honesty the comments weren't just aimed at the club - although I stick with we're now "one of them" in terms of treatment of support/cost.
I've suddenly become ambivalent after the CL win - that's just me personally. I respect those that have had season tickets longer than me (I had other priorities back in the day)
Today's leak about the FA Cup shows how little the PL gives a feck about football in general.
The pecking order in terms of Cash Cow is/will be - Super League (it will happen eventually if we like it or not), Champions League (hence the ridiculous reformat), PL then the other piddling bits.
It's just not for me going forward post Istanbul

 

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

That may well be the case but let’s hope there are at least a few thousand new season card holders.

I’m not sure letting all existing season card holders have priority over match day Cityzens members for “all” new season cards in the expanded North Stand is essential. The Club could decide on a ratio eg 50/50 between season card holders and match / day members. I’m not sure if that is unfair? There needs to be input from 1894 in filling the singing blocks etc.

Allowing Cityzen members the chance of a SC is absolutely a good thing. The problem is that the club wants to reduce the proportion of SC holders in favour of selling seats at matchday / package pricing.

Hopefully I'm too pessimistic but I think this is the new reality.

 

[Jazzyblue]

Allowing Cityzen members the chance of a SC is absolutely a good thing. The problem is that the club wants to reduce the proportion of SC holders in favour of selling seats at matchday / package pricing.

Hopefully I'm too pessimistic but I think this is the new reality.

I don't doubt that all clubs would like a Liverpool scenario where new season ticket holders are kept to a minimum and a big chunk of any new seats end up being corporate. But there's a few things that might get in the way of that for lots of clubs, including us. We're now a trendy club but unlike the Scousers and the Rags I don't actually believe we've been trendy long enough to pack out the ground entirely without the legacy fanbase, and that's a good thing. At the same time, there are signs that the club is worried about the legacy fanbase knocking on a bit. But they're not going to get enough younger fans in on a recurrent basis for a sustainable future if prices keep going up and up and there are no season tickets. We can say, 'well tourism will fill those seats', but banking everything on tourists and one-offs in this economic climate is risky, and while we have got loads of fans across the world, we haven't got whole towns of generational support in Ireland and Scandinavia like the Rags and the Scousers - maybe in 25 years, but not yet.

Right now we've got Pep, we've got Haaland, we've got the CL, we've got 115+ lies putting the club under pressure to monetise everything that moves, we've got no serious competition from Old Toilet and we've got no pressing PR reason to prioritise affordability. But things can and do change. Won't be this season, won't necessarily be next, but I'm not convinced City will be able to pull away from issuing new season tickets in fair numbers permanently - all businesses benefit from having a proportion of income that's recurring - that's a bit of cushion for if we dip in form.

 

[BillCarlisle]

There have to be some long-standing Blues for whom winning the CL is a natural point to retire. Sadly it’s easy to imagine their STs won’t be returned to sale. I’d expect league fixtures against Forest, Luton and Sheffield Utd will be priced for the local/loyal non-ST holding fan, alongside early stage CL and FA Cup and Carabao if the opposition isn’t glamorous. I don’t even think Burnley tickets will be cheap because of the Vinnie factor.

Last season, with three to pay for, I spent a small fortune on matchday tickets - an ST was not viable for me when the kids were younger and there will be lots of other parents in the same boat. But if the numbers being rumoured here are true I would start to feel insulted and will consider going less and letting a non-singing, smartphone-wielding neutral have the seat. Every company and their dog is out to fleece the working man and woman these days but the difference with football is it’s discretionary and support is based on goodwill. Not the case with food, fuel, utilities. The club really does risk alienating the people who will come week in week out for the next sixty years if these numbers are correct. And there will come a time when those Blues are needed. Nothing goes up in a straight line.

I've decided to hang up my CL boots now we've won it. Never really liked the competition that much in its current format and I like even less the revamped version which is on the way. I've been there for every round since we first entered it but now is the right time for me to bow out.

I've renewed my SC and the other 2 Cup Schemes so City won't be seeing the back of me for a good while yet, and my SC is going nowhere.

 

[foggy1974]

Can you download the seasoncard yet

 

[Tim of the Oak]

In all honesty the comments weren't just aimed at the club - although I stick with we're now "one of them" in terms of treatment of support/cost.
I've suddenly become ambivalent after the CL win - that's just me personally. I respect those that have had season tickets longer than me (I had other priorities back in the day)
Today's leak about the FA Cup shows how little the PL gives a feck about football in general.
The pecking order in terms of Cash Cow is/will be - Super League (it will happen eventually if we like it or not), Champions League (hence the ridiculous reformat), PL then the other piddling bits.
It's just not for me going forward post Istanbul

Yes the Prem running the FA Cup is like putting foxes in charge of the hen house. We are half way to a Super League with the enlarged Champs League and Club World Cups.

 

[Edstari]

Confirmed that there will be no new season tickets this year as the club wants more tourists. FFS.
No chance that not one single ST holder out of the 40,000 decided not to renew so this is a blatant lie from the club, and don't expect any to "become available" either because match tickets are released next Wednesday.

 

[JCLUK]

Really disappointing not to see any made available.