[Albion] Season Ticket Farce @PaulBarber

[Biscuit Barrel]

When the club introduced the scheme, me and the 2 people I I go to the games with requested card passes, rather than phone ones.

We pass our cards to friends and family and have not had any trouble getting other people into the stadium.

Our cards have our photos on, but they have never been checked.

Just request a card and pass it around.

 

[jcdenton08]

Reminder that Liverpool allow you to transfer your ticket for free to 20 named friends/relatives. Those people do not need to be members and you can transfer your ticket as many times as you like.

https://faq.liverpoolfc.com/portal/en/kb/articles/tkt-how-will-the-friends-and-family-function-work


Why the hell can't we do something like this?

Because international megabrand Liverpool FC make more money in shirt sales in Asia in a week, than we make combined in ticket sales, merchandise sales and concessions in a season.

There is nominal financial benefit in them charging. But we need every possible revenue stream. So we charge for this, plus anything else we can, to try and offset the massive losses the club operates at, funded directly by Tony Bloom. If we we were an international brand with commercial income that wasn't a fraction of the big clubs', then, maybe, Paul Barber could afford to let this little earning opportunity slide. Maybe.

Again I'm not endorsing it or saying I agree with it, quite the opposite, just giving the facts.

 

[amexer]

I only knew at about 3pm I could not attend. I dont know an Albion member so seat was empty. There are several people I could have rung that cant afford to go but of course no longer possible. I Just hope all not happy with scheme write to Barber. Its a farce. Barber said scheme came in because it deprived members of getting a ticket. Thats not the case because tickets available right up to KO

 

[Justice]

I only knew at about 3pm I could not attend. I dont know an Albion member so seat was empty. There are several people I could have rung that cant afford to go but of course no longer possible. I Just hope all not happy with scheme write to Barber. Its a farce. Barber said scheme came in because it deprived members of getting a ticket. Thats not the case because tickets available right up to KO

It’s a community club when it suits them.

 

[Titanic]

If I had GIVEN my ticket away to a friend for yesterday, I would have been embarrassed, and felt I owed them a refund

 

[Steve in Japan]

I've only done this once. The problem is having to explain to a casual "fan" about what they need to do and how to do it. And that they have to shell out £20. In my experience, that was the major pain.

Can't be arsed doing it again.

 

[nwgull]

Reminder that Liverpool allow you to transfer your ticket for free to 20 named friends/relatives. Those people do not need to be members and you can transfer your ticket as many times as you like.

https://faq.liverpoolfc.com/portal/en/kb/articles/tkt-how-will-the-friends-and-family-function-work


Why the hell can't we do something like this?

That’s a decent scheme, to be fair. However, before people accuse our loss-making club of money grabbing, it’s worth mentioning that the cheapest LFC season ticket is £140 more than the cheapest Amex seat (and that doesn’t account for inherent travel supplements). Swings and roundabouts in terms of overall costs.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

I refuse to participate in Scheme which costs a minimum of £45 to put in place for a ticket we have already paid for. If we must do it, make a nominal charge to cover costs, say £1 or £2 per share (like they do at Arsenal). Blatant money squeezing exercise, it has nothing whatsoever to do with knowing who is in ground as has been covered previously.

 

[goldstone]

When are the club going to realise this new season ticket scheme of having to pay to pass it on to a friend/family is an absolute f**king farce!?

It's shameful we are charging hard working loyal fans to pass on their ticket which they have rightly paid for. In any other case this is usually not allowed, so why are we any different?! Once you've paid for it, it's yours to pass onto who you please.

This better stop and stop soon.

Tonights attendance was the face of this shite scheme. 100% there would have been more bums on seats and more money for the club being spent on the concourses etc.

I rate Paul Barber and the team highly, but they've f**ked up here royally.

Agree. This scheme is far too complicated and it feels like we are being ripped to have to pay again to pass the ticket on to a friend. Surely it is better to have the seats filled with people who are going to cheer the team and spend money in the stadium than to have thousands of empty seats. Bloody annoying.

 

[Rugrat]

Because international megabrand Liverpool FC make more money in shirt sales in Asia in a week, than we make combined in ticket sales, merchandise sales and concessions in a season.

There is nominal financial benefit in them charging. But we need every possible revenue stream. So we charge for this, plus anything else we can, to try and offset the massive losses the club operates at, funded directly by Tony Bloom. If we we were an international brand with commercial income that wasn't a fraction of the big clubs', then, maybe, Paul Barber could afford to let this little earning opportunity slide. Maybe.

Again I'm not endorsing it or saying I agree with it, quite the opposite, just giving the facts.

I don't buy that in the slightest. Relative to our £130M+ revenue the additional income generated will be miniscule. I doubt in total it gets anywhere near 6 figures.

Then you have the negative impact on 'customer' satisfaction (can be plainly seen) and then you need to offset the puny additional revenue with lost sales (I am one giving up my ST, admittedly other reasons too but it was a contributor)

Course Barber knows more than anyone about running a business (LOL) but I know a little too and I ain't never seen a good one that seeks to wring every penny out of it's loyal customers

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Because international megabrand Liverpool FC make more money in shirt sales in Asia in a week, than we make combined in ticket sales, merchandise sales and concessions in a season.

There is nominal financial benefit in them charging. But we need every possible revenue stream. So we charge for this, plus anything else we can, to try and offset the massive losses the club operates at, funded directly by Tony Bloom. If we we were an international brand with commercial income that wasn't a fraction of the big clubs', then, maybe, Paul Barber could afford to let this little earning opportunity slide. Maybe.

Again I'm not endorsing it or saying I agree with it, quite the opposite, just giving the facts.

It's a fair point. But what point does it become detrimental to the club?

How many of our 24k season ticket holders have signed up for this scheme and paid that 20 quid? And how many Albion + members have we got?

In my opinion it must be a significant amount of money we're bringing in to justify the empty seats, shit atmosphere, lost matchday revenue, pissing off season ticket holders, and losing the chance to convert all of those casual/new fans into lifers.

It's that definition of significant which I suppose is the question here.

 

[Fat Boy Fat]

When are the club going to realise this new season ticket scheme of having to pay to pass it on to a friend/family is an absolute f**king farce!?

It's shameful we are charging hard working loyal fans to pass on their ticket which they have rightly paid for. In any other case this is usually not allowed, so why are we any different?! Once you've paid for it, it's yours to pass onto who you please.

This better stop and stop soon.

Tonights attendance was the face of this shite scheme. 100% there would have been more bums on seats and more money for the club being spent on the concourses etc.

I rate Paul Barber and the team highly, but they've f**ked up here royally.

I’m guessing this topic will rumble on for a while yet and I have to admit I think the club may have got the feelings over this wrong.

However, having said the above I wonder what the stance would be (actually I don’t), if people were sharing their train season tickets?

 

[worthingseagull]

That’s a decent scheme, to be fair. However, before people accuse our loss-making club of money grabbing, it’s worth mentioning that the cheapest LFC season ticket is £140 more than the cheapest Amex seat (and that doesn’t account for inherent travel supplements). Swings and roundabouts in terms of overall costs.

To be fair, they are a little bit better than us plus a tiny bit of a greater demand for tickets so probably justified

 

[Taybha]

Not a season ticket holder but this does seem a ridiculous greedy system, the club are kind of shooting themselves in the foot on at least 2 fronts, do all clubs do this? I'd be amazed if they did.

 

[Gazwag]

Would it actually have made any difference last night and actually with the new random covid checks meaning you have to prove who you are to reactivate your ticket to get in make it impossible to pass your ticket on any other way.

Not that I agree with the charge.

 

[Since1982]

The process is simple and I have sympathy with the club who want to know who is in the stadium particularly in times like this. What I cannot defend is the cost, it's a rip off.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

It's a fair point. But what point does it become detrimental to the club?

How many of our 24k season ticket holders have signed up for this scheme and paid that 20 quid? And how many Albion + members have we got?

In my opinion it must be a significant amount of money we're bringing in to justify the empty seats, shit atmosphere, lost matchday revenue, pissing off season ticket holders, and losing the chance to convert all of those casual/new fans into lifers.

It's that definition of significant which I suppose is the question here.

Let’s be honest. Most people are pissed off because they can no longer sell on their ticket to recoup some of the ST cost. I’m not criticizing. Football is ridiculously expensive and the money doesn’t go to proper Brighton fans like Tony. It goes to mercenaries…..or players as they are sometimes called.

 

[nwgull]

I refuse to participate in Scheme which costs a minimum of £45 to put in place for a ticket we have already paid for. If we must do it, make a nominal charge to cover costs, say £1 or £2 per share (like they do at Arsenal). Blatant money squeezing exercise, it has nothing whatsoever to do with knowing who is in ground as has been covered previously.

I’m not a season-ticket-price encyclopaedia, but I know that Arsenal has the most expensive prices in the Premier League. I think that their cheapest adult ticket is about a grand! Paying an extra quid or two on top of that feels like more of a piss take than a one-off £20 at the Amex to be honest.

 

[Springal]

Reminder that Liverpool allow you to transfer your ticket for free to 20 named friends/relatives. Those people do not need to be members and you can transfer your ticket as many times as you like.

https://faq.liverpoolfc.com/portal/en/kb/articles/tkt-how-will-the-friends-and-family-function-work


Why the hell can't we do something like this?

How much are Liverpool season tickets compared to ours? I reckon you both pay for a Brighton one - sign up 5+ people as members and still have some change

 

[nwgull]

How much are Liverpool season tickets compared to ours? I reckon you both pay for a Brighton one - sign up 5+ people as members and still have some change

I put this earlier in the thread: Their cheapest adult ticket is £145 more than ours. You could indeed sign up and incorporate 5 people for the same price!

Judging by the number of people, both on here and previous threads, who have compared us with other clubs (with much higher season ticket prices) allowing this for free, I think that Paul Barber may consider that the best option would be to incorporate the extra income by stealth and just nudge up the season ticket prices by an extra £20 and then claim that they're scrapping the admin charge. It seems that that would cause fewer complaints than the current system where the cost is transparent and paid by the people that actually use the scheme.