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How to counter Bristol Sport's attitude


The Constant Rabbit

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2 hours ago, Anglo-Welsh said:

I agree the Season Ticket Plus gets you money off, and free kits with junior tickets is a great idea, I really do, but the club charge extortionate rates for a lot of things that doesn't encourage people to come down and spend. £45 for a shirt, £15 for a scarf etc. this stuff costs around £5-6 a unit to make if that. 

Also when you want to order from abroad a shirt or whatever, the postage prices are almost as much as said article. That has only been so expensive since BS took over the shop. A few years ago I ordered a shirt and the postage to Estonia was £8,  when I tried to order a BS shirt this season the shirt cost was £45, but,  the postage was £40.  This made the actual cost of the shirt to me £85.   Now I know international postage costs have risen, but I order lots of items on eBay, some quite weighty and including tracking and signed for, I never pay anywhere near that amount for secure postage.  BS send the items by ordinary post, so how can they justify the amount for postage, especially on an item that weighs lightly and does not have a big package?  Needless to say I did not continue with my order and will not order again in future.  I can fully understand the reasons for the annoyance of ST holders  and think that the club needs to rethink, although i cannot see that happening I am afraid.

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2 minutes ago, EstoniaTallinnRed said:

Also when you want to order from abroad a shirt or whatever, the postage prices are almost as much as said article. That has only been so expensive since BS took over the shop. A few years ago I ordered a shirt and the postage to Estonia was £8,  when I tried to order a BS shirt this season the shirt cost was £45, but,  the postage was £40.  This made the actual cost of the shirt to me £85.   Now I know international postage costs have risen, but I order lots of items on eBay, some quite weighty and including tracking and signed for, I never pay anywhere near that amount for secure postage.  BS send the items by ordinary post, so how can they justify the amount for postage, especially on an item that weighs lightly and does not have a big package?  Needless to say I did not continue with my order and will not order again in future.  I can fully understand the reasons for the annoyance of ST holders  and think that the club needs to rethink, although i cannot see that happening I am afraid.

They'd probably tell you it's cheaper if you "just come and pick it up" :facepalm:

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1 minute ago, BristolIsRed said:

They'd probably tell you it's cheaper if you "just come and pick it up" :facepalm:

Unfortunately, not in my case,  like lot's of other people I don't like to be ripped off and what makes it worse, they probably think people and especially supporters are stupid!

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3 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

Let's take a similar example then. The town I live in has one big Tescos supermarket and a few small shops. If Tescos shut down I would anticipate another retailer would open up in my town to meet the demand that still existed to shop for food.

So does this mean that the supermarket 'is me' and my fellow shoppers? Should I have a divine right to always park my car right outside the door because I always did?

What's the difference? The football club just continues because it meets a demand from consumers for football rather than groceries.

Are you sure you're actually a football fan? Seems like you have no clue of what it means.

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7 minutes ago, shelts said:

It’s boom time at the gate at the moment , a fifty fifty chance of reaching the Premiership and the club are gonna try to cash in on it as no one wants to miss out do they ?

 

Fine - so do a uniform price rise across the board. Don’t think people would argue too much if it’s reasonable.

The issue is how they’ve chosen to disproportionately raise prices for some and not others - and it just so happens it’s our youngest and most vulnerable supporter groups who’ve suffered. It’s not right and it’s this principle that has irritated people. I’m sure you’re well aware of this really.

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2 minutes ago, shelts said:

... a fifty fifty chance of reaching the Premiership

 

The two guaranteed promotion spots are 13 & 19 points clear with a game in hand ( that ship has sailed.) The remaining spot is contested by 4 teams of which we presently aren't one. 3 teams in the play-off zone are 4 or more points clear, hence in reality we're likely only to be contesting 6th spot.  We've probably a 1 in 4 chance of making that spot. At best that gives us a 1 in 16 chance of going up. Add in respective weightings of the sides above us and we're probably nearer a 1 in 50 chance of promotion. If the club was gambling on Premiership to justify their actions, that's one hell of a long punt....

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6 hours ago, ExiledAjax said:

I'm not an ST holder and have put up with the outrageous General Sale/POTD prices for the whole of my City supporting career (£123 for 3 adults to watch City v Reading on Boxing Day).  However, it seems to me that this is the nub of the problem this year.  For all the arguments surrounding economically forced movement, indirect segregation and perceived social engineering at the heart of it seems to be the issue that it's just not what a "club" should do to members.

Generally a "club" is, in my definition, a group of two or more people joining together to enjoy or support a particular activity or cause.  The operative word in that sentence is "together".  In this case though it is those temporary custodians of the club enforcing dramatic changes in the manner in which other members of the club partake in the club's activities.  To many it seems as though the dictatorial, inconsistent and seemingly arbitrary manner in which these ST price changes have been imposed is not in the spirit of togetherness.

SL talks about emulating F.C. Barcelona. Més que un club Steve?

The poster interestingly has not answered. He may be on a wind up. A football club is something that plays football and has associated activities for the benefit of its members (fans).

That indeed indicates togetherness and community. 

The argument being put forward by some is that to improve these activities members like the disabled should be financially penalized, and that this is fair and healthy. That fly's in the face of what a club really is, and is illogical. These rises rinsing fans who can afford it the least will not even get close to making the club more sustainable.

Barcelona parallel has always been laughable ... Bristol Sport sadly are not at all amusing either.

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I don't think anyone disagrees the club have goofed by focussing price increases on the wrong customers.

But now suggesting fans show the club a thing or two by boycotting food and drink outlets??? That's going to help our chances of progressing on the field about as much as selling off our best players at firesale prices to our rivals. 

And that last option becomes the only option if neither fans or our chairman are willing to contribute any longer to something they love.

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30 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

The two guaranteed promotion spots are 13 & 19 points clear with a game in hand ( that ship has sailed.) The remaining spot is contested by 4 teams of which we presently aren't one. 3 teams in the play-off zone are 4 or more points clear, hence in reality we're likely only to be contesting 6th spot.  We've probably a 1 in 4 chance of making that spot. At best that gives us a 1 in 16 chance of going up. Add in respective weightings of the sides above us and we're probably nearer a 1 in 50 chance of promotion. If the club was gambling on Premiership to justify their actions, that's one hell of a long punt....

Sorry 

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34 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Fine - so do a uniform price rise across the board. Don’t think people would argue too much if it’s reasonable.

The issue is how they’ve chosen to disproportionately raise prices for some and not others - and it just so happens it’s our youngest and most vulnerable supporter groups who’ve suffered. It’s not right and it’s this principle that has irritated people. I’m sure you’re well aware of this really.

I’m not backing Bristol Sport . Personally I think the pricing for the cup games against United and City showed a lack of empathy with supporters . I can understand why they are cashing in and certainly feel they’ve got things wrong with season ticket price , food at the gate and merchandise being so expensive , everyone else does the same but we don’t want to walk on our own and buck the trend . Modern football with modern prices 

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14 minutes ago, Mad Cyril said:

I don't think anyone disagrees the club have goofed by focussing price increases on the wrong customers.

But now suggesting fans show the club a thing or two by boycotting food and drink outlets??? That's going to help our chances of progressing on the field about as much as selling off our best players at firesale prices to our rivals. 

And that last option becomes the only option if neither fans or our chairman are willing to contribute any longer to something they love.

Fans come before on the pitch performances and I'm not alone in thinking that. If I was being priced out then I'd like to think some people would be willing to stand up for me. If the team has to suffer then so be it, as sad as that is. 

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1 hour ago, richwwtk said:

Are you sure you're actually a football fan? Seems like you have no clue of what it means.

Yeah I have been a city fan for over forty years thanks. I go through the same emotional ups and downs as most of us do following this club. What I don't do is assume that gives me any right to sit in a particular bit of the ground or tell SL what prices he can charge.

I have been deliberately extreme in my view that it's just a business. For me some posters are extreme the other way - it's my club and those **** who own it shouldn't be allowed to price me out of my seat.

I try to put myself in SL's place and think how I'd feel if I was being told I should be subsidising fans so they can keep the seats they've always had. 

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So the income does not cover the outgoings by some  considerable margin. I wonder where it all goes, as if we didnt know The problem will never get sorted untill the greed of players, managers etc is addressed. Lets face it all they do is kick an inflated bit of leather.

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4 minutes ago, Red Rag said:

So the income does not cover the outgoings by some  considerable margin. I wonder where it all goes, as if we didnt know The problem will never get sorted untill the greed of players, managers etc is addressed. Lets face it all they do is kick an inflated bit of leather.

That is not BCFC’s problem to solve.  They either stay on the band wagon or get off and drop to non-league, no other option.  That doesn’t make the obscene salaries of football players right, or moral, but unless football implodes financially, then it’s going to become more and more of an elite.  I can see that the top two leagues become so detached from the rest, that we will be reverting to 3rd division North and South, how else can clubs with 5 - 12K crowds and little other income survive.

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11 minutes ago, Red Rag said:

So the income does not cover the outgoings by some  considerable margin. I wonder where it all goes, as if we didnt know The problem will never get sorted untill the greed of players, managers etc is addressed. Lets face it all they do is kick an inflated bit of leather.

In some cases and at specific times, not hard enough and not far enough away from our goal!

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32 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

Yeah I have been a city fan for over forty years thanks. I go through the same emotional ups and downs as most of us do following this club. What I don't do is assume that gives me any right to sit in a particular bit of the ground or tell SL what prices he can charge.

I have been deliberately extreme in my view that it's just a business. For me some posters are extreme the other way - it's my club and those **** who own it shouldn't be allowed to price me out of my seat.

I try to put myself in SL's place and think how I'd feel if I was being told I should be subsidising fans so they can keep the seats they've always had. 

The best seats are usually more expensive, granted, and they always have been at Ashton Gate. I don't think anybody is complaining about that. A small increase in the cost of a standard seat in those areas isn't being unreasonable, though some would still have been upset at those areas being targeted while others stayed the same.

The main complaint that people have is the sudden massive increases for disabled, elderly and young fans that are way out of line with any inflation figures or any other people in the ground.

The club are cynically targeting the fans that give them the lowest profit margins and trying to move these people to inferior seats to chase bigger profits that, when compared to the goodwill they are losing, are just a drop in the ocean.

Many groups of supporters are being treated as second class by the club and that stinks. We are all City fans and should be together on this.

 

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6 minutes ago, richwwtk said:

The best seats are usually more expensive, granted, and they always have been at Ashton Gate. I don't think anybody is complaining about that. A small increase in the cost of a standard seat in those areas isn't being unreasonable, though some would still have been upset at those areas being targeted while others stayed the same.

The main complaint that people have is the sudden massive increases for disabled, elderly and young fans that are way out of line with any inflation figures or any other people in the ground.

The club are cynically targeting the fans that give them the lowest profit margins and trying to move these people to inferior seats to chase bigger profits that, when compared to the goodwill they are losing, are just a drop in the ocean.

Many groups of supporters are being treated as second class by the club and that stinks. We are all City fans and should be together on this.

 

Absolutely bang on and what it makes it more of a joke is the club has 5 to 7 thousand empty seats for every home game.

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Sorry I know that my view seems to be out of kilter with the majority on here. I understand people being annoyed that the club has increased prices for kids in particular. Is it not the case that they are still pretty cheap if you sit in the family area though?

So the real gripe seems to be that you will have to sit somewhere different than usual. If I go to a concert or the theatre I expect to pay premium prices for the best seats. Surely this is just common sense. Maybe they should've thought of this before and not got themselves in this mess now. But what grates with me is this sense of entitlement many fans seem to have.

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10 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

Sorry I know that my view seems to be out of kilter with the majority on here. I understand people being annoyed that the club has increased prices for kids in particular. Is it not the case that they are still pretty cheap if you sit in the family area though?

So the real gripe seems to be that you will have to sit somewhere different than usual. If I go to a concert or the theatre I expect to pay premium prices for the best seats. Surely this is just common sense. Maybe they should've thought of this before and not got themselves in this mess now. But what grates with me is this sense of entitlement many fans seem to have.

It smacks of arrogance, that's whats got on my tits.

A game of football is very different to a concert. You don't attend concerts every other Saturday, and build up a community with the people you sit/stand near. 

If you have some sort of theatre ticket that allows you to go every week, and the management turn around and say "all families, disabled people and the elderly should go in these seats, we're going to make you move to these seats by making it financially un-viable for you to remain in those seats, by raising the prices way above the current rate of inflation", you'd be rightly ticked off I imagine.

Bristol Sport clearly have no concept of what it is to be a football fan. It's not about the 90 minutes, watch the football then you go home, it's very much a social event.

Additionally, the comment RE kids prices increasing disregards the large groups of people who sit together but bring their kids. Old men who've been going since God's dog was a puppy, maybe sat in the Dolman centre, are now being asked to move so the club can maximise revenue, without any thought for the loyalty these people, who've often been ST holders for longer than the current regime have owned the club, and have probably put in a greater percentage of their own personal wealth than Lansdown has in to the club. They'll have to go up in to the family section, even if it isn't conducive to how they want to watch football, or how they want their kids to watch football.

My ST this year is in the South Stand, so I'm not affected, but if I was being put in this situation by the club, I'd want some solidarity shown.

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24 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

Sorry I know that my view seems to be out of kilter with the majority on here. I understand people being annoyed that the club has increased prices for kids in particular. Is it not the case that they are still pretty cheap if you sit in the family area though?

So the real gripe seems to be that you will have to sit somewhere different than usual. If I go to a concert or the theatre I expect to pay premium prices for the best seats. Surely this is just common sense. Maybe they should've thought of this before and not got themselves in this mess now. But what grates with me is this sense of entitlement many fans seem to have.

You’re really not grasping the problem, with all due respect. 

Yes, if you want to sit in the upper tier with a kid, the value is very good. No one is disputing that. 

No one feels that they are “entitled” to their seat. But they would like to be given a realistic opportunity to stay in their current seat, with all of their family and friends around them. You’ll be amazed at the number of people who don’t just go to football 100% FOR the football. It’s a social event and people would just like to have a realistic price to continue to enjoy their matchday with the people they value. 

No one is complaining about price increases generally. We all ‘get’ it. Prices will always go up, year on year. Everyone understands this. What is not acceptable is how much children, elderly & disabled are being asked to pay to stay where they are. 

I don’t think there’d be much uproar if they just increased all adult tickets by 10% and all kids/oap’s/disabled tickets by 5%. There is NOTHING unfair about that and the club continue to make the money required to close their deficit. 

We all understand that the club needs to make more money. But there are ways of achieving this without alienating certain demographics of your customer base. 

Not exactly sure of the figures but I saw something quoted recently that the season ticket revenue was £3.9m. 

If they increase all tickets by 10% then that would increase to £4.3m. £400k extra and you’ve not pissed anyone off. That’s enough to fund a couple of decent prospects for our u21’s or to pay an extra £7.5k per week on a players salary. 

We all know that the club has to function as a business. Most people don’t disagree with that. Most would also understand a 10% increase. What people don’t understand is why adults in the SS are getting no increase but all children, elderly and disabled are getting increases of anything between 20-200%! 

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10 hours ago, cidercity1987 said:

I don't understand why any fan would actively deprive the club of income?

If we want continual promotion pushs, it has to be paid for from somewhere.

So roll over and have your belly tickled is it? **** that they’re taking piss out of us and people like you will let them. Stand up for what’s right we always have in the past. This isn’t whorefield you know. 

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Any wheelchair supporter, who has attended games over the past decade, would be very grateful to SLs investment in Ashton Gate. As they all now have much better facilities.

My view was regularly blocked by subs warming up and then by able bodied City supporters standing up. Now I have an unobstructed view of the game.

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16 minutes ago, Harry said:

You’re really not grasping the problem, with all due respect. 

Yes, if you want to sit in the upper tier with a kid, the value is very good. No one is disputing that. 

No one feels that they are “entitled” to their seat. But they would like to be given a realistic opportunity to stay in their current seat, with all of their family and friends around them. You’ll be amazed at the number of people who don’t just go to football 100% FOR the football. It’s a social event and people would just like to have a realistic price to continue to enjoy their matchday with the people they value. 

No one is complaining about price increases generally. We all ‘get’ it. Prices will always go up, year on year. Everyone understands this. What is not acceptable is how much children, elderly & disabled are being asked to pay to stay where they are. 

I don’t think there’d be much uproar if they just increased all adult tickets by 10% and all kids/oap’s/disabled tickets by 5%. There is NOTHING unfair about that and the club continue to make the money required to close their deficit. 

We all understand that the club needs to make more money. But there are ways of achieving this without alienating certain demographics of your customer base. 

Not exactly sure of the figures but I saw something quoted recently that the season ticket revenue was £3.9m. 

If they increase all tickets by 10% then that would increase to £4.3m. £400k extra and you’ve not pissed anyone off. That’s enough to fund a couple of decent prospects for our u21’s or to pay an extra £7.5k per week on a players salary. 

We all know that the club has to function as a business. Most people don’t disagree with that. Most would also understand a 10% increase. What people don’t understand is why adults in the SS are getting no increase but all children, elderly and disabled are getting increases of anything between 20-200%! 

I respect your view and the time you have taken to set out what you feel. Maybe the fact that I have only ever gone in a group of two or three and we've just moved around the ground affects my viewpoint.

It does feel a bit like the working class heroes trying to stand up to the rich b**"* telling them where to sit though.

Your idyll of groups of grey-haired ancients huddled together in the seats they've had forever isn't really something I recognise. Hey maybe I'm just a bit out of touch. It still sounds like the fans telling the club that they want THESE seats at THESE reasonable prices. It's a business not a social club where everyone can vote on what they think the rules should be.

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