New Away Season Ticket

[ATFC Seagull]

I just don't get the point of this.

1. Surely it has nothing to do with finance as if anything, the club will make more by selling away match tickets one-by-one due to the £2 or whatever fee they get.
2. Hardly anyone can commit to literally every away game, the numbers we are looking at will be minute. Anyone who is that loyal will have so many points that they are never gonna miss out anyway.
3. What about re-arranged games? Surely there is NO-ONE that supports the Albion who is able to categorically say they can make an away game no matter what day, time or place it ends up being played in?
4. The kinds of people who literally go to EVERY away game are in my experience the kind of people who enjoy going to the club shop and buying their tickets, making pointless small talk and holding up the queue for the rest of us. Why deprive these loyal fans of this experience?

Anyone able to shed any light?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Thanks for the clarity. I guess their wont be that many fans that can commit to all away matches as well as home.

I would say 300 - 400 max. but whether or not they take up the option is another matter. They'll be all the ones sitting at the front of the stand at away games as the club will sort out their tickets first

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Paul Barber thinks the take up will be about 200 people.

Did a bit on this HERE ages ago.

Not sure how people will be able to sit with others who don't buy an away season ticket but go to some games together.

 

[Black Rod]

I just don't get the point of this.

1. Surely it has nothing to do with finance as if anything, the club will make more by selling away match tickets one-by-one due to the £2 or whatever fee they get.
2. Hardly anyone can commit to literally every away game, the numbers we are looking at will be minute. Anyone who is that loyal will have so many points that they are never gonna miss out anyway.
3. What about re-arranged games? Surely there is NO-ONE that supports the Albion who is able to categorically say they can make an away game no matter what day, time or place it ends up being played in?
4. The kinds of people who literally go to EVERY away game are in my experience the kind of people who enjoy going to the club shop and buying their tickets, making pointless small talk and holding up the queue for the rest of us. Why deprive these loyal fans of this experience?

Anyone able to shed any light?

Has it actually been stated anywhere other than on here that an away season ticket would work like a home one in that it would automatically mean you going to every game? I just cannot see how that would work for the reasons you've listed.

Or is it just going to be the title for another tier of membership whereby those who enrol as an away season ticket holder get priority over everyone else when it comes to purchasing away tickets, in a similar way to joining Seagulls Priority in general gives you priority over those who haven't?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

What about re-arranged games? Surely there is NO-ONE that supports the Albion who is able to categorically say they can make an away game no matter what day, time or place it ends up being played in?

Cantona's Dropkick (aka Mike C Gull) for one and there's probably many more who would make herculean efforts to get to an away game.

 

[Mowgli37]

Football is big business, each club needs to attract the TV companies, the fans, the media, the hype .... Brighton are no different. If we all want to pop along on a Saturday and watch a match against Orient with 3-4,00 others we're too far committed for that and would go bust tomorrow. We have huge aspirations, we have a substantial wage bill and a massive overhead to fund; we need money to do that from TV, from fans and from sponsors, that's life, the life we all marched for, the stadium we all wanted and the team we hoped we'd one day see challenging for the Premiership. It was never going to be jumpers for goalposts.

Excellent post

 

[8ace]

What's the benefit of this away ST to me a STH
What do the club get out it

 

[ATFC Seagull]

Has it actually been stated anywhere other than on here that an away season ticket would work like a home one in that it would automatically mean you going to every game? I just cannot see how that would work for the reasons you've listed.

Or is it just going to be the title for another tier of membership whereby those who enrol as an away season ticket holder get priority over everyone else when it comes to purchasing away tickets, in a similar way to joining Seagulls Priority in general gives you priority over those who haven't?

This was my concern when it was first announced - that they would try to bleed some sort of extra money out of even STH's for the one thing they can hold us to ransom on - away tickets. As long as the points system outweighs all else then I don't see a problem.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Has it actually been stated anywhere other than on here that an away season ticket would work like a home one in that it would automatically mean you going to every game? I just cannot see how that would work for the reasons you've listed.

Or is it just going to be the title for another tier of membership whereby those who enrol as an away season ticket holder get priority over everyone else when it comes to purchasing away tickets, in a similar way to joining Seagulls Priority in general gives you priority over those who haven't?

The difference with an away season ticket is the tickets will be real tickets instead of being downloaded onto the smartcard. In theory if you cannot get to a specific away game you can pass the ticket onto a friend. We do have a number of diehard fans who are addicted to 50+ Albion games a season.

 

[Hamilton]

Because it's the fashion for the NSC pack?

As soon as a few have a pop at Barber, the pack will follow putting the boot in.

Let's face it, people won't dare have a pop at Tony, as he has put the money in, so who else can they have a pop at regarding the club?

Several years ago, a few of us season ticket holders used to argue that we should get priority for away games. We used to get howled down by some, quite frankly, thick posters, who felt they should get priority as they went to away games but NOT home games (i.e they put no money into the club whatsoever). Most of those people have probably bought season tickets now. Funnily enough you never hear that argument anymore.

Like many people on here, I am a STH so it doesn't really affect me. However, for those that go to a fair few games, I would have thought it was a good idea. Better choice of seats and the ability to load cash on the card. I wouldn't have thought it worthwhile for people who watch less that 5 games a year. Down to the individual I guess, it's not compulsory.

I like the idea of being geared up to the big time. I could pop up to Crawley if I want a taste of the "Good Old Days".

In my case that is rubbish. I haven't bashed Barber much at all. However, all the nonsense over the last few weeks brings into question some of the decisions one assumes he is ratifying. And let's be clear about this, he is ratifying those decisions. The actual ideas for what gets implemented can't all be down to Barber, but down to other members of the management team. They will of course be following a strategic lead set by the CEO. At the moment, it feels like they have lost their touch.

As for Tony Bloom, nobody is bigger than the club and nobody is above criticism. He is the Chairman and ultimately responsible for the leadership of the Board, if not the day to day management of the club. He should be watching the way the club is being run and asking questions about whether this is the way that BHA wants to do business. Remember, BHA does not belong to Tony Bloom - he is fortunate enough to be the present Chairman and the present custodian and that is what his success has bought him. But, he is a fan like the rest of us, and the club belongs to the fans.

If Paul Barber is pursuing the wrong revenue generating strategy, then it is up to Tony Bloom to redirect him.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I imagine there will be a tier above season ticket holder but below away season ticket holder which season ticket holders can pay to move into which will offer additional priority for away matches. The club won't introduce all this unless there is a way to make money above the odd £30 bottom level membership fee.

Points system will then probably operate within each tier.

If that is introduced, if we all agreed not to buy the additional priority, the current system for away allocation would pretty much remain.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

The difference with an away season ticket is the tickets will be real tickets instead of being downloaded onto the smartcard. In theory if you cannot get to a specific away game you can pass the ticket onto a friend. We do have a number of diehard fans who are addicted to 50+ Albion games a season.

But will you save anything or is it literally just agreeing to buy each ticket at full price? Presumably you won't save money as then the Albion are subsidising away tickets and this has been quite specifically been phrased as a revenue opportunity. So then why the hell would anyone do it? I can accept Mike C Gull might fancy it but he's hardly complaining about the current system. And I refuse to believe there are more than a dozen who attend each and every away game bar none.

And why would you bother having to find a friend who wants to go to the re-arranged Yeovil away game on a Tuesday night in February when you could have just not committed yourself to that game in the first place and not had the hassle?

 

[bn1&bn3 Albion]

£30.. big deal, it's one dinner at a nice restaurant..

 

[Blackadder]

In my case that is rubbish. I haven't bashed Barber much at all. However, all the nonsense over the last few weeks brings into question some of the decisions one assumes he is ratifying. And let's be clear about this, he is ratifying those decisions. The actual ideas for what gets implemented can't all be down to Barber, but down to other members of the management team. They will of course be following a strategic lead set by the CEO. At the moment, it feels like they have lost their touch.

As for Tony Bloom, nobody is bigger than the club and nobody is above criticism. He is the Chairman and ultimately responsible for the leadership of the Board, if not the day to day management of the club. He should be watching the way the club is being run and asking questions about whether this is the way that BHA wants to do business. Remember, BHA does not belong to Tony Bloom - he is fortunate enough to be the present Chairman and the present custodian and that is what his success has bought him. But, he is a fan like the rest of us, and the club belongs to the fans.

If Paul Barber is pursuing the wrong revenue generating strategy, then it is up to Tony Bloom to redirect him.

I wasn't having a go at you Hamilton. You do set out reasoned arguments on this site. There are some people who do go over the top on Barber, purely because they want to have a pop at authority. He is, presumably, doing the job TB wants him to do?

 

[Black Rod]

What's the benefit of this away ST to me a STH
What do the club get out it

Money, I would think

 

[8ace]

Money, I would think

How will they get anymore money out of me with this scheme

 

[brightn'ove]

Money, I would think

do they though? the people who go to every away game will go to every away game regardless of the system in place ... meaning the club are losing out on the £2 booking fee for every game that the away season ticket covers.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

And I refuse to believe there are more than a dozen who attend each and every away game bar none.

The Liz Costa Love Bus Brigade , those on independent supporters coaches throughout Sussex , motorists and rail aficionados will go unless they are on their death bed or have man flu.

 

[Black Rod]

do they though? the people who go to every away game will go to every away game regardless of the system in place ... meaning the club are losing out on the £2 booking fee for every game that the away season ticket covers.

Has it been stated that the booking fee is going then? Or will it just be absorbed into the cost of an away season ticket, bearing in mind posting them out to people actually makes it more justifiable than a £2 fee to update a smart card as happens with home games.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

The Liz Costa Love Bus Brigade , those on independent supporters coaches throughout Sussex , motorists and rail aficionados will go unless they are on their death bed or have man flu.

Please don't patronise me. I go to 80% of away games and know most of the people that you are talking about. If you think more than a handful of them make literally every game a season you are deluded.