Football Ticket Pricing

[Jacs]

There has been a big debate raging on my clubs "fans forum" over ticket prices, after they were halved for a recent game.

Personally I can't afford to buy a season ticket (too much money in one go) or go on a match-by-match basis as often as I would like anymore.

Being a Bristol City supporter, the cheapest adult ticket you can get is £23. I do qualify for a student one at £13, however this is still beyond my budget most of the time

What I would like to know is, how much is the cheapest (adult) ticket to watch your club and do you think it, and football tickets as whole, represent value for money?

[Racingdude009]

Was watching the Championship (Old Division 2) and most of the grounds seemed empty.

[UpTheIron]

£15 (£10 concessions) at Glanford Park. However as I spend most of my time following Shorpe away, I get the bonus of being royally shafted - Ipswich £29 and Forest (two years ago £23) being worthy of a mention.

The going rate for the Championship seems to be £25ish

I seem to remember paying a hell of a lot for half a seat at your place too! (both this season and last).

The bigger question...what is the "right" price? On the one hand I have no problems shelling out £25, but on the other I wouldn't like to be a father of 2 or 3 trying to follow Chelsea.

[Jacs]

Racingdude009 said:

Was watching the Championship (Old Division 2) and most of the grounds seemed empty.

Yeah I know what you mean, 20 seats per person time.

It doesn't make sense to me to charge say £20 person and only get a gate of 5000. Why not, at least try, charging £10pp and I bet, if the prices were halved the gate would double!

As far as I can see, it would be win-win situation. The club gets the same amount of revenue but doubles the crowd, the stadium looks a lot fuller on TV, making it more attractive to sponsors, etc, and the club also get good PR from reducing its prices.

I don't know, may be it doesn't work in practice because not many clubs seem to do it!

[UpTheIron]

UpTheIron said:

Shorpe

[UpTheIron]

Jacs said:

It doesn't make sense to me to charge say £20 person and only get a gate of 5000. Why not, at least try, charging £10pp and I bet, if the prices were halved the gate would double!

As far as I can see, it would be win-win situation. The club gets the same amount of revenue but doubles the crowd, the stadium looks a lot fuller on TV, making it more attractive to sponsors, etc, and the club also get good PR from reducing its prices.

It doesn't work in practice for many clubs. You could make it a quarter of the price and still get roughly the same number of fans. Policing costs would go up too.

Also, whilst it may be good PR, this (and commercial acumen in general) is something lacking from many lower league clubs - often the playthings of wealthy chairmen who don't really care if 2000 or 20000 turn up.

[Jacs]

UpTheIron said:

£15 (£10 concessions) at Glanford Park. However as I spend most of my time following Shorpe away, I get the bonus of being royally shafted - Ipswich £29 and Forest (two years ago £23) being worthy of a mention.

The going rate for the Championship seems to be £25ish

I seem to remember paying a hell of a lot for half a seat at your place too! (both this season and last).

The bigger question...what is the "right" price? On the one hand I have no problems shelling out £25, but on the other I wouldn't like to be a father of 2 or 3 trying to follow Chelsea.

I know in the past City have charged, both home and away fans, more to pay on the day than to buy tickets in advance, which is probably why you ended up paying more.

Personally I think £25 is still too much. Yeah, its fine if you're single and working but asking someone with kid (and probably a lot of other financial commitments) to shell out £40+ every other week, just isn't going to happen.

If I was just starting off my football supporting days now, i.e being 6-7 years old, there is no way my Dad could afford to take me to even half the game he did when I was that age.

What annoys me more that anything though, is clubs who either don't do concessions for kids/OAP's or who offer then to home fans but not away supporters.

Makes me worry for the future of the game.

[UpTheIron]

Away fans rarely get any kind of concession because it doesn't really make commercial sense. For example, I'm going to come to your place whether it's £5 or £25 - the overall cost of the trip often outweighs any minor change in ticket price. Besides most committed away fans are going to turn up regardless of ticket price.

It would be nice not to be ripped off, and there are rules that ensure that home and away tickets are similarly priced - however the advance purchase / kids-for-a-quid / xyz-loyalty-scheme all soften the blow for home fans.

I have yet to see a lower league club that doesn't regularly offer kid/quid or similar...some of these Chairmen may be a bit daft, but not silly enough to forget that all you need to do is hook a few of those £1 kids and they'll come back every week for years.

Ticket prices don't make me "worry for the future of the game" as much as TV money (and player salaries), but that's one for another thread.

The answer to both is the same though...it's supply and demand. If ticket prices were too high then people wouldn't go.

[Jacs]

UpTheIron said:

Away fans rarely get any kind of concession because it doesn't really make commercial sense. For example, I'm going to come to your place whether it's £5 or £25 - the overall cost of the trip often outweighs any minor change in ticket price. Besides most committed away fans are going to turn up regardless of ticket price.

It would be nice not to be ripped off, and there are rules that ensure that home and away tickets are similarly priced - however the advance purchase / kids-for-a-quid / xyz-loyalty-scheme all soften the blow for home fans.

I have yet to see a lower league club that doesn't regularly offer kid/quid or similar...some of these Chairmen may be a bit daft, but not silly enough to forget that all you need to do is hook a few of those £1 kids and they'll come back every week for years.

Ticket prices don't make me "worry for the future of the game" as much as TV money (and player salaries), but that's one for another thread.

The answer to both is the same though...it's supply and demand. If ticket prices were too high then people wouldn't go.

The problem as I see it is, yes in the short term you are right. Football is 'in' at the moment and people will pay the prices charged. However if you don't get the next generation involved very young, who is going to support the clubs in years to come?

I realise that, at the moment, most prem clubs get the vast majority of their income from TV, sponsorship, etc. and that ticketing money makes up only a small percentage.

While clubs like City, who make a loss most season, rely on the deep pockets of their board/chairman to bail them out each time.

In fact I read somewhere that Liverpool were the last club able to survive on there gate receipt alone. My concern is what happens when/if football becomes 'unfashionable' and the TV money, sponsorship, rich benefactors, etc. all dry up or at least cut down considerably?

The clubs will have to go back to being more reliant on the gate receipts for income only, because they have been priced out of the market as kids, the next generation will have never got 'hooked', causing a big problem for our 'national game'

Hope I'm wrong of course!

[stimmers]

Going to see Harlequins vs Leicester Tigers Rugby game on the 6th for £5

Want value for money, start watching rugby

[Killer2005]

A ticket in the Gelderd end at Elland Road tomorrow cost £25. The cheapest is £15 for an adult £8 for a kid for a category c match but those aren't too common. The complaints come due to there being a limited number of childrens seats and they have to buy a more expensive ticket (minimum £22) in the West Stand.

The mrs has a season ticket in the same stand which cost £375 which isn't too bad imho. I might even be getting one next year depending on cars and finances, currently I work there

[Jacs]

Killer2005 said:

A ticket in the Gelderd end at Elland Road tomorrow cost £25. The cheapest is £15 for an adult £8 for a kid for a category c match but those aren't too common. The complaints come due to there being a limited number of childrens seats and they have to buy a more expensive ticket (minimum £22) in the West Stand.

The mrs has a season ticket in the same stand which cost £375 which isn't too bad imho. I might even be getting one next year depending on cars and finances, currently I work there

They have done something similar at Aston Gate with kids tickets at £7, only being available in one block of the of the stand behind the goal.

If they have sold out or (more likely) you want to sit some where else in the stadium, under 16's have to pay the student price of between £13- £16!

It's the same with season tickets, although they did allow existing Juv tic holders to renew their seat, regardless of where it was in the ground, at the under 16 rate. While new holders either had to sit in block B or pay the student price!

Can you imagine a bus co for example saying 'you can have half fare if you sit in that seat, but not if you sit anywhere else'!

As far as I am concerned, if you are a kid then you should pay kids prices, end of story.

[Pwig]

Jacs said:

I do qualify for a student one at £13, however this is still beyond my budget most of the time

Drink less.


HTH

[Jacs]

Pwig said:

Jacs said:

I do qualify for a student one at £13, however this is still beyond my budget most of the time

Drink less.


HTH

Um ... I don't drink very often actually. I only like pink champagne and that certain is beyond my budget!

[yeovilmac]

Hi Jacs,

I'm a Yeovil fan living in Bristol...

It costs between £17 and £19 to sit down and watch Yeovil with a £2 discount for tickets bought in advance. Unfortunately, the board see fit to choose six games which they "Premium Price" to the tune of £4. Used to be your lot but this season it's the Gas plus Forest, Leeds, Swansea, Swindon and Millwall.

My season ticket ( Main Stand ) sets me back £323 and my twins, aged seven, get in for £60 a season.

Edited by yeovilmac on Tuesday 1st January 14:46

[Jacs]

yeovilmac said:

Hi Jacs,

I'm a Yeovil fan living in Bristol...

It costs between £17 and £19 to sit down and watch Yeovil with a £2 discount for tickets bought in advance. Unfortunately, the board see fit to choose six games which they "Premium Price" to the tune of £4. Used to be your lot but this season it's the Gas plus Forest, Leeds, Swansea, Swindon and Millwall.

My season ticket ( Main Stand ) sets me back £323 and my twins, aged seven, get in for £60 a season.

Edited by yeovilmac on Tuesday 1st January 14:46

Hello

In all honesty, I can't really say I miss our trips down to your place. No offence but standing on an open terrace getting soaked (it always seemed to rain when we played you) is not my idea of fun; plus we never seemed to get a result down there!

Think £323 is quite a lot of money for league 2 football. Still £60 each for your kids is a real bargain so you lose on one and win on another!

I am not really a fan of this 'premium pricing', which I know a lot of clubs do. I understand why they do it, i. e people will pay £23 to see you play the Gas (personally you would have to pay me that to watch them but I digress; whereas they wouldn't to see the likes of Shrewsbury or Leyton O. the thig is I don't think it encourages the part timers, who usually only come to the 'big games' to become full time fans.

Howz Stewart getting on down there? Personally I don't think he was given fair chance at the Gate and, having seen him play for Sunderland in the Prem, I know is genuine quality.

Edited by Jacs on Tuesday 1st January 17:51

[yeovilmac]

Jacs said:

yeovilmac said:

Hi Jacs,

I'm a Yeovil fan living in Bristol...

It costs between £17 and £19 to sit down and watch Yeovil with a £2 discount for tickets bought in advance. Unfortunately, the board see fit to choose six games which they "Premium Price" to the tune of £4. Used to be your lot but this season it's the Gas plus Forest, Leeds, Swansea, Swindon and Millwall.

My season ticket ( Main Stand ) sets me back £323 and my twins, aged seven, get in for £60 a season.

Edited by yeovilmac on Tuesday 1st January 14:46

Hello

In all honesty, I can't really say I miss our trips down to your place. No offence but standing on an open terrace getting soaked (it always seemed to rain when we played you) is not my idea of fun; plus we never seemed to get a result down there!

Think £323 is quite a lot of money for league 2 football. Still £60 each for your kids is a real bargain so you lose on one and win on another!

I am not really a fan of this 'premium pricing', which I know a lot of clubs do. I understand why they do it, i. e people will pay £23 to see you play the Gas (personally you would have to pay me that to watch them but I digress; whereas they wouldn't to see the likes of Shrewsbury or Leyton O. the thig is I don't think it encourages the part timers, who usually only come to the 'big games' to become full time fans.

Howz Stewart getting on down there? Personally I don't think he was given fair chance at the Gate and, having seen him play for Sunderland in the Prem, I know is genuine quality.

Edited by Jacs on Tuesday 1st January 17:51

Hi Jacs,

Firstly, a point of order, we're in League One, not League Two....well for the moment anyway...

I don't blame you for not missing your trips to us. Away fans are poorly treated to say the least. It used to be the case that the Gas was an even worse place for away supporters but the last two times I've been, we've been put behind the goal in the tent.

Trouble is that if we put a roof on, we'll only get a grant from the Football Ground Improvement people if we make it all seater. That isn't going to happen anytime soon.

I miss our trips to Ashton Gate. Only took me 20/25 minutes to get there and was back home by 5.30pm. The away end there is acoustically very good and all three times I've been there ( two league games plus a friendly ), I've enjoyed the atmosphere immensely.

As for Marcus Stewart, I have never seen a footballer with a brain like his play for Yeovil before and I've been watching them for 37 years now! Pure quality. Don't be fooled by his scoring record, he sets more up than he nets himself and his passing is deadly accurate. We play him in the hole behind Owusu and Walker now and again and he seems to love it.

Hope you're well. Think you'll go up this year? I guess by "fans forum" you refer to the official forum or are you a "subbie"?

Edited by yeovilmac on Saturday 5th January 11:29

Edited by yeovilmac on Saturday 5th January 11:30

[MentalSarcasm]

QPR recently did a "family" ticket, 2 adults and 2 children (under 14 I think?) for £20, considering that a normal adult ticket is around the £25 mark this was bloody good value.

[stimmers]

£20 for an Away ticket at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night for Chelsea vs Everton Carling Cup Semi aint too bad !!!

[Russ35]

At Blackpool the adult prices are from £17.50 - £21.00 if bought in advance and an extra 50p if bought on the day. I've no idea what away fans pay to sit in the temporary stand but its to much!!

These prices are the same as last year, so even though we got promoted to the Championship the club haven't cashed in, but then again the Chairman probably didn't expect the team to go unbeaten for 16 games and win the last 10 to get promotion.