Seat Counters - 2023/24

[Tim of the Oak]

City doing ticket price increases by stealth.

I’m sure it won’t happen, but when Soriano & Co take their seats on Wednesday before the Burnley and they see all the empty seats around the ground, I hope it hits home, and makes them think about their ticket pricing strategy, and their obsession at growing revenue over as many City fans as possible being able to afford tickets to watch the best team football team in the world.(atm) If there are 2700 empty seats now, how many empty seats will there be when the NS is expanded, Pep goes back to Barcelona, and the teams performances and wins start to tail off? For Soriano & Co that should be a worrying not just for the future, but for now.

When did we stop making returns from other Clubs available for £30. It seems like an own goal for the sake of a few grand.

Hopefully, there will be a pick up in sales if ticket price sanity returns.

 

[jrb]

I think Kevin spoke out before when we were faced with empty seats but he got slaughtered by a lot of fans who we worried that he had irritated Pep. I know this was a few years back but once bitten etc. Maybe he should call out ticket prices. I’m just not sure where it would get us.

As the person who is tasked with running the OSC he should call out the high match day ticket prices in public, regardless of Pep, or Pep being mentioned. He is in a privileged position where he can speak on behalf of 1000’s of City fans who have given him a mandate to do exactly that. All I see and hear from him is silence on the matter of high match day ticket prices.

 

[Beaker]

I think Kevin spoke out before when we were faced with empty seats but he got slaughtered by a lot of fans who we worried that he had irritated Pep. I know this was a few years back but once bitten etc. Maybe he should call out ticket prices. I’m just not sure where it would get us.

I remember him giving an interview on Sky after Pep criticised the attendance for a Champions League match. Instead of talking about the shambles at the ticket office at the time, (we even eventually all got emailed an apology from Danny Wilson) and the overall costs and difficulties City fans are subjected to, he talked about how many more tourists United and Liverpool have.

It was pathetic and added to the ridicule we receive.

 

[M18CTID]

Or there could be 9,000 empty seats!

I doubt that but when it comes to games like Wednesday's the club will have to be more creative than charging £60-odd a ticket, as there will be more seats to fill

 

[Tim of the Oak]

I remember him giving an interview on Sky after Pep criticised the attendance for a Champions League match. Instead of talking about the shambles at the ticket office at the time, (we even eventually all got emailed an apology from Danny Wilson) and the overall costs and difficulties City fans are subjected to, he talked about how many more tourists United and Liverpool have.

It was pathetic and added to the ridicule we receive.

I wouldn’t get too worked up about a bit of banter Beaker from plastic rags or dippers. As a Stretford Blue I took it and dished it out on a daily basis. Isn’t it a fact that they have more day trippers.

I can understand JRB saying Kevin should call out excessive ticket prices but he might feel it is better working behind the scenes on this.

Yes I recall Danny sending out a message apologising for problems with the electronic ticketing but within months the explanation for lower turnouts was that it was a symptom of getting over the pandemic.

 

[M18CTID]

I think Kevin spoke out before when we were faced with empty seats but he got slaughtered by a lot of fans who we worried that he had irritated Pep. I know this was a few years back but once bitten etc. Maybe he should call out ticket prices. I’m just not sure where it would get us.

That was a different issue to ticket pricing to be fair. He'd have been better advised calling out ticket prices than the greatest manager we've ever had. Don't get me wrong, Pep's comments about atmosphere do irk me sometimes - not least because his mates upstairs are partly responsible for it due to the ever-increasing gentrification of the fanbase - but Kevin Parker publically calling him out just added fuel to the fire.

 

[There is a Light]

We need an Independent Supporters Association to speak out about such matters.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

That was a different issue to ticket pricing to be fair. He'd have been better advised calling out ticket prices than the greatest manager we've ever had. Don't get me wrong - Pep's comments about atmosphere do irk me sometimes - not least because his mates upstairs are partly responsible for it due to the ever-increasing gentrification of the fanbase - but Kevin Parker publically calling him out just added fuel to the fire.

Kevin thought he was sticking up for our fans and Pep was just trying to gee up our crowd. It was a storm in a tea cup.

I must have seen or heard a longer interview where Kevin metoned affordability / people’s incomes only stretch so far.

Anyway, on a wider point about affordability, I’ve sourced a dozen tickets for members of my Branch at or below face value. For example, an adult and U21 for £50. These are mainly though the Facebook pages and members of the Branch not being able to make it. I do think OSC Branches are part of the affordability solution but there is more the Club could do.

 

[jrb]

I wouldn’t get too worked up about a bit of banter Beaker from plastic rags or dippers. As a Stretford Blue I took it and dished it out on a daily basis. Isn’t it a fact that they have more day trippers.

I can understand JRB saying Kevin should call out excessive ticket prices but he might feel it is better working behind the scenes on this.

Yes I recall Danny sending out a message apologising for problems with the electronic ticketing but within months the explanation for lower turnouts was that it was a symptom of getting over the pandemic.

That’s fair enough Tim, if he is doing that, but we don’t know he is doing that. Why doesn’t Kevin Parker use his social media account or the OSC social media account to say something like, I‘m talking to the club about the high match day tickets prices, which aren’t acceptable, or words to that effect? That at least shows he‘a addressing the issue, he’s talking to the club, and City fans know about it. I don’t expect Kevin Parker to go into detail about the discussions, but a statement and an update should be a minimum. Everything can’t be confidential when fan representatives speak to the club about issues that affect City fans, such as high ticket prices. As it is there is absolutely nothing to show or suggest Kevin Parker is speaking to the club on our behalf about the high match day ticket prices.

 

[jrb]

Kevin thought he was sticking up for our fans and Pep was just trying to gee up our crowd. It was a storm in a tea cup.

I must have seen or heard a longer interview where Kevin metoned affordability / people’s incomes only stretch so far.

Anyway, on a wider point about affordability, I’ve sourced a dozen tickets for members of my Branch at or below face value. For example, an adult and U21 for £50. These are mainly though the Facebook pages and members of the Branch not being able to make it. I do think OSC Branches are part of the affordability solution but there is more the Club could do.

Nobody can ever call you out Tim. You do a great job. Maybe you should run for GS of the OSC one day? :-)

Unfortunately the vast majority of City fans aren’t in OSC branches and they aren’t aware of the ways they can source cheaper match tickets. They go on to the City ticket page, look at the ticket prices, and think I’m not paying that for a match ticket.