Anyone know how full West Stand Upper is getting?

[Dr. Notthenineo'clocknews]

I didn't think this was possible?

what, to bung a net over a few seats, lock a gate and stick a couple of stewards in situ ?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I didn't think this was possible?

The South Stand can be segregated but I think away fans will be keen to visit Falmer and it wont be partitioned very often.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

You'd think selling all the seats as season tickets would be a good think - at least from a cash generation point of view. But there are some big drawbacks to it too. If you don't have walk up trade (and maybe that is a thing of the past) you won't easily cultivate new fans. Not sure if this is an issue or not. In this case the albion need to make sure they have a very flexible re-sale portal as a way to let new fans try the product (by buying season tickets seats on a match by match basis).

More seriously for the future, is the difference between an under capacity stadium where you sell all your season tickets because that's the ONLY way to get a seat; and an expanded stadium where there are match day seats generally available. The result of this could actually be a fall in the number of season tickets sold despite an increase in capacity (because some people will only have been buying season tickets to ensure a seat. These people may then not buy a season ticket knowing they can buy "on the day" - and also pick and choose their games.

So what's better in that scenario - a 22k stadium that is sold out to season ticket holders or a 30k stadium with fewer season ticket holders but more passing trade FOR SOME GAMES but lower crowds for others?

Just thinking out loud.

I had the same thought when went to the presentation. 900 tickets for general sale is too low in my opinion. And whilst I suspect there may well be more when it comes down to it, the club should be encouraging the casual fan who may only want to go to the odd game.

The club's take on it seems to be that they think the days of buying on the day for football are over which I think is a mistake for Brighton. We are not Arsenal. Hopefully the numbers of tickets on general sale will increase when the corners and east additional tier is added which would take the capacity up to 30000 although there may well be planning/access/transport issues with that.

 

[Simster]

Are they able to do that now they've sold PSLs to people? I don't think they can because that would piss off the people who paid £500 for something very similar, the only difference being the PSL holder get to choose who the ticket goes to. For me it's too close to put into practice without pissing off anyone who bought a PSL

I don't know. To be honest, I don't know how a PSL is really beneficial, but I do know that this season ticket exchange idea was almost an afterthought when trying to sell the PSL. In the end, there is a limited supply of seats and thousands on non STH who will want to get to a game from time to time - the club really needs to get a ticket exchange in place.

 

[Icy Gull]

Isn't the back of the West Stand further from the pitch than the current away end at Withdean?

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

what, to bung a net over a few seats, lock a gate and stick a couple of stewards in situ ?

I thought I'd heard in the past that it couldn't be divided due to having to use the same exits and toliets/bars etc.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

The Albion will keep the 1,000-1,500 seats in the South East corner no matter what. Apart from the FA Cup requirement, these seats will also be used for complimentary tickets, players ticket allocation and general hand outs that all clubs need to have available. So I don't know the maths, but we will only ever sell the maximum capacity, less away fans allocation less the 1-1.5k in the South East corner as season tickets.

In addition, the club charter currently states that at least 5% of tickets will be available to non-STHs. Not sure if this 5% of ground capacity or 5% of "Home" tickets but assuming the latter, this equates to just over 1,000 tickets at the Amex, in addition to the 15% of capacity (ie 3,375) that might be required for away supporters in the FAC. Non of these 4,375 can be sold as STs which leaves, provided the charter remains unchanged, a total of (22500-4375) = 18,125 ST's maximum (assuming no freebies for players, guests, school parties etc). More likely to be around 17,500 imo but this still leaves 2,125 match tickets available for sale at each and every league game.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Isn't the back of the West Stand further from the pitch than the current away end at Withdean?

Even if it is the elevation will command a decent view.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Isn't the back of the West Stand further from the pitch than the current away end at Withdean?

Not sure, but I would be very surprised if that is true

 

[CP 0 3 BHA]

Isn't the back of the West Stand further from the pitch than the current away end at Withdean?

Anything with the same postcode will be an improvement!

 

[Notters]

Isn't the back of the West Stand further from the pitch than the current away end at Withdean?

The distance from the very back of the west stand at Falmer to the touchline is about the same (horizontally) as the distance from the Withdean away end to the goal line (about 70 yards). But obviously you can see both goals fromt he west stand.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

For me, this is an argument for implementing a decent ticket exchange system rather than restricting season ticket sales. You ought to be able to buy tix using seats where season ticket holders are unable to attend. My concern is that this hasn't been thought through properly.

Maybe you meant this but surely the club should/will only do this if the Amex is sold out for the particular game?

 

[Fungus]

I know it's been said a hundred times already, but people will be buying season tickets even though they won't go to half the games as it'll be the only way to get a ticket to a game. Therefore we may well end up with large numbers of empty seats each game.

I suspect a lot of these won't renew for the following season, freeing up the empty seats for match-by-match purchase. It's gonna take a few seasons to settle down.

 

[Simster]

Maybe you meant this but surely the club should/will only do this if the Amex is sold out for the particular game?

No, I'd say any game.

A STH ought to be able to make his seat available and if it is matched with a buyer for a given game, should be paid, minus an admin fee taken by the club.

 

[elwheelio]

When I went to my presentation last week there were only 9 people in attendance so I don't think all of the presentations will be full to capacity.

Also, the guy that did the presentation said that 15,800 STs were for sale. I can't see them turning away people but he seemed pretty insistent that it was 15,800.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

I suspect a lot of these won't renew for the following season, freeing up the empty seats for match-by-match purchase. It's gonna take a few seasons to settle down.

Good point. I doubt there's many clubs that have changed grounds and increased capacity by 300% so I suppose there must be some trial and error to get things working and, as you say, to settle in.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

No, I'd say any game.

A STH ought to be able to make his seat available and if it is matched with a buyer for a given game, should be paid, minus an admin fee taken by the club.

So what's in this for the club, don't they just lose a match ticket sale every time?

 

[Dirty Dave]

I can see a lot of + 3's attending presentations even if though they already have a ticket

 

[Simster]

So what's in this for the club, don't they just lose a match ticket sale every time?

No.

Season ticket holder can't make a game, so goes to a ticket exchange to "sell" the seat for a one off game
A non-STH buyer looking for a seat, sees this seat is available and buys the seat for this one game he wants to see.
Club charges a £5 administration fee for offering this service.

Results:
STH gets money back on a game he can't attend
Non STH gets to see the game as he'd hoped, and with minimal fuss
The club makes an arrangement fee
The club, crucually, keeps both an existing STH happy and another future potential "customer" happy.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

No.

Season ticket holder can't make a game, so goes to a ticket exchange to "sell" the seat for a one off game
A non-STH buyer looking for a seat, sees this seat is available and buys the seat for this one game he wants to see.
Club charges a £5 administration fee for offering this service.

Results:
STH gets money back on a game he can't attend
Non STH gets to see the game as he'd hoped, and with minimal fuss
The club makes an arrangement fee
The club, crucually, keeps both an existing STH happy and another future potential "customer" happy.

And there isn't an empty seat at the ground!