The official 'Price of Football' thread

[hans kraay fan club]

Programme Price.
Brighton and Hove Albion £3.50
All other Clubs: £3.00

We seem to be the only club with a £3.50 programme....

Apart from Arsenal, Stoke, Palace, Fulham, Norwich, Spurs, West Ham, Newport County and Hearts?

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

If the price goes up again the same as it did this year I am going to have to really think hard about whether I buy our two season tickets next year or just buy the games I really want to see.

I love watching Brighton every home game and get to some away as well but there is a limit to how much we can pay and we're not that far off it now. Before it was an issue as if you didn't have a season ticket the chances of getting a pay per game ticket were slim. Now though there are empty seats at pretty much every game, plus there seems to be countless mates offering their season ticket for games they can't attend.

I'm in a similar situation, now the exclusivity of a season ticket has been diminished picking and choosing might be chosen option.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Christ, I assume some people on here havent been to a concert recently then !! Programme guide things cost about £10 and a Burger meal deal (at The O2 in London anyway) also costs about £10. In comparison (for 1 day out anyway), football is much, much cheaper than other entertainment.

We have a £100M stadium and TB isnt not going to want his money back so we must pay it. You cant become a big club and compete by charging stupidly low amounts. Those that do charge low amounts in the Premier League get over £100M in TV money, we dont get that remember. Not to mention there is the increased sponsorship money too. Some how I think Etihad Airways will pay more for sponsorship than IT First. Another reason for lower pricing from other clubs is because of the competition around them, especially in Yorkshire. Clubs will charge lower for tickets to get more through the door, simple as that. We dont have that to an extent, so can charge more....and also because of the lower revenue we receive.

I know this will sound fairly pessimistic but I can't help but think we may see a dip in season ticket retention next year. If the prices go up again, or even if we are still the most expensive ,yet fail to challenge in the league or add some quality players some peoples interest may start to dwindle. People will not pay over the odds to watcj average football just because it's in a nice stadium.

The exact same thing was said last year......and the year before that. We have increased STHs year on year, despite the "high" prices, which when you look at it, are brilliant value, especially with the travel included.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

What the figures for season tickets in The Championship don't show is the overall cost when paying in instalments , some other clubs charge an admin fee to fans who don't pay upfront in a lump sum and/or charge interest for the privilege of paying quarterly or monthly.

 

[u'vebeenamexed]

£300 for the cheapest season ticket at Dagenham !

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

Programmes are a waste. Maybe they wouldn't be so expensive if they didn't give so many away. In the East 1901 area, you can just pick up a programme off the seats or floor after the game.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

The exact same thing was said last year......and the year before that. We have increased STHs year on year, despite the "high" prices, which when you look at it, are brilliant value, especially with the travel included.

I appreciate that, but Brighton being back in the Championship in a new stadium will not be enough for ever, the novelty will wear off for some, especially if the prices keep going up . I'd guess that a lot of people renewed this season expecting to see investment in players and hoping to see the team strengthened for a solid play off push. I doubt all will be pleased with mid table consolidation.

 

[Canonman]

Everything is rosy in the garden at the moment as we can see by the posts in this thread, fast forward to May and god forbid we are relegated, will fans still be happy with the current pricing? I doubt it very much. Anyway I've got faith in Oscar so it won't happen.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Christ, I assume some people on here havent been to a concert recently then !! Programme guide things cost about £10 and a Burger meal deal (at The O2 in London anyway) also costs about £10. In comparison (for 1 day out anyway), football is much, much cheaper than other entertainment.

The compaison isn't valid and besides, all you're really doing is showing that both are well over priced ( the concert in particular - what mug would pay those prices ?? ).

 

[wakeytom]

£100M stadiums and training facilities don't come free.

So many deluded fans.

The stadium of light was obviously free yet a premier league season ticket will cost you £400 with the most expensive much cheaper than brightons which in reality is a better and more comfy seat, yet that is in a stadium that still looks as good as the Amex.

Man city play in my opinion the best stadium in the country and are recent champions yet a ticket is £299.

Brighton is over priced for frankly average championship football, I remember the Barnsley game which was possibly the most boring goal fest I have ever seen. I had a season ticket for 2 years and could not bear to renew given the price v standard of football debate.

Many team are now offering some form of payment scheme, maybe not over 12 months but without an arrangement fee, plus they dont also force you to pay for transport which if you live to the east as I do is worthless as the ticket price to Lewes is the same as to Falmer which you also need to buy.

 

[Silverhatch]

The variation in pricing shows that there is absolutely no part of the professional footballing culture that looks out for its supporters/fans/customers.
If supporters and customers were at the centre of footballing culture in this country then prices would be akin to those in the Bundesliga.
I ****ing love the Amex and it's an experience a light years ahead of the Goldstone and Withers. But it is a very expensive pastime for a family of 4 and takes up a big chunk of our monthly budget. And we just can't walk away because of our emotional attachment to the club formed over 40 years. Football is, in many instances, vastly overpriced in this country. The Albion is overpriced to watch Championship football. The Albion is overpriced to watch Premier League football. A range of standardised pricing should be applied to football in this country.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

The stadium of light was obviously free yet a premier league season ticket will cost you £400 with the most expensive much cheaper than brightons which in reality is a better and more comfy seat, yet that is in a stadium that still looks as good as the Amex.

Man city play in my opinion the best stadium in the country and are recent champions yet a ticket is £299.

Brighton is over priced for frankly average championship football, I remember the Barnsley game which was possibly the most boring goal fest I have ever seen. I had a season ticket for 2 years and could not bear to renew given the price v standard of football debate.

Many team are now offering some form of payment scheme, maybe not over 12 months but without an arrangement fee, plus they dont also force you to pay for transport which if you live to the east as I do is worthless as the ticket price to Lewes is the same as to Falmer which you also need to buy.

But surely the ratio of ticket revenue to 'everything else' is massivley skewed in the Premier League by the TV revenue. Our split is probably something like 70% tickets / season tickets to 30% everything else, whereas mid table Prem teams (such as Sunderland) it's probably the reverse.

The point I'm making is that there is less reliance upon maximising the ticket income in the Prem purely because the income from TV mainly is so massive.

 

[Weatherman]

I haven't watched live league football for many years. I'm amazed people spend so much on ,from the few bits i watch on T.V. , pretty ordinary standards of football. I'm very content watching semi pro and amateur football for a fraction of the cost . There is also the freedom to watch the game from where i choose, quite often with a beer in hand and quite often the games are very entertaining.
Burgess Hill v Alton Town in the FA Cup on Saturday and Whitehawk v Havant & Waterlooville on Tuesday next and the cost for both will be far lower than for one game at the Amex.