Tickets - How much is too much?

Nozza · Post by **Nozza** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 11:34 pm

An old arguement, I know, but having a conversation w/ girlfriends family earlier.

Last week me and her went to the Burnley match, the match tickets were £18. Being a Cat A game for them, I thought it was reasonable and I saw no reason to grumble. However, I went through my ticket stubs and the same game 2 seasons ago cost me £15 per ticket. A mere £4 increase. That game, though, was on a Friday night and IIRC, Burnley did decrease their prices after Sky moved the game. This lead onto how much I would be willing to pay at an absolute maximum to see Sunderland play. Her mother, and her, were a little shocked when I said it would be anything up to £50 - for a league game. Obviously the more at stake (e.g. Cup final) I'd be willing to pay a lot more.

I've already paid £45 to see us lose at Chelsea, £38 to see us lose at Birmingham and even £42 to see us beaten away to Villa!

Sunderlands ticket prices, IMO, aren't too bad. The most we are charging any away fans this season is £24. Same as home fans.

So, what is the absolute maximum you lot would pay to see Bolton (or Liverpool for Blurred etc) in a league match, and how much is the most you have already paid?

cowdrill · Post by **cowdrill** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 11:38 pm

Well, once my season ticket reaches £500 i might have to have a good long think about re-newing

then i'd nip to the ticket office and re-new

cos im a fookin Wanderer till i die

FaninOz · Post by **FaninOz** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:13 am

To expect any ordinary working man, or woman for that matter, to pay more than 20 pounds to watch a match is too much in my opinion. The Clubs have got it all wrong in my opinion, filling grounds and having people on waiting lists is much better than having 15% of the ground empty. I know teams like United already fill their grounds but Bolton don't and should therefore rethink their pricing strategies.

But having said that when I come to England in April I will pay whatever the Clubs charge to watch MY TEAM play.

mummywhycantieatcrayons · Post by **mummywhycantieatcrayons** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:17 am

FaninOz wrote:TThe Clubs have got it all wrong in my opinion, filling grounds and having people on waiting lists is much better than having 15% of the ground empty.

Much better? If they have to reduce the prices by more than 15% to fill the empty 15% of seats? I doubt the accountants would agree.

ratbert · Post by **ratbert** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 1:56 am

The prices will have to come down across all Premiership clubs if the average crowds keep falling. With the new and more lucrative TV deal coming in next season, can they consider that?

blurred · Post by **blurred** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:09 am

Hoolio wrote:An old arguement, I know, but having a conversation w/ girlfriends family earlier.

Last week me and her went to the Burnley match, the match tickets were £18. Being a Cat A game for them, I thought it was reasonable and I saw no reason to grumble. However, I went through my ticket stubs and the same game 2 seasons ago cost me £15 per ticket. A mere £4 increase.

Can I be the first to point out a 33% error in Hoolio's mathematics?

mummywhycantieatcrayons wrote:
FaninOz wrote:TThe Clubs have got it all wrong in my opinion, filling grounds and having people on waiting lists is much better than having 15% of the ground empty.
Much better? If they have to reduce the prices by more than 15% to fill the empty 15% of seats? I doubt the accountants would agree.

Exactly, I'm with Mummy on this one. People moan at clubs, especially Premiership clubs, for not dropping their admission prices. Let us just argue that Bolton did this for a game, and would have had an attendance of 20,000 at £25 a ticket. Now a lot of people on here would be arguing that they'd get more through the door for £20 a ticket.

Now 20,000 at £25 a ticket is £500,000. Dropping it by a fiver and achieving the same attendance loses Bolton Wanderers £100,000. And even dropping it by a fiver and achieving 5,000 more through the door nets BWFC no more. OK, these extra 5k would be more likely to spend more on concessions and in the club shop, but it's hardly a great deal. If BWFC don't think they can get another few thousand in per pound on the ticket then I don't think they should.

50sQuiff · Post by **50sQuiff** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:21 am

blurred wrote:
Hoolio wrote:An old arguement, I know, but having a conversation w/ girlfriends family earlier.

Last week me and her went to the Burnley match, the match tickets were £18. Being a Cat A game for them, I thought it was reasonable and I saw no reason to grumble. However, I went through my ticket stubs and the same game 2 seasons ago cost me £15 per ticket. A mere £4 increase.
Can I be the first to point out a 33% error in Hoolio's mathematics?

mummywhycantieatcrayons wrote:
FaninOz wrote:TThe Clubs have got it all wrong in my opinion, filling grounds and having people on waiting lists is much better than having 15% of the ground empty.
Much better? If they have to reduce the prices by more than 15% to fill the empty 15% of seats? I doubt the accountants would agree.
Exactly, I'm with Mummy on this one. People moan at clubs, especially Premiership clubs, for not dropping their admission prices. Let us just argue that Bolton did this for a game, and would have had an attendance of 20,000 at £25 a ticket. Now a lot of people on here would be arguing that they'd get more through the door for £20 a ticket.

Now 20,000 at £25 a ticket is £500,000. Dropping it by a fiver and achieving the same attendance loses Bolton Wanderers £100,000. And even dropping it by a fiver and achieving 5,000 more through the door nets BWFC no more. OK, these extra 5k would be more likely to spend more on concessions and in the club shop, but it's hardly a great deal. If BWFC don't think they can get another few thousand in per pound on the ticket then I don't think they should.

So, it seems we're all bean counters now. What happened to the fans in this equation? Football clubs cannot be run as charities, but they should be social enterprises at least to some extent. Otherwise why be involved in the game? Football is not a good investment.

blurred · Post by **blurred** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:44 am

50sQuiff wrote:So, it seems we're all bean counters now. What happened to the fans in this equation? Football clubs cannot be run as charities, but they should be social enterprises at least to some extent. Otherwise why be involved in the game? Football is not a good investment.

To an extent, yes, we are. It's fairly simple mathematics when it comes to setting prices, but I still think there is an element of the social enterprise about a lot of clubs - this is why they have concessions, or 'kid for a quid' days and the like. Taking Liverpool as an example, they could quite easily knock ticket prices up another tenner and still sell 44,000 a week, but they have always been very good 'value', especially when compared to other clubs in the Premiership. Our season tickets and match tickets have consistently been among the cheapest. A seat on the Kop will cost you either £32 or £34 and that's it.

Nozza · Post by **Nozza** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:28 pm

Bumped cos Leicester are giving fans under 12 free entry tomorrow. Nice of 'em.

americantrotter · Post by **americantrotter** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:37 pm

Hoolio wrote:An old arguement, I know, but having a conversation w/ girlfriends family earlier.

Last week me and her went to the Burnley match, the match tickets were £18. Being a Cat A game for them, I thought it was reasonable and I saw no reason to grumble. However, I went through my ticket stubs and the same game 2 seasons ago cost me £15 per ticket. A mere £4 increase. That game, though, was on a Friday night and IIRC, Burnley did decrease their prices after Sky moved the game. This lead onto how much I would be willing to pay at an absolute maximum to see Sunderland play. Her mother, and her, were a little shocked when I said it would be anything up to £50 - for a league game. Obviously the more at stake (e.g. Cup final) I'd be willing to pay a lot more.

New girlfriend Hoolio? Or did you make peace with the old one? A little off-topic, but inquiring minds want to know.

Nozza · Post by **Nozza** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:39 pm

americantrotter wrote:
Hoolio wrote:An old arguement, I know, but having a conversation w/ girlfriends family earlier.

Last week me and her went to the Burnley match, the match tickets were £18. Being a Cat A game for them, I thought it was reasonable and I saw no reason to grumble. However, I went through my ticket stubs and the same game 2 seasons ago cost me £15 per ticket. A mere £4 increase. That game, though, was on a Friday night and IIRC, Burnley did decrease their prices after Sky moved the game. This lead onto how much I would be willing to pay at an absolute maximum to see Sunderland play. Her mother, and her, were a little shocked when I said it would be anything up to £50 - for a league game. Obviously the more at stake (e.g. Cup final) I'd be willing to pay a lot more.
New girlfriend Hoolio? Or did you make peace with the old one? A little off-topic, but inquiring minds want to know.

Made peace with old one...we're young...young hearts run free and all that crap....

Either that, or I need my head checking!

Plus, I over-reacted badly.

americantrotter · Post by **americantrotter** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:40 pm

Well I am glad your happy. That's good for the soul.

Nozza · Post by **Nozza** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:47 pm

Happiest I've been for a while, to be fair...I'm 20 though so my best years are ahead of me...as for now though...Preston in the Cup is all I have to look forward to!

I'm planning a trip to the States sometime next year AT...but don't want to do the touristy thing (New York, Florida etc)...anywhere you would suggest?

americantrotter · Post by **americantrotter** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:49 pm

Well it depends on your interests. Are you trying to avoid all cities and all beaches? They all have some tourists element to them. Plus rare is the non tourist area that wouldnt require a car to get around.

My favorite place in the states is Key West, but that is both Florida and full of tourists. Plus it all depends on what type of America you want to see. New England is very different from the south which is also very different from the west.

David Lee's Hair · Post by **David Lee's Hair** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:53 pm

I'm daft so a lot

The more it is the fewer games i'd make but I'd still go. The misses lives in London, so I do tend to go to the London games, so with Chelski, Arse and Spuds all in the £40-50 range it does add up but I go.

I'd pay with body parts to see Bolton vs Barca in the Champions league though

sluffy · Post by **sluffy** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:26 pm

Hoolio wrote:Happiest I've been for a while, to be fair...I'm 20 though so my best years are ahead of me...as for now though...Preston in the Cup is all I have to look forward to!

I'm planning a trip to the States sometime next year AT...but don't want to do the touristy thing (New York, Florida etc)...anywhere you would suggest?

You could always follow in Monty's footsteps in his wonderful road trip adventure that he undertook in the summer.

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/boards/vi ... =road+trip

Athers · Post by **Athers** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:47 pm

£50 for a non-regular league game.

Arsenal and Chelsea away this year will be pushing it.

Would pay anything for the FA cup final.

blurred · Post by **blurred** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:01 pm

Athers wrote:£50 for a non-regular league game.

Arsenal and Chelsea away this year will be pushing it.

Would pay anything for the FA cup final.

It is getting increasingly daft in London at the moment - This season I'm on a mini personal quest to do 38 league games in a season, which will encompass a fair few grounds that I haven't as yet been to. Once I've done that, I think that I will be a lot choosier about how many games I go to next year away from home - upwards of £100 for a day out down at the Emirates or Stamford Bridge is not necessarily my idea of fun.

Bertie · Post by **Bertie** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:08 pm

David Lee's Hair wrote:so with Chelski, Arse and Spuds all in the £40-50 range it does add up but I go.

blurred wrote:
Athers wrote:£50 for a non-regular league game.

Arsenal and Chelsea away this year will be pushing it.

Would pay anything for the FA cup final.
upwards of £100 for a day out down at the Emirates or Stamford Bridge is not necessarily my idea of fun.

It's only £32 for away fans such as Bolton at The Emirates - which is less than we paid last season.

Liverpool (along with Spurs, United, Chelsea and West Ham) are a Cat A fixture which are £46

Bwfc in the bloodline · Post by **Bwfc in the bloodline** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:47 pm

Bertie wrote:
David Lee's Hair wrote:so with Chelski, Arse and Spuds all in the £40-50 range it does add up but I go.

blurred wrote:
Athers wrote:£50 for a non-regular league game.

Arsenal and Chelsea away this year will be pushing it.

Would pay anything for the FA cup final.
upwards of £100 for a day out down at the Emirates or Stamford Bridge is not necessarily my idea of fun.

It's only £32 for away fans such as Bolton at The Emirates - which is less than we paid last season.

Liverpool (along with Spurs, United, Chelsea and West Ham) are a Cat A fixture which are £46

Ouch,

im young on a good wage (for a 23yr old), and no family, or major fixed costs, but im not paying anything above £50 even for a special game. I grumble whenever i have to pay more than £20 which is more than regular. (infact every game, i moan about the price).