Only 900 tickets for general sale per match at Amex

[hans kraay fan club]

Away teams in the F.A. Cup are entitled to 15% of capacity, approximately 3750 seats.
The South stand holds 2400 odd seats which leaves 1300 odd seats (in the East stand, i believe) that, im sure i heard Martin Perry say, wont be sold as season tickets.

.

15% of capacity is 3375.

 

[Easy 10]

At my presso, Dodge said no season ticket holders would have to move, they have allocated a block/blocks in the East stand, for on the day / albion in the community / school freebies / etc, that will be given to the away team where the 15% rule comes in.

For the 15% rule, the southern section of the East stand will be used to accomodate the additional away fans. These seats are not being sold as season ticket seats - they are allocated for the club staff, so they would be the ones having to move.

 

[Uter]

I agree with quite a lot of what GW is saying. It's a medium to long-term decision about the regeneration of fans you're talking about (which is why it's too early to use a resurgent Norwich as an example, you'd need to see their crowds after a relegation).

Norwich were relegated 2 seasons ago. Didn't seem to affect their crowds too much. In fact the last two seasons following a relegation they have shown an increase.

2010/11 25225
2009/10 24657 (promoted)
2008/09 24542 (relegated)
2007/08 24527
2006/07 24544
2005/06 24952
2004/05 23944 (relegated)

 

[Ecosse Exile]

15% of capacity is 3375.

So it is, oops, so thats only 900 seats then as the OP stated.

 

[Gwylan]

For the 15% rule, the southern section of the East stand will be used to accomodate the additional away fans. These seats are not being sold as season ticket seats - they are allocated for the club staff, so they would be the ones having to move.

That's right. As I understand it, if the away supporters take their full allocation, club staff will moved to the seats that usually go on general sale. If away supporters don't take their allocation, club staff stay as they are.

It does mean that if the away supporters take the full 15%, there will be only a few hundred general tickets available if we draw a big team in the cup. Imagine the binfest then ...

 

[8ace]

That's right. As I understand it, if the away supporters take their full allocation, club staff will moved to the seats that usually go on general sale. If away supporters don't take their allocation, club staff stay as they are.

It does mean that if the away supporters take the full 15%, there will be only a few hundred general tickets available if we draw a big team in the cup. Imagine the binfest then ...

They'll also need to give up some seats for segregation to provide a barrier between the two sets of fans. Not sure if these will be deducted from the home or away allocation.

 

[bellsize seagull]

selling 200 a day in last two weeks !

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Norwich were relegated 2 seasons ago. Didn't seem to affect their crowds too much. In fact the last two seasons following a relegation they have shown an increase.

2010/11 25225
2009/10 24657 (promoted)
2008/09 24542 (relegated)
2007/08 24527
2006/07 24544
2005/06 24952
2004/05 23944 (relegated)

But, if you're from Nowich and have 7 fingers on each hand, it must be quite difficult to type properly to cancel your Direct Debit.

 

[Uter]

But, if you're from Nowich and have 7 fingers on each hand, it must be quite difficult to type properly to cancel your Direct Debit.

I knew there had to be an explanation.

 

[beorhthelm]

Season ticket revenue has to be the best business model going forward.

The club gets guaranteed monthly revenue drip fed in to them over a 12 month period.

Given a choice why would they want to fart around selling 1 x £25 ticket who someone who last went when we were at the Goldstone ?

its not the best model going forward, its quite short sighted. grannyW and tootiing gull have covered it largely, the next generation of fans come in through single tickets. but more than that, more stadium going fans means more merchanise sales. better to have to "fart around" selling a £25 ticket to another 35k people (on basis of say 1500 available each game), who will all spend another £100 over the year in the club shop.

the idea balance is to sell enough season tickets to provide a solid base income then enough Pay on the Gate to always just about sellout that allocation. the net result would likly be attendances higher than 100% season tickets with no shows, which would mean more revenue in the bars and burgers too.

i would be quite disappointed if the club intends to only leave 900 tickets for the tens of thousands of fans who cant afford a ST or cant commit to 23 games (this in my case) due to distance, jobs, family etc. a lot of people just want to be able to go along to a couple or half dozen games a season, dont mind what games, as they are part of the wider support base, many of whom went to Priestfield, went to the theatre of trees, spend lots on merchandise every year.

Unless... they have planned for this and will be setting up a system to transfer unused tickets to the Pay on the Gate allocation. with the smartcards it should be simple enough to allow people to mark their seat available for a upcoming match (online, at shop, terminal in the stadium) and it can then be sold to PotG card holders. that would be the ideal as the club gets to sell the seat twice... now that really is the best business model!

 

[Sheebo]

This thread is pretty old news to befair - the 900 figure has been said by RH for a long time now...

 

[Gazwag]

Unless... they have planned for this and will be setting up a system to transfer unused tickets to the Pay on the Gate allocation. with the smartcards it should be simple enough to allow people to mark their seat available for a upcoming match (online, at shop, terminal in the stadium) and it can then be sold to PotG card holders. that would be the ideal as the club gets to sell the seat twice... now that really is the best business model!

You would hope that this would work really well but it obviously depends on the greed of season ticket holders. One poster said on here that he has a season ticket but will not go to many games and, in so many words, is "open to offers" for the other games.

 

[Hotchilidog]

its not the best model going forward, its quite short sighted. grannyW and tootiing gull have covered it largely, the next generation of fans come in through single tickets. but more than that, more stadium going fans means more merchanise sales. better to have to "fart around" selling a £25 ticket to another 35k people (on basis of say 1500 available each game), who will all spend another £100 over the year in the club shop.

the idea balance is to sell enough season tickets to provide a solid base income then enough Pay on the Gate to always just about sellout that allocation. the net result would likly be attendances higher than 100% season tickets with no shows, which would mean more revenue in the bars and burgers too.

i would be quite disappointed if the club intends to only leave 900 tickets for the tens of thousands of fans who cant afford a ST or cant commit to 23 games (this in my case) due to distance, jobs, family etc. a lot of people just want to be able to go along to a couple or half dozen games a season, dont mind what games, as they are part of the wider support base, many of whom went to Priestfield, went to the theatre of trees, spend lots on merchandise every year.

Unless... they have planned for this and will be setting up a system to transfer unused tickets to the Pay on the Gate allocation. with the smartcards it should be simple enough to allow people to mark their seat available for a upcoming match (online, at shop, terminal in the stadium) and it can then be sold to PotG card holders. that would be the ideal as the club gets to sell the seat twice... now that really is the best business model!

The point that I feel is being overlooked with this argument is that with a potential 15,000 ticket holders we would have already recruited almost two new generations of supporters in one fell swoop. We have to walk before we can run here I think. It is crucial for any future expansion of the fan base that the first season at the AMEX is a success, and that means a majority of games played to full-houses and ST sales are best way to do this. The first priority for the Albion is to retain as much of this new support as they can before worrying about expansion, which can be dealt with the corner filling.

 

[fcportaloo]

its not the best model going forward, its quite short sighted. grannyW and tootiing gull have covered it largely, the next generation of fans come in through single tickets. but more than that, more stadium going fans means more merchanise sales. better to have to "fart around" selling a £25 ticket to another 35k people (on basis of say 1500 available each game), who will all spend another £100 over the year in the club shop.

the idea balance is to sell enough season tickets to provide a solid base income then enough Pay on the Gate to always just about sellout that allocation. the net result would likly be attendances higher than 100% season tickets with no shows, which would mean more revenue in the bars and burgers too.

i would be quite disappointed if the club intends to only leave 900 tickets for the tens of thousands of fans who cant afford a ST or cant commit to 23 games (this in my case) due to distance, jobs, family etc. a lot of people just want to be able to go along to a couple or half dozen games a season, dont mind what games, as they are part of the wider support base, many of whom went to Priestfield, went to the theatre of trees, spend lots on merchandise every year.

Unless... they have planned for this and will be setting up a system to transfer unused tickets to the Pay on the Gate allocation. with the smartcards it should be simple enough to allow people to mark their seat available for a upcoming match (online, at shop, terminal in the stadium) and it can then be sold to PotG card holders. that would be the ideal as the club gets to sell the seat twice... now that really is the best business model!

I broadly agree with this - it echos the points I made earlier. Also, football is becoming a game attended by the middle age. How do young men and women build an affinity with their local team if the only realistic prospect of gaining access is a £500 entrance fee. Plus, the same people sitting in the same seat week in, week out hardly makes for a vibrant atmosphere.

 

[clippedgull]

How do young men and women build an affinity with their local team if the only realistic prospect of gaining access is a £500 entrance fee.

Not sure of the validity of your statement here. The fee is payable over 12 months. As are mobile phones, sky subs etc Its all about priorities in ones life! Its not as if zero tickets are going to be available to casual supporters, the ballpark figure is 900 per match (with many more available if all ST don't sell) with the south stand being partitioned if the demand is there and the away supporters don't need it. I'm sure if someone wants a ticket as a casual supporter, there really won't be a problem, after the first half dozen games.

 

[beorhthelm]

...It is crucial for any future expansion of the fan base that the first season at the AMEX is a success, and that means a majority of games played to full-houses and ST sales are best way to do this.

thats great if 15000 STH turn up every week, it seems from many comments that people are quite happy to buy a ST to secure first game and a dozen or so games, but no intention to see all 23 games. and this isnt about "new" support, its existing support. how many of those 15k are new, because they certainly not all existing Withdean STH. are we saying only new affluent fans welcome?

 

[Tooting Gull]

Also, I'll throw this one in and see who agrees/goes mental.

Do you not think the atmosphere would be better with a greater proportion of non-STHs?

There is the obvious point about non-attendees and empty seats. But even more than that, it just spices up the support a bit, stops everyone sitting there waiting to be entertained.

I'm not having a go at STHs, I've been one myself and hope to be again in the future - I just think that when you watch every week at home sometimes you take it more for granted, and sing less. When you've made the effort specially for that game, like when we go away, there is a better atmosphere because you're more up for it. For me, having 3-4,000 of those cannot be a bad thing on top of 16,000 STHs. A good mix.

 

[Gazwag]

I'm not having a go at STHs, I've been one myself and hope to be again in the future - I just think that when you watch every week at home sometimes you take it more for granted, and sing less. When you've made the effort specially for that game, like when we go away, there is a better atmosphere because you're more up for it.

But isn't that british football full stop, even for the national team at wembley

 

[Hotchilidog]

thats great if 15000 STH turn up every week, it seems from many comments that people are quite happy to buy a ST to secure first game and a dozen or so games, but no intention to see all 23 games. and this isnt about "new" support, its existing support. how many of those 15k are new, because they certainly not all existing Withdean STH. are we saying only new affluent fans welcome?

I do not believe for a minute that thousands of STH's will fail to turn up or not reallocate seat every game. Whilst one or two people on here have said that they can't make all the games, they have also said that someone else will take their where possible, why does NSC always believe the worst, I'd ave thought the +3 row should have put paid to that attitude . Withdean currently hosts between 4-7000 regular home fans, we need double that number to fill Falmer, so the club are quite naturally in full on sales mode for upfront ST sales. I would say that whilst most of these additional STH's are not 'new' per se, they will certainly be new in terms of going to WATCH the Albion week in week out rather than finding something better to do. It is vital that these people are retained and we can build on their return to the fold.

Also with the direct debit I believe affluence shouldn't be a factor for most people. £30-40 a month is not that much to pay. The club have offered very affordable financing for as many fans as possible.

I really cannot see why we are constantly looking for reasons to take a pop at the club. Next season we are going to have a fantastic new home, the club have made it affordable for as many people as possible and we will have three times as many Albion fans at the games than present. What is not to like about that!

 

[Gritt23]

Its all sales talk, to make you panic and put pressure on you to purchase a ST on the premise that you wont be able to get single game ones.

Its obviously working innit!

Yep!

But this strategy does come with risks, as we made such a massive thing about selling out Withers week after week in teh early days, that YEARS later I was talking to people who simply didn't go anymore because "it's just impossible to get tickets innit." That was a view that remained even when we were playing to some pretty rubbish crowds. We'd just made such a big thing out of being so much bigger than Withdean could hold, we left people with a view that tickets were much harder to come by than they actually were.