Ryan Sparks

We don't make that much money selling individual shirts. Any fans that recoil at spending more than £150 for a season ticket certainly ain't gonna be buy overpriced merchandise and food and drink are they?

 

Anyone who thinks £150 and 18/20,000 in the ground against £200/250 with 10,000 in are deluded, the season our German owners took over and Stuart returned our average was 18,167 fans couldn't wait for home games they were fantastic times, both with regards atmosphere and expectation, certainly beats the days when we struggled to get 5/6,000 through the turnstiles.

 

Yawn

 

There will be many fans who can’t or won’t pay £100 extra

 

There will be many fans who can’t or won’t pay £100 extra

 

Putting up season tickets next season will, in my opinion, be a non-starter. Firstly, even if the club was considering a price hike it's effectively backed itself into a corner. We were paying £150 for a league higher a couple of seasons ago. So in theory, even charging £150 next year is still accepting that for the same price your offering an inferior product.
Secondly, let's say that by August all restrictions are lifted and we can all go back to watching football as 'normal', there needs to be a positive end to this season, to give fans a reason to buy tickets again. Hiking the prices won't help attract the floating voter. Many of whom may well have lost some of their interest in BCFC over the last 12 months.
Thirdly, whilst it's all well and good talking about a hardcore fan base of circa 8,000 that will purchase a ST at say £200 a pop, you can't keep expecting that fan base to keep forking out for future increases if the premise of a more successful team doesn't materialise. It will only continue to shrink as the prices keep on rising.
Cheap tickets bring in fans and that can lead to increased revenue streams from merchandise, programme sales, food and drink, hospitality packages and attracting sponsors. Sponsors are more likely to want to be involved with a successful club (that's a given) but also one that has a big fan base - don't underestimate this factor for sponsors.
In marketing terms, the cheap tickets brings the punters in. They're 'eyeballs' in the ladder of loyalty. Because they've bought a ticket, they're more likely to keep coming back than say someone who pays on the gate. And because they keep on coming back, their loyalty increases and they become 'wallets' - more willing to spend money on the things listed above.
It's no co-incidence that since the wheels fell off under Rahic, despite the sh!t show of the last few seasons, we've still managed to maintain a strong supporter base. I think that can be attributed to the cheap STs and their affect on creating far more 'wallets' than 'eyeballs'.

 

No hugging social distancing.

 

That successful a business model that no other club has tried to implement it. I agree.in rewarding loyalty at this difficult time but of we get promoted tickets should be £200 minimum

 

That successful a business model that no other club has tried to implement it. I agree.in rewarding loyalty at this difficult time but of we get promoted tickets should be £200 minimum

 

I think most accept our attendances since the start of cheap ticketing was introduce I believe in 2007 Stuart's first spell as manager are based on the low price, and I do accept going forward they need to increase but as yourself believe next season would be a bad time to do it even with a small increase say £50.
I'm sure Ryan and Stefan will have discussed this and they will have a better idea than us what is require to do what's right for both parties, it's a balance the owner doing his part and the fans doing theirs.

 

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with such a large increase, I do agree that if you offer a better product you can charge more for it.
If we have a half decent run in to the end of the season, then it can be used as a launch pad to try and get as many fans back for next season. But the price needs to be close to £150. I can see the justification in a small hike given that inflation has eroded that £150 from when we first priced at that point.
If, next season, we go up at the end of it, then there's a justification to increases prices again, But it needs to be sensitive to what will keep the numbers not frighten people off.
One alternative to just increasing ST and gate prices, is to look at where the club can maximise revenue from the matchday experience. The club needs to get better at getting fans to the ground earlier and keeping them there longer. Look at what Accy Stanley do. They're very adapt at squeezing more leisure spend from their very small fanbase, by making matchday a bigger experience than just watching a football match. City could learn a lot from that.

 

If the the season pans out as hoped, that is a finish that shows definite improvement, and it looks like fans might be able to return, then up the price. None of this 200 quid malarkey, in marketing everyone knows it has to be 199.99, that seems a lot less than 200 quid. ( petrol prices here at moment are $2.29.9 a gallon. Not sure how they can justify that sort of nonsense but I've yet to see a sign using whole numbers).

 

Sparks will be on McAnthony's podcast tomorrow for anyone who wants to listen.

 

Why wouldnt there be ?

 

Any chance of a link I wouldnt know where to look for a podcast.

 

Maybe because they come as a family and cant afford the extra £200+ for the adults and whatever the increase is for their children.

 

MW Dave, just next to Radio Luxemberg.....

 

No problem then.

 

I seriously doubt there are that many who come as a family of four, all paid for from the same pocket. Probably a lot of dads & sons, dads & grown up sons who pay for their own, but not many families of four.