Seat Counters - 2023/24

[jrb]

Please stop spreading this myth that gate receipts are a small part of our income.
They are approx 12% of last years income .
Other top clubs gate receipts are between 16 to 20% of annual income, so we are way behind in percentage terms.

We are behind those clubs on match day revenues. Nobody can argue that. But we don’t have a larger or more affluent fan base as those clubs have. If City think by increasing match day ticket prices constantly they are going to claw that difference back, they are mistaken, because fans are voting with their wallets and with their feet for the less attractive games. I fully accept the big games will always sell out regardless of the match day ticket prices as the demand will always be there, especially with Pep as manager and a successful team.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

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

Completely agree. To me other than the 1894 group we don’t have anyone standing up for city fans. The club have increased ticket prices and forced plenty of people out of their seats as well.

Maybe they are doing things, but the official supporters club/ Kevin Parker don’t seem to be doing anything on issues like ticket prices. If they are you rarely ever hear from them.

We now have a situation where ticket prices are too high for a midweek against Burnley and have no one to challenge the club.

 

[Chappie]

We are behind those clubs on match day revenues. Nobody can argue that. But we don’t have a larger or more affluent fan base as those clubs have. If City think by increasing match day ticket prices constantly they are going to claw that difference back, they are mistaken, because fans are voting with their wallets and with their feet for the less attractive games. I fully accept the big games will always sell out regardless of the match day ticket prices as the demand will always be there, especially with Pep as manager and a successful team.

I totally agree with you,the priceses for Burnley are a disgrace.
All I am doing is making people aware that gate receipts are not a small piece of the clubs annual income.
I have put one on here for 30 pounds and can't get rid off it,so they have little chance of getting 61 pounds .

 

[jrb]

Don't forget the hundreds of tickets still on sale on the tout sites as well. Those sites are charging £47, plus booking fee of £14.10, so very conveniently comes in at £61.10...it looks as if their contract with the club forbids them selling below the club's asking price. So it's not about filling the seats, "price protection" is more important. Who'd buy from the club at those rates?? There will be plenty of Burnley spares on BM and on Facebook at about £30 each.

I went to one "lower grade" game last season , home v Brighton, October 22nd 2022, Sat 3pm KO, we paid £81 for 5 tickets for the same game, 2x adults £30 and 3 x £7 for kids, all after the £5 discount. This year, for similar seats, after the member's £5 discount, we'd have to pay £206 for a january mid-week v Burnley. I accept that Brighton was very cheap last year, kids were only £12 before discount, but the change is absolutely staggering. It feels like the club have hired some new "pricing guru", with a mission to squeeze every last £ from the matchday revenue, because we're Treble winners..

I adore Pep, unconditionally, but if he makes any comments about the fans after the Burnley game I'll be forced to write to him with some explanations. We need to have that ground absolutely heaving during the run-in, with passionate and vocal blues screaming their heads off, and most people on here have pretty good ideas on how to achieve that. If there are 10,000 matchday tickets to sell, and you knocked £25 of each off them, that's a "loss" of £250k, but not quite, because you'd sell them all cheaper, so say a loss of £175k. That's so tiny in the scheme of things, it's absolutely insane to chase that last £ at the expense of the atmosphere.

The club do sometimes listen I hope. I was disgusted at the Real Madrid UCL sales policy, and even though I got a ticket myself, I wrote to the club (as I know many others did), highlighting the flawed thinking, and the alienation of the loyal "legacy" fans. For Copenhagen at home, they have introduced a sales window for the fans who attended a group game. That doesn't suit me, it really lessens my ticket chances as I rarely get over to group games, but it's fair, so I can't complain. Let's hope we can knock some common sense into the ticket sales team.....

Great post.

Then you have to factor in additional lost revenue from drink, food, merchandise sales. It’s not only about losing revenue from unsold seats, it’s also about losing revenue from the drinks, food, and merchandise sales.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

FWIW re Burnley, there are a pair of tickets for sale in Kits Baron the Man City Face Value Tickets and Travel Page for £40 each. Tue seller says this is about a third of face value.

 

[jrb]

I totally agree with you,the priceses for Burnley are a disgrace.
All I am doing is making people aware that gate receipts are not a small piece of the clubs annual income.
I have put one on here for 30 pounds and can't get rid off it,so they have little chance of getting 61 pounds .

City don’t want you to do that mate. ;-)

They want City fans to use the OS ticket page. And most City fans who don’t know about BM or don’t read BM will, even though they are paying twice as much for a ticket.

 

[jrb]

The problem is, once fans start dropping off, they often don’t come back again. And if they do fancy a game, they need a Citizens card, they need to sign into their City account, only to find out on the ticket page that the cheapest adult match ticket is £61 against Burnley.

 

[HelloCity]

We are behind those clubs on match day revenues. Nobody can argue that. But we don’t have a larger or more affluent fan base as those clubs have. If City think by increasing match day ticket prices constantly they are going to claw that difference back, they are mistaken, because fans are voting with their wallets and with their feet for the less attractive games. I fully accept the big games will always sell out regardless of the match day ticket prices as the demand will always be there, especially with Pep as manager and a successful team.

They're not though. Demand is as high as it has ever been. Fans aren't dropping off - they're coming in bigger numbers than ever before.

There might be 1-2 games a season where it's a tougher sell - such as a winter mid week game against Burnley, but for rest, sales are absolutely excellent.

The club sold every available ticket for the first half of the season months before the games were all even played.

Additional note - Just checking the site for Burnley tickets and the away end third tier, which was returned to City, only has 8 seats in it which aren't singles. The vast majority of seats available in the rest of the stadium look to be singles and/or ticket exchange seats with some small groups in the third tiers which look like returns.

 

[Big Joe Corrigan]

We are behind those clubs on match day revenues. Nobody can argue that. But we don’t have a larger or more affluent fan base as those clubs have. If City think by increasing match day ticket prices constantly they are going to claw that difference back, they are mistaken, because fans are voting with their wallets and with their feet for the less attractive games. I fully accept the big games will always sell out regardless of the match day ticket prices as the demand will always be there, especially with Pep as manager and a successful team.

I have already given up attending the ‘big’ games due to the ridiculous prices of individual matchday tickets. I wonder how long it will be before I have to give up the ‘smaller’ games as well?

 

[train man]

Please stop spreading this myth that gate receipts are a small part of our income.
They are approx 12% of last years income .
Other top clubs gate receipts are between 16 to 20% of annual income, so we are way behind in percentage terms.

But that's flawed thinking Chappie - we know that the club is doing exceedingly well on prize money, tv monies, sponsorships etc, so that increased income would mean the gate receipts would naturally be a smaller percentage of our total revenue. Otherwise any trophy win and increased prize fund would necessitate a rise in ticket price (to maintain your percentage to total) where it could alternatively provide an opportunity to freeze or discount ticket costs...

Other 'top' clubs' gate percentage to total revenue may be higher coz they win fuck all..!