Seat Counters - 2023/24

jrb said:
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.
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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.
 
Tim of the Oak said:
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.
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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.
 
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Tim of the Oak said:
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.
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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.
 
Beaker said:
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.
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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.
 
Tim of the Oak said:
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.
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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.
 
M18CTID said:
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.
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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.
 
Tim of the Oak said:
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.
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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.
 
Tim of the Oak said:
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.
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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.
 
Tim of the Oak said:
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.
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We’re looked upon now as being a shite fanbase and it would appear the club do everything they can to enforce that view. We have got nobody speaking out for us in any meaningful way and too many blues don’t think ticket prices are much of an issue as they have season tickets and don’t look at the bigger picture.

I dread the extension I really do.
 
There is a Light said:
We need an Independent Supporters Association to speak out about such matters.
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We do, but the club wouldn’t recognise it. The club would point to the OSC and City Matters as the official channels between the club and the fans.
 
Beaker said:
We’re looked upon now as being a shite fanbase and it would appear the club do everything they can to enforce that view. We have got nobody speaking out for us in any meaningful way and too many blues don’t think ticket prices are much of an issue as they have season tickets and don’t look at the bigger picture.

I dread the extension I really do.
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There has to be a massive and radical rethink on match day ticket prices by the time the NS is expanded, regardless of what the clubs fan data shows. It’s bums on seats that matter, not the amount of fans on a data base/spread sheet/graph.
 
jrb said:
There has to be a massive and radical rethink on match day ticket prices by the time the NS is expanded, regardless of what the clubs fan data shows. It’s bums on seats that matter, not the amount of fans on a data base/spread sheet/graph.
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The rethink will unfortunately happen after the NS is open when the club see 1000s of unsold tickets due to prices.
The day it actually opens the tv cameras will be panning all over it. Will be embarrassing if it looks half empty.
 
Beaker said:
I’m not sure how much we really need to increase match day profits to remain competitive. I get they don’t want to fall further behind but it’s such a small percentage of overall revenue. Personally I think it’s a pissing contest between the executives and the fans are paying for it.
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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.
 
Beaker said:
We’re looked upon now as being a shite fanbase and it would appear the club do everything they can to enforce that view. We have got nobody speaking out for us in any meaningful way and too many blues don’t think ticket prices are much of an issue as they have season tickets and don’t look at the bigger picture.

I dread the extension I really do.
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The extension will be fine for the ‘big’ games, but as for the others I have my doubts.
 
jrb said:
SSL3 - 1053
ESL3 - 668
CBL3 - 442
L2 - 229
L1 - 321
Total - 2713
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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.....
 
I had the chance to wander around the whole of the Spurs stadium on Friday night. The number of corporate entrances and facilities was unbelievable. I fear that this is exactly what City are craving for and the NS extension will be the perfect opportunity for them to start. I don't know the exact number of corporate spaces they have each game but it will be substantially more than City - even taking into account the bigger overall capacity.
 
jrb said:
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.
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I agree on the off putting ticket prices JRB. The tickets also seem to have got more difficult to transfer for recent home games, that’s making it harder to pick up / pass on below face value tickets.

Yes saying tickets are too expensive for some of our fans wouldn’t do any harm.

It would have been good to have got a home Cup Draw so they more affordable tickets could be available.
 
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