The Original OTIB Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 Maybe I missed something, but why? Surely it is about choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixer13 Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 cus we need to fill the rest of the ground first ! maybe if we gave the whole atyeo to away fans (70% will fill) it instead of losing out on the revenue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italian dave Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 It is. The club has chosen not to put them on sale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse With No Name Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 21 minutes ago, italian dave said: It is. The club has chosen not to put them on sale! Agree. The West Stand doesnt belong to the fans, so the owners have chosen to save money on extra staff needed to run it. Also I think it will help with the atmosphere not having fans spread out even more than they will be already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrumpy_247 Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 The first home game next season I reckon it will be open as I think the demand will be high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 6 minutes ago, Scrumpy_247 said: The first home game next season I reckon it will be open as I think the demand will be high Let's hope so eh..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eardun Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 Below was the answer on the Q&A section. I guess they are unsure as to demand at this point. Season ticket info says upper tier may be made available to lower tier holders first if demand dictates. Not sure how many season tickets we have to sell for this to happen though. "This was a debate that drew plenty of conversation at FAN meetings, as well as other consultation we engaged in. There is a financial element to opening the top tier of the stand (the cost of stewarding, etc), and we already have 18,000 seats to fill in the lower ‘bowl’. Whilst some debated that it would be a shame for a brand new element of the stadium to be empty, nobody wanted sparsely populated stands in the lower sections due to thousands being tucked away in the top tier, or to incur extra costs that weren’t necessary. The upper tier will be utilised for games when demand dictates – which is of course a position we want to get to at the earliest opportunity. We will of course continuously review this decision. Kind regards Mark " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 Makes perfect sense not to open the top tier as Mark explained above but at the same time disappointing for us fans not to get access just to see what the view is like. Regular topic with those around me in the Dolman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM91 Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 A bit of a shame for me, as I wanted a season ticket in the upper Williams when it was complete. Also have to questioning the club as to where this policy leaves us, if one match we could sell 19,000 tickets for example, would we just take 18,000, keep the upper tier closed or would we open it up and take the relative hit of costs of opening the upper tier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent Vega Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 10 minutes ago, JM91 said: A bit of a shame for me, as I wanted a season ticket in the upper Williams when it was complete. Also have to questioning the club as to where this policy leaves us, if one match we could sell 19,000 tickets for example, would we just take 18,000, keep the upper tier closed or would we open it up and take the relative hit of costs of opening the upper tier? Great point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 13 minutes ago, JM91 said: A bit of a shame for me, as I wanted a season ticket in the upper Williams when it was complete. Also have to questioning the club as to where this policy leaves us, if one match we could sell 19,000 tickets for example, would we just take 18,000, keep the upper tier closed or would we open it up and take the relative hit of costs of opening the upper tier? No need to take a big hit though is there. Tickets could be sold on the understanding that no bars would be open on that level, unless a defined number of seats were sold, but that toilets would be available. Just a few stewards required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityloyal473 Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 8 minutes ago, Doozerchris said: Great point. Tis a great point. And how are they going to decide what game constitutes opening up the top tier? You'd think Newcastle and Villa (if we stay up they go down), but who is to say they would necessarily be big draws? I'm struggling to think of a reason/game when it would be open (save for a glamour cup tie). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairman Mao Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 The top tier only takes 4,000 so in reality capacity will be 23,000 which is plenty imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM91 Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 6 minutes ago, Countryfile said: No need to take a big hit though is there. Tickets could be sold on the understanding that no bars would be open on that level, unless a defined number of seats were sold, but that toilets would be available. Just a few stewards required. I'm afraid I'm not in the know when it comes to this and I dont know the fixed or variable costs related to opening the upper tier. My point is more at what point we deem it necessary to open the upper tier. is it at 18,001 fans, 18,100, 19,000. I don't imagine it being a particularly common issue but certainly something which should require thought beforehand rather than making it up as we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 What the club should do is open it for our first round league cup match assuming we`re at home. I`d love to go up there just to see what it`s like and it would probably put a couple of thousand on the gate for a normally poorly attended game. Depend who we get of course - there are teams which have recently entered the league who would be in our half of the draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 When Brighton built their new stadium, did they do something similar? I understand the reasoning but I don't think it's a good plan. There will be 'desirable' areas in the new stand (just what are they going to call it - 'The stand formerly known as the Williams' (with a nice squiggly pattern))? If they are saying that if you buy a season ticket now, when we open up the desirable areas of the upper stand permanently, you lot will get first dibs, then fair enough. But if they don't allow such priority, then some people might hold off buying season tickets and be choosey about which games they come to see. And no doubt we'll have to put up with the SGR lot saying we can't fill our shiny new stand. Oh hum, bring it on: 'They have a multi-purpose stadium, it's flat, has many lines that will have to be painted out every other week, might cause a little bit of wear and tear on the legs in a sliding tackle, the goal posts will just be a couple of jackets as and when they are needed and no doubt they'll have no problems getting naming rights from NCP' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezo Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 23 minutes ago, JM91 said: I'm afraid I'm not in the know when it comes to this and I dont know the fixed or variable costs related to opening the upper tier. My point is more at what point we deem it necessary to open the upper tier. is it at 18,001 fans, 18,100, 19,000. I don't imagine it being a particularly common issue but certainly something which should require thought beforehand rather than making it up as we go. Thinking about this logically it must be at 18,001. Once you get to 18,001 there is no idea of future sales and if your selling tickets you have an obligation to allow someone to watch the game IMO so they will have to open the stand - I'm sure what will actually happen is there is more than 18,000 in the lower tier so they will relocate if its just a couple hundred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomad Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 I understand the reason but for me the biggest issue is that all season ticket holders are being denied great seats in the middle section up the upper West stand and then when demand dictates it will be non ST holders who benefit. That's the really disappointing bit for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 1 hour ago, JM91 said: I'm afraid I'm not in the know when it comes to this and I dont know the fixed or variable costs related to opening the upper tier. My point is more at what point we deem it necessary to open the upper tier. is it at 18,001 fans, 18,100, 19,000. I don't imagine it being a particularly common issue but certainly something which should require thought beforehand rather than making it up as we go. The suits have worked out that there is unlikely to be enough demand to open the top tier to ST holders, while filling the less desirable areas of seating. At the moment an ordinary supporter wanting to buy a new ST can't buy in the Atyeo because those seats are limited to existing Atyeo ST holders, they can't buy an ST in the family blocks, they can't buy in the corporate area, and they can't buy in the upper tier of a brand spanking new stand, which may or may not be called the Williams stand, because the suits don't want to open it, not because people don't want to sit in it, because clearly there is a demand for some of those seats. I simply don't buy into this idea that the ground will look sparsely populated if all seats are available, I would expect gates of the order of 17,000 - 20,000 next season with some games potentially selling out if we are successful. If I were marketing a new ground (because that is what it is), why would I limit the opportunities to sell seats? The club is being run by people who are not answerable to the main body of supporters, we just have to put up with these corporate decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original OTIB Posted March 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 Spot on. The excuses are lousy yet utterly predicable. The should have sold W12 to 16 lower and W3 to 7 Upper. That central block should be on offer to the loyal season ticket holders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 With a capacity of 27k (4K kept aside for away cup - 15% rule), we are left with 23k to fill. What will the top tier hold....is it 6k....leaving 17k seats to sell. You'd want to keep some if that for POTD, say 2k, leaving 15k STs to sell. For me the pricing is not geared towards selling more than that and then allowing WS ST holders the options to move 'upstairs'. I obviously don't know the financials, but to my simplistic brain I would've kept prices down to get as many ST holders as possible....and fill as much of the WS as possible. Surely there are those who would buy a ST in the upper tier, but not on the Lower tier wing. Bit of a dilemna really! Please feel free to correct the numbers above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 3 hours ago, Scrumpy_247 said: The first home game next season I reckon it will be open as I think the demand will be high Won't be too hectic for Huddersfield,Rotherham-or quite a few others..you will only see it open for Villa,Sunderland or a jucy cup draw.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original OTIB Posted March 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 Re: Asthon: " There is a financial element to opening the top tier of the stand (the cost of stewarding, etc), and we already have 18,000 seats to fill in the lower ‘bowl’. Whilst some debated that it would be a shame for a brand new element of the stadium to be empty, nobody wanted sparsely populated stands in the lower sections due to thousands being tucked away in the top tier, or to incur extra costs that weren’t necessary." COBBLERS: If they sold the central blocks W12 to 16 lower and W3 to 7 upper, the ratio of expensive to cheap ("wing") seats would have been 6:4. rather than 6 wing to 3 central in the lower. Ergo, no net financial implications at all; and most likely more revenue than selling the lower alone. That would more than cover the overheads. Selling the central areas would not have made things look sparse. In any case, we deserve the best CHOICE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 2 hours ago, Countryfile said: No need to take a big hit though is there. Tickets could be sold on the understanding that no bars would be open on that level, unless a defined number of seats were sold, but that toilets would be available. Just a few stewards required. That's what I was thinking-even with the top half open you wouldn't need more staff at ground level re:entry/security,just a few up top to keep a general eye on things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miah Dennehy Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 Will the Atyeo be kept as the away end when it's all finished? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nogbad the Bad Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 20 minutes ago, Davefevs said: With a capacity of 27k (4K kept aside for away cup - 15% rule), we are left with 23k to fill. What will the top tier hold....is it 6k....leaving 17k seats to sell. You'd want to keep some if that for POTD, say 2k, leaving 15k STs to sell. For me the pricing is not geared towards selling more than that and then allowing WS ST holders the options to move 'upstairs'. I obviously don't know the financials, but to my simplistic brain I would've kept prices down to get as many ST holders as possible....and fill as much of the WS as possible. Surely there are those who would buy a ST in the upper tier, but not on the Lower tier wing. Bit of a dilemna really! Please feel free to correct the numbers above. 2,700 away fans for League games is (rightly imo.) set in stone, so 24,300 max. available to home fans. I thought the top tier WS holds about 4,000, rather than 6 - if so that would leave 20,300 available to home fans without the top tier. SL however has stated somewhat optimistically his hopes for City to sell 20,000 ST's, which would leave just 300 POTD, and therefore undoubtedly lead to the WS top tier being opened for every match next season. I'd imagine 16-17k ST's being sold fairly quickly ( a notion unlikely to the point of being absurd imo.) would lead to an announcement that the WS top tier will be available next season after all, and fans who'd already bought ST's would then get the opportunity to switch their seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Fred Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 3 hours ago, JM91 said: A bit of a shame for me, as I wanted a season ticket in the upper Williams when it was complete. Also have to questioning the club as to where this policy leaves us, if one match we could sell 19,000 tickets for example, would we just take 18,000, keep the upper tier closed or would we open it up and take the relative hit of costs of opening the upper tier? Which would,in effect leave us with a lower 'capacity' than before the re-build.....with the exemption of obvious certain games to clearly attract 20k+we would be restricting the flexibility of a 'new,and larger stadium...surely we are considering 'flexibility' from a skewed standpoint?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 @Nogbad the Bad would be great if that did happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 38 minutes ago, Davefevs said: With a capacity of 27k (4K kept aside for away cup - 15% rule), we are left with 23k to fill. What will the top tier hold....is it 6k....leaving 17k seats to sell. You'd want to keep some if that for POTD, say 2k, leaving 15k STs to sell. For me the pricing is not geared towards selling more than that and then allowing WS ST holders the options to move 'upstairs'. I obviously don't know the financials, but to my simplistic brain I would've kept prices down to get as many ST holders as possible....and fill as much of the WS as possible. Surely there are those who would buy a ST in the upper tier, but not on the Lower tier wing. Bit of a dilemna really! Please feel free to correct the numbers above. The thing is Dave that Mr Billingsgate and Mr Long Ashton and the people they have selected will be in the best seats, OK I get that, what I don't get is denying the ordinary fan the choice of sitting where he or she wants by making all other seats available. I really feel that they are saying, you'll sit where we tell you, and give us your money. If I can only buy a seat in the wings because I want to sit on the side of the pitch, and I can see hundreds of seats I would rather sit in than the one I have had to buy what does that say about the people in charge at Ashton Gate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original OTIB Posted March 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 If they sold the central blocks W12 to 16 lower and W3 to 7 upper, the ratio of expensive to cheap ("wing") seats would have been 6:4. rather than 6 wing to 3 central in the lower. Ergo, no net financial implications at all; and most likely more revenue than selling the lower alone. That would more than cover the overheads. Selling the central areas would not have made things look sparse. In any case, we deserve the best CHOICE. Frightening for me that so many seem to be ok with just taking this without any fight whatsoever. PER ABOVE: the cost argument does not stack up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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