At the recent Arsenal home game there was loads of empty seats around us in 324 . It isn't normally like this and is the first time it's happened this season. I couldn't understand why this was but the third party ticket selling of tickets has probably overpriced its tickets for this game and therefore couldn't sell them on even though it was one of the biggest games of the season. Greedy bastards.This discussion was clogging up the North Stand Expansion thread so I thought it was worth moving to a separate thread.
There is the possible suggestion that the club are selling both home and away tickets at inflated prices to third party ticket sites and then these third party sites sell them on for an even greater sum.
If you attended the Real Madrid game recently, then you'd know that something didn't feel right about the makeup of the crowd, especially since the club introduced a more stringent criteria for official site purchases. Despite this, and in the run up to the game, at least one third party site had tickets for this fixture listed as soon as they officially went on sale.
As well as tickets appearing on these third party sites on the day they go on sale to points holders, there is an account about a ticket being listed on the ticket exchange and it never appearing on the planner. When the person who sat in the seat was asked where the ticket was purchased from they claimed they had bought it from a third party site. In another example, a seat which was listed on a third party site at an inflated sum appeared back on the official planner on the morning of a fixture for the official asking price having failed to sell previously.
At away games we're also seeing large volumes of individuals who clearly don't have the points to attend the fixtures. This number seems to be increasing year on year and there are now large amount of away tickets appearing on these third party sites for £200+. My understanding is that City Matters have approached the club for a breakdown of the away ticket allocation and where away tickets are being allocated, however, the club have refused to provide this information.
The concern is that the club are looking to increase ticket revenue and have relationships in place with at least one third party ticket outlet where the club can sell tickets to them for x2+ of what someone would pay on the official ticket site. This was done in plain site with Viagogo back in the day where they’d have tickets on sale for games the moment they became available to purchase and at highly inflated prices. Unfortunately, this seems to be the beginning of it all.
True City fans should not be priced out by tourists so that others can make an extra buck. Not only does it impact atmosphere, but it also leads to empty seats in 'sold out' fixtures. I believe full transparency is now required for City ticket distribution for both home and away fixtures.
I look forward to the post-stadium expansion, post-Pep begging letters offering discounted tickets and free pies, throwing crumbs to the legacy fans.While I share the same pov on all of your points, the club clearly don't give a fuck who attends these days, and the disconnect is getting worse by the game. I've said it before, but we don't have the numbers for this to be sustainable, and when the time comes when we're not quite as exciting to watch as we are now (and it 100% will) and the demand from day-trippers drops off, the absolute clowns at City making these short term decisions are going to look fucking pathetic.
They stopped giving a shit the second Garry Cook left, if we're honest.It's utterly deplorable that City refuse to share the away allocation. But I think we really need to all understand that the day's when this club gave a fuck about oridinary fans have long gone. They don't give a flying fuck. Wether that's tourists/away fans buying seats at the Etihad or the massive growth of tourists at away games (esp in London). Time to wake up.
Well most scalpers use bots to secure things that are in short supply to sell on at a profit, the potential mark up on away tickets is huge, even if someone only did it for 10 tickets at a cost of £300 the agencies would sell them for ca £2500, a lot of profit margin in there.I think that’s more pesky kids with advanced computer skills than anything more sinister.
I'm a matchday member and I think they give them out based on the amount of ticket points you have now however the only ones I've heard I might get the chance to buy is the new Flexi-gold ST which you can't renew after a season anyway.Is the season ticket waiting list still a thing? I remember them making a big song and dance about it around 10 years ago but haven't really heard anything about it since.
I imagine the club would get rid of season tickets altogether if they could.
I’m sure you will be able to renew a flexi gold after a seasonI'm a matchday member and I think they give them out based on the amount of ticket points you have now however the only ones I've heard I might get the chance to buy is the new Flexi-gold ST which you can't renew after a season anyway.
Well most scalpers use bots to secure things that are in short supply to sell on at a profit, the potential mark up on away tickets is huge, even if someone only did it for 10 tickets at a cost of £300 the agencies would sell them for ca £2500, a lot of profit margin in there.
Point is the system isn’t fit for purpose, the 18-25 allocation should be done on a ballot to give all those who qualify a fair chance.