M18CTID said:
I guess they may pick up a couple of hundred extra season ticket sales with this leaflet campaign but I can't see it being many more than that. At the end of the day pretty much every United fan that is in some way clued up about their club will know that there are season tickets available to anyone who wants one. Those that aren't or are always moaning that they "can't get a ticket" are probably not dedicated enough to lay out the cash for one anyway, and would sooner watch them down the pub.
Does anyone have any idea of roughly how many season tickets remain unsold there? Someone mentioned 10,000 the other week but as funny as that would be I can't see that many bailing out in one go, probably more like 2,000-3,000 tops. What can't be disputed is that this is at least the 4th season running that United have had a number of season tickets on open sale.
Frankly I'm amazed that Utd's season ticket sales have held up as well as they have over the last 3-4 years.
I'm one of many many former long standing season ticket holders that have been priced out in recent seasons and at some point it isn't possible to keep replacing everyone who gives up. The automatic cup ticket scheme is a major disincentive when trying to work out whether or not you can afford a ST, tickets are often sold for several matches together, well in advance of the games, making it difficult to know whether you will have cash available in your account at the time of the sale....remember, fail to buy tickets on 2 occasions and you're in breach of the terms & conditions of your ST sale and can then forfeit that ST.
I actually seem to recall an unnamed Glazer spokesman being quoted, just after the takeover, as saying they'd know they'd pushed ticket prices too far when they started to see empty seats at games. Maybe that time is nearer than they envisaged, the ST waiting list is long gone and, despite a price freeze this year, they're now having to advertise like never before to shift tickets.
Daft thing is, if they weren't so short sighted, the demand's still there. I'm sure they'd sell out ST easily if they scrapped the auto cup scheme. A bit of imaginative pricing should also endure nigh on full houses for cup games. Whatever people say on here Utd still have a huge fanbase in Manchester and the North West who, whilst not being able to afford (or maybe want) season tickets, will buy tickets for one off games if realistically priced. Even in the league cup, despite prices rarely being significantly reduced, attendances have been pretty healthy since ST holders were not forced to buy them. The lowest gate in that time was 46,000 against Wolves in 2010/11 and all other gates (even against Crystal Palace) have been over 50,000.
I doubt the Glazers will ever agree to scrap the cup scheme tho so you boys should have plenty of banter ammunition over the next year or 2 as Utd try increasingly desperate measures to boost sales.....Enjoy!! ;-)