superbia package-major flaw

[JohnMaddocksAxe]

It needs to happen as we all said this is a product of EUFA pair play rule.
If you keep the prices low you will never break even and so fall foul of the EPP.
If we need to blame anyone blame Plattini.

This I'm afraid is just rubbish, this is nothing to do with FFP or Platini.

Even if 700 take the package at £2500 its £1.75m, only about half of that will come to City, as it covers all away tickets, which have to be paid for by the club to the home team. The only way we make much out of it as a club, is if we go out at the first hurdle of every cup competition, not exactly the clubs goal.

Add to that the other 35000 season card holders ALL going platinum (very unlikely), and you gain another £1.75m.

Even if you take both sums as money into City's bank account its £3.5m in total.

If we buy another Tevez it will cost £40m, at least TEN times what the extra revenue from the membership gives the club.

The main revenue for the club comes from TV money from the PL (around £50m), and the CL (a conservative £30-50m, depending on how far we go), so £80-100m in total, which makes the extra money from the membership schemes insignificant, though they will increase that portion of revenue obviously.

The membership schemes are designed to sell loyalty for cash, that is all, and its wrong.

Why do the club want this ? Well a successful City will be supported by a richer more corporate fan, who will spend much more AT THE CLUB per head than a welder from Moston, and as much as people bury their heads in the sand, the club want these fans more than it wants the working class fan, because they spend more around the club. They will then reward their "loyalty" by making sure they have the best tickets available for games away, where they can also sell corporate packages (revenue into the club) with a match ticket.

This is, of course, correct.

Yet it will not stop people mindlessly repeating the same old ridiculous justifications for any old extortion technique that is dreamed up purely to milk the fans of every last penny.

Silly ticket price rises might cover part of a leg of a Wayne Bridge but the way some zealots talk about it you would think that City's participation in Europe is finely balanced and determined only by how much money you as a fan are prepared to borrow from the local loan shark.

It's complete nonsense. FFP will be met by a variety of measure, of which ticket prices will be such a small part that it will be insignificant.

The more interesting reason is why they have been on a drive to change the demographic of the fans for the past couple of years.

In my opinion it has Cook's finger prints all over it. He was here before the take over on a huge salary and as possibly the most high profile chief exec in football.

To justify being retained in this position he has to have a selling point. His selling point is milking a market for all it can be milked for. He is marketing pure and simple. He is all about showing how he can increases revenue streams and 'building' a prestige brans.

Don't get me wrong, I don't imagine the owners are averse to changing City's fan demographic to a 'luxury brand' but their participation and place at the club isn't solely based around that concept. If Cook cannot show that he can milk the fan base (and change it if necesary) for every last penny then there really is very little that marks him out as justifying his salary and place as the most high profile chief exec in football.

I think it is pretty obvious that the whole Superbia, Platinum and Gold scheme is pure marketing and straight from the marketing man's handbook. And attracting an as-cash-rich-as-possible demographic is vital to any marketing man 'building' a brand.

I don't excuse the owners from this drive to milk the fans for every last penny. In reality the buck stops with them. But their losses here (which will NEVER be made back through the football club - by traditional means anyway) are so much that I find it hard to believe that the manic milking of the fans and the significant rises in the price of everything over the last two years are high on their agenda. I don't think they are against it but much more likely, imo, is that they are somewhat detached unaware of what such pricing does to the traditional fan, whilst being fed the 'impressive' progress on revenue streams by those on the ground all the time.

I have some sympathy with the "that's what happens, deal with it" mob. They view football and football clubs in a totally different way to me. I don't support ASDA or Tesco but if they see it as comparable then it's just a difference of opinion.

What I would respect more though is if Cook reflected their blunt and honest view of things, instead of constantly giving it the crap about the traditional fans being massively important to him. Next to the importance he places on justifying his position and salary and increasing fan revenue streams it is so insignificant it isn't funny.

 

[eggbert]

SURELY the biggest flaw is that the people in the top bracket of loyalty points who decide they dont fancy going as many away games as they used to were slowly being caught up by people on 5000-6000 going every single game home and away but now they will not be caught.... if they can afford £2500 they can stay at the top.... and still not go every game

BUT im not moaning about the system because we needed the extra revenue coming into the club somehow and i cant argue with the prices hardly going up.... im just going to make sure i go to every game physically possible next season with my 5000 points up to now

 

[Oystercatcher28]

class divide in our fans, boooooo

 

[kp789]

Surely it's worth £2500 just for a lovely black card?

...


And the right to wave it under the nose of your pleb mates !

Obviously, I won't be having one !

i did a quick estimate on how much someone would spend by taking up the platinum ST and joining all the schemes, as well as buying all domestic league away tickets.

i estimate you are looking at around £3.5k to get the same deal as superbia on the platinum scheme

I can't get it beyond about £1,800- £1,900 at most for this season using rough estimates for aways and Cup ties.

£475 - S/card
£760 - 19 Prem aways at an average of around £40 per match
£200 - 10 Home Cup ties at average of £20 per match
£80 - 3 away domestic Cup ties
£150 - 6 away Europa ties at £25 per match
£200 - Wembley SF and Final (assuming Cat 1 seats for both)

£1,855 in total. Even allowing for a 10% increase for next season it's still only just over £2,000 and we may not get as many Cup ties. I doubt that the other "perks" add £500 in value.

European away games will be a lot dearer than that mate

 

[VOOMER]

The biggest flaw surely is if we were to get knocked out of any of the cups in the early stages, you'd have paid for nothing. Has this been covered anywhere?

of course not, it's about milking money out of fans, nothing to do with loyalty or fairness.

the whole thing stinks, to earn 2000 loyalty points the true way is to have gone to about 100/150 away games, how much does that cost, but now all the effort counts for nothing, it's about who's got cash now, and is willing to stump up.

these schemes deserve total contempt, sadly it's just another nail in the coffin of the ordinary match going fan who turns up at shit games at shit oclock.

like i say mr cook should look at why the loyalty points scheme was introduced, but he wouldnt know, because he had bugger all to do with city then, he was probably watching his 1st love birmingham city.

Could you possibly define the ordinary fan?

 

[Leyther]

I really don't see the issue with the scheme - if those eligable want to take it up, it's a bit of gamble cost wise, but would save between £150 - £250 on booking charges and postage costs a season - or a similar amount on petrol & over 30 hours a season going to the ground to pick up a ticket in person.
Fair play to them.

If, as seems to worrying people, people with money just use it to queue jump for away tickets or big match tickets - they can do that now by taking up corporate - so whats the difference?

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Just read through all the responses on this post and it obviously has caused a lot of contention.
I am no where near being offered a superbia card and for one would seriously only give it consideration if I was lucky enough to:-

A-Afford the cash up top-Not many can in the times of cut backs,increased food,fuel costs etc etc
B-Had the time to go to every single game home and away. I would doubt many fans do unless you are a single wedged up geezer (or lady). I have family and young kids and I would tend to suggest many on here do to.

I think anyone who purchases this should not be judged as a more loyal than another. I couldn't attend a lot of games a few years back due to serving abroad in the forces but I would never say I was less loyal than the next fan just because they go to more games than I did.

On a final note-Can everyone upgrade to platinum if they want? I have 4250 points and my lad has 2000 (he is only 11) or will it only be offered to certain numbers on certain points...

 

[Doddy]

I have 8100 points but no way can i afford £2500 in one hit.What is my next option?.Will i be offered another package once the deadline date has gone?

 

[Corky]

I have 8100 points but no way can i afford £2500 in one hit.What is my next option?.Will i be offered another package once the deadline date has gone?

You get the option afterwards.

I can only see around 100 going for this.

What happened is that the loyal fans were spending £400 to £500 on a season ticket, but double that on away tickets.

This is a way of making money from away tickets.

"There's no breater symbol of your pride in Manchester City tha becoming a member"

"If you miss this chance to join, your name will go on a waiting list, and invitations will only be re-issued if an existing member drops out".

"Your dedication is second to none, amd you have the air miles to prove it. Now it's time for all that loyalty to be rewarded."

It is like a sales pitch for a two bob sales man to give gives the hard pressure sell.

Plus the OP is correct, many teams give the basic 5%, and some have grounds under 15k, others play behind closed doors, so you could still miss a match.

 

[nozzyblue]

I have 8100 points but no way can i afford £2500 in one hit.What is my next option?.Will i be offered another package once the deadline date has gone?

You get the option afterwards.

I can only see around 100 going for this.

What happened is that the loyal fans were spending £400 to £500 on a season ticket, but double that on away tickets.

This is a way of making money from away tickets.

"There's no breater symbol of your pride in Manchester City tha becoming a member"

"If you miss this chance to join, your name will go on a waiting list, and invitations will only be re-issued if an existing member drops out".

"Your dedication is second to none, amd you have the air miles to prove it. Now it's time for all that loyalty to be rewarded."

It is like a sales pitch for a two bob sales man to give gives the hard pressure sell.

Plus the OP is correct, many teams give the basic 5%, and some have grounds under 15k, others play behind closed doors, so you could still miss a match.

This. My dad was offered the superbia membership and the letter that came with it was disgraceful but very clever. '' you are the type of fan clubs dream of'' '' for our ultimate supporters the ultimate membership'' '' you have been chosen'' ect. But im with the op on this that once the blues with 7000+ points that cant afford it dont accept it then the club will offer it to blues further down the pecking order meaning that maybe a rich city fan with 3000 points will get to all the games but a less rich city fan with 7000 points will miss out on a few games.