Stupid prices

[Bartleby]

Can I say that I am shocked. Living in my sheltered little South Stand world of a senior citizen season ticket, I didn't realise such prices existed for the Kop. I would think twice about paying that and I can afford it. Maybe the club could even things up by charging OAP's a bit more on the season ticket because I was also amazed that I could get one as soon as I hit 60 and not 65. We need more young fans not us coffin dodgers.

Fuck right off. So you can afford it, big deal, maybe not everyone can. The prices for over 60's are OK as they are. Are you just about to hit 65 by any chance? #goldengeneration

 

[Snowman]

Fuck right off. So you can afford it, big deal, maybe not everyone can. The prices for over 60's are OK as they are.

Just an opinion. I think over £30 on the Kop is ridiculous and pricing fans out of the game. Equally, I think my season ticket price is fantastic value but too low because I'm still working. If I had to get it on a state pension then I'd be wanting it cheaper. When I see me and my mate being able to go at that price and his kid in his twenties having to pay double and can't afford it, then it just seems wrong.

 

[grafikhaus]

It is 20 quid or less if you buy a season ticket.

But a lot of people can't 'commit' to getting a season ticket - work/personal commitments etc. Last night, an old mate popped round. He's been a Blade for most of his life but his attendance has become sporadic (he hasn't been yet this season) and work often dictates he can't get to games. And - like many others - his interest waned during the 6 years in Division One. He's very interested in going this Saturday, until I told him it'd be £30+. 'Whaaat?' he said. 'Last year it would have been around £24!' He won't be going.

 

[tyke1889]

Can I say that I am shocked. Living in my sheltered little South Stand world of a senior citizen season ticket, I didn't realise such prices existed for the Kop. I would think twice about paying that and I can afford it. Maybe the club could even things up by charging OAP's a bit more on the season ticket because I was also amazed that I could get one as soon as I hit 60 and not 65. We need more young fans not us coffin dodgers.

You can bugger off, I'm 60 next year and looking forward to my cheap Kop ticket!

 

[cahill]

The ticket prices are fine compared to others, and haven’t changed much over the years. The reason the attendances have dropped is that the bandwagon fans have fell off not because of the prices

Whilst their might be a second season effect, novelty having worn off, i believe increased prices are the main reason for lower attendances.

I’m not saying our prices aren’t reasonable comparitively.

 

[cahill]

Can I say that I am shocked. Living in my sheltered little South Stand world of a senior citizen season ticket, I didn't realise such prices existed for the Kop. I would think twice about paying that and I can afford it. Maybe the club could even things up by charging OAP's a bit more on the season ticket because I was also amazed that I could get one as soon as I hit 60 and not 65. We need more young fans not us coffin dodgers.

Shurrup thee Or at least leave price increases for old codgers for another year, when I’ll be 65

 

[Rodley]

Over £30 on the Kop is too high.

 

['Doc' Pace my hero]

Prices to watch utd v villa are ridiculous. Just been looking at the colour coded map on website and well be lucky to get 25000 im ok myself being s t holder but never thought we would go down the wendy route

Is this a mischievous post from the 'Darkside' ?

 

[sufcboy95]

One thing I would say is that the only catergory A games should be Wednesday and Leeds.

 

[SwitchBLADE Smiles]

Forgive me if I'm being a bit thick here, but aren't ticket prices in some way reflective of the reverse fixture? IE, if we charge Villa £20 for the away end, then they can't charge us more for the game at Villa Park? If that's the case, is that why games are categorised & are they pre-agreed by both clubs as to what they will charge for certain fixtures?

 

[I should coco]

Forgive me if I'm being a bit thick here, but aren't ticket prices in some way reflective of the reverse fixture?

You're being a bit thick here.

The answer is 'no'.

IE, if we charge Villa £20 for the away end, then they can't charge us more for the game at Villa Park?

Clubs can have gentlemen's agreements on pricing but there are no rules. We could charge Villa fans £20 (if it is in line with our own ticket guidelines), but they can 'repay the favour' by charging us £50 or £60.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Over £30 on the Kop is too high.

Over £30 for anywhere in our stadium is too much but for the Kop in particular its ridiculous. Can't believe there are people defending it.

 

[FlamingLip]

It's always going to be too much for some folk. Striking the 'optimum' price is difficult and would also mean potentially mean vastly compromising transfer/season expectations. How our pricing structure compares with similar sized championship teams is the better measure? Football in general being considered over-priced compared with days gone by is a separate issue, but so are houses, so is beer and so are player wages etc....

Whether it's good value or not depends on personal circumstances, team performance and season's outcome - largely subjective. Personally, I don't think United have ever taken the piss. I just hope we continue with cheap student/young person prices.

Lastly, it also doesn't make sense to compare admission fees to other sports.

 

[Ainsley Harriott]

Just an opinion. I think over £30 on the Kop is ridiculous and pricing fans out of the game

Just a question to you here. Why is £30 on the kop ridiculous? Are we paying to watch the team or paying for a view? Because if it’s the latter, there are other areas with a better view.

I pay to see goals. The rest is a bonus. I pay to be entertained. The view is secondary, tertiary even.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Just a question to you here. Why is £30 on the kop ridiculous? Are we paying to watch the team or paying for a view? Because if it’s the latter, there are other areas with a better view.

I pay to see goals. The rest is a bonus. I pay to be entertained. The view is secondary, tertiary even.

By that argument should seats right behind the Kop pillars also be £30? The view is awful, but if whats happening on the pitch is entertaining its worth if even if you can barely see it?

Of course the quality of the facilities and view should have some determine on the price point, The Kop is a run down old heap of a stand with appalling views that needs knocking down and re-building, no way in hell is any ticket on it worth £30.

 

[raimond]

Right, after filtering through the bickering, I think it's fair to say that £37 to watch us, £33 to sit on the Kop, is too bloody much. We're not in the most affluent city and we're a traditionally working class club, it'll price people out.

We've very reasonable season tickets but that's if 1)you can afford them and 2)you can get to every match. Not everyone can.

Same time, £20 out of thin air isn't realistic. I reckon the biggest problem though is the categorising of matches. If Villa are a Category A*, pigs will be, prob West Brom, Stoke etc. But bugger me if Norwich and Preston are category A, there won't be many category B games at all (and they're still £25 to sit on the Kop).

As others have said the Category C games have gone and they gave folk who can't always afford it a chance (mebbe not 28,000 of 'em though!).

If the prices are steep for big games fair enough- I reckon it's the price of the bang average games that's the issue

 

[LS16Blade]

Name a game when that happened.

We had the 'Category C' games in between 2007/08 season and 2009/10 season, and the gates for games against relatively unattractive opposition were appreciably higher than may ordinarily have been expected.

In terms of naming a single game that illustrates the point that Kuwaiti Blade made, the gate for the Tuesday night match v Ipswich in 2009/10 season was 28,336 with just 759 away fans in attendance - A quite exceptional gate for a Sheffield club playing an unattractive fixture on a Tuesday night in Autumn.

Indeed, the gates for the majority of those Category C games were excellent.

2007/08

Cardiff City (Tuesday) - 26,186
Ipswich (Tuesday) - 25,033
QPR (Saturday) - 28,894
Coventry (Tuesday) - 23,864

2008/09

Cardiff (Saturday) - 29,266
Southampton (Tuesday) - 25,642
Norwich (Saturday) - 27,267
Blackpool (Tuesday) - 25,273

2009/10

Ipswich (Tuesday) - 28,366
Crystal Palace (Saturday) - 25,510
Reading (Tuesday) - 24,009
Swansea (Saturday) - 25,966

It is also notable that, compared to this season, whoever was in charge of the matchday prices back then, had a rather better grasp of the sort of opposition that simply does not get the juices flowing for Blades fans.

Now there appears to be a misconception that any club recently relegated from the Premier League is somehow imbued with some stardust that makes them attractive opposition. How else could one believe that Swansea and Norwich City are 'Category A' opponents? As can be seen, these are the sort of clubs befitting of 'Category C' status in the past and, in our current pricing structure (which is category A*, A and B) should have been Category B games.

The only category A* game should be the Sheffield Derby. There is much talk about Wednesday's prices but the reality is that they played 2 games last week which were both priced at £25 on the Kop. The only time this season that their top category prices will be charged will be for the Sheffield Derby.

 

[TJB.]

Just a question to you here. Why is £30 on the kop ridiculous? Are we paying to watch the team or paying for a view? Because if it’s the latter, there are other areas with a better view.

I pay to see goals. The rest is a bonus. I pay to be entertained. The view is secondary, tertiary even.

You pay to fuck off to the bar at least five minutes before half-time, let's be honest

 

[Bartleby]

. When I see me and my mate being able to go at that price and his kid in his twenties having to pay double and can't afford it, then it just seems wrong.

Yeah I do take your point, sadly when his kid hits 60 the concession age will probably have gone up to about 70, and state pension age even higher.

 

[Eric Cartman]

Prices to watch utd v villa are ridiculous. Just been looking at the colour coded map on website and well be lucky to get 25000 im ok myself being s t holder but never thought we would go down the wendy route

Shouldn't you be going to Reading?

 

[Maidenhead]

etc.etc.

I’m telling thee, basic mathematics concludes it’s cheaper than is currently being charged !!

And just for the record, IMHO !!!!

UTB

Do you think that the club don't do the maths?

If you knock a third off ticket prices then you have to increase the walk up numbers by 50% to break even on ticket income.

I hear your point about incidental match day sales but the margins are low and is anyone working on such a tight budget really likely to spend £3.50 on a pie?

Maybe we should drop Clarke and get a decent centre forward to pull the punters in

 

[DronnieBlade]

Do you think that the club don't do the maths?

If you knock a third off ticket prices then you have to increase the walk up numbers by 50% to break even on ticket income.

I hear your point about incidental match day sales but the margins are low and is anyone working on such a tight budget really likely to spend £3.50 on a pie?

Maybe we should drop Clarke and get a decent centre forward to pull the punters in

Point taken.

And while this has not been brought up by me to press, personally I would much rather see a full house with all seats taken where total revenue is slightly down on one where the ground is only 65%-80% occupied. Just a personal preference, that I concede does not hold much when considering optimum pricing !!

UTB

 

[snootyfenooty]

I was considering going to this one with my Son. Two adults for South stand £76, priced out im afraid.
Having said that, I factored in drinking before and after match - taking it to £120ish.
Even last year when I had a season ticket, it was an expensive match day on some occasions.
Im in the twentys plenty camp.

This one amused me. The £44 on top of your admission costs works out at 10 pints each (spoons on Eccy Road before you ask). Oh well, each to their own.

By that argument should seats right behind the Kop pillars also be £30? The view is awful, but if whats happening on the pitch is entertaining its worth if even if you can barely see it?

There's always one. If you buy a seat right behind a pillar (there's only two), next time I suggest you bash your head against it

 

[RammyBlade]

Read all of the comments on this solitary thread.

Get your head out the clouds and UNDERSTAND just exactly how many folks are priced out of going, when cheaper pricing would allow them to.

A high percentage of families work to a budget.

For a dad to take his son / daughter to this match, with a few add on costs such as drink,grub, programme etc. Your looking at £60-75 ish.

The AVERAGE net take home pay in South Yorkshire is around £400 per week.

MAKE THE CONNECTION !!!

Now. Optimum pricing.

The theory being at what pricing point does a club MAXIMISE its match day revenue. Which is I believe where your point is going.

The balance between attracting numbers over unit pricing.

I’m assuming you understand it’s not quite as straightforward as the attendance figures in isolation, due to additional sales of drink, grub, programmes, club shop, etc.etc.

I’m telling thee, basic mathematics concludes it’s cheaper than is currently being charged !!

And just for the record, IMHO !!!!

UTB

Good points Dronnie - the mad dash for the riches of the Premier League has led to stupid prices in the Championship and particularly in football mad cities/towns of the north like Sheffield where earnings are lower,clubs are pricing out the future supporters. My Dad took me to matches as I did with my kids and 2 are regular Blades but these days it isnt easy to take your kids to matches even with concessions

 

[jt64]

The OP's got a bit of a point. Since the first Wilder season the price of a season ticket has barely changed, while the match by match prices have not only gone up, the ratio of top:bottom category games seems to have changed hugely and not in favour of the fans. If I didn't have a season ticket I'd certainly be extremely selective as to which games I attended

 

[BushBlade]

Football is overpriced and isn’t particularly good value. Our pricing isn’t any worse than most clubs though. And we can’t on one hand expect the board to pay for quality players and on the other expect cheap tickets.

 

[Sean Thornton]

We had the 'Category C' games in between 2007/08 season and 2009/10 season, and the gates for games against relatively unattractive opposition were appreciably higher than may ordinarily have been expected.

In terms of naming a single game that illustrates the point that Kuwaiti Blade made, the gate for the Tuesday night match v Ipswich in 2009/10 season was 28,336 with just 759 away fans in attendance - A quite exceptional gate for a Sheffield club playing an unattractive fixture on a Tuesday night in Autumn.

Indeed, the gates for the majority of those Category C games were excellent.

2007/08

Cardiff City (Tuesday) - 26,186
Ipswich (Tuesday) - 25,033
QPR (Saturday) - 28,894
Coventry (Tuesday) - 23,864

2008/09

Cardiff (Saturday) - 29,266
Southampton (Tuesday) - 25,642
Norwich (Saturday) - 27,267
Blackpool (Tuesday) - 25,273

2009/10

Ipswich (Tuesday) - 28,366
Crystal Palace (Saturday) - 25,510
Reading (Tuesday) - 24,009
Swansea (Saturday) - 25,966

It is also notable that, compared to this season, whoever was in charge of the matchday prices back then, had a rather better grasp of the sort of opposition that simply does not get the juices flowing for Blades fans.

Now there appears to be a misconception that any club recently relegated from the Premier League is somehow imbued with some stardust that makes them attractive opposition. How else could one believe that Swansea and Norwich City are 'Category A' opponents? As can be seen, these are the sort of clubs befitting of 'Category C' status in the past and, in our current pricing structure (which is category A*, A and B) should have been Category B games.

The only category A* game should be the Sheffield Derby. There is much talk about Wednesday's prices but the reality is that they played 2 games last week which were both priced at £25 on the Kop. The only time this season that their top category prices will be charged will be for the Sheffield Derby.

"When tickets were 20-25 quid and we had those C games where it was a tenner, attendences were up at 28k on week nights."

The Ipswich game was if I remember correctly, the release day of the 120 years shirt and may have been part of a two ticket deal with the Pigs game the home match before.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Point taken.



UTB

 

[DronnieBlade]

To be fair Sean lad, I might give you that one.

Might

UTB

 

[BusheyBlade]

This one amused me. The £44 on top of your admission costs works out at 10 pints each (spoons on Eccy Road before you ask). Oh well, each to their own.

To add to that, the £36 extra on top of the "twenty's plenty" would be can be achieved by only spending £8 on beer. Or, perish the thought, it is possible to watch football WITHOUT drinking beer.