Home ticket deals

[Large Mendonca]

I also think there should be unallocated seating so you turn up on the day and sit where you can/wish to. Much easier to sit with friends who don't go every week.

It's called the Westfield Corner ;-)

 

[Gibbo89]

To be fair if the gates drop it will pretty much all be unallocated. Look I'm not advocating shafting existing season ticket holders and I thought the original idea of discounted season tickets for such loyal fans was a good idea. But only as a quick thank you and not as an ongoing thing. Because all you season ticket holders don't forget, your discounted price will inevitably mean everyone else has to pay more. And my original point was that we need to keep attracting new fans, not just keeping old ones, or for that matter well off ones.

 

[shorehamview]

To be fair if the gates drop it will pretty much all be unallocated. Look I'm not advocating shafting existing season ticket holders and I thought the original idea of discounted season tickets for such loyal fans was a good idea. But only as a quick thank you and not as an ongoing thing. Because all you season ticket holders don't forget, your discounted price will inevitably mean everyone else has to pay more. And my original point was that we need to keep attracting new fans, not just keeping old ones, or for that matter well off ones.

It's less of a "thank you" and more as an incentive for us to give the club some money early. Even if you pay by direct debit the club already has your money, as you are in effect paying a loan off to a loan company that has lent you the money for the ticket. The club needs us to give them some idea of the income they will be getting for the following season so they can plan accordingly. It's bulk buying, in the same way that an individual packet of crisps costs more than one from a multipack does, and buying in bulk almost always means that you'll be buying at a cheaper price per unit.

If that means that people who buy tickets per match have to pay a bit more then me then so what? I didn't complain about season ticket holders getting in cheaper back in the days when I paid per game. The main thing that will attract new fans isn't solely based on price. It's mainly based on the football they will get to watch, and attendances have fallen due to the lowering standard of football on offer.

Blaming season ticket holders for the prices of individual match day tickets is rather naive. And the discounting of prices for renewing season ticket holders is not a massive discount, and I'm very sure that if the prices next year were raised so that people who pay on a match-by-match basis could have cheaper tickets there would be outrage. The season ticket holders are the main fanbase, also known as customers in these enlightened days, and what no business ever intends to do is to upset their core customers on the off-chance that this will increase the number of new customers.

I wonder what percentage of the average match day crowd is season ticket holders, and of these how many are people who have renewed? I suspect the answer will be "a lot". Our average league attendance last season was 18,609, ninth in the whole of the Football League. How many of these were season ticket holders? And you want to bump their prices up to make it cheaper for people who pay on a match-by-match basis can have cheaper tickets? You'll not be a popular chap.

 

[Deleted member 875]

If we're on about deals, I dislike the current practice of heavily discounting season tickets to current/previous season ticket holders. It may be a thank you to "loyal" fans but is hardly an encouragement to new fans to come every week. Besides which it merely means that the same people sit in the same (best position) seats and could well be the reason why the atmosphere is none existent most home games. All season tickets should be similarly priced and I have to say that at least one area within the ground (not just stuck on the periphery) should be unallocated seating.

From that i can only surmise you are not a season ticket holder, and are jealous of the fact that season ticket holders get the best deal and best seats.

I have been a season ticket holder for several years and i feel that the deals that i get, and the priority points i have are sufficient reward for making the effort to shell out £300 every April.

 

[Gibbo89]

You surmise correctly that I am no longer a season ticket holder although I was one for many years. I couldn't get to The Lane most weeks whether I wanted to or not so I have for some time just payed per game when I can make it. My post wasn't a dig at current season ticket holders although that seems to be how some have taken it. I apologise if it came across like that. I do believe though that the system as it is now produces something of a private club atmosphere. Shan't say any more on the topic.