Poll - Season ticket cuts

[7:18]

im 20 now, and wont be in Brighton to take advantage of the BARGAIN prices, but still very happy because we need to get the new generation in for Falmer!

 

[bright1064]

An unlikely scenario..........but an interesting point. Would it have been a good idea to limit the U-21 price to say 1000-1500 tickets...? This may well have had the effect of encouraging them to apply early......"just to make sure".
I also think your earlier post re; reductions to adults too, has its merits.

I totally agree mate!

Is there no limit on the amount of these U21 tickets the club are going to sell?

 

[SeagullTim]

Brilliant for me and all my mates.

 

[Kenhead]

From a personal point of view it’s not great for me.

Was hoping for a reduction on an adult ticket, prior to today’s announcement I was already thinking of just picking up cheap tickets off here. Also there will be 4 games this season where tickets have been reduced in different offers for adults plus the Argus having been giving away free tickets to some other games aswell so today’s news hasn’t exactly made me want to renew.

 

[Conkers]

Sorry I meant pricing (which is related to marketing), assuming that's what you were querying.
If it was because you think the club DON'T know what they are doing:

 

[Scotty Mac]

good news - i can afford to renew now

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Not sure really.

On the one hand, fair enough, the club needs to encourage new fans to get involved, no doubt about it, and they need to pick up on the "lost generation" who've never got into the habit of football, so that side of it is a great idea.

But I can't help feeling that the club, as usual, takes its existing, longstanding season ticket holders for granted. They made plenty of noise prior to this about how they were seriously looking at prices for 2008-09, and I'd have thought with the low crowds, it would finally dawn on them that the prices at Withdean (and yes, we all know the club has very high overheads all the time we're here) have an impact on that.

STHs have already put up with the knowledge that prices have been slashed for a number of individual games this season, yet not complained at losing out because we're all focusing on the greater good. But it would have been nice for some kind of acknowledgement of the loyalty shown by a lot of people, most of whom have put up with the worst stadium in the league for nearly eight years now, with at least two more years to go. Nice to have recognised that the average devoted fan finds £400+ a heavy price to pay.

When we move to Falmer, what will the fans who've actually bothered to stick with the club through these past ten years or so have to show for it? We can choose our seats at the stadium? Well thanks. Brilliant. It's not as though there'll be a shortage. I know we don't have the capacity to do something quite as innovative as Bradford did, but right now, I just cannot see any incentive at all for the most loyal customers of the club to renew their STs, and that's the disappointing element of this for me. They just expect us all to cough up and shut up, this year, as every year. Not great PR.

 

[fosters headband]

Absolute f***ing joke to be honest. Getting youngsters in is great, but the vast majority of the crowd are adults paying full price. There won't be enough U21s to make a significant difference to attendances, so we're basically looking at more sub-5000 crowds next season, maybe even worse. This was a perfect opportunity to reward the very loyal existing STH's, and maybe attract some back, and the club have failed. Very short-sighted by the in my opinion. In any case, even if they sell 3000 U21 tickets, it's going to bring in the same revenue as just 750 normal tickets. I don't usually have a problem with Dick Knight or the board, but for this decision alone, they're dickheads.

I think, for what it is worth, that hey may have pulled of a master stroke with the under 16 season ticket. Now this is a real saving on what I paid for my grandson on last years price. And at this age they need an adult to go with them so they could get more dads taking junior to football.

 

[Zesh Rehman]

Little bit annoyed that its £140 for South Stand, when it said on website that it would cost £120 for south and east stands. But ho hum still saving about 200 quid!

 

[fosters headband]

Little bit annoyed that its £140 for South Stand, when it said on website that it would cost £120 for south and east stands. But ho hum still saving about 200 quid!

I think the £140 is only for the south stand centre.

 

[andybaha]

I'm sure the U16 and U21 tickets are great value, and I'm sure there will be a reasonably good take-up of them. Not enough to add thousands to the gate, but healthy enough I would imagine. You can't fill a football stadium, even one as bad as Withdean, on youngsters paying £5 a game though. The club HAD to show some loyalty to the 3000 mugs (myself included) still paying £400+ to watch poor football in a joke stadium. Even a token reduction of say 5% would have been far better than this. There is now no incentive to buy a season ticket, and I'm sure many won't. I'm sure the club will say, come July, there are as many STH's as ever, but I bet 1000 £400 adults will have been replaced by 1000 £120 kids.

Don't agree. I've never been a STH in my life. I have always bought tickets game to game, but the offer for the kids is generous enough to make me think seriously about buying a ST for my son and myself. I'm sure I won't be the only one who thinks like this.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I actually feel quite guilty about having a moan, because I can clearly see the potential of the kids tickets idea. I'm worried that I'm turning into a BAD fan for demanding some sort of recompense for my loyalty, after all, perhaps I should just be grateful for the fabulous entertainment on offer...

But try as I might, I just can't shake off the the feeling of disappointment, and of being taken for a ride as a STH. Every successful business works on acquisitive as well as retentive marketing strategies....except this one, it seems.

 

[Zesh Rehman]

I think the £140 is only for the south stand centre.

and wings unfortunatley. still a bargain.

 

[fosters headband]

and wings unfortunatley. still a bargain.

Zesh, have a read of this and tell me what you think it means?
U21 season tickets - North Stand Chat

 

[Zesh Rehman]

The programme says 140 for centre and then 140 for wings. hopefully its wrong

 

[andybaha]

Yep, I can appreciate it's a good deal for someone like you. However, in terms of numbers, I think people like you are in the minority compared to all the adults that go without kids. It's the average man who goes alone that needs to be tempted back, not a few more kids paying joke prices - especially when "under 21s" probably won't be bringing an adult with them anyway.

I keep hearing about 'The lost generation of fans'. I think the idea to reduce prices to youngsters, including upto 21, is to try and win back some of the those who have missed the chance to attend Albion matches. Earlier in the thread someone said something similar, but if you look arond the south stand the average age is about 45. In the north stand it is probably nearer 55. What happens in the future if we don't encourage youngsters to attend.

Having said that I'm not unsympathetic to long standing STH who despite their loyalty seem to miss out on all the 'special offers' being offered. A good proportion of the crowd tonight only paid a tenner to get in. It's a difficult balance.