Prices for next season...opinions please

[triffic]

Student tickets havent been mentioned yet So here goes....

One of the main problems suggested has been to do with non-studentsd getting in for student prices - solution. You don't have to be a student!! A main area where the club loses fans must be between 16 and 17?! To go from paying £100 to £220 for a season ticket (estimate), or £12 to £19 at the age of 17 will kill many off.

Hows about (and I believe they do this at Oldham) having say a 17 - 21 price range. Somewhere in between! I think this is more important with regards to season tickets, but this 'young adult' ticket could also be an issue for match day prices.

Also, just because not many people/students raise the issue it does not mean that they/we don't care. It's just in an 'young adults' nature to look at a price and say yes or no, rather than see a price, think it's too high and complain.

Many Thanks.

Triff.

[browneyedboy]

Tel, a suggestion about the deadlines:

If the club insist on early deadlines, then I see no reason why they shouldn't allow people to place, say, a £50, non-returnable deposit before the deadline and then allow until, say, the first day of the season to pay up in full.

That way the club will know well in advance of the new season how many season tickets they will sell (which I assume is the reason for the early renewal dates, so they can budget for wages, etc.) but would allow people to pay for them when they'd saved up.

About ticket prices, I agree with what others have said, I'd like to see match categories with £15 (or even less) charged for less attractive fixtures.

[Admin]

DaveC_SCFC said:

Tel, a suggestion about the deadlines:

If the club insist on early deadlines, then I see no reason why they shouldn't allow people to place, say, a £50, non-returnable deposit before the deadline and then allow until, say, the first day of the season to pay up in full.

That way the club will know well in advance of the new season how many season tickets they will sell (which I assume is the reason for the early renewal dates, so they can budget for wages, etc.) but would allow people to pay for them when they'd saved up.

Now that REALLY is a good idea!

[Rex]

If the club insist on early deadlines, then I see no reason why they shouldn't allow people to place, say, a £50, non-returnable deposit before the deadline and then allow until, say, the first day of the season to pay up in full.

That way the club will know well in advance of the new season how many season tickets they will sell (which I assume is the reason for the early renewal dates, so they can budget for wages, etc.) but would allow people to pay for them when they'd saved up.

And what if people dont pay the rest up? Ok Stoke get their £50 but it will of fooked up their financial budget.

Rex

[telfordstokie]

for the family area what about kids (under 11s) paying £23 for a season ticket. they're hardly going to come on their own at that age and so you'll get lots more adult supporters as well as many regulars for the future.
i'm not sure whther ia agree with the two-tier pricing strategy- at the end of the day you're going to watch Stoke, not the opposition.
the student prices thing is also a good idea. next season i will have to pay full price for the first time , something i can't really afford

[suspect]

Simply said:

Student tickets havent been mentioned yet So here goes....

One of the main problems suggested has been to do with non-studentsd getting in for student prices - solution. You don't have to be a student!! A main area where the club loses fans must be between 16 and 17?! To go from paying £100 to £220 for a season ticket (estimate), or £12 to £19 at the age of 17 will kill many off.

Hows about (and I believe they do this at Oldham) having say a 17 - 21 price range. Somewhere in between! I think this is more important with regards to season tickets, but this 'young adult' ticket could also be an issue for match day prices.

Also, just because not many people/students raise the issue it does not mean that they/we don't care. It's just in an 'young adults' nature to look at a price and say yes or no, rather than see a price, think it's too high and complain.

Many Thanks.

Triff.

I agree, but surely you can just stop non-students getting in by saying student tickets must be purchased with an NUS card and that these have to be produced on match day. I guess then you'd have the problem of those in 6th form having to pay full price though

Student tickets are definately a good idea, especially when you've got two universities nearby. Lots of my friends at uni (who aren't Stoke fans) have said that they'd like to go to watch Stoke with me sometime, but are put off by the price. The club needs to do something to attract these people

Oh, and season tickets for students would be great, there must be loads of students who'd like one but can't afford them at adult prices

[SamB_SCFC]

The 'young adult' price range of say 17-21 is definately a good idea (although I'm 21 this year so even if they bring it in I'll probably only benefit from it for 1 year ) because like already mentioned we lose a lot of people who could go on to become long-term adult fans at the cut off point between child and adult.

A 'young adult' price would still be higher than the standard concession price but lower than the full adult price and should encourage young fans to stay on supporting Stoke once they reach 17 and when their parents stop buying their season ticket for them!!!

To buy their tickets people would have to show ID proving that they're 21 or under, such as a driving licence photo ID which most 17-21's have these days.

[browneyedboy]

Rex said:

And what if people dont pay the rest up? Ok Stoke get their £50 but it will of fooked up their financial budget.

All businesses (should) make provisions for bad debts. Stoke City FC are no exception.

£50 was just a suggestion...Stoke's finance people would have to decide the correct deposit amount to minimise bad debts (because of the potential amount of money people would lose by not paying up) offset against the lost season ticket sales (by people not willing to take the risk of being unable to pay later).

Either way, it's better than having a portion of people not buying season tickets because they can't afford to pay before the early deadline.

[beehivephil2]

I agree with many of the posts that :-

1. Minimum price of £15 and £10.

2. Opportunity for the club to grade matches, although when they are graded may be difficult. A game scheduled towards the end of the season may be regarded as a "low value" game when the fixtures are published, but promotion could hang on it when we actually come to play !!

3. As far as season tickets are concerned, the price should include the cost of the dreaded ID card, even though season ticket holders may still have to apply, the least the club should od is defray the cost to season ticket holders.

[Rex]

Either way, it's better than having a portion of people not buying season tickets because they can't afford to pay before the early deadline

But if people apply at the early deadline and go for the 6 or 9 month payment option which starts in may/june, then it will be finished by december anyway. and even during the season months of sept to dec would only work out at about £20 a month, which is still cheap. when you think at current prices we could have four home games in one month.

Rex

[mattybscfc]

I have to agree with what people have said about having differnet prices for different games.

I now that a few premiership clubs have them i.e Leeds Totenham, Newcastle?

Matbe stoke could price them as:-

Band A = £17 adults and £14 Juniors/OAP

Band B = £15 adults and £13 Juniors/OAP

Band C = £13 adults and £11 Juniors?OAP

Season ticket prices, I think they should make the deadline on the following friday after the season has finished, Prices should be £199 Adults and £85 Juniors/OAP.

Then should have another deadline after that in which the prices should be £250 adults and £100 Juniors/OAP

What Rex has said here i totally agree with:-

But if people apply at the early deadline and go for the 6 or 9 month payment option which starts in may/june, then it will be finished by december anyway. and even during the season months of sept to dec would only work out at about £20 a month, which is still cheap. when you think at current prices we could have four home games in one month.

I did that this season as a last minute thing and it worked out great, It was over a 9 month plan and i was paying £33 per month. I was payed up by december and i didn't miss the money going out of the bank. It also means you have 5 months of free football apart from the Beer money ;D

[Anto1962]

Never quite sure about scaling either, you could pay less for crewe and end up with a 6-4 and then have a boring 0-0 against say Leeds wich costs you more, the beauty off football is it's not like the theatre were you pay a price knowing (most of the time)you will be entertained you could even have a crap game with a brilliant goal and say "that was worth the entrance fee alone", if you see what I mean

[AlliG]

The original idea for having an early season deadline for season ticket sales was to try to induce people to take a chance that they might get higher Division football at lower leasgue prices.

To apply the same idea in a season when we could have been relegated, like last year, was plain stupidity.

Now, if we find ourselves in a play-off position towards the end of March, there could be justification to do something again, if it was done properly.

In those circumstances a deadline to get Premier League tickets at 1st Division prices could be set, but, with a deadline for all other eventualities returned back to the end of June like it always used to be.

[ginsoaked]

Tel, as a season ticket holder of many years standing there are three issues that really get up my nose.
1. The idea that you pay for it in March - that's a full 15 months before you finish using it and is quite simply an outrage. The best price should be available to anybody purchasing a season ticket right up to the first day of the season as simple as that. If by some miracle we're in contention for promotion simply delay the issuing of prices until we know where we are. On each of the last two seasons I have purchased my ST at the eleventh hour and have come extremely close to simply not renewing.
2. Payment by card. I live in Kent. This doesn't mean I want special treatment. I just want the same treatment available when buying anything else in this country at this sort of price. I.E the right and convenience to pay by credit card and without incurring further costs. The excuses for trying to avoid this are shambolic. It costs the club just as much money to bank cash as it does to conduct a CC transaction and if the suggestion is that the club can't guarantee delivery of my product when I'm paying for ir a full 12 -15 months in advance then they need to get their finances in order rather than penalise me. The suggestion of "can you come down to the ground and pay cash?" is farcical in this day and age.
3. And finally my friend the issue of charging 'daily' membership for children when buying tickets for the JS upper. To charge an eleven year old to use a bar that they must walk through to get to their seat is just as ridiculous as it sounds here. No children's tickets should incur costs for using the JS Upper.
If you can sort those three Tel you'll have a Fans Forum Fan for life!
Cheers
Danny Spencer

[SuperStokie]

I like the idea of a grading system, however this could affect attendances for big games (lower than normal attendances), however both have advantages and disadvantages.

I'm in favour of a student ticket for around £14 for anywhere in the ground, for obvious reasons. Agree with Smudge about extending the deadline for season tickets!

Jon

[myatt]

If all games are the same, and people only pay to watch Stoke, then how come when we play a big team the crowd increases?

[browneyedboy]

GinSoaked said:

I.E the right and convenience to pay by credit card and without incurring further costs. The excuses for trying to avoid this are shambolic. It costs the club just as much money to bank cash as it does to conduct a CC transaction and if the suggestion is that the club can't guarantee delivery of my product when I'm paying for ir a full 12 -15 months in advance then they need to get their finances in order rather than penalise me.

I'm 99% sure that the surcharges imposed on credit card transactions for season tickets are imposed by the credit card companies and not the club. I seem to remember the credit card companies doing this because if a club folded, the credit card companies, by law, would have to pay back the money to those who had bought season tickets with their credit cards. The surcharge was imposed on all football clubs. If you don't agree with this, take it up with your credit card company, although I think your complaint will fall on deaf ears.

That said, I know that the club used to surcharge debit cards too. If they still do this, I see no valid excuse for doing so and this issue should be raised at the same time as ticket pricing.

[ginsoaked]

Dave, I agree with what you say but my point is that if the club can't guarantee their business any more than say Ikea or Pizza Express why's that my problem? If the business was run effectively they wouldn't need such costly insurance. Can you imagine such charges in any other business? The customer would simply walk away and spend elsewhere. It is only the unique situation with sports fans that allows badly run businesses to fleece their customers in such a way because they know they won't go elsewhere. Most of the train operators in this country are on the brink of going under, so are people like Rover cars. If I ordered a new car today and paid a deposit by CC I wouldn't get charged a huge great fee in case they went bust before the car was delivered. And if they did go under I'd get a full refund from my CC provider.
As you say they even charge for switch which is far cheaper to adminster than cold hard cash. No securicor needed to take it to the bank. No teller required at SCFC to count it all, no teller required at the bank to count it all. it's just a rip-off.
Keep the faith.

[spiderpuss]

And while we are on the subject of CCs how about the same measures come into play for ORDINARY tickets and away tickets. Recently we paid 140 cash for 7 MKDons away tickets. I dread to think what the CC charge on that lot would be. Its high time it stopped.

Spider

[Aston]

Please excuse Dario mode:

Somebody mentioned students earlier and giving them discounted/concessional prices and I agree, but this is one of many initiatives that the club could consider, including looking at a scheme for the unemployed(S-O-T!)/senior citizens.
At this point I should mention that I am a student, but I'm not promoting such an initiative for myself as I have a season ticket and will continue to get a season ticket regardless - although it would attract some mates.

It's just the fact that there's quite a few students in the Stoke area (with Staffs and Keele Uni), many studying away from where they live, and I'm pretty sure quite a few could be persuaded to come to Stoke if they had the incentive of the discounted price. When I travelled to Oz/Thailand I met a few people who'd studied in Stoke and they had been to Stoke games and were impressed - although that was the Vic, and they didn't have X-Boxes then!

Anyway the point is I'm sure Stoke are missing out on a market - and if it's crap after a season's campaign then just scrap it! There's no harm in trying!? And at least they've tried.

Against Crwho? Stoke got 17,569. The next match against Sheffield United we had a home attendance of 14,217. I was supprised at the difference in attendance when Crwho? and Sheff. Unt appeared to bring the same (roughly) amount of fans. Both matches (correct me if I'm wrong) had the 'kids for a quid' scheme but only one match, the Crwho? game, had the incentive for Students - £10 entry.

I'm not saying that the difference was made up entirely from Students but I think it had some kind of positive impact.

To attract these groups (students, unemployed, etc) and run it successfully, they'd just have to impose strict guidelines, must collect tickets in person (perhaps easier for Students with their ID cards), must initially register on a database - so they can be ticked-off when their allocated ticket per-game is purchased, one ticket per-registered person, etc.

Don't forget it may attract more away fans too.

Well that's my opinion - I just want bigger gates, and for the club to think about those fans who have been pushed away, as well as attracting a few new ones.
(As well as world peace obviously)

Oh yeah, one more thing!....

The students of today consist of loads of f***ing gloryhunters!

Knew there was a reason I felt so strongly about it!

Thanks.

Deka

[smeegsSCFC]

Keep adult ticket prices the same, but lower all kids tickets to £5<br>
smeegs

[moorlander]

I am still in favour of a cheaper season ticket paid for in advance. I do think it is high time something was done to accomadate students.We really lose a lot of people as the kids reach the age of 16 is it.?

[abharsair]

much cheapness, more realistic prices to fall in line with the average wage of this area and, more realistic prices for people under the age of 18, although this no longer effects me (although I do look 18 what with my youthful looks and figure )

It used to annoy the hell out of me when I was a student (although I got around this by selling half time draw tickets ;D )

[seth]

DaveC_SCFC said:

I'm 99% sure that the surcharges imposed on credit card transactions for season tickets are imposed by the credit card companies and not the club. I seem to remember the credit card companies doing this because if a club folded, the credit card companies, by law, would have to pay back the money to those who had bought season tickets with their credit cards. The surcharge was imposed on all football clubs. If you don't agree with this, take it up with your credit card company, although I think your complaint will fall on deaf ears.

That said, I know that the club used to surcharge debit cards too. If they still do this, I see no valid excuse for doing so and this issue should be raised at the same time as ticket pricing.

Credit Card companies don't surcharge at all. They simply deduct a % of the total cost as part of their fee. Most larger businesses can negotiate this % downwards. Normally this cost isn't passed on to the consumer, as businesses reckon the guarateed funds from credit cards are worth the fee.

Surcharges are entirely at the discretion of the business itself, in an effort to pass the cost of credit card transactions onto the consumer.

As another poster has stated, cash has become very expensive as you need counters, security etc. So in this day and age surcharges are simply another attempt to fleece the customer.

[danstoke]

Ticket prices...

£15 in the Boothen would be the right step.

A price freeze is the bare minimum.

An increase is utterly unthinkable.

[RobPa]

im 16 years old paying £149 whcih is already quite alot, next year im gonna be in the same position which is going to college but now i got to fawk out about extra £100 from nowhere, u have got bring a 16-19 sort of thing, derby have got one 16-18 which is same pric as consecion i think

[OldStokie]

I would insist on two things....absolutely no price increases and a deadline for renewing season tickets to the middle of June.

I can suggest some other things like £5.00 max for kids up to the age of 16 supported by a birth certificate when registering, and lower the age of concessions to 60. Also, move the pay on the day to the two blocks in the corner between the Boothen and the Sentinel.

OS.

[tel2u]

Its just been confirmed that the Fans Forum meeting with the Club is next Wednesday at 4pm

So please keep the replies coming in until Mid night on Monday 26th January, that will give us time to sort through the replies and add them to our already comprehensive information.

You can be certain that we will represent you and all supporters to the very best of our ability and your concerns and opinions will be clearly stated on your behalf when the next meeting takes place.

Thankyou all for your responses.

[BigDick]

Tel. My biggest gripe is having to find sufficient funds to pay 'adult' prices for my kids, one of whom is a student at University and the other is STILL AT SCHOOL, but over 17.
The increase in Season Ticket prices was £120 each, even by purchasing 'early' at £269. Neither of them is in a position to pay themselves so it's either I pay or they don't come. Once out of the 'habit' will we ever get them back? Only the youngest now has a season ticket!
To help soften the blow I stopped buying the programme (23 games at £2.50 = £57.50, or half the increase) so the club doesn't fully gain anyway.

I would also agree with those who say put the deadline back to the end of the season and those who say 'freeze' the prices. I guess last seasons early payers are going to face an increase anyway, to the standard price, so any further increase would surely put more people off buying at all?

This season I am paying £11.70 per game, a good deal I reckon and even if it goes to £325 (£14) it's not too bad - for adults - and I wouldn't mind the 'match day' price being between £15 and £17, i.e my saving is less versus the match day price (I benefit from always knowing where my seat is etc) as long as 'concessions' includes those in full time education who really can't afford full price.

I also have a car park season ticket but if it goes up any more they can forget it!! It is already as cheap to park at the Power League now.

[rower]

Rex said:

Rower, the point is, if you buy a season Ticket, you dont have to queue at all. and with only 6,000 season ticket holders there is plenty of room in the ground for a few more, its not like we are packed out every week is it? And how much would it cost to build and man these new pay on the gates?

Rex

the cost would be exactly the same as it is now Rex!.the only difference would be that whoever is working the gate takes cash instead of a ticket,the same way as the ticket office works.
Rex! with all due respect mate this is Stoke-On-Trent,where people simply can`t afford season tickets,but can be attracted to a handfull or more games a season,so we really would struggle to sell many more than 6,000 + season tickets in the middle of May,as we seem to have more pay-on-the-day fans than season ticket holders wouldn`t it make sense to ease the problem of obtaining a match day ticket?

regards

rower