We have been in discussions with supporters’ groups,” said Storrie. “It is a difficult time for the club. The team has done pretty well recently, since Dean has been in charge. We’re 11th and looking to continue this little run.
“We are hit, like all businesses, by all our suppliers putting their prices up between 10 and 15 per cent.
“The minimum wage is going up, so we’ve got to take that into account for all our part-time staff on matchdays.
“Inflation is generally still at 10 per cent and although we have got slightly subsidised heating, that ends in October. We’re going to have a real big hit there.
“We have to take it all into account and look at what we can do to increase the income of the club but, at the same time, be fair and reasonable to supporters. I think we’ve got a balance and that will all come out at the end of March.”
Im sure they will market any freeze on season ticket prices as some kind of bonus we should be grateful for. Or the freeze will be part of the early bird sales, and then they have the dilemma about if they should raise them after the early bird period.
Assuming they do freeze the prices, any increase will be a disaster. Either way I think we will be heading into our lowest ever season ticket sales for 30 odd years or something?
@MuttleyCAFC said: The problem the club has with selling season tickets is optimism, or lack of it. It has to find a way of injecting some confidence into supporters. If they think they are likely to have an enjoyable experience they will want to commit themselves to watching every game in a season. If they think it is going to be painful, they may well not.
@Redmidland said: Just commenting on PS article in todays SLP and the meeting with CAST. I think TS/PS/MS have a problem re season tickets. If, as it seems likely, they are announcing the new prices in a few days time, if they expect any potential 'early-bird' take up, then they will be hugely disappointed. Unless there is/has been a 'take-over' with plans for the new season being communicated (and I don't mean 'pie in the sky' ones) then like many others I will not be renewing my ST. This season I bought my ST during the 'early-bird' period as I had hope that this would be a season that we 'pushed on'. How bloody wrong was I? I've missed more home games than I've been to, purely due to crap football and perceived cost-cutting. I will NOT get fooled again. PS and Co. would be better keeping the ST prices on the back-burner for now, get the takeover sorted, one way or another, and then announce them. Why try and sell something when the buyers have no idea what they are going to get? To me that is economic maddness!
@Airman Brown said: understand season ticket prices will be announced at the end of next week and they appear to be rolling the pitch for price increases. That will be a pretty disastrous mistake if it happens, in my view. Remember when they talk about costs increasing that the biggest element of the cost base is player wages and I don’t think the wage bill has increased. Neither has the rent. In any case, you can’t close the operating loss by increasing prices.
The issue with season tickets is not the existing price but confidence, which is currently near-zero based on the behaviour of the owner and the quality of what he has put on the pitch. Asking people to pay more to watch what they can reasonably expect to be an extended period of rubbish, mitigated by vague promises, is madness.
I read with amusement the “discovery” that thousands of ST holders aren’t attending as a portent of lower sales. Sandgaard lost at least 20% of sales last summer and will probably lose at least that this time, but the missing thousands have been a phenomenon for the last decade at least as I’ve regularly explained on here. Of itself it means nothing in terms of sales.
I think most on here know when the club are in a position to 'give it a real go'. The club just has that feel about it. We're also long enough in the tooth to know when we're getting mugged off. Spiegel and co will get found out pretty quick if it is another dance up the garden path.
@cafcfan said: The season ticket thing is fraught with difficulty. In the past many of us have been suckered into coughing up at the "Early Bird" stage.
This is madness. It is like believing a car salesman when he says he is selling you a Mercedes and you get delivered a Nissan Juke. How many times can we continue falling for hollow promises?
Would you pay a fortune to a B&B for a crappy room if they told you the money was going to improve the experience for future guests? Of course not. (Although the rail industry has been peddling this line for decades.)
So, my take is if season ticket prices go up, total income will fall, as sure as night follows day. Frankly many of us have had enough.
If incoming owners truly believe they are going to improve things, what about doing something innovative? Just for illustrative purposes. how about a season ticket which is more expensive than at present? Lets say, equivalent to £40 per game, while walk up prices would be £50. But both sets of supporters only pay the full whack if the team gets three points. If only one point is earned, you get a 66% refund, taking the walk-up price back down to £16.67 and the season ticket price to £13.33. No points = a full refund.
So extrapolating the current season to the finish, we'd have approx. 8 wins 8 draws and 7 loses. That would give you a total season ticket cost of £426.64.
If we pissed the league, the cost would be much more but not many would mind would they?
@MuttleyCAFC said: The problem the club has with selling season tickets is optimism, or lack of it. It has to find a way of injecting some confidence into supporters. If they think they are likely to have an enjoyable experience they will want to commit themselves to watching every game in a season. If they think it is going to be painful, they may well not.
@Redmidland said: Just commenting on PS article in todays SLP and the meeting with CAST. I think TS/PS/MS have a problem re season tickets. If, as it seems likely, they are announcing the new prices in a few days time, if they expect any potential 'early-bird' take up, then they will be hugely disappointed. Unless there is/has been a 'take-over' with plans for the new season being communicated (and I don't mean 'pie in the sky' ones) then like many others I will not be renewing my ST. This season I bought my ST during the 'early-bird' period as I had hope that this would be a season that we 'pushed on'. How bloody wrong was I? I've missed more home games than I've been to, purely due to crap football and perceived cost-cutting. I will NOT get fooled again. PS and Co. would be better keeping the ST prices on the back-burner for now, get the takeover sorted, one way or another, and then announce them. Why try and sell something when the buyers have no idea what they are going to get? To me that is economic maddness!
I am sympathetic to that, but there is a sizeable chunk who will buy whatever the circumstances and the club may feel it might as well take their money now and try to attract the rest later. That said, any increase on the £625 top price last year is surely going to attract derision in the context of the utter nonsense put on the pitch.
@ken_shabby said: All in the air as it stands but anyone who watched the film Wolf of Wall Street might remember the phrase 'supply and fucking demand'. here there is a vast supply of seats and not a lot of demand. A fan base who are feeling they have been had repeatedly with promises of great football and success. People who no longer go because they have found more fun things to do on a saturday than yelling abuse at average footballers. and watched us getting beaten bu Fleetwood and Bolton. The Erly Bird offer is unlikely to get much interest unless people see some sign of a marked improvement on the pitch - not just a promise of increase investement when a proposed takeover goes through. If I were TS, I'd sit on this until I had an idea who was going to be in charge as right now, price increases will just push more fans to say sod it, I'll pick and choose when to go, and pay individual matches.
I find it baffling that any new owner with serious wealth would see season ticket sales as a priority? We're shit. Everyone knows it. And there's a lot of work to do before people like me put my hand in my pocket and commit to this club on a longer term again
Wouldn't they be better off putting their money where their mouth is. Invest heavily in the playing side and maybe then they might see walk ups go in a rising trajectory. That would then give them a platform to have a good season ticket push the following season.
Season tickets should be priced to fill the ground, not empty Tommy’s pockets when he has to subsidise the club even more because he let somebody give fans a bigger reason to stay away. If anybody shows him a plan to not lower season ticket prices for next season he should show them the door.
Likely I'll renew, but if it's a big increase I'll probably move seats to the lower tier of rbe covered end and save some money. The shit we're being served is not worth £400+
It's a simple decision for me. If Sandgaard is still involved with the club I won't be renewing my season ticket. If a takeover happens I shall give the new owners the benefit of doubt and renew.
I'll renew whatever. Will switch off with cognitive dissonance to all the shit off the pitcg nd shit served up on it and will go for as long as me or the club is alive.
Got my kids and nephew into it now and they love it. It's ingrained in me and has been part of my family for 4 generations now so no turning back now.
If prices go up, could fans organise a boycott where nobody purchases to put pressure on the club to bring prices down? If almost nobody bought a season ticket they’d have to rethink. It’d be an absolute pisstake if they up the prices after the 2 seasons we’ve just had
If prices go up, could fans organise a boycott where nobody purchases to put pressure on the club to bring prices down? If almost nobody bought a season ticket they’d have to rethink. It’d be an absolute pisstake if they up the prices after the 2 seasons we’ve just had
Impossible, we went down this road with the match boycotting.
Many fans will renew to retain their seats and sit with friends regardless of who owns us, what players we sell/sign and the cost.
Its all about supporting the club, having a day out and watching some football.
I will see what happens on ownership before committing? If it all stays the same or gets worse I hope some serious boycotting helps force the exit of TS (swallowing his losses/giving up the ghost on recovery). I will not renew until the club is sold, but likely take a gamble on what happens next when it is.
TS is the only one to blame for royally worsening our club’s position. Whatever success he has generated in business elsewhere, he has proven how those skills are not transferable in running a football league club.
I will renew reluctantly as I support the club and I always try and renew as soon as the ticket prices come out early to save on price. Although do I do my head tested as to why to watch the "turgid" rubbish we get. Holden needs to be given money to invest in the team. I didn't renew because of the "promotions and discounts". I saw that as a "bonus". However, I was furious with the bonus last year. I was led to believe that you could get 10% on food and drink? and yet when I tried to ask for my discount in Crossbars. First on a season friendly day to be told they were noy aware of it. Then on the league game they knew nothing about it. I had a "diplomatic argument with the staff at Crossbars and then a lovely manageress. She said if she could show me the terms and conditions. When I did read the terms and conditions it was restricted for use on the retail outlets on the concourse. What was the point of that? Also why were some of the benefits you can only use at certain days anyway like discount in the club shop on a certain day etc. Not everyone can attend every game. Some of us work on Saturday's on an 8-4 shift.
I guess I will be renewing regardless of the price. It’s what I do, I like saying that I’m a season ticket holder.
Yep I’m one of those muggings that will renew our 4 no matter what, but the club needs to realise that the pool of such muggings is reducing year on year.
Comments
We have been in discussions with supporters’ groups,” said Storrie. “It is a difficult time for the club. The team has done pretty well recently, since Dean has been in charge. We’re 11th and looking to continue this little run.
“We are hit, like all businesses, by all our suppliers putting their prices up between 10 and 15 per cent.
“The minimum wage is going up, so we’ve got to take that into account for all our part-time staff on matchdays.
“Inflation is generally still at 10 per cent and although we have got slightly subsidised heating, that ends in October. We’re going to have a real big hit there.
“We have to take it all into account and look at what we can do to increase the income of the club but, at the same time, be fair and reasonable to supporters. I think we’ve got a balance and that will all come out at the end of March.”
Im sure they will market any freeze on season ticket prices as some kind of bonus we should be grateful for. Or the freeze will be part of the early bird sales, and then they have the dilemma about if they should raise them after the early bird period.
Assuming they do freeze the prices, any increase will be a disaster. Either way I think we will be heading into our lowest ever season ticket sales for 30 odd years or something?
@Redmidland said: Just commenting on PS article in todays SLP and the meeting with CAST. I think TS/PS/MS have a problem re season tickets. If, as it seems likely, they are announcing the new prices in a few days time, if they expect any potential 'early-bird' take up, then they will be hugely disappointed.
Unless there is/has been a 'take-over' with plans for the new season being communicated (and I don't mean 'pie in the sky' ones) then like many others I will not be renewing my ST.
This season I bought my ST during the 'early-bird' period as I had hope that this would be a season that we 'pushed on'. How bloody wrong was I? I've missed more home games than I've been to, purely due to crap football and perceived cost-cutting. I will NOT get fooled again.
PS and Co. would be better keeping the ST prices on the back-burner for now, get the takeover sorted, one way or another, and then announce them.
Why try and sell something when the buyers have no idea what they are going to get? To me that is economic maddness!
Last year I spent £400 on a ST, this year I've spent £25 on 1 walk up. Congratulations dickheads.
@mattinfinland said:
If they put the prices up we could see our lowest ST record this century
@p@Plaaayer said: They can get fucked if they think I’ll be paying more money to watch the shit that they’ve rolled this season again next year
The issue with season tickets is not the existing price but confidence, which is currently near-zero based on the behaviour of the owner and the quality of what he has put on the pitch. Asking people to pay more to watch what they can reasonably expect to be an extended period of rubbish, mitigated by vague promises, is madness.
I read with amusement the “discovery” that thousands of ST holders aren’t attending as a portent of lower sales. Sandgaard lost at least 20% of sales last summer and will probably lose at least that this time, but the missing thousands have been a phenomenon for the last decade at least as I’ve regularly explained on here. Of itself it means nothing in terms of sales.
We're also long enough in the tooth to know when we're getting mugged off.
Spiegel and co will get found out pretty quick if it is another dance up the garden path.
Season ticket sales will reflect this
This is madness. It is like believing a car salesman when he says he is selling you a Mercedes and you get delivered a Nissan Juke. How many times can we continue falling for hollow promises?
Would you pay a fortune to a B&B for a crappy room if they told you the money was going to improve the experience for future guests? Of course not. (Although the rail industry has been peddling this line for decades.)
So, my take is if season ticket prices go up, total income will fall, as sure as night follows day. Frankly many of us have had enough.
If incoming owners truly believe they are going to improve things, what about doing something innovative? Just for illustrative purposes. how about a season ticket which is more expensive than at present? Lets say, equivalent to £40 per game, while walk up prices would be £50. But both sets of supporters only pay the full whack if the team gets three points. If only one point is earned, you get a 66% refund, taking the walk-up price back down to £16.67 and the season ticket price to £13.33. No points = a full refund.
So extrapolating the current season to the finish, we'd have approx. 8 wins 8 draws and 7 loses. That would give you a total season ticket cost of £426.64.
If we pissed the league, the cost would be much more but not many would mind would they?
The Erly Bird offer is unlikely to get much interest unless people see some sign of a marked improvement on the pitch - not just a promise of increase investement when a proposed takeover goes through. If I were TS, I'd sit on this until I had an idea who was going to be in charge as right now, price increases will just push more fans to say sod it, I'll pick and choose when to go, and pay individual matches.
We're shit. Everyone knows it. And there's a lot of work to do before people like me put my hand in my pocket and commit to this club on a longer term again
Wouldn't they be better off putting their money where their mouth is. Invest heavily in the playing side and maybe then they might see walk ups go in a rising trajectory. That would then give them a platform to have a good season ticket push the following season.
- One free drink for every home game - might even be cash positive in cross sales
- First round cup game included
- £50 discount on next years ticket if we finish in Top 6
etc etc.
Also need to incentivise pay as you go. Maybe:
- scrap the late purchase ‘tax’
- buy for 2 consecutive home games save £5 per ticket
- get a kids ticket for free
So many things they could do. But likely will not.
If Sandgaard is still involved with the club I won't be renewing my season ticket.
If a takeover happens I shall give the new owners the benefit of doubt and renew.
Got my kids and nephew into it now and they love it. It's ingrained in me and has been part of my family for 4 generations now so no turning back now.
Many fans will renew to retain their seats and sit with friends regardless of who owns us, what players we sell/sign and the cost.
Its all about supporting the club, having a day out and watching some football.
TS is the only one to blame for royally worsening our club’s position. Whatever success he has generated in business elsewhere, he has proven how those skills are not transferable in running a football league club.
cheaper kids tickets anywhere in the ground
ValleyNick has some good suggestions
rolling out existing price and structure is going to be a really tough sell and any increases would potentially be absolute madness