Season ticket prices

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SWA
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by SWA »

Hit the nail on the head GY.
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

GodalmingYellow wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 12:14 am That problem filters all the way up the chain KE.

If I can't afford my season ticket in its excellent location because of fleecing price hikes, I have to downgrade. But downgrading means accepting not just lower standard seats, but also the worst seats in those downgraded sections, because de facto, the best seats will already have been taken.

It also means potentially social exclusion from fans you've got to know over many years through sitting with them. And what about sitting with friends where one can afford and one cannot?

And why should I forego my seat due to unacceptable fleecing of fans, when I have loyally bought and paid for that seat for many years?

It is grossly unfair to introduce price hikes like these.

And all that without even getting to the price comparisons, standards of service, quality of stadium, and a whole host of other issues.
Mmm, not all that convinced that you're the biggest victim here, I'm afraid (although I do see the argument and understand the inconvenience). I'll say it again, the bottom line for me is whether those who want to watch Oxford United can afford to do so somehow. Although it's not cheap, and I agree with Ty that lower-league football generally is overpriced, I think generally we are within reach of most people as an afternoon's entertainment.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by GodalmingYellow »

I'm not making any claim to being the biggest victim, and my post was intended as hypothesis. Luckily for me, if I choose to do so, I could afford the season ticket price hike, but I seriously question whether there is value in OUFC ticket prices, and I think the club are taking advantage of the built in fan loyalty of supporting a football club.

However, there will be many hundreds of OUFC supporters who do not have the means and will be affected both by the hikes in the lowest price tickets, and some of the family based tickets, and indeed downgrading issues.

And for a personal context, I have sat with the same gentleman, Gordon Crossley, for 30 years, and with the group around me since the stadium was built. Sadly, my very good friend Gordon passed away a few weeks ago, and the 2 tickets he held for himself and his son (who is not able to attend regularly) have been transferred to me at my request, with the intention that I can have the tickets in my son and daughter's names for use by them or my wife or other family members.

Whilst I could, if I really wanted to, buy all 3 season tickets, there is no way I can justify this now with these price hikes, so immediately there are 2 losses of season ticket sales to the club and a very unhappy supporter (me). I will of course always renew my ticket.

I feel so strongly about this, I have written to Daryl Eales to ask him to think again, or to put in place some sort of relief mechanism, such as discounts for buying multiple tickets or multiple seasons.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by Kernow Yellow »

The East Stand and Family Stand prices seem pretty good value to me - less than £15 a game for an adult (£13 for the family stand). And with interest-free finance available, it means we're pretty affordable at the lower end and for families.

The rest of it is supply- and demand-driven, although I understand the frustrations of those who have established themselves over the years with a particular group of people in a particular area and are now feeling the squeeze of big price-hikes. And those with kids in the more premium seats seem to have been hit hardest.

It's a shame that 'renewal' prices have disappeared, as rewarding loyalty would be a good thing - say a 5% discount for every consecutive year's ST history up to 5 years, like a NCD.

It will be interesting to see what matchday prices are like. It should never cost more than £20 for the cheapest ticket to see your local football team and I was pleased that we could watch L1 football for that this season, but I'll be very surprised if that holds for another year.
Kairdiff Exile
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Good post, that. Agree particularly with this bit:
Kernow Yellow wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 1:07 pm And those with kids in the more premium seats seem to have been hit hardest.
I don't see how it can be logical to give free tickets to under-7s in the family stand on the basis that you want to get kids interested at a young age, but to charge them for sitting in, say, the SSU. All that ends up happening is that parents who might've spent more money buying premium seats go to the ones where kids are free - which I suspect has a negative effect on club finances and annoys punters. Make it free for under-7s everywhere (as most clubs do) and reap the rewards.
ty cobb
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by ty cobb »

Kairdiff Exile wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 1:16 pm Good post, that. Agree particularly with this bit:
Kernow Yellow wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 1:07 pm And those with kids in the more premium seats seem to have been hit hardest.
I don't see how it can be logical to give free tickets to under-7s in the family stand on the basis that you want to get kids interested at a young age, but to charge them for sitting in, say, the SSU. All that ends up happening is that parents who might've spent more money buying premium seats go to the ones where kids are free - which I suspect has a negative effect on club finances and annoys punters. Make it free for under-7s everywhere (as most clubs do) and reap the rewards.
The club must be reasonably confident that they are able to sell out those more premium seats to a full paying adult, or that the people in those seats can afford to pay for their kid to sit with them and not be stuck in the corner of the North Stand.

Surprised they didn't compromise a little in terms of giving a free kids ticket in the corners of SSU/L. If people move and then the premium seats are empty it will just have pissed people off and resulted in a overall lose of revenue.

I wonder how much of this is DE making a point. He didn't consult OxVox and is clearly pissed off with them about the stadium. He said ages ago if the stadium situation is not sorted reasonably quickly he will have to make some difficult decision. This is clearly one of those and to be fair to him I'm not sure what other options he has to drive up revenue from the fanbase. And it's not like we're paying through the nose - our prices do not compare unfavourably to other teams at our level in a similar area. We are also playing fantastic football - twice as good as under some previous managers in a higher division to boot so paying less than double to watch it doesn't seem that unreasonable.

It's a big call to make and time will tell if the right one, it is risky because it will piss people off and although revenues may go up a bit if attendances go down I would say it was unsuccessful.

I also disagree with KY point about rewarding loyalty as this would be at the expense of attracting new fans. Season ticket holders get a decent deal - much cheaper seats than match day prices and priority to away matches regardless of how many away matches they actually attend - if they only want to go to Slumdon away they get more priority than a non season ticket holder who makes 10 away games a season. We should be looking to get more fans along on the day, our regulars are pretty sticky it's getting those 25,000 who went to Wembley to come more often - low season tickets prices = higher match day prices which which is far more likely to put more causal fans off. I think the balance in the past has been weighted in favour of season ticket holders who have had a fantastic deal if they go to most matches - match day prices are already high, I would be surprised if they went up by much more.

If you had the choice, would you rather the old prices playing mid table league 2, or the new prices challenging for promotion from league 1. It's £6/week over the course of the season for the lowest prices - people spend more than this on coffee in a day.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by GodalmingYellow »

£475 is more than £20 a match. That's too high for a season ticket with no added benefits and the increase is unacceptable.

£20 should be the limit for a matchday ticket at this level, and ergo a season ticket should be materially less than that.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by Kernow Yellow »

ty cobb wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 2:09 pmI also disagree with KY point about rewarding loyalty as this would be at the expense of attracting new fans.
Well I disagree with that (and don't get your point)! Do you think new fans are less likely to buy a competitively-priced ST if they think longer-standing fans are getting an even better deal? I doubt it. In fact I'd be more likely to buy a ST if I thought that having one for a few years would bring me even greater savings.

If you don't look after your core, loyal fanbase you run the risk of losing them for good...
slappy
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by slappy »

GodalmingYellow wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 2:51 pm £475 is more than £20 a match. That's too high for a season ticket with no added benefits and the increase is unacceptable.

£20 should be the limit for a matchday ticket at this level, and ergo a season ticket should be materially less than that.
Whilst I agree that match tickets should be available from £20, nonetheless there is a willingness for fans to pay a premium over and above that level depending on oppponents, view etc.

Other clubs such as Gillingham apply a sliding scale for different blocks in the same stand, costs being lower near the corner flag and higher as you get to the half way line.

Historically I believe the only differentiation in the South Stand has been between Upper/Lower/family block and then the lounges. It therefore makes sense for the premium seats at the half way line to be premium priced, although the current prices see larger increases for children/ pensioners than in the other blocks. It could be seen as a shift to get more full price paying adults and if there are untaken seats, then it means more are available to sell on the day at the match day premium prices for individual matches.

In the last three seasons we've had six attendances over 11,000 which were near sell outs and that means the club can now look at price differentiation more than it could before.
ty cobb
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by ty cobb »

Kernow Yellow wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 3:59 pm
ty cobb wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 2:09 pmI also disagree with KY point about rewarding loyalty as this would be at the expense of attracting new fans.
Well I disagree with that (and don't get your point)! Do you think new fans are less likely to buy a competitively-priced ST if they think longer-standing fans are getting an even better deal? I doubt it. In fact I'd be more likely to buy a ST if I thought that having one for a few years would bring me even greater savings.

If you don't look after your core, loyal fanbase you run the risk of losing them for good...
It would be a bit odd if you agreed with me disagreeing with you! My point is more the fan who pays on the day rather than more season tickets. There is a balance to be struck between those who own a season ticket and those who pay on the day. My argument is that those who pay for a season ticket have done really well of late whereas those who pay on the day have suffered. In order to attract more casual fans you need a reasonable match day ticket. If you charge season ticket holders more you can charge on the day less, or not have such a big increase.

Of course season ticket holders should always get a better deal and make a significant saving and get more benefits - I agree with this, but i think the balance had gone too far of late and a £5 saving per game (at least - probably more when they announce new match day prices) and priority tickets makes a season ticket still very attractive.

GY - you can get a season ticket for £15 a match - if you want a better view and sit in the posh seats you need to pay posh prices!

I agree with the sentiment that football is overpriced generally, however, if we want to compete in league one we need to charge prices which are similar to other clubs at our level especially given the stadium situation. I would rather pay more and see a good product than put up with the dross seen in recent times.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by GodalmingYellow »

I'm not talking about prices from £20. £20 should be the premium advance purchase single match price at this level, with perhaps £25 on the day for premium seating.

More tickets available for sale does not equal more tickets sold. Nor does it equal more revenue.

I fully accept the point that the central sections should be a higher price than the corner sections. After all that's why I chose the seats. But to introduce such a massive price increase over 2 seasons is just not justifiable, nor is the additional cost in the SSU for younger fans. If we want price differential between centre and corner, then why not have a modest increase in the centre and a modest decrease in the corner?

This is by far the most disappointing aspect of Daryl Eales ownership of the club. He claims he recognises fans as the lifeblood of the club and then seeks to fleece the fans.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by GodalmingYellow »

ty cobb wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 4:53 pm
Kernow Yellow wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 3:59 pm
ty cobb wrote: Wed May 03, 2017 2:09 pmI also disagree with KY point about rewarding loyalty as this would be at the expense of attracting new fans.
Well I disagree with that (and don't get your point)! Do you think new fans are less likely to buy a competitively-priced ST if they think longer-standing fans are getting an even better deal? I doubt it. In fact I'd be more likely to buy a ST if I thought that having one for a few years would bring me even greater savings.

If you don't look after your core, loyal fanbase you run the risk of losing them for good...
It would be a bit odd if you agreed with me disagreeing with you! My point is more the fan who pays on the day rather than more season tickets. There is a balance to be struck between those who own a season ticket and those who pay on the day. My argument is that those who pay for a season ticket have done really well of late whereas those who pay on the day have suffered. In order to attract more casual fans you need a reasonable match day ticket. If you charge season ticket holders more you can charge on the day less, or not have such a big increase.

Of course season ticket holders should always get a better deal and make a significant saving and get more benefits - I agree with this, but i think the balance had gone too far of late and a £5 saving per game (at least - probably more when they announce new match day prices) and priority tickets makes a season ticket still very attractive.

GY - you can get a season ticket for £15 a match - if you want a better view and sit in the posh seats you need to pay posh prices!

I agree with the sentiment that football is overpriced generally, however, if we want to compete in league one we need to charge prices which are similar to other clubs at our level especially given the stadium situation. I would rather pay more and see a good product than put up with the dross seen in recent times.
The prices are already posh. Too posh. Football is a game rooted in working classes, or lower earners. I would hate the day that OUFC became the Chelsea of League 1, but I fear we are already much closer to that than is comfortable.

A season ticket for £15 a match gets me a seat in the corner in the end behind the goal. No thanks. If the club wants me to sit there, it would have to drop the price considerably, and even then I would have to think about it.

As per my earlier message setting out the prices of other clubs, it is clear that OUFC are 2nd or 3rd most expensive in the division.
SWA
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by SWA »

You are making the most valid points on this thread GY. I also am hit by the £475 cost. It is far too high for League 1 level for 23 games and no extra benefits at all as many other clubs do. 2015/2016 we paid £346 for our seats, now, 2 seasons later it will be £475. That's a £129 increase over 2 seasons - way too much.
I would be interested to see what DE replies to your email to him.
theox
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by theox »

Has anyone done the maths (I'm too lazy/stupid) on the potential increase in revenue for the club if all current season ticket holders renew at the new prices?

I'm just wondering whether the damage of pissing off fans is outweighed or not by the benefit of the potential increase in revenue. Are we talking a million quid extra or £100k which is probably only one player's wages?
slappy
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Re: Season ticket prices

Post by slappy »

Move abroad and watch the games live next year for £110 per year.

I think on YF someone did a rough estimate of extra income of about £250K.

Last season was though a bit of a one-off, coming on the back of a promotion which always get ST sales up. Also the lure of games against Slumdon that fans wanted to go to home and away, so would buy an ST just to get priority.

So perhaps ST sales may slacken off anyway, there will always be fans who won't renew due to work/finance/family and other commitments. Conversely there may be fans who were paying match-by-match last year who decide to get the ST for the whole season next year.
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