Have City made a big mistake with match prices?

[Bar BS3]

46 minutes ago, HIGHRIDGE BCFC said:

Yes I agree mate. I'm bringing a friend and his son with me to the Newcastle game and it's costing £55 for the adult and under 16.

Far too much in my opinion.

Certainly doesn't encourage the floating fan.

 

Did they pay the £55..? If so, I suggests that it's not TOO much. 

There were cheaper options available, if it was TOO much, but they opted to pay £55, so again, is it TOO much. 

People are too quick to say things cost too much, when they then pay it. Therefore it's not too much. 

Our attendances have increased massively over the last 20/30 years, all against a backdrop of increased ticket prices, yet at the same or lower level of football as back then, because the facilities are better. That costs money. 

 

[ChippenhamRed]

5 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

It's only £41 for someone who presumably doesn't go very often (non member)

£36 for the biggest games in the best seats in a brand new stadium isn't OTT in my opinion. If they feel it is too much then go the the £28 option. 

 

I agree, but it does little to encourage new supporters, who won't shell out for a membership straight away.

Notice as well how we have slept-walked into defending £28 as the cheapest price - it wasn't long ago this would have been a top price ticket, and not just due to inflation.

But to reiterate, this is a broader problem than just City.

[Bs4Red]

In my opinion, I think it is fair, the whole point in a season ticket is it's an incentive to save money. If every game was £18 do you think we would have 14,000 STH? Of course not people would pick and choose games.

Also the prices are far more reasonable if you sit in the Ateyo, I'm STH un there and think the view and atmosphere is great.

The club are no worse than anyone else in this league. 

[myol'man]

2 hours ago, reddogkev said:

Despite all the positivity within BCFC at the moment, I feel very strongly that the club have screwed up the ticket prices for the finished stadium.

In short, tickets seem far too expensive for watching a 90 minute game of football.

Firstly, I'll be blunt, I've been forced out of watching city on a regular basis; due to my circs with household bills and looking after the kids, I can only afford roughly 3 or 4 home games a season, and even those games are a stretch.  I cannot cover the cost of a season ticket, so I am reliant on either member prices, or POTD.  For me, there's little point being a member as I'd have to afford more than the 4 home games or more to make it worthwhile.

For the last few days I've been considering the adult ticket prices for Newcastle and Villa at home (taken from the City site):

Non members in brackets (worth noting that these are Gold category games so are more expensive than usual).

ATYEO: SOLD OUT.
SOUTH: Adult - £28 (£33),
DOLMAN WINGS: Adult - £30 (£35),
DOLMAN CENTRE: Adult - £32 (£37),
WEST WINGS: Adult - £34 (£39),
WEST CENTRE: Adult - £36 (£41),
 

Just take a moment, as I have to consider those prices, and tell me what you think.  Don't they seem far too excessive?  Can you believe that even as a member cheapest prices are £28? And for my usual spot (middle of Dolman) I'd have to fork out £37.  And then there's the food and drink etc.

 

If the club wanted to attract more fans and have even the remotest shot at selling out the ground, they should've reduced prices. 

 

I reckon we'll get no more than 22k for our big games this season, largely due to the high ticket prices.  If they were lower, and affordable to all City fans with the desire to attend, we could then start growing a significantly larger home support each week.

 

Quite simply, the club will never fill the ground unless prices are lowered.  Unless of course, there is a wealthier group of passionate football fans in Bristol than I've given credit for.

 

Simply put, wouldn't it be best for us to sell more tickets at a lower rate, and try to fill the ground for every game?  Shouldn't the game of football be something affordable for the masses?  I'll be interested to read all differing thoughts and opinions about the prices for City games, and how many others cannot attend the amount of games they would like due to being priced out of the market.

 

Cheers folks.

I can understand your dilemma kev, maybe for fans in your situation the club could think about a block booking reduced price, maybe to include 4 or 6 home games?

[Bar BS3]

5 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

One thing I would add is that I don't buy into the "and then there's the food and drink" element of the argument. This cost is easily avoidable and entirely optional if finances are limited. It's no different from any other day out in that respect.

Absolutely. People are going to eat anyway. 

Nobody has to purchase food for an event lasting 2 hours. It's a choice. One that can be catered for with a packed lunch if you are on a really tight budget. 

Travel to an event is often as expensive/more expensive that the cost of entry to that "attraction" 

I wouldn't leave Bristol solely because I wouldn't want to not go to City matches. If I was to leave then the cost of getting back for games would be factored into my decision to move or not. 

 

[Red-Robbo]

I agree it's too much and (although I am lucky to have had a season ticket for years) I sympathise with those who cannot afford one or whose work/location makes this option unviable. 

£41 is too much to watch a second tier football match full stop and I don't care what other clubs charge. It's just too high in comparison to weekly wages. 

It prices out many of the club's traditional fanbase and encourages the "prawn sandwich-ism" and sterile atmosphere that bedevil modern football. No club should forget its roots.

[Bar BS3]

Another point is the fantastic value of a season ticket in the family section of the South Stand where an adult and a junior pay just£16.50 per match for both of them. 

I don't think you can even go to the cinema nowadays for that sort of money!

The club can't Give, give, give on ticket prices and fund the signings that we all demand. 

 

[Kid in the Riot]

26 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

I'm no expert on German football and I don't understand how the economics stack up, but their league appears to work much better for fans while still producing high class football on the pitch.

The German model is simple, charge the corporates a load of money and this cash is off-set to provide cheaper prices for the average fan.

Of course in this country we also have masses of corporate facilities at the big ground which sell-out every week, but the mentality in this country is different - rip-off the corporates AND the average fan.

[Bar BS3]

5 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

I agree it's too much and (although I am lucky to have had a season ticket for years) I sympathise with those who cannot afford one or whose work/location makes this option unviable. 

£41 is too much to watch a second tier football match full stop and I don't care what other clubs charge. It's just too high in comparison to weekly wages. 

It prices out many of the club's traditional fanbase and encourages the "prawn sandwich-ism" and sterile atmosphere that bedevil modern football. No club should forget its roots.

If £41 was the only option then I'd agree, but it's not. It's an option for those who want it. 

Mock them all you like as being "prawn sandwich brigade" but many people nowadays want to pay a bit more to get away from the more raucous areas and have a better view/facilities. 

A season ticket in those seats works out at £25 per game. Decent value really. 

£27/30 is the cheapest non member matchday price. That is inline with every other club in the division that we are trying to compete with, so it's what we need to charge.

We also have better young adult, youth & child categories than most.

 

[Jack Dawe]

7 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Another point is the fantastic value of a season ticket in the family section of the South Stand where an adult and a junior pay just£16.50 per match for both of them. 

I don't think you can even go to the cinema nowadays for that sort of money!

The club can't Give, give, give on ticket prices and fund the signings that we all demand. 

 

Not sure the fans that we need to fill the seats not taken v Wigan (about another six or seven thousand) ie the floating fans, are "demanding" anything. They're probably busy doing and thinking about other things. The day we've got 27k "demanding" fans, rather than about 15k, is a day to look forward to. We should be so lucky

[Bar BS3]

Bristol City average attendances.

1986- 6,600

1996- 7,017

2006- 11,725

2016- 15,292

or take the nearest equivilant league placing into account...

1981- 9,765

1995- 8,005

1999- 12,860

2013- 13,348

2016- 15,292

Bar the season we finished 90 mins from the premier league and the resultant season ticket sales, our average gates have not been this high since the 60's & 70's. 

Aren't we discussing a problem that doesn't exist here, bar a few individuals who feel priced out (which is obviously sad) ..?

 

[steviestevieneville]

1 hour ago, Malaggro is back said:

I think it is far too much money.

We've missed a trick with season tickets being too expensive and have not picked up on the new stand/s bounce.

Being a public servant I haven't had a wage increase in 8 years. Sadly everything around me has gone up.

I have an Atyeo season ticket and think the price is fair. Other stands and non-member prices are a bit mental.

I personally don't think season tickets are expensive . Mine works out £17 per game (dolman wings) which is very good. 

[Monkeh]

Football cost too much full stop

you can't blame the club if it's everyone doing it

the club can't make them cheap as chips ether

if you want to blame anyone blame the players and their agents for stupidly hi wages that the fans help subsidise and blame the media for pumping far too much money into the game

[View from the Dolman]

The £41 ticket is also somewhat limited in availability so not sure how much you really take from it - mostly season ticket holders in the middle rows of the block, hospitality at the back and the remaining seats in the front few rows. It's just over half of the £41 for ST holders in those blocks.

[Bar BS3]

2 minutes ago, Monkeh said:

Football cost too much full stop

you can't blame the club if it's everyone doing it

the club can't make them cheap as chips ether

if you want to blame anyone blame the players and their agents for stupidly hi wages that the fans help subsidise and blame the media for pumping far too much money into the game

Rupert Murdoch is fully accountable, but how many of the people complaining about ticket prices are paying £70,£80+ a month to Sky..?! 

[ChippenhamRed]

1 hour ago, Robin1988 said:

Here's a solution: Buy a membership, don't sit in the Dolman.

Or are we also going to moan that you can't sit in the hospitality boxes for a reasonable price as well?

"Don't sit in the Dolman" misses the broader point entirely; that point being that football overall has become increasingly expensive beyond inflationary rises, and beyond the reach of some supporters.

This means someone who could previously afford to sit in the Dolman can now only afford an inferior behind-the-goal view, but what about the person who was already sitting in the cheapest seat and has also been subjected to above-inflation rises?

[Bar BS3]

1 minute ago, ChippenhamRed said:

"Don't sit in the Dolman" misses the broader point entirely; that point being that football overall has become increasingly expensive beyond inflationary rises, and beyond the reach of some supporters.

This means someone who could previously afford to sit in the Dolman can now only afford an inferior behind-the-goal view, but what about the person who was already sitting in the cheapest seat and has also been subjected to above-inflation rises?

As my earlier post about average attendances shows, it doesn't seem to be an issue and people seem to be making an argument on other peoples behalf, whilst they are busy attending City matches..! 

[Kid in the Riot]

Why are the upper classes who attend football matches known as 'the prawn sandwich brigade' when a prawn sarnie in Tesco is like one of the cheapest they have?

Roy Keane is such a twonk.

[Fiale]

I went through a period where I could not afford a season ticket so my family bought me it for 2 years in a row as a joint Christmas present. I have to be honest it was a hell of a lot nicer to have than the usual socks, ties, and toiletries (always the ones I don't wear/use) it felt like I was actually getting a useful present and everyone knew I was getting good value from it as I don't really shut up when we are together

[Esmond Million's Bung]

Just to add balance to this argument I have just spent 2 minutes on ticketmaster looking at the price of tickets for gigs and only bothered with initially with 'A's'and one band the washed up 1980's band ABC, a band who only ever made one ok album IMO and their tickets for the Bridgewater hall Manchester are £55 a piece and 10cc who as far as I am aware only have one original member in the form of Graham Gouldman are sold out for 2 dates and I suspect would charge similar if not more for tickets.

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

I suppose supporters want a ground like some concrete megalopolis, akin to the spaceship from Close Encounters, rather than the rusty tin shacks of yore. Therefore these have to be funded, along with disgustingly high wages of players, and punters have to take a hit.

I  couldn't give a flying **** about grills, concourses and Wi-Fi, just as long as I can see the action for less than Zimbabwe's national debt.

[Red-Robbo]

1 hour ago, Bar BS3 said:

If £41 was the only option then I'd agree, but it's not. It's an option for those who want it. 

Mock them all you like as being "prawn sandwich brigade" but many people nowadays want to pay a bit more to get away from the more raucous areas and have a better view/facilities. 

A season ticket in those seats works out at £25 per game. Decent value really. 

£27/30 is the cheapest non member matchday price. That is inline with every other club in the division that we are trying to compete with, so it's what we need to charge.

We also have better young adult, youth & child categories than most.

 

As I said, it may be in line with other clubs - but that doesn't make it reasonable.  Prices are unreasonable nearly everywhere and it's playing into the hands of Sky with their legions of stay-at-home plastic PL supporters. 

I'm not particularly having a go at City over this, but it's something the football league needs to address.

And as I also said, for some, season tickets are not an option and if they want to sit near people they know then it's buy an expensive ticket or not go as the only options. 

[reddogkev]

Lots of decent responses and interesting comments here, as per usual with OTIB, cheers all for your thoughts and insights.

Good reading so far, and I do appreciate the comments of those with season tickets, and agree 100% if you can afford it, it is very cost effective over the course of a season.

[Robin1988]

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

"Don't sit in the Dolman" misses the broader point entirely; that point being that football overall has become increasingly expensive beyond inflationary rises, and beyond the reach of some supporters.

This means someone who could previously afford to sit in the Dolman can now only afford an inferior behind-the-goal view, but what about the person who was already sitting in the cheapest seat and has also been subjected to above-inflation rises?

Yes it has, and that has been debated to death and there with no progress made in terms of halting the influence of money on the game.

What this thread is about is City's placement within that, and relatively speaking they do pretty well as others have pointed out.

Yes the Dolman is more expensive, but that's life. Tickets are more or less expensive for better views or comfort everywhere and rightly so.

But to use the Dolman/Williams prices to suggest normal people are being priced out of football when a year-old stand with some superb views is a RELATIVELY fairly cheap alternative, for this level, is nonsense.

Are these the same people being restricted to a shiny new stand the ones who stood on cramped terraces in the 70s and 80s?

[ChippenhamRed]

11 minutes ago, Robin1988 said:

Yes it has, and that has been debated to death and there with no progress made in terms of halting the influence of money on the game.

What this thread is about is City's placement within that, and relatively speaking they do pretty well as others have pointed out.

Yes the Dolman is more expensive, but that's life. Tickets are more or less expensive for better views or comfort everywhere and rightly so.

But to use the Dolman/Williams prices to suggest normal people are being priced out of football when a year-old stand with some superb views is a RELATIVELY fairly cheap alternative, for this level, is nonsense.

Are these the same people being restricted to a shiny new stand the ones who stood on cramped terraces in the 70s and 80s?

Good post Robin, can't argue with any of that. No question that the "product" now is superior in many ways to what was on offer in the 70s and 80s.

[BRISTOL86]

3 hours ago, Malaggro is back said:

I think it is far too much money.

We've missed a trick with season tickets being too expensive and have not picked up on the new stand/s bounce.

Being a public servant I haven't had a wage increase in 8 years. Sadly everything around me has gone up.

I have an Atyeo season ticket and think the price is fair. Other stands and non-member prices are a bit mental.

Season tickets too expensive? Behave. 

[Aizoon]

My take on this is that season tickets are reasonably priced, POTD are not.

Fine for those who are suited to season tickets, bot of a bigger for those who aren't. Given that footy now pretty well encompasses the cricket season and that I'm serving a life sentence at the Glos, I'm in the latter group

 

[Lack of Action Man]

Season tickets were over priced imo. Had a season ticket for nearly 15 years but priced out this season.

[BRISTOL86]

3 minutes ago, OddBallJim said:

Season tickets were over priced imo. Had a season ticket for nearly 15 years but priced out this season.

Mine didn't change price, what stand are you referring to?

[Drew Peacock]

9 minutes ago, OddBallJim said:

Season tickets were over priced imo. Had a season ticket for nearly 15 years but priced out this season.

I thought they were a very similar price?