Stadium Expansion

[Shaelumstash]

Ok so now we need 20.000 extra fans if they come once every other game or 30,000 extra fans if they come once every 3 games where are they all coming from .load sof true blues have stopped going for one reason & another but you think there is a big demand i just dont see it

we are not just talking about ' fans' some will be people who just want to see top teams and top players 'tourists ' if thats what you want to call them. But when in Barcelona i went to a game because I could, same as when I went to Boston I went to an NFL game. Its all extra income.

Nail hit on head, this is the market that'll be targeted, like it or not.

You'll always have your hardcore Blues that'll go regardless but it's the day trippers that'll fill the seats.

It's not just the seat, it's the food, drink and souvenirs which is a tidy income to think about?

I completely disagree. The cost of marketing to tourists who might come to one game per season is huge compared with the cost of marketing to a local blue who doesn't attend regular games, but could realistically go to every game.

Without any shadow of a doubt the first people who will be bombarded with marketing is the Blue members. The club already has their details, already knows they have a strong interest in City, already know where they live. The first priority will be to move Blue members to Gold or Platinum.

Next will be people who've bought tickets in the past and not been for a while. Then locals who might have a passing interest but don't go to games. I would say tourists will be the last group that will be marketed to. For one, it costs a lot more to market to people who don't live locally or have any interest in the club. And 2 the Return On Investment is likely to be far lower because if they don't live locally they are more unlikely to come regularly.

There will no doubt be marketing directed at wealthy UAE nationals because of our close links with Etihad / the country, but the idea that current Blue members won't be able to get a ticket because a load of Japanese / American tourists will be buying the seats and demanding popcorn and foam fingers is just nonsense.

 

[Marvin]

A magnificent football stadium in the heart of Manchester sells itself. You don't need a leaflet through the door asking you to buy a season ticket (ask Man Utd's Ticket office about that)

 

[peter.evans]

I think we have to expand to 60k for the games where we would get 60k and there would be many of them ! So what if for some games we only get 40k in a 60k capacity, so what ?!! I went to hundreds of games at Maine Rd where the attendance was 20k ish in a 40k plus capacity stadium ( the Huddersfield 10-1 and i was there only had a crowd of 19,000 but who cared ?). Everyone in the crowd still had a great time and wern't hung up on x number of thousand short of capacity. We are still one of the top 5 supported clubs in the country and have been for 40 years on the whole !!

 

[blueparrot]

we are not just talking about ' fans' some will be people who just want to see top teams and top players 'tourists ' if thats what you want to call them. But when in Barcelona i went to a game because I could, same as when I went to Boston I went to an NFL game. Its all extra income.

Nail hit on head, this is the market that'll be targeted, like it or not.

You'll always have your hardcore Blues that'll go regardless but it's the day trippers that'll fill the seats.

It's not just the seat, it's the food, drink and souvenirs which is a tidy income to think about?

I completely disagree. The cost of marketing to tourists who might come to one game per season is huge compared with the cost of marketing to a local blue who doesn't attend regular games, but could realistically go to every game.

Without any shadow of a doubt the first people who will be bombarded with marketing is the Blue members. The club already has their details, already knows they have a strong interest in City, already know where they live. The first priority will be to move Blue members to Gold or Platinum.

Next will be people who've bought tickets in the past and not been for a while. Then locals who might have a passing interest but don't go to games. I would say tourists will be the last group that will be marketed to. For one, it costs a lot more to market to people who don't live locally or have any interest in the club. And 2 the Return On Investment is likely to be far lower because if they don't live locally they are more unlikely to come regularly.

There will no doubt be marketing directed at wealthy UAE nationals because of our close links with Etihad / the country, but the idea that current Blue members won't be able to get a ticket because a load of Japanese / American tourists will be buying the seats and demanding popcorn and foam fingers is just nonsense.

But if the strong rumours of theme park, hotel and restaurants are true then the possibilities of selling packages, including taking in a premier league game, stadium and museum tours etc, would be huge

 

[southstander93]

you are way out of touch if you think fans spend on average £10 at the bar each game

It was more of a general idea than an actual figure.

I imagine some people don't spend a penny and I imagine some people spend more, the point was more aimed at the fact that a lot of money will be made each game through things other than tickets, so if the club can get more fans in by selling cheaper tickets, therefore making more revenue overall, then why not? Not for league games of course as the fans are already in the seats, I was thinking more towards the early rounds of the FA Cup and Carling Cup.

Whether other people agree is up to them, doesn't bother me to be honest, I just wanted to have my say. :)

 

[cleavers]

I completely disagree. The cost of marketing to tourists who might come to one game per season is huge compared with the cost of marketing to a local blue who doesn't attend regular games, but could realistically go to every game.

You don't really need any resources to market to these matchgoers, they are already coming because they want to see the best teams/players. For instance we could probably sell 5-10000 neutral tickets for the upcoming derby (though the security of it would obviously need a very big rethink), and they'd likely go for the more expensive tickets, for me they are one step down from corporate.

City fans may not like these attending our games, but they are a money tree, they buy everything to do with the experience. We have to accept this type of matchgoer, ultimately it might even keep our ticket prices down. At the moment we don't have any room for them.

 

[fathellensbellend]

love to see city playing in a 60k stadium, and filling it, and us as a group will be bringing 4 young kids in the very near future, but there is one serious cloud on the horizon.

we are absolutely maxed out with the cost of modern football, there is no more to give.

 

[DD]

Just a thought for those who thought it was too big. People laughed at Arsenal when they said they could get 60,000 every week for they had a capacity of 38,000 at Highbury and didn't always fill it for cup games. Now they get that 60,000 for every single league and cup game and God knows how more they could get.

A lot of people don't get tickets because it's made too difficult for them. Give them a bigger stadium, take off loyalty points/Blue Card restrictions etc and more would come.

We might not get 60,000 straightaway but we might comfortably get 52,000 for bog standard games and 60,000 for the big ones.

At the end of the day, given FFPR, if we want to stay big, we have to think big and act big. That's what our owners do.

 

[scotty123]

certainly needed and I'd welcome it with open arms, it'd look top notch if it was three tiers all the way around although I'd like a one tiered kop at one end if I'm being picky

A one tiered kop at one end seriously needs looking at, always been impressed with the Holte End at Villa Park or as blues who go to Dortmund will see the yellow wall at one end of the ground.
The club should make it be known though to all supporters who buy a season ticket or a match ticket that its a singing end and not a flask and tartan rug section, they should stay in C.B. Stand if thats what they want

 

[blue mash up]

The new Friends Arena in Stockholm is 51k seater and for 300 million with retractable roof came very reasonable.