Record Number of Season Tickets Sold!

[Betty Swallocks]

1 hour ago, 29AR said:

It is the apathy that should seriously concern. 

People have renewed, and the biggest single factor for me at the last day was we just might be in the PL for the first time ever.

If the deadline to renew was not so early the numbers would undoubtedly be a lot lower should we not make the playoffs. The club knew this and played on it hence the deadline HAD to be before the bank holiday and with Millwall and Boro upcoming. In 2 weeks time we could be realistically certain we won't make the playoffs and a lot of people wouldn't have been, frankly bullied, in to renewing. 

The club has got away with it by virtue of the carrot resting on a house of cards. 

I think it would be foolish to think they have not seriously damaged goodwill, but unfortunately it seems that there are a few jesters around the place. 

The deadline was the same last year wasn’t it, and the same as the previous year. 

Both years we were in the midst of a relegation dogfight during the month of March so I don’t think where we were in the league makes any difference to when season tickets go on sale. 

[Dave]

4 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I'm sure most of the kids would much prefer to come to Ashton Gate to watch a game of football than go to Alton Towers with all their rides and adrenaline thrills .

Does Alton Towers have any rollercoaster ride to match a Korey Smith last minute winner versus Man Utd high, and the total match on Monday low.

[Major Isewater]

4 hours ago, RedLionLad said:

It's also become a day out for the new home-owners in Southville who can't be arsed to drive to Alton Towers with the kids.

I'm sure most of the kids would much prefer to come to Ashton Gate to watch a game of football than go to Alton Towers with all their rides and adrenaline thrills .

[RedLionLad]

8 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I'm sure most of the kids would much prefer to come to Ashton Gate to watch a game of football than go to Alton Towers with all their rides and adrenaline thrills .

It would appear that all the rides were closed at Ashton Gate on Monday......

[054123]

2 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

I’m genuinely surprised at those numbers and I’m sure the club are very pleased with them. 

Dare I say that it appears that the shite storm & hot air on here was not reflective of the general feeling surrounding the release of season tickets and the club will surely be sat thinking that despite a certain amount of initial unrest, that the compromises made have left them with a very satisfactory set of decisions made. 

Numbers don’t lie and if we’ve sold more season tickets than ever before at this stage, then you’d have to suggest that they didn’t actually get it all that wrong at all. 

 

Yes and no. The club have my money so what more do they care?

I am by no means happy but who else would i support?

[Bar BS3]

5 minutes ago, 054123 said:

Yes and no. The club have my money so what more do they care?

I am by no means happy but who else would i support?

I get your point, but it’s not likes it’s a focus on you, or me, or Mr.A.N.Other. It’s a general overview, and the results of that show that come the start of April, we have sold more season tickets than at the same point in any other season in our history! 

Despite pricing, despite poor form, despite Bristol Sport, despite LJ, despite the January transfer window, despite every other angle that some people like to moan about, more people have coughed up to watch us next season (so far) than ever before. 

On that basis, the club must be pretty happy and their pricing & decisions have been justified. Whether you & I like it or not. 

These are people employed to grow the business side of the club, so I should think it’s been viewed as them doing a pretty good job. 

[slartibartfast]

2 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

I’m genuinely surprised at those numbers and I’m sure the club are very pleased with them. 

Dare I say that it appears that the shite storm & hot air on here was not reflective of the general feeling surrounding the release of season tickets and the club will surely be sat thinking that despite a certain amount of initial unrest, that the compromises made have left them with a very satisfactory set of decisions made. 

Numbers don’t lie and if we’ve sold more season tickets than ever before at this stage, then you’d have to suggest that they didn’t actually get it all that wrong at all. 

 

Bit like opinion polls pre a general election !  Goes to show how small is OTIB's share of City's fan base, I guess.

[RedRaw]

8 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

 

Despite pricing, despite poor form, despite Bristol Sport, despite LJ, despite the January transfer window, despite every other angle that some people like to moan about, more people have coughed up to watch us next season (so far) than ever before. 

 

Wooooh......don't forget the tannoy!. Don't want to set Robbored off

[Kid in the Riot]

4 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I get your point, but it’s not likes it’s a focus on you, or me, or Mr.A.N.Other. It’s a general overview, and the results of that show that come the start of April, we have sold more season tickets than at the same point in any other season in our history! 

Despite pricing, despite poor form, despite Bristol Sport, despite LJ, despite the January transfer window, despite every other angle that some people like to moan about, more people have coughed up to watch us next season (so far) than ever before. 

On that basis, the club must be pretty happy and their pricing & decisions have been justified. Whether you & I like it or not. 

These are people employed to grow the business side of the club, so I should think it’s been viewed as them doing a pretty good job. 

More seats and best facilities available to sell than ever before. 

On your other points I would say it's difficult to judge whether the club are happy with number of ST's sold, for all we know they could be well off target of what they aimed for when the redeveloped AG was completed. I sat in meetings with Martin Griffiths where he explicitly stated Bristol Sport's job was to fill AG, not have it 70% full, but actually fill it. They're still a long way off achieving even close to that on a regular basis. I'm not willing to accept that Brighton are historically a bigger club than us yet over the past 5 years even when struggling at this level they've averaged over 25k.

The 'new' stadium bounce in terms of attendances won't last (unless promotion is achieved) and this is our moment to boost crowds for a generation, I don't have quite as much faith as you do that the club are doing all they can to get as many new and old supporters through the doors.

And re: your comment about 'decisions being justified'; let's not re-write history, they made an almighty PR **** up TWICE and have not handled the increases at all well. I thought in a rare moment on OTIB we were all in agreement on that...

[Bar BS3]

8 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

More seats and best facilities available to sell than ever before. 

On your other points I would say it's difficult to judge whether the club are happy with number of ST's sold, for all we know they could be well off target of what they aimed for when the redeveloped AG was completed. I sat in meetings with Martin Griffiths where he explicitly stated Bristol Sport's job was to fill AG, not have it 70% full, but actually fill it. They're still a long way off achieving even close to that on a regular basis. I'm not willing to accept that Brighton are historically a bigger club than us yet over the past 5 years even when struggling at this level they've averaged over 25k.

The 'new' stadium bounce in terms of attendances won't last (unless promotion is achieved) and this is our moment to boost crowds for a generation, I don't have quite as much faith as you do that the club are doing all they can to get as many new and old supporters through the doors.

And re: your comment about 'decisions being justified'; let's not re-write history, they made an almighty PR **** up TWICE and have not handled the increases at all well. I thought in a rare moment on OTIB we were all in agreement on that...

I definitely agree that they could be doing more to attract new and retain existing supporters. 

I didn’t say they were justified and doing a great job - I said the club could view it that way, based on record numbers sold. 

I agree that the aim should be to fill Ashton Gate, not be happy to rest at 20k average and I don’t think next season’s changes help with doing that. 

I believe the club really need something like FAN to liaise with and understand the general feeling amongst supporters. Sadly, that was ignored and faith has been lost on that front. I hope they don’t rest on their laurels on ticketing & attendance, because as you rightly say, if next season goes badly and we go downwards instead of upwards, then the core support they have risked losing won’t be there to bail out the sudden drop off in numbers that will follow amongst the “new breed” of support. 

[RedLionLad]

18 minutes ago, RedRaw said:

Wooooh......don't forget the tannoy!. Don't want to set Robbored off

It's ok, he won't turn up.....

 

[Nibor]

We had record numbers of season ticket holders last season.  The only people who can buy during the advance sales period are season ticket holders.  It should not be surprising therefore that we have record numbers of advance sales.  It's a basic lesson in spin - whenever someone uses the phrase "record numbers" it's worth bearing in mind that they are almost always spinning, because many numbers naturally go up every year.

The more interesting numbers would be the percentage of renewals by this point compared to prior years (after allowing for them perpetually bringing the dates forward), and the total revenue from season tickets when we start the season.  Of course, you never get to model what would have happened if the pricing had been fair and reasonable for comparison, so Ashton gets a free pass as long as those numbers don't go down.  You can't measure intangibles like the level of dissatisfaction so when fans desert in droves after a poor season on the pitch (and there will always be one at some point) he can blame the football not the strategy.  This is how the suits always win, the deck is stacked.

 

[Red-Robbo]

4 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Just playing devils advocate a bit here, but there must be a natural percentage of non-renewers each year for reasons not directly related to the club or football; moving away, change of financial situation, Saturday job, etc, etc. There will also be some intending to renew but haven’t been able to yet. All of the above would account for a fair number of that 10% I would imagine.

This is one of the situations where everyone can spin the numbers to say different things, but the only fair comparison is like-for-like with this time last year - and that figure is up. We can reasonably assume that the club will start next season with more STH than this. Which is surprising!

And to further play Devil's advocate, they haven't stopped selling ST's yet.

We will only be 11% down or whatever if no-one else buys any from now on.

[pillred]

5 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

The headline here is that 11.39% of last season's original season ticket holder purchasers have not renewed.

Where does that stand amongst the club's season ticket sales 'records', Mr Ashton?

if they have record numbers at this stage of the sales period then more than 11% of other people have taken their place, so the club will think they were right in their strategy  and if we again have a good first half will end up with maybe more overall.

[pillred]

1 hour ago, RedLionLad said:

It would appear that all the rides were closed at Ashton Gate on Monday......

well after that performance I certainly felt taken for a ride!

[ashton_fan]

3 hours ago, Welcome To The Jungle said:

On the pitch, despite the recent slump, we are arguably in a better position than 2008, and therefore the best position since being relegated from Div 1. However the club has ceased to be a club anymore. Football is far more than just a game. It gives people and identity and a sense of community that they may not otherwise have. By killing that, which BS are doing, to call us a club anymore is simply a joke. Just a business now

The social dynamic of football makes it far more complicated. The people who have chosen not to renew on here have been AG regulars since childhood, sticking by the club in the 3rd and sometimes 4th tiers. They seem to be replaced by the slightly more affluent, but less passionate type. This gives two issues

1) The club is giving the finger to members of our loyal core fanbase. "Thanks for sticking by us when we needed you most, but we can now upgrade to a more affluent fan. So long and thanks for all the fish."

2) As we have seen with Cardiff, who would have lost a lot of core fans over the kit colour change, still earned more fans because of on the pitch success. When they returned to the championship, they started getting some crowds lower than they got at ninian. If you kill off the core, when the hard times come, you have less to fall back on when you need them most.

The whole thing stank, still stinks, and will stink till the club starts acting like its own name, by being a club. 

How do you know who's not renewed and the type of people who are buying for the first time? You're just making it all up

[Welcome To The Jungle]

Just now, ashton_fan said:

How do you know who's not renewed and the type of people who are buying for the first time? You're just making it all up

I only know a handful of people who haven't renewed that is true, certainly not enough to draw any conclusions. However I used the Cardiff example as they too experienced becoming disillusioned whilst their team was doing well and had just changed stadium. Therefore I'm going to use that case study to draw my conclusions. 

 

[ashton_fan]

3 minutes ago, Welcome To The Jungle said:

I only know a handful of people who haven't renewed that is true, certainly not enough to draw any conclusions. However I used the Cardiff example as they too experienced becoming disillusioned whilst their team was doing well and had just changed stadium. Therefore I'm going to use that case study to draw my conclusions. 

 

I don't think most people are disillusioned, just a few on here. I would say most people are happy with our progress this season and love the new stadium and matchday experience.

[JBFC II]

Renewed mine yesterday but really struggled over whether to renew or follow bristol manor farm for the year but in the end my love for the club came through. 3 of the 7 I go with haven't renewed due to the 50% price increase. 

Amazed at the numbers and disappointed as it will show the club that they can put mega price increases on tickets and it won't affect numbers 

[Bar BS3]

1 hour ago, Nibor said:

We had record numbers of season ticket holders last season.  The only people who can buy during the advance sales period are season ticket holders.  It should not be surprising therefore that we have record numbers of advance sales.  It's a basic lesson in spin - whenever someone uses the phrase "record numbers" it's worth bearing in mind that they are almost always spinning, because many numbers naturally go up every year.

The more interesting numbers would be the percentage of renewals by this point compared to prior years (after allowing for them perpetually bringing the dates forward), and the total revenue from season tickets when we start the season.  Of course, you never get to model what would have happened if the pricing had been fair and reasonable for comparison, so Ashton gets a free pass as long as those numbers don't go down.  You can't measure intangibles like the level of dissatisfaction so when fans desert in droves after a poor season on the pitch (and there will always be one at some point) he can blame the football not the strategy.  This is how the suits always win, the deck is stacked.

 

That’s doesnt make any sense, sorry!

Just because we had record numbers last season has nothing to do with whether they renewed or not. 

We have sold more at this point than we ever have done before, at the same point. 

People could have not renewed, but they have. Members could have not bought, but they have had the chance too. 

Half season tickets could have left it again to see what happens at the start of next season, but a good number have bought a whole one now. 

Undoubted mistes were made with pricing (some) and PR around the launch of sales, but the facts are that we’ve sold more, to date, than we ever have before. That’s not “spin” it’s simple maths..!

 

[Chivs]

12 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

That’s doesnt make any sense, sorry!

Just because we had record numbers last season has nothing to do with whether they renewed or not. 

We have sold more at this point than we ever have done before, at the same point. 

People could have not renewed, but they have. Members could have not bought, but they have had the chance too. 

Half season tickets could have left it again to see what happens at the start of next season, but a good number have bought a whole one now. 

Undoubted mistes were made with pricing (some) and PR around the launch of sales, but the facts are that we’ve sold more, to date, than we ever have before. That’s not “spin” it’s simple maths..!

 

Oh dear. You've started something now...

But @Nibor's post was drivel from start to finish.  ST sales are not numbers that naturally go up every year.  Ashton apparently gets a free pass unless ST numbers go down in which case he doesn't get a free pass. 

If ST numbers go up then the pricing is "fair and reasonable" (anti-capitalist moral arguments aside).

If fans desert in droves after a good season on the pitch then Ashton can't blame the football.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, ChippenhamRed said:

I’m not convinced the number would have been a lot lower without the possibility of the play offs.

Everyone who has bought so far was happy to buy last season knowing they were going to be watching Championship football, and after a mediocre 17th place finish the season before too. I don’t think the relatively slim chance of PL football would have accounted for that many renewals this time around.

 

3 hours ago, Betty Swallocks said:

The deadline was the same last year wasn’t it, and the same as the previous year. 

Both years we were in the midst of a relegation dogfight during the month of March so I don’t think where we were in the league makes any difference to when season tickets go on sale. 

I think the missing piece of the jigsaw chaps is the elephant in the room - last year prices, and even before, were roundly very reasonable and fan and SC&T were consulted.

Whilst last year was frustrating on the pitch and many wanted a managerial change, it was still a good deal, even by league one prices.

This year, the goodwill was ripped apart with covert pricing, inflexibility and some really quite distasteful social engineering. 

The frustration this time around is far deeper than on field issues.

Personally I read between the lines of comments like 'oh, it didn't occur to me people might want to plan their season ticket around pay day' - when they increased prices for some as they did - hmm yes, of course it didn't... if you're commercial awareness is honestly that lousy, no wonder you work in an industry and for an entity that haemorrhages money. 

[Nibor]

53 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

That’s doesnt make any sense, sorry!

Just because we had record numbers last season has nothing to do with whether they renewed or not. 

We have sold more at this point than we ever have done before, at the same point. 

People could have not renewed, but they have. Members could have not bought, but they have had the chance too. 

Half season tickets could have left it again to see what happens at the start of next season, but a good number have bought a whole one now. 

Undoubted mistes were made with pricing (some) and PR around the launch of sales, but the facts are that we’ve sold more, to date, than we ever have before. That’s not “spin” it’s simple maths..!

 

You've rather missed the point.  Last season, general sale wasn't until 10th April and until that point the number of people who were allowed to buy was only about 12,000 and the tickets went on sale later.  This year over 16,000 are able to buy, from two weeks earlier and the restriction is over a week earlier.  It's therefore meaningless to compare the absolute numbers who did buy at this point in time.  

To make a useful comparison you either compare the proportion of those who could buy and did, or you wait until the end and look at the total.  The article is spin.

33 minutes ago, Chivs said:

Oh dear. You've started something now...

But @Nibor's post was drivel from start to finish.  ST sales are not numbers that naturally go up every year.  Ashton apparently gets a free pass unless ST numbers go down in which case he doesn't get a free pass. 

If ST numbers go up then the pricing is "fair and reasonable" (anti-capitalist moral arguments aside).

If fans desert in droves after a good season on the pitch then Ashton can't blame the football.

Actually ST sales are numbers that all else being equal trend slightly upwards each year but that wasn't the point - which is explained above.

Ashton gets a free pass because he can price in a way that means we miss the opportunity to get more fans in, and increases dissatisfaction, and it can be masked by a slightly increased revenue which all else being equal would be expected anyway.  The dissatisfaction generally manifests as non renewals when things go bad on the pitch, because people feel less loyalty than they otherwise would have if they hadn't been stitched up by his pricing strategy, and there's a ready made excuse.  We'll never know, he can get it wrong and get away with it unless he has an absolute disaster.  

It will be interesting to see what the overall sales are come the start of the season.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

And to further play Devil's advocate, they haven't stopped selling ST's yet.

We will only be 11% down or whatever if no-one else buys any from now on.

To devil's advocate the underlying point, given what exceptionally happened in December and the real drive and massive uptake in half-season tickets, do we really believe that there is a large of class of people out there who would buy a season ticket but didn't have one as at March 2018?  

Not until we are in the next tier in my opinion.

I'm ready and waiting to be proven wrong, but I seiously doubt there are going thousands added to this number. I simply don't think they are out there. They won them in December and lost 11% in March.

[Bar BS3]

2 minutes ago, Nibor said:

You've rather missed the point.  Last season, general sale wasn't until 10th April and until that point the number of people who were allowed to buy was only about 12,000 and the tickets went on sale later.  This year over 16,000 are able to buy, from two weeks earlier and the restriction is over a week earlier.  It's therefore meaningless to compare the absolute numbers who did buy at this point in time.  

To make a useful comparison you either compare the proportion of those who could buy and did, or you wait until the end and look at the total.  The article is spin.

Actually ST sales are numbers that all else being equal trend slightly upwards each year but that wasn't the point - which is explained above.

I don’t think I have missed the point. 

As this season kicked off, we had 12,900 season tickets sold. 

On 4th April, before this season is even close to being finished, we’ve already sold 12,600 odd for next season. 

 

 

[Maltshoveller]

8 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

It wasn't likely that a huge % of the HALF ST holders would renew IMO. They came after our profile raised, after our Cup run- not all of them, but a lot of them.

They see this tail-off, this dropoff in form 'only' a respectable Championship side. Trust me, I work with quite a few people like that- I know. 

Spot on

Why would the Man Utd/Part time city fans renew when you dont get to watch Man Utd!!!!

Back to arm chair Sundays

Never know The Gas might draw Utd in the cup next season They will be able to get a Half season ticket at the mem

[Bar BS3]

4 minutes ago, Maltshoveller said:

Spot on

Why would the Man Utd/Part time city fans renew when you dont get to watch Man Utd!!!!

Back to arm chair Sundays

Never know The Gas might draw Utd in the cup next season They will be able to get a Half season ticket at the mem

A third of them have already bought a full one for next season. 

Oh, and Man United don’t enter any domestic cup at the First round stage, so it’s highly unlikely..!

[Maltshoveller]

5 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

A third of them have already bought a full one for next season. 

Oh, and Man United don’t enter any domestic cup at the First round stage, so it’s highly unlikely..!

Oh yeah Didnt think of that

[weepywall]

I bought a half season ticket and i'm not a part time City fan or a Man Utd fan and I've bought a full season ticket for next season today.

[Bryans Left Peg]

Angry at the way the club has treated the fans over ST this year, however must admit 3 of us caved and bought season tickets for next year.