Ticket prices are now a problem at City

It's frustrating that as soon as financial pressure got applied the 'we care about the fans' that was so prevalent in the first few years has rapidly disappeared. I actually think our season ticket prices are pretty reasonable but the matchday prices are a fucking pisstake. Hopefully the expansion helps with this.
 
LoveCity said:
Prestwich_Blue said:
Blue Maverick said:
Maybe but it doesn't look good on TV or add to atmosphere, plus factor in what those extra 7000 may spend at the stadium and shop etc.
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I'm not saying it's right and in fact I'm just writing an article for KOTK about this very subject.

But we have to face the fact we're run by accountants and marketing people now. I absolutely agree that having a full, noisy stadium looks far better than one with loads of empty seats. The former actually encourages people to want to become part of it in my view whereas once you see empty seats you tend to think "Well I can always get a ticket when I want one" or "I'm not bothering making the effort to go as it looks dead."
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What is the cut-off point though?

Would City be happy with 20,000 tickets sold at £120? That'd make £0.4m more than 40,000 at £50 for example.

I think the first sign of problems with these new hikes was right away - Liverpool at home barely sold out, our first home game against last year's champions runners-up. Two seasons ago this would have been sold out 3-4 weeks in advance, but London prices made it a very late sell out. Same prices next season in the expanded stadium would mean lots of empty seats.
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I think the timing of the Liverpool game was a contributing factor though LC. Matches in August tend to sell at a slower rate as plenty of fans are away on holiday. Liverpool away (the 2-2 draw in Brenda's first home league game as dipper manager) from 2 seasons ago which was on the same bank holiday weekend as Liverpool at home this season sold out to City fans on a far lower points total than you'd expect for that fixture and IIRC Stoke away a few weeks later sold out on much higher points. Significantly, the Chelsea and Spurs home games recently both sold out about 3 weeks in advance.
 
without a dream said:
It's frustrating that as soon as financial pressure got applied the 'we care about the fans' that was so prevalent in the first few years has rapidly disappeared. I actually think our season ticket prices are pretty reasonable but the matchday prices are a fucking pisstake. Hopefully the expansion helps with this.
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This is it in a nutshell.The prices if you can attend every match for a season ticket are great,even with platinum mine only works out around £33 a game. The worrying aspect is they appear to be rising about £50 a year and where does it stop?
 
Tonight is the first home champions league game i`ve not attended. Simple truth is (as others have said) I can not afford my season ticket and the high prices of the champions league games.
City should look at including the champions league group stage games as part of the season ticket, that way I can at least justify paying a constant increase year after year on my ST.

My worry is that in 2 or 3 years time, even the season ticket will be beyond my means.
 
Crumpsall Blue said:
Tonight is the first home champions league game i`ve not attended. Simple truth is (as others have said) I can not afford my season ticket and the high prices of the champions league games.
City should look at including the champions league group stage games as part of the season ticket, that way I can at least justify paying a constant increase year after year on my ST.

My worry is that in 2 or 3 years time, even the season ticket will be beyond my means.
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With you there pal.

Not going to this or other cup games. Just cannot justify spending the money
 
I'm not in any of the cup schemes...don't care...just buy the standard league ST...and pick & choose what cup games I go to when i've got spare cash...I'm going tonight...might stretch to Bayern

It's steep following top flight football but so is most things these days...the UK is a rip off full stop

Would love to see comparable season ticket prices abroad...bet as a league we are one of the most expensive in the world..maybe even THE most expensive
 
All this 'asking the fans for their views' is just shite. I replied to a couple over the last few years, but it's a waste of time, as all they're interested in is maximizing their takings. I'll guarantee you right now that they already know how much season tickets will be in 2 years time, and you can be sure that they're higher than they are now.
 
Even as someone who is only responsible for their own ticket, price increases and cup scheme demands have forced me to be far more selective this season than previously and consequently I won't do anywhere near as many away days. Quite how someone who is responsible for several tickets finds the means to fund them all amazes me. Personally, I've stopped completing the endless club surveys that appear in my inbox largely because I don't feel anyone at the club listens or cares. It's impossible to fathom their ticketing strategy, virtually to a man on this forum everybody believes that a full ground at reasonable prices is better than a 2/3 full one at unreasonable prices. I'm sure that many people have stressed this point when completing club surveys, I know I have, but seemingly to no avail.
In the last two seasons 3 seats have become available near where I sit in East Stand level 2 because of price increases, one this season and two last season, none of them have been taken up as a permanent season ticket (it would be interesting to know if the club have even made them available as season tickets). Quite often they remain unused unless someone has had to move to accommodate away supporters or its a 'big game', against Chelsea I sat next to two rather large, and rather smelly Russians whose only redeeming feature was that they were both supporting City. Those of us without any influence (other than to stop paying) can only hope that those supporters who maybe do have the ear of the club can bring about a positive change in direction.
 
I agree with the op. Ive not missed a home game in 20yrs but there comes a point where enough is enough and this yrs group stage games are it. Got to offset season ticket hikes someway. Plus it doesnt help with the hate most of us hold towards uefa after being shafted by ffp knowing our hard earned money is being distributed around the likes of the rags with fines.
 
This may well be my last season at city as a season ticket holder, I've had one since I was in primary school as well :-(
 
How much would it cost do every single home and away game (excluding euro aways)


Say £600 on a season ticket - £600
Plus £20 spends at each game - £380
19 league aways at £100 a trip minimum (travel and tickets) - £1900
10 cup games home at say £50 each - £500
5 cup aways at £100 each - £500

Nearly 4k a year to follow City home and away?? Without going mad?
 
I had to bite the bullet last season and come out of the CL and League Cup schemes- I've stayed in the FA Cup scheme as its just about financially manageable(and I love a Wembley Cup Final)

Luckily city have generally kept the league cup games viable so I haven't missed a game yet-in regards the CL my initial excitement and European trips was soon replaced by apathy and a disgust with the corruption on show from UEFA and the corrupt officials.

I've resigned myself to never going to a CL final.

Fingers crossed I can keep my Season Ticket for a few years longer.
 
I used to go to the match with a group of about 21-22 lads. We used to fill a mini-bus to away games. Now we're lucky if four of us meet up in the pub before a home game. For a lot of home games now i just drive down on my own!

Same with family. Used to have about 8 family members (Mam Dad an uncle and a cousin all went together, another cousin and her two sons went together, then another uncle used to go with his mates) with seasoncards. My Mam had been going since the 1970s, with only really the early-mid1980s where she stopped going when me and our kid were nippers. and my Dad since the 1960s pretty much none-stop. Now it's just me! Don't have any other family members going anymore.

It slowly started about five years ago but it really started becoming too expensive to a lot of my mates and family three years ago. That was when the biggest cut off was after we won the FA Cup. Loads said they couldn't afford that price hike.

My seasoncard has gone up £180 since loads of my mates/family stopped three years ago. and i am right on my limit. Away games have gone right out the window. It's gone from every single one (unless work didn't allow me to go) from around 2003-2007, to now going to about five per season if i'm lucky. If there is a similar price hike i think this is it for me after this season, possibly one more just because i really don't want to give it up. I can't decide whether to ditch the seasoncard and still go to odd Prem games and up my away games, or to sack off the cup schemes and away games and keep the seasoncard. Hard choice! A choice i shouldn't have to fucking make in my eyes.

But the club don't give a fuck. They don't care about losing the custom of all those mates of mine and family members who've fallen away in recent years, and they won't care when i fold neither. They're probably happier to lose my custom and bring in some chumps who will pay anything and probably spend a load more at the food kiosks and in the club shop.

Modern football is rubbish!


What would be good is if the club came out and told fans what's what. Where are they heading with ticket prices? What are their near and further ahead future plans? Is it going to be a £65 price hike every single year from now on? Are they just doing that until they reach a certain price?
 
Each to there own I guess. Im going tonight and cost me £35 plus parking plus a brew best part of £50.

Got a few mates say they can't afford tonight, but it won't stop them going to the pub every night and having 5+ pints a night and prob around 5-6 packets of fags for the week lol. If they even halved there beer and fag intake, they could piss it. Always crying poverty yet always seem to find money for beer and fags!

(btw I don't drink or smoke)
 
Tonight's prices are reasonable in my opinion. I have paid £35 for mine and £15 for my Grandson who makes his first trip to the Etihad tonight.
 
I get to about 8/10 games a season with the odd 1/2 away. It is 100 pound a pop with fuel/food. 1000 for 10 games. It used to be worse when the Mrs came but thankfully she does not come anymore, otherwise I would become pure armchair.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
It's simple. Selling 40,000 tickets at £50 brings in significantly more revenue than selling 47,000 tickets at £35.
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But getting £90m from Sky dwarves either figure.
 
ifiwasarichfan said:
Tonight's prices are reasonable in my opinion. I have paid £35 for mine and £15 for my Grandson who makes his first trip to the Etihad tonight.
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I agree that the prices are reasonable. My argument was more that an increase in season ticket prices has seen fans drop out of the cup schemes and miss the extra games altogether. By doing this City have gained an extra £50 in season ticket money but lost £100+ in cup ticket sales.
 
ManCityX said:
ifiwasarichfan said:
Tonight's prices are reasonable in my opinion. I have paid £35 for mine and £15 for my Grandson who makes his first trip to the Etihad tonight.
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I agree that the prices are reasonable. My argument was more that an increase in season ticket prices has seen fans drop out of the cup schemes and miss the extra games altogether. By doing this City have gained an extra £50 in season ticket money but lost £100+ in cup ticket sales.
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City still have the cheapest ST and I believe that once the expansion is completed and we've pushed FFP up where it belongs, the ticket prices will stabilise - may even come down. I honestly think that our owners want to make an impression word wide as good owners who understand the game and will do so by reducing ticket prices. Trouble is, FFP thwarted them for a season or so. I don't think that you will have to give up your ST next year…. there will be more cheaper tickets. However, other clubs will have to take a similar stance but we know they won't. We'll be the driving force in reducing ticket prices in the next few years. IMO - revisit this post next year!!!
 
Whilst every club has a fairly wide range of fans with varied incomes, City's has never really one of particular affluence.
Sadly, a large portion of City's traditional fan base are finding themselves priced out of the market, whilst newer, more affluent fans are arriving.

Yes, City offer an exceptionally cheap ST by other PL team standards, but this is a tad misleading as it's more of a gesture (a welcome one) than a concerted effort to keep prices low.

I don't know what the answer is. There's money to be made from more affluent fans, and the likes of UEFA are determined to see that we do make money. Accepting we have unusually wealthy owners, we still need to try an operate as a business and make as much money as we can (within some semblance of morality).... that said, there still feels a fundamental 'wrongness' about lifelong fans no longer able to attend, or even new fans struggling to meet the financial demands of supporting City.

I would love City to make a truly grand gesture. A worldwide statement on ticket pricing for fans. One that would set a new standard in treating fans well.
It sounds like a fantasy to suggest free tickets, or £100.00 season tickets for all etc, but why must it be fantasy? why?
 
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