Season Ticket - Next Year?

[Stranded]

The price of ST's at the Mad Stad is all about supply and demand, unlike at Blackburn, where the area has a surfeit of other Premier League teams for a choice.

Our stadium currently holds 24,200 which is at the lower end of capacities in the Prem; we have more people wanting season tickets than are available - so why should any business drop the price of a product that is over-subscribed?

At best there will be a price freeze; those whoi think there will be a reduction are going to be disappointed.

And I, like many others, won't be taking the AST next season.

I can see what you are saying. If the club are planning on raising the prices, they should get them out in the public domain now. As more and more clubs begin to announce that they are freezing or reducing prices it will become harder to justify increases. Particularly with clubs like Sheff Utd (who have had similar sell out crowds) already announcing early bird discounts and some freezes.

[biscuitsrus]

Reading season tickets are going up to £650 in East, North and South stands.

and well worth the money for the entertainment on offer, especially when you get to see the England centre back in goal.

[RG30]

Good point on the AST Mr A, if there is a rise we might take less to away games, if I had the choice of finding an extra £70 say for a renewal it would be away games that took the hit, not an ST

(even tho I dont have one HTH)

Would anyone ever consider giving up a home ST in order to just go on the away ST? Spoke to a fellow fan who still lives here in Reading who has exactly the above and hasn't been to a home match all season but ain't missed an away one.

[Seal]

I can categorically state that if the club raise prices I will not be renewing my season ticket. I have a 3-4 hour, £30ish round trip to home games as it is. I spend more than enough money, effort and time following RFC, and I’m not paying any more.

Having had a season ticket for the last couple of years means I now have enough points to get tickets for any Reading home game next season even if I was not a season ticket holder.

In addition to this, being a season ticket holder has also not given me the benefit I hoped for with away games. The number of points I have got doesn’t enable me to get tickets for the ‘glamour games’ so I have to use mates’ cards anyway. In addition to this the away games I have attended (West Ham, Fulham, Villa, Sheff U, Brum etc etc) when you haven’t needed a stupid number of points to get tickets have been a much better laugh (less day trippers).

All in all, my renewal is hanging by a thread, and I await news from RFC with interest.

People talk about demand, but they are misguided. As I have said before, yes we are selling out (JUST I might add for non glamour games), but there are still plenty of empty seats, which clearly indicates that people are not desperate to get tickets for Reading games.

I know a lot of people who got season tickets this season on the premise that this might be our only season in the top league. Once this novelty value wears off, people will think twice about renewing, and price rises would be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back.

I have faith that RFC will follow suit and freeze prices. If they do not, then they are more arrogant and out of touch with our support than I thought, and it will come back to bit them on the ar$e.

Finally, even if season ticket holders like myself were replaced, I have a hunch that the replacements would be more interested in securing a seat at Premiership football than passionate fans of RFC, which would mean more ‘Sold out but still empty seat’ scenarios at non glamour games, and probably less atmosphere.

[Dirk Gently]

There's the usual level of scarmongering on this thread, with the usual wild estimates from people who "have heard" something.

Typically, all those wild estimates are way, way off the mark.

[Wycombe Royal]

Typically, all those wild estimates are way, way off the mark.

I'm glad that someone has pointed that out, although it is no surprise to see WCH at the top of the "scaremongering" list.

[Seal]

There's the usual level of scarmongering on this thread, with the usual wild estimates from people who "have heard" something.

Typically, all those wild estimates are way, way off the mark.

Translation: You have heard / are ITK that there will be a small rise.

Small or large is irrelevant, it's the principle of the matter. In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

[Wycombe Royal]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

[RG30]

Just look at the figures below and I defy anyone, anywhere, to come up with any argument that any price increases whatsoever can be defended, morally or financially.

Current Deal
Domestic rights : £1.024 billion
Highlights/radio/etc : £232 million
Overseas rights : £320 million
TOTAL : £1.575 billion

New Deal
Domestic rights : £1.7 billion
Highlights/radio/etc : £375 million
Overseas rights : £625 million
TOTAL : £2.7 billion

DIFFERENCE = £1.125 billion (over 3 years)

[Seal]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

That justfies it financially to the club's accountants.

It does not justify it to the fans. Do you think we're all getting 66% pay rises this year? That's effectively what the club are getting with the new TV deal.

[Wycombe Royal]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

That justfies it financially to the club's accountants.

It does not justify it to the fans. Do you think we're all getting 66% pay rises this year? That's effectively what the club are getting with the new TV deal.

If it doesn't justify it to the fans then we won't sell out. If it does sell out then it is justified. It really is that simple. RFC are a business, we are customers. As a business (not a football team) their aim is to maximise revenue and they do that by charging the highest possible to maximise demand against a limited supply. Just because they have higher income from another source doesn't mean they look to reduce another source of income, especially if there is no economic reason to do it.

[Dirk Gently]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

They can try, but no-one with half a brain-cell will accept it as an argument in the same year that the Premier League clubs get an extra £1.125 BILLION between the 20 of them.

[Wycombe Royal]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

They can try, but no-one with half a brain-cell will accept it as an argument in the same year that the Premier League clubs get an extra £1.125 BILLION between the 20 of them.

In their "own mind" they will have been justified. THat is all I am saying, and I don't necessarily agree with it.

[Seal]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

They can try, but no-one with half a brain-cell will accept it as an argument in the same year that the Premier League clubs get an extra £1.125 BILLION between the 20 of them.

In their "own mind" they will have been justified. THat is all I am saying, and I don't necessarily agree with it.

In their 'own mind' they may be justified. That however, was hardly my point, which was they cannot justify it to the fans.

Football may be a business, but it is not like any other business. Football fans are far more fickle, vocal and volatile than any other consumer. It's not like putting 5p on the price of pet food.

[Wycombe Royal]

Football may be a business, but it is not like any other business. Football fans are far more fickle, vocal and volatile than any other consumer. It's not like putting 5p on the price of pet food.

That is very true, which is why I said that if they still sell out then they will have been justified (in their own mind).

[RoyalBlue]

In the current climate no Premiership club can justify price raises.

They can justify it by using the supply/demand argument and if they were to still sell out then they will been justified.

They can try, but no-one with half a brain-cell will accept it as an argument in the same year that the Premier League clubs get an extra £1.125 BILLION between the 20 of them.

In their "own mind" they will have been justified. THat is all I am saying, and I don't necessarily agree with it.

In their 'own mind' they may be justified. That however, was hardly my point, which was they cannot justify it to the fans.

Football may be a business, but it is not like any other business. Football fans are far more fickle, vocal and volatile than any other consumer. It's not like putting 5p on the price of pet food.

Vocal and volatile I agree with but definitely not fickle, in terms that they will not easily walk away and go to another 'supplier' no matter how much or how often they are ripped off. That is the problem and the clubs exploit it to the full. They have the best of both worlds. They can get away with treating fans just like 'customers' in the full knowledge that, unlike normal customers, the fans won't easily desert them for the competition. However, I do believe there is a breaking point and many fans aren't far away from it. If you haven't got the money you can't afford to buy the tickets regardless of how much you want to - plain and simple. Of course, at present, the die hard fans at RFC will quickly be replaced by glory hunting 100% genuine plastics. But what will happen when the club hit bad times again? The plastics will be off like a shot and the die hard fans who were priced out will not return because by then they will have found some substitute interest in their lives. Believe you me, there is a great deal of satisfaction and fun to be had following teams from far lower down the pyramid as those of us who were around in the 70s will recall!

[Seal]

Football may be a business, but it is not like any other business. Football fans are far more fickle, vocal and volatile than any other consumer. It's not like putting 5p on the price of pet food.

That is very true, which is why I said that if they still sell out then they will have been justified (in their own mind).

Very well. In that case, rather than playing devil's advocate, what do you expect the club to actually do?

[Dirk Gently]

If the club have any commercial sense, as I'm very sure they do have, I think they will have realised that prices are now getting to a tipping point for many supporters.

At a time when many other clubs are freezing or even reducing tickets, I don't think they will be justified in going for any increases - not only because of the massive negative publicity they'll get, but also because they recognise that next year will be a difficult one for supporters because of the disruption from the building works.

Above all, though, the key fact is that that they need to keep demand high, because within 2 years they'll have another 14000 seats to fill each match. So they know that it would be extremely counter-productive to price anyone else out now, because within 2 seasons they'll need those people back to fill the new capacity. And it's much easier to keep them now rather than try to win them back in 12 months and onwards.

[PieEater]

Maybe they could offer a free ST seat plaque?

Oh...

[Wycombe Royal]

Football may be a business, but it is not like any other business. Football fans are far more fickle, vocal and volatile than any other consumer. It's not like putting 5p on the price of pet food.

That is very true, which is why I said that if they still sell out then they will have been justified (in their own mind).

Very well. In that case, rather than playing devil's advocate, what do you expect the club to actually do?

A price freeze or small increase.