Time to raise prices?

[Houso]

Cards on the table now; I'm very much pro-McCabe. That said, it's slowly becoming evident that he's made some massive misjudgements which have been exacerbated by a great deal of bad luck. Without Jags fateful handball and the crippling recession, we'd be in a very different place than we are now.

To be fair, it was difficult to see the latter coming and he in effect went all in with a full house. On the flipside, he also bet huge on a 7 high when he appointed Robson, and packed in a three of a kind when he appointed Blackwell. As I say, those are some massive misjudgements.

Beyond these errors (and various other good and bad legacies covered by Len the other day), one major thing that McCabe has given us is that for the past few seasons we have had relatively cheap ticket prices and some excellent offers for season ticket holders.

This has in turn raised attendances, but not significantly increased turnover on matchdays... and it's certainly not enhanced the atmosphere. The question is, will these new supporters tempted by affordable football return at normal prices?

I've got a feeling that it's coming anyway, Tricky Trev is evaluating the club from top to bottom and something has got to give. Is it time to get in line with average prices and wallop £50 on a season ticket and remove the offers we have?

 

[Revolution]

Is it time to get in line with average prices and wallop £50 on a season ticket and remove the offers we have?

No, because there's going to be a large drop in season ticket sales this year anyway and that will turn a rush into a stampede.

 

[boo radley]

Andy Pack has already mentioned this to some, so we can get ready.(season ticket hike)

 

[davidpinder]

That right raise prices to watch shit football that will help the finances.

 

[Ted Danson]

No it isnt time to put up prices, as you've mentioned we're in a massive recesion so we would lose loads of fans. I wouldnt be able to afford it and neither would many others. As for atmosphere I firmly beleive its the people in the cheap seats that make all the noise so it would absolutely destroy the atmosphere too. If theres one thing the Tevez cash should guarantee is that we should have affordable tickets for the forseable future. If we were in the Prem still then maybe but to put ticket prices up would be suicidal

 

[Houso]

That's all fair enough, but as I say, something has got to give and considering there are plenty of supporters saying "while we have Blackwell in charge, I'm not renewing", then what should we do to bring in extra revenue?

Like it or not, the ticket prices we've been paying and taking for granted for the past few seasons have contributed to the debt that we find ourselves in... even if only for a small proportion of it. Again, another mistake from McCabe, but a well intentioned one and one that he gets very VERY little applause for.

 

[LouTheBlade]

If they put up the ST prices anymore - I for one will definately not be renewing. I cant afford it as it is!

 

[davidpinder]

That's all fair enough, but as I say, something has got to give and considering there are plenty of supporters saying "while we have Blackwell in charge, I'm not renewing", then what should we do to bring in extra revenue?

Like it or not, the ticket prices we've been paying and taking for granted for the past few seasons have contributed to the debt that we find ourselves in... even if only for a small proportion of it. Again, another mistake from McCabe, but a well intentioned one and one that he gets very VERY little applause for.

Sack him and bring in a man who plays football that will bring in more fans and more money. Tickets, beer, pies, shirts it all adds up while ever we are playing like saturday you will always get "am not going to watch that crap again". All of a sudden new manager with entertaining football and back they come spending money.

 

[Houso]

Sack him and bring in a man who plays football that will bring in more fans and more money. Tickets, beer, pies, shirts it all adds up while ever we are playing like saturday you will always get "am not going to watch that crap again". All of a sudden new manager with entertaining football and back they come spending money.

That goes without saying Dave, but we wont get any numbers in excess of those we have now, new manager or not. So, we need to make up the shortfall in some way.

Last season it was the Kyles leaving. Next season it may well be the season ticket prices rising.

The Tevez money is not enough quite clearly.

 

[raul]

Was thinking this only the other day. Be a very bold move, but in effect saying "If you want to carry on paying what you pay, you'll have to watch crap, if everyone stumps up an extra £75 or so, there's a chance you might not"

Trouble is, all the trust has been completely eroded now. Timing is everything.

Plus, we hear a lot about how cheap our tickets are but I don't see how ST's can be something you'd compare across clubs as if they were cheap car insurance. If ours are cheaper than Bristol City's it matters very little to me.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

Hmm I don't know about that.

I would concede that numbers will drop if we don't go up and Blackwell remains in charge. But if a manager was brought in who had a reputation for playing football would this counter act the disappointment and make fans more entitled to give it one more season?

It's a good questions, what do those thinking of ditching the ST think, would the appointment of, for the sake of argument, O'Driscoll would that alter your view?

 

[Houso]

Was thinking this only the other day. Be a very bold move, but in effect saying "If you want to carry on paying what you pay, you'll have to watch crap, if everyone stumps up an extra £75 or so, there's a chance you might not"

Trouble is, all the trust has been completely eroded now. Timing is everything.

Plus, we hear a lot about how cheap our tickets are but I don't see how ST's can be something you'd compare across clubs as if they were cheap car insurance. If ours are cheaper than Bristol City's it matters very little to me.

Considering how forthright our chairman can be, and for that matter our manager too, it's surprising they've never said "we had to sell Beattie/the Kyles to supplement our cheap ticket prices".

I can see your point in the last paragraph, but I suppose it comes down to expectation. We expect to be in the top 6 due to the size of our club, Brizzle supporters do not.

Should ticket prices reflect the style of football or win to loss ratio? We had the perfect balance in 02/03. Be lovely to get that back again.

 

[Grecian2000]

It's a good questions, what do those thinking of ditching the ST think, would the appointment of, for the sake of argument, O'Driscoll would that alter your view?

Literally ANYONE would alter my view. Whoever we appointed it would only be right to give him a chance. I didn't like the appointment of Robson but come Colchester in his first game and the slate was clean (right up until he named a midfield combo of LegsOfWood and Monty!).

I won't pay another penny to watch the "style" Blackwell promotes but I can't think any other manager (unless John Beck is still around) would look at our players and think "Right, only one way to play with this bunch,let's get hoofing".

As for putting up the prices. Raising your prices when your product is getting worse is the way to the poor house. However, that's in the real world. Only in football can you get away with an alarmingly deteriorating product and still expect customer/brand loyalty.

 

[lenners]

Increasing season ticket prices equals commercial suicide.
For the amount of extra revenue it may make, the loss of goodwill will be ten times more.
Not the way to go and I doubt McCabe's going to do this. For the sake, possibly, of a couple of hundred grand in increased revenue it just really is not worth it.
Once they're gone, it's much harder to get them back. See SWFC for details.

 

[bricktop]

I definately don't think a huge hike on the price of season tickets is the right way to go.

What the clubs needs to be careful of is putting the price of football out of reach of a segment of the season ticket holders we have. I'd hazard a guess that United have a quite a few followers who don't earn great money, but scrimp and save throughout the year to be able to afford a season ticket, and pricing these fans out of the game is the wrong thing to do.

I also think getting rid of the cheap or free child season tickets is also a backward step, as the free child season tickets means at least there are a few impressionable kids who are going to the matches week in, week out as £350 for an adult and child season ticket represents excellent value for the familyman, and in quite a lot of cases i would suspect the free child season ticket will reap rewards in the future when the child is a man, and is still regularly attended Sheffield United but paying adult prices.

 

[shorehamview]

There might be a ten or twenty quid rise. Any more than that would be ridiculous, and I think McCabe knows this.

 

[ghandi]

Sack him and bring in a man who plays football that will bring in more fans and more money. Tickets, beer, pies, shirts it all adds up while ever we are playing like saturday you will always get "am not going to watch that crap again". All of a sudden new manager with entertaining football and back they come spending money.

No extra money for pies and beer the catering has been contracted out in another "cost cutting" measure.

 

[beightonblade]

vicious circle ............. how the fook have we got to this ?

we've gone back 20 years ...what a waste.

 

[Chingo]

I have some ITK on this


Clubs have been ciculated with an article that says all clubs can expect a 20% drop in gates receipts next season and the boards intention is to pass this on to people renewing to make up the shortfall ... so us on the GAC are looking at an 80-100 pound hike :thumbdown:

I can see more than 20% not renewing at these prices !

 

[Berks_Blade]

Being an exile for whom buying a ST is always a tricky decision given that I can usually only make weekend games, I only renewed last year because the price was so good (saying that, the games switched for TV and others I've had to miss made it not really worth it anyway, other that I like to have the constant seat and not have to think about buying tickets week by week). The low prices have I'm sure been a big factor in keeping the ST sales much higher than I'd have expected a couple of seasons on from relegation, but we certainly can't go on cutting them year on year. A modest price rise next time I'd guess, with the hope of putting a few percent above inflation for the next several years. Put the prices up too much in one go on top of crap football and the sales would crash.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I have some ITK on this


Clubs have been ciculated with an article that says all clubs can expect a 20% drop in gates receipts next season and the boards intention is to pass this on to people renewing to make up the shortfall ... so us on the GAC are looking at an 80-100 pound hike :thumbdown:

I can see more than 20% not renewing at these prices !

All clubs? Sounds unlikely as different circumstances on different clubs would have a huge effect.

 

[Chingo]

All clubs? Sounds unlikely as different circumstances on different clubs would have a huge effect.

They are the results of an independant survey Bob ... that KM is using as an excuse for a price hike , I bet he quotes it at renewal time !

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

I won't pay another penny to watch the "style" Blackwell promotes but I can't think any other manager (unless John Beck is still around) would look at our players and think "Right, only one way to play with this bunch,let's get hoofing".

The style of football away from home stopped me going to away games. All that money to watch Hendo struggle. If i didn't have a season ticket I'm not sure if i'd go to every home game either.

 

[Houso]

They are the results of an independant survey Bob ... that KM is using as an excuse for a price hike , I bet he quotes it at renewal time !

Chingles, do you accept that we have cheap prices and excellent offers?

If so, surely the fact that we're potentially getting an increase and therefore being brought into line with pricing for comparative clubs cannot be whinged at.

 

[Chingo]

Chingles, do you accept that we have cheap prices and excellent offers?

If so, surely the fact that we're potentially getting an increase and therefore being brought into line with pricing for comparative clubs cannot be whinged at.

Yes I do mate , it was very cheap last season and I don't have a problem with a rise but going on for 100 quid and the poo we are watching under Blackwell is going to put thousands off and may turn out to be a false economy!

 

[bricktop]

Chingles, do you accept that we have cheap prices and excellent offers?

If so, surely the fact that we're potentially getting an increase and therefore being brought into line with pricing for comparative clubs cannot be whinged at.

People won't whinge about it, all they will simply do is not renew and then pick and choose their games.

Football is an expensive business to regularly go to games in terms of money, and time expenditure.

My own personal case is that i'm married, with a young baby, mortgage and money is always tight due to other demands on the money that comes in to the house, and the fact my missus has gone from a full-time wage to working part-time. I usually work 5-6 days a week, and weeks of 50+ hours are not uncommon for me due to the line of work i am in.

Do i buy a new season ticket at the hiked prices, and expend the time and effort to go to matches when the price has been hiked up due to the financial mismanagement of the club, and also give up important family time to do this, or do i bite the bullet, concede that i can't justify spending the money and time on it any more?

 

[Chingo]

Wasn't it Birch that hiked the prices at Chelsea to prop up the ailing Chelsea village ?

 

[Houso]

People won't whinge about it, all they will simply do is not renew and then pick and choose their games.

Football is an expensive business to regularly go to games in terms of money, and time expenditure.

My own personal case is that i'm married, with a young baby, mortgage and money is always tight due to other demands on the money that comes in to the house, and the fact my missus has gone from a full-time wage to working part-time. I usually work 5-6 days a week, and weeks of 50+ hours are not uncommon for me due to the line of work i am in.

Do i buy a new season ticket at the hiked prices, and expend the time and effort to go to matches when the price has been hiked up due to the financial mismanagement of the club, and also give up important family time to do this, or do i bite the bullet, concede that i can't justify spending the money and time on it any more?

I see where you're coming from Brownie, and I'll be struggling to buy a season ticket next season.

That said, it's the bit in bold that I contest. My point is that the prices may well be put up to an average level due in a small part to the cheap tickets we've had for a number of seasons now.

It's like a bloke leaving his wife because after a few years of being together, he's gone from making the beast with two backs every night to three nights a week.

This post has been brought to you by DodgyAnalogiesRUs.

 

[Micalijo]

I've never really considered a price rise possible until now and having thought about it I think it might happen.

The club are as detached from the fans as is it is possible to be so Trevor will have his calculator out.

It's all getting a bit scary. Have Realty submitted their accounts yet?

we will have 3 season ticket holders - Foxy, Cooper and Duncan. Foxy is paid by the club obviously so freebie, Cooper wangles it I'm sure and Duncan again must be on the McCabe payroll. So zero season ticket income it is if prices go up.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Overall he or someone that wants the game played like that would generate some interest but when losing to Reading and with 4/5 mins to go Donny just kept on passing it instead of getting the ball into the box.

It wouldn't go down too well at The Lane if messed about like that.