Season Ticket Holders

recordmeister · Post by **recordmeister** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:51 am

I think the BMW Workers ticket scheme has opened up an interesting debate about the roll of the ST holder at our club.

I had been a ST ticket holder for many years, while living both in the County and then in London, until a recent job change meant I no longer had access to car (with gratis petrol), and therefore the cost (and time involved) in getting back for a match became prohibitive and I did not renew my ST.

The fact is that living in Central London, many away games are much easier to get to anyway, due to the spiders web effect of the rail network in this country, where all trains lead to London. Thus, I end up attending more away games that home games.

My housemate is a Derby County fan. At DCFC they run a three-tier system which runs thus:

Membership: £25 pa
Season Ticket Holder: POA
Non-member / Non ST: free

When tickets are released, the PRIORITY goes to Membership holders, then a batch later on to ST holders, then general sale.

This is a recognition by the club that just because you have a season ticket, it DOES NOT make you a better* supporter than people who maybe can not attend Saturday matches or those who do not live within easy reach of the stadium.

It seems to me that the people getting most upset about the BMW offer are season ticket holders, who seem to think they have some god-given right to be treated much better by the club than anyone else, simply because you've bulk bought your tickets in advance.

I would suggest that the club also offers a membership, for around £25 per season, which runs in the same manner as at Derby County.

What are the thoughts of the people on here?

*anyone want to qualify the term 'better'?!

Snake · Post by **Snake** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:03 pm

The situation at Swansea City is interesting, where the membership scheme gives you priority over the ST holders for both home and away tickets. It also operates a points system within the membership scheme whereby the more tickets you buy the better your chance when competing against other members (which is why I’ll be watching Chelsea and not Accrington Stanley tomorrow).

http://www.swanseacity.net/page/TicketN ... 98,00.html

recordmeister · Post by **recordmeister** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:08 pm

That's great. I'd be wholeheartedly in favour of that at OUFC.

Season Ticket holders (mainly on this forum) need to get back in their box a bit. You get a great deal on buying bulk tickets at discounted prices, but why should this afford you any additional benefits?

If you don't like the idea of losing your benefits to a Membership Scheme, then don't buy a ST and do what I have to do each game I choose to go to and buy a ticket a full price.

Oh, don't want to do that? Like your discount? Like sitting in the same seat every week next to your mates? Then love your Season Ticket and be pleased with those limited benefits.

(Can of worms successfully opened there, me thinks)

Hog · Post by **Hog** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:29 pm

I know I shouldn't bite but yeah, great idea. Give priority to someone who has only chucked twenty five quid into the pot so they can get tickets to the plum ties over someone who has spent several hundred pounds in advance without knowing what sort of season lies ahead. I know which customer I would value more highly!

And a season ticket is only good value if you can get to all the games as you have just admitted yourself.

On the subject of the BMW discount, how about a discount scheme for exiled supporters living outside the OX postcode to help off-set the travelling costs?
I wouldn't expect a huge amount, perhaps just not being charged the admin fee would be a gesture.

oxfordyankee · Post by **oxfordyankee** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:30 pm

I think that's an enormously cynical view of Season Ticket holders. I buy one every year and get value for it. Saving money is not my primary reason for doing so. The club give me the strong impression that they want and need to sell season tickets. They write to me, they call me and now even leave messages urging me to buy or renew. If they said that
Membership was preferable to them and didnt want to offer or promote season tickets I would act accordingly.

I personally think an away scheme could be setup where those who travel regularly to away games get priority. But I think the current prioritisation at home for season ticket holders is equitable and reflects the commitment that a season ticket holder makes.

Baboo · Post by **Baboo** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:37 pm

With Hog all the way on this. Many season ticket holders do not get to all the games for many reasons but buy a ST not only to save the hassle of buying for each game &amp being guaranteed their seat &amp first dibs at tickets for all ticket matches but because they are demonstrating loyalty to club and want to give them x £s up front.
How many home fans do we get usually for an average game - 6000. Approx 4000 hold season tickets. That's 66%. Of the other 2000 - they won't be the same people game in game out. It would be very easy to piss off the majority of regularly attendign supporters.

Baboo · Post by **Baboo** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:41 pm

&quotoxfordyankee&quot wrote: I personally think an away scheme could be setup where those who travel regularly to away games get priority. But I think the current prioritisation at home for season ticket holders is equitable and reflects the commitment that a season ticket holder makes.

Why? The only time the club make any money out of an away game is when it is in a cup competition and the gate is high enough to turn a profit.
Those who go mostly to away games (and I'm not knocking it) are putting their hard earned into rivals pockets whilst not giving much, other than by way of vocal support, to OUFC. Unless of course they are making some kind of donation.

recordmeister · Post by **recordmeister** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:46 pm

Here are the details of what you get at DCFC:

Adult Membership - £25 per member

Adult Memberships are available to season ticket holders and non-season ticket holders over the age of 18.

An Adult Membership offers a number of great benefits, including

* Access to Young Adult match ticket pricing for customers aged 18-21
* Personalised Membership Card
* Exclusive Membership Card wallet
* Priority for Away match tickets
* Priority for additional Home tickets
* Optional Membership of Rams On Tour
* Discounted Away Travel on Roadrider Coach (min £2 per game)
* Rams Reward Points for all ticket and retail purchases
* E-Newsletter (quarterly)

I think this is a good offer. I would agree that home ticket priority should go to Season Ticket holders, but a mix of this system and a points based system (such as at Swansea) could really work for away ticket.

We have a very strong away following (how many other teams will take over 1,000 fans to a non-local derby away game this season, in our league, such as we did on Sat) and to make tickets a priority for those matches for folk who have 1) paid into a membership scheme 2) travelled to away games and gained points as a result and 3) bought full-price home tickets and gained points seems like a fair way to run away ticket sales, but also perhaps home tickets sales for big matches, once ST holders have had priority on their own seat (for cup matches).

I honestly can't find any negative feedback from season ticket holders at other clubs who run a Membership Scheme. They all seem to think it is a fair way of running ticketing at their clubs.

Snake · Post by **Snake** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 6:50 pm

I don’t think there is any problem with ST holders getting priority for home games (so long as it is just the one ticket per person), but I do think away games and the remaining seats at sell-out home games need some kind of priority system possibly linked to a paid membership scheme to help with the administration costs, similar to the one Swansea use.

For example, for the Scum away game there were only a few hundred tickets left after ST holders had their share and there are lots of non-ST holders who go to loads of away games who may have been excluded (or had to sit in the home end).

slappy · Post by **slappy** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:11 pm

I don't really buy the argument about membership schemes and points systems for away games at OUFC.
In the example of Derby, their home crowds are 20K||, and they can take 1'000s to away games, and so need a way of differentiating from ST holders when allocating away tickets. Similarly, Swansea have home crowds of 20K, I guess a large number of ST holders who might want to pay through the nose to go to Chelsea etc.

At Arsenal they have an away season ticket scheme where ordinary ST holders then agree to buy every away ticket, and so get priority that way - but I think there is a resale opportunity.

For some of us at OUFC, take away the perk of being first in the queue for away games, and a season ticket is not so attractive. For me I would say the guaranteed seat is first point, then away games, and finally the discount. I'd probably miss more games if I didn't have the ticket and end up spending less.

Snake · Post by **Snake** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:37 pm

Swansea do have an ‘away season ticket’ deal but it’s extortionate and so far a £25 ‘Jack Army’ membership payment has guaranteed me cost price tickets for Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea away. It also means first place in the queue for the 2,000 tickets that are available for each home game (it’s a Prem rule that this many seats have to available to non-ST holders, apparently).

As for another example, then did anyone else see diehard fan Ross Clarke (aka ‘Rasta’) desperately waving a twenty pound note around in the Kassam Stadium car park prior to the Leyton Orient disaster ‘cos he didn’t have a ticket?

headless_pnub · Post by **headless_pnub** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:30 pm

Maybe I've missed something, but OUFC do have a 3-tiered system including a membership scheme, it's just in a different order to DCFC's.

ST Holders, Membership, Everyone else.

The club promote and prefer ST's because they need the cash upfront and it gives them a good idea of the numbers for the rest of the season. Season Tickets are vital to the survival of the club over the summer months when they would otherwise have no income. It might not automatically make you a better supporter to have a season ticket, but the club would certainly prefer it if supporters who go to every game gave their money up front and paid less than if they paid monthly and paid full price.

If you can't afford/justify a season ticket then become a member and be second inline and have priority for important matches (Slumdon away for example).

Snake · Post by **Snake** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:39 pm

&quotheadless_pnub&quot wrote:Maybe I've missed something, but OUFC do have a 3-tiered system including a membership scheme, it's just in a different order to DCFC's.

ST Holders, Membership, Everyone else.

The club promote and prefer ST's because they need the cash upfront and it gives them a good idea of the numbers for the rest of the season. Season Tickets are vital to the survival of the club over the summer months when they would otherwise have no income. It might not automatically make you a better supporter to have a season ticket, but the club would certainly prefer it if supporters who go to every game gave their money up front and paid less than if they paid monthly and paid full price.

If you can't afford/justify a season ticket then become a member and be second inline and have priority for important matches (s*****n away for example).

How many games in a decade are we talking about here in terms of scrambling to get a ticket?

Exeter away in the play-offs? Scum away this year? Those disgraceful scenes when thousands of home fans left the ground before half time to queue outside the ticket office to get the Arsenal away tickets in the FA Cup?

headless_pnub · Post by **headless_pnub** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 9:43 pm

&quotSnake&quot wrote:
&quotheadless_pnub&quot wrote:Maybe I've missed something, but OUFC do have a 3-tiered system including a membership scheme, it's just in a different order to DCFC's.

ST Holders, Membership, Everyone else.

The club promote and prefer ST's because they need the cash upfront and it gives them a good idea of the numbers for the rest of the season. Season Tickets are vital to the survival of the club over the summer months when they would otherwise have no income. It might not automatically make you a better supporter to have a season ticket, but the club would certainly prefer it if supporters who go to every game gave their money up front and paid less than if they paid monthly and paid full price.

If you can't afford/justify a season ticket then become a member and be second inline and have priority for important matches (s*****n away for example).
How many games in a decade are we talking about here in terms of scrambling to get a ticket?

Exeter away in the play-offs? Scum away this year? Those disgraceful scenes when thousands of home fans left the ground before half time to queue outside the ticket office to get the Arsenal away tickets in the FA Cup?

I don't understand your point in relation to mine, sorry.

The current membership scheme wasn't in place for Exeter or Arsenal and since the Slumdon tickets when on open sale I guess the member got theirs when they had priority.

Kernow Yellow · Post by **Kernow Yellow** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 11:59 pm

&quotBaboo&quot wrote:Those who go mostly to away games (and I'm not knocking it) are putting their hard earned into rivals pockets whilst not giving much, other than by way of vocal support, to OUFC. Unless of course they are making some kind of donation.

Some of us go to mostly away games because they're nearer where we live. Even if they're still not very near! I reckon my outlay in terms of travel time and money to attend 10-12 games a season is far, far higher than that of a ST holder who lives in Cowley and attends all home games and a couple of the nearest away fixtures.

Having said that, I don't have a problem with current arrangements. I know enough ST holders that I haven't missed out on a ticket for a match I wanted to attend for many years. And it's fair enough that those fans who put more money directly into OUFC's coffers get preferential treatment in terms of ticketing arrangements.

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