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Post by bayernoatcake on Mar 27, 2017 21:48:36 GMT
We had a works meeting at the stadium last week and went on a tour of the ground. The guy showing us around confirmed that the new corner will be used as an extension of the family stand. Bewildering decision if true considering the amount of empty seats over there most weeks. That would be a daft decision. They've either got to move it there and have the current area as general sale or have the new bit totally for general sale.
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Post by NG4POTTERS on Mar 27, 2017 22:05:25 GMT
The issue of how to blood in new fans is one of the biggest issues that all seater stadiums face. In the past with terracing new fans could stand together, dads could bring their kids along and stand together with no problem. There was a natural fluid progression, dads with kids generally used to stand towards the front where it was less crowded. As the kids got older you moved up towards the middle and new young kids would replace you at the front. As the kids became teenagers they'd move to the back to stand and sing with their mates, then when they grew up and had kids of their own they'd be back towards the front again and the cycle continued. Also older fans tended to migrate from the terraces to the seated areas as standing for long periods became harder work again leaving space for younger fans to back fill behind them. With all seating and high season ticket numbers there isn't any fluidity. Long term season ticket holders hang onto their seats for decades (I've had mine since the stadium opened in 1997) and new fans struggle to get seats together in decent areas with little prospect of decent seating opening up in the future. Dads with kids are faced with the difficult dilemma of taking their kids and having to give up their hard won decent seat higher up in the stands with little prospect of getting it back again. Or not taking their kids at all and holding onto their seat. The natural progression and rotation around the stadium as your life grows and changes through the years no longer happens which also affects the atmosphere as younger fans who want to sing aren't able to group together as they could in the past because there are clumps of older fans stuck in between them. Hopefully the new corner will help to alleviate these problems although I suspect it'll only be a temporary respite until all the decent seats are once again snapped up by season ticket holders and occasional fans or people who want to introduce their kids to Stoke are once again left scrabbling round for the few remaining seats together usually in row 1. Great post.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2017 22:12:40 GMT
The comments about too many season ticket holders being a bad thing. I understand the frustrations raised, and difficulties people have in getting tickets, either match day or season tickets together. I also get it that people think the club should do more or be more creative. However, having had a ST every year bar two since 1973', and being one of the 6 / 7 thousand ST holders for much of that time, with constant moans among fans of why we have so few ST holders, I find this a bit odd. The club has being trying to lift ST sales since as long as I can remember, and overall this has to be a very positive period? Turning this into a negative is, I think, odd. (PS, I am not trying to be a smart arse or elitist, or anything like that) It is a bad thing in some sense. As well as a good thing. It's bad that such a huge proportion of seats are taken up by ST Holders (and I'm one) - but as someone's rightly pointed out, it's a pitfall of all-seater stadia.
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Post by block23 on Mar 27, 2017 22:34:19 GMT
The comments about too many season ticket holders being a bad thing. I understand the frustrations raised, and difficulties people have in getting tickets, either match day or season tickets together. I also get it that people think the club should do more or be more creative. However, having had a ST every year bar two since 1973', and being one of the 6 / 7 thousand ST holders for much of that time, with constant moans among fans of why we have so few ST holders, I find this a bit odd. The club has being trying to lift ST sales since as long as I can remember, and overall this has to be a very positive period? Turning this into a negative is, I think, odd. (PS, I am not trying to be a smart arse or elitist, or anything like that) It is a bad thing in some sense. As well as a good thing. It's bad that such a huge proportion of seats are taken up by ST Holders (and I'm one) - but as someone's rightly pointed out, it's a pitfall of all-seater stadia. Fair point mate, I guess my view is a good news story that creates some issues and challenges. Not an easy one to sort out to be honest
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Post by robinplumpton on Mar 27, 2017 22:56:58 GMT
It's pointless for me to have a season ticket. Even if I could "afford" it, work, family commitments make it impossible to attend more than a few times a season. Thus, I am depriving someone else of their chance to get to the game. All I ask is the opportunity to take my wife and boys on occasions. This has been really difficult as we can't get seats together. I am a Potters Foundation member, both my boys are members of whatever the membership is called this year for an 8 yr old and 7 yr old. Every time we phone for the family tickets advertised on the website, we can't get any. Give us a chance and I will bring my loved ones, spend my hard earned, but I can't expect the litluns to sit on their own. So if the " new" seats benefits families, selfishly, I would be interested, but, based on the arrangements for the existing family areas I am not confident. Not slagging off our club, would go every time if I could
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Mar 28, 2017 0:00:24 GMT
Three of my adult friends who've largely been either ambivalent about football or glory hunters have been roped into season tickets because their lads have been involved in soccer sevens, academy or mascot/flag waving etc. No doubt that'll be driving the sales in the new corner next year. Shame because that corner as rail seating would have been mint.
I'd like to see a 'rotational s/t', get to see all aspects of the ground over a season. Mop up the single/solitary seats etc. Choices.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 6:54:11 GMT
I'm moving back to SOT after 20 years living and working in the South East. I have tried to buy two season tickets for myself and my 9 year old son. Quite simply, due to the minimal availability and the fact that I can only get restricted seats in the upper tier or seats on lower rows where the view is poor or exposed to bad weather, I have decided not to buy. The ticket office, although helpful, could not offer any advice other than to attempt to exchange seats (if available) in a few weeks time.
The knock on effect is that those same remaining seats will be the ones available for general sale, and again on that basis I am unlikely to purchase, particularly at inflated prices.
The upshot of all of this is that I am unlikely to go to many home games at all with my son but will go to as many away games as we can.
For me it is a good thing that we have so many season ticket holders as the club have made a continued effort to keep a season ticket relatively affordable for most. However, the downside is that for new supporters like my son he does not have the opportunity to attend games on a regular basis and the club may lose a future fan. He has undergone nine year of brainwashing just to get him interested in Stoke, and unfortunately I don't think he will see enough live football to get the bug.
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Post by foster on Mar 28, 2017 7:30:36 GMT
Three of my adult friends who've largely been either ambivalent about football or glory hunters have been roped into season tickets because their lads have been involved in soccer sevens, academy or mascot/flag waving etc. No doubt that'll be driving the sales in the new corner next year. Shame because that corner as rail seating would have been mint. I'd like to see a 'rotational s/t', get to see all aspects of the ground over a season. Mop up the single/solitary seats etc. Choices. The club should be able to move ST seats a couple of space forward/back/left or right, providing the people who book theirs remain together. This would fill in the empty places and open up larger unused spaces for pay on the day or single game fans.
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Post by Dutchpeter on Mar 28, 2017 8:44:13 GMT
I'm like many out of town supporters who can't make a decision about attending until close to the fixture. So I guess Burton Albion have my custom for the rest of the season then. It's a nice problem for the club to have, but a lot of long term supporters are being shut out.
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1963
Academy Starlet
Posts: 206
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Post by 1963 on Mar 28, 2017 8:45:19 GMT
Afraid it is a Championship ground but the club is in the Premier league and likely to stay there for the forseeable. As a minimum the incinerator corner should be filled in and the scoreboard etc placed at the one remaining corner.
It seems that for many teams expansion of the ground leads to increased attendances.
Also why is there such a big segregation space? Fulham has been cited and I don't think there is much at Chelsea or the former Upton Park.
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oes6
Spectator
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Post by oes6 on Mar 28, 2017 9:36:22 GMT
I've been going to home matches with my 10year old son for the past 4 years, and last season with my 8 year old daughter as well. We sit in the family stand. I was quite lucky in that I managed to get a seat a couple of rows in front them during seat swap so I can still keep an eye on them.
When I look around the family stand though, there are a number of adults around us with no under 16s with them. I appreciate that they might well be sitting else where in the family stand but they never leave their seats at half time or at any other time for that matter.
But I know at least two families who I work with that shouldn't be in the family stand but still are. One has 4 seats together and both kids are 17+. When I asked the dad what he was going to do, he said he was just going to buy a couple of under 11 tickets in his nephew/nieces names anywhere in the family stand so they can keep their seats. He said they had brilliant seats, they've been in them since the kids were little and no way were they giving them up. He even said it was cheaper buying the extra kids season tickets than moving to another stand where they aren't guaranteed 4 seats together. I know for a fact that those seats won't be used as it's a means for him to get to stay in his seats in the family stand.
How can that be fair? No wonder there's empty seats even when the match is a sell out.
Both my kids are still keen to go and we have renewed again for next season. I will have to wait for seat swap day and see if we can sit together next season but won't be holding my breath!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 13:25:03 GMT
I've been going to home matches with my 10year old son for the past 4 years, and last season with my 8 year old daughter as well. We sit in the family stand. I was quite lucky in that I managed to get a seat a couple of rows in front them during seat swap so I can still keep an eye on them. When I look around the family stand though, there are a number of adults around us with no under 16s with them. I appreciate that they might well be sitting else where in the family stand but they never leave their seats at half time or at any other time for that matter. But I know at least two families who I work with that shouldn't be in the family stand but still are. One has 4 seats together and both kids are 17+. When I asked the dad what he was going to do, he said he was just going to buy a couple of under 11 tickets in his nephew/nieces names anywhere in the family stand so they can keep their seats. He said they had brilliant seats, they've been in them since the kids were little and no way were they giving them up. He even said it was cheaper buying the extra kids season tickets than moving to another stand where they aren't guaranteed 4 seats together. I know for a fact that those seats won't be used as it's a means for him to get to stay in his seats in the family stand. How can that be fair? No wonder there's empty seats even when the match is a sell out. Both my kids are still keen to go and we have renewed again for next season. I will have to wait for seat swap day and see if we can sit together next season but won't be holding my breath! You can understand them holding onto Family Stand seats that they shouldn't...because what's the alternative?
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Post by trigger on Mar 28, 2017 16:10:58 GMT
We're on about trying to do a seat exchange x 3 to the JS upper, sitting together centrally located. Can't see it being possible but you never know, if so I'll gladly let anyone know on here, that's if they can apply for our old ST's.
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Post by elystokie on Mar 28, 2017 16:53:07 GMT
I'm moving back to SOT after 20 years living and working in the South East. I have tried to buy two season tickets for myself and my 9 year old son. Quite simply, due to the minimal availability and the fact that I can only get restricted seats in the upper tier or seats on lower rows where the view is poor or exposed to bad weather, I have decided not to buy. The ticket office, although helpful, could not offer any advice other than to attempt to exchange seats (if available) in a few weeks time. The knock on effect is that those same remaining seats will be the ones available for general sale, and again on that basis I am unlikely to purchase, particularly at inflated prices. The upshot of all of this is that I am unlikely to go to many home games at all with my son but will go to as many away games as we can. For me it is a good thing that we have so many season ticket holders as the club have made a continued effort to keep a season ticket relatively affordable for most. However, the downside is that for new supporters like my son he does not have the opportunity to attend games on a regular basis and the club may lose a future fan. He has undergone nine year of brainwashing just to get him interested in Stoke, and unfortunately I don't think he will see enough live football to get the bug. I'm probably being naive but are there no seats left in the family stand? There's often seats for sale close to the day on the 'tickets' section on here.
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Post by simple on Mar 28, 2017 17:28:41 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs.
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Post by Pugsley on Mar 28, 2017 17:40:21 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs. Who says Tony Scholes doesn't post on this board? Thanks for the update Tone.
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Post by simple on Mar 28, 2017 17:50:26 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs. Who says Tony Scholes doesn't post on this board? Thanks for the update Tone. People are allowed differant views on things,I added my views to the debate if you don't like them that's fair enough but childish comments.
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Post by cheeesfreeex on Mar 28, 2017 17:54:57 GMT
Three of my adult friends who've largely been either ambivalent about football or glory hunters have been roped into season tickets because their lads have been involved in soccer sevens, academy or mascot/flag waving etc. No doubt that'll be driving the sales in the new corner next year. Shame because that corner as rail seating would have been mint. I'd like to see a 'rotational s/t', get to see all aspects of the ground over a season. Mop up the single/solitary seats etc. Choices. The club should be able to move ST seats a couple of space forward/back/left or right, providing the people who book theirs remain together. This would fill in the empty places and open up larger unused spaces for pay on the day or single game fans. Can't see why there couldn't be a bit of both. Like all these things it often comes down to 'is the solution worth the mither'. Selfishly, but I'm sure there would be others, I'd like a kind of 'taster' ticket, rotating around the ground, with perhaps a posh seat near yer birthday. If you end up in a seat you don't like you'd know it was temporary, conversely end up in a seat you liked you could reserve it for the following season. I'm in the Boothen, increasingly difficult to keep up with the ball at the far end, a switch to the nearer the half way line seems inevitable. Not happening yet, but I'd opt for something like that beforehand. A season of taking in the range of matchday views/atmospheres before making a decision. {I sort of do it on an informal basis now, midweek matches especially, unused tickets etc, O reckon there'd be few takers if it was a 'thing'.}
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 18:48:58 GMT
I'm moving back to SOT after 20 years living and working in the South East. I have tried to buy two season tickets for myself and my 9 year old son. Quite simply, due to the minimal availability and the fact that I can only get restricted seats in the upper tier or seats on lower rows where the view is poor or exposed to bad weather, I have decided not to buy. The ticket office, although helpful, could not offer any advice other than to attempt to exchange seats (if available) in a few weeks time. The knock on effect is that those same remaining seats will be the ones available for general sale, and again on that basis I am unlikely to purchase, particularly at inflated prices. The upshot of all of this is that I am unlikely to go to many home games at all with my son but will go to as many away games as we can. For me it is a good thing that we have so many season ticket holders as the club have made a continued effort to keep a season ticket relatively affordable for most. However, the downside is that for new supporters like my son he does not have the opportunity to attend games on a regular basis and the club may lose a future fan. He has undergone nine year of brainwashing just to get him interested in Stoke, and unfortunately I don't think he will see enough live football to get the bug. I'm probably being naive but are there no seats left in the family stand? There's often seats for sale close to the day on the 'tickets' section on here. Thanks for post mate. I'm going down to the ticket office on Friday to discuss. Seats might become available due to older children moving to other parts of the ground. I can't get season tickets for the Family Stand via the internet so hopefully I can work something out in person. 👍
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2017 19:20:29 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs. There is always a waiting list. There was over 100 on it for the Chelsea game and there's waiting lists for all remaining home games I'm on them for Liverpool and Hull
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Post by algor on Mar 28, 2017 19:39:53 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs. There is always a waiting list. There was over 100 on it for the Chelsea game and there's waiting lists for all remaining home games I'm on them for Liverpool and Hull For me a big problem is that most season ticket holders will miss at least 1 or 2 games a season due to holidays, work or family commitments and other than give your ticket to a mate who most likely has 1 there is nothing you can do with your ticket, if we had stubhub or the like you could sell your seat for the game at face value and other fans could get to the match. There would be more chances for people to get a ticket and less empty seats, it's a no brainer for me!
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Post by simple on Mar 28, 2017 19:43:40 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs. There is always a waiting list. There was over 100 on it for the Chelsea game and there's waiting lists for all remaining home games I'm on them for Liverpool and Hull What also would help if season ticket holders informed the club they were not attending so there seats could be resold,with modern technology there season card could be blocked for the match they are not attending then a paper ticket can be used.Some would moan the seat has been sold twice but who gives a shit if it allows others the chance of a seat.
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Post by algor on Mar 28, 2017 19:50:38 GMT
There is always a waiting list. There was over 100 on it for the Chelsea game and there's waiting lists for all remaining home games I'm on them for Liverpool and Hull What also would help if season ticket holders informed the club they were not attending so there seats could be resold,with modern technology there season card could be blocked for the match they are not attending then a paper ticket can be used.Some would moan the seat has been sold twice but who gives a shit if it allows others the chance of a seat. Exactly, see my post above, the fan who can't attend gets a prorata amount of cash back and the club fills a seat and gets the balance of cash between season ticket cost and on the day cost, it's a win win for every one!
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Post by bayernoatcake on Mar 28, 2017 19:53:13 GMT
There is always a waiting list. There was over 100 on it for the Chelsea game and there's waiting lists for all remaining home games I'm on them for Liverpool and Hull What also would help if season ticket holders informed the club they were not attending so there seats could be resold,with modern technology there season card could be blocked for the match they are not attending then a paper ticket can be used.Some would moan the seat has been sold twice but who gives a shit if it allows others the chance of a seat. It should be down to the club to have a system in place that allows you to do this easily and that is advertised. There should also be a reward for the season ticket holder. Why we haven't got a system in place that allows season ticket holder to do this easily I do not know.
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Post by crouchpotato1 on Mar 28, 2017 20:01:10 GMT
The problem any club have is how big is there support,when we built the ground the capacity was fine and on many occasions to big.Due to the success since 2008 our fan base as grown,has it grown because we are in the Prem or have we become popular.There would be nothing worse than seeing hundreds of empty red seats because we have increased the capacity to please those fans who can only make 6 games a season.I think the capacity is about right.What I would suggest is a waiting list so you can let the club know you want tickets on certain dates so if they come available the club can inform them and also see if these fans only want tickets against the big clubs. There is always a waiting list. There was over 100 on it for the Chelsea game and there's waiting lists for all remaining home games I'm on them for Liverpool and Hull 151 to be precise😄
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Post by kevkj on Mar 28, 2017 20:03:11 GMT
The family stand is a major issue and will get worse with free season tickets to ex soccer 7 members.Its quite obvious adults get their kids season tickets in the family stand and rarely take them hence empty seats.
"Vis Unita Fortior"
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Post by Paul Spencer on Mar 28, 2017 20:05:51 GMT
What also would help if season ticket holders informed the club they were not attending so there seats could be resold,with modern technology there season card could be blocked for the match they are not attending then a paper ticket can be used.Some would moan the seat has been sold twice but who gives a shit if it allows others the chance of a seat. It should be down to the club to have a system in place that allows you to do this easily and that is advertised. There should also be a reward for the season ticket holder. Why we haven't got a system in place that allows season ticket holder to do this easily I do not know.
Because financially the club doesn't think it's actually worth the hassle?
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Post by bayernoatcake on Mar 28, 2017 20:09:00 GMT
It should be down to the club to have a system in place that allows you to do this easily and that is advertised. There should also be a reward for the season ticket holder. Why we haven't got a system in place that allows season ticket holder to do this easily I do not know.
Because financially the club doesn't think it's actually worth the hassle?
It won't cost that much surely? And it could actually allow more people to go the game. And we're rolling in money so why the hell not just do it!? It makes very little sense.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Mar 28, 2017 20:14:07 GMT
Because financially the club doesn't think it's actually worth the hassle?
It won't cost that much surely? And it could actually allow more people to go the game. And we're rolling in money so why the hell not just do it!? It makes very little sense.
Exactly my point.
Ticket sales account for a minute percentage of our turnover and the seat has been sold anyway.
It equally could be suggested that it makes little sense* to offer the service.
*Financial
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Post by bayernoatcake on Mar 28, 2017 20:16:52 GMT
It won't cost that much surely? And it could actually allow more people to go the game. And we're rolling in money so why the hell not just do it!? It makes very little sense.
Exactly my point.
Ticket sales account for a minute percentage of our turnover and the seat has been sold anyway.
It equally could be suggested it makes little sense* to offer the service.
*Financial
It could enhance a fans experience of Stoke City and do it in the best way by allowing them to watch a game live. For the few grand it may cost it could get fans hooked for life to going the game. With the demand we have it makes no sense to have this service available.
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