£19 for a U12 match day ticket

[h_m_boro]

Oh, and I've drummed it into my kids the irrelevance of the PL - and it's all about Boro no matter what Division they play in. PL or League 2 it's still the club you support, don't take a defeat to heart it happens, get over it. I'm proud my son has taken this on board....my daughter not so much......

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

If we get to the prem, parents will find the money, the have in the past. We don't suddenly get a pay rise as fans through promotion, yet gates go up.

You would have to know how many extra kids were being taken to games in that Premier League season though. Were the extra tickets bought only by adults or were they taking kids as well. The attendances are also swelled by large away followings, which we don’t get in the Championship.

 

[morrissey]

I regularly take my 15 year old to away games - been to around 25 last 3 seasons.
I am often stunned by the low cost of kids away tickets when I book - so if other clubs can have cheap(ish) kids tickets, what makes us different?
They are the lifeblood of the next generation of fans, we all know that if you go to watch Boro as a kid, that's it, you're a fan for life.
Penny pinching, short term greed, with no eye on the future - backward thinking by MFC

 

[B_G]

It will be adults finding the money, not kids. If parents are struggling how will they find the money for £35 adult / £25 kids......never mind STs? Some may well be seduced by the PL but most genuine cases?

Or their must be some well paying paper/milk rounds on Teesside.......

It's not even about finding the money, it's about value. Why are we paying way above the going rate for Championship football? I'm sure a lot of people COULD find the money but choose not to make them sacrifices when parents at other clubs don't have to. An extra £50 for a family five per game is atrocious.

I'm sure there's people who could afford to pay over a grand for a season ticket if it came to it. But whether they would is a different question.

 

[Nano]

initially, yes. But the idea will be to get to a point where with a bit of luck we get to cup finals again.

But the point is, the only way for the club to retain fans is to be in the prem, the only way for the club to be financially viable is to be in the prem

List of Middlesbrough F.C. seasons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Look at this list of seasons. There are 2 short periods in the last 50 years where we have been a team capable of doing more than just surviving in the PL. It's madness to base a strategy on those peaks. It makes far more sense to concentrate on the typical cases and just accept that during the rare boom years there will be more demand than we have seats.

 

[BoroMart]

It could be too late by then. 80% of Boro will support other clubs

They already do

 

[BoroMart]

Steve, let the idea go. We aren't a prem club & will struggle to be. let's enjoy the Championship and get the kids involved.

Haha”Steve” I’ve heard it all now

 

[BoroMart]

List of Middlesbrough F.C. seasons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Look at this list of seasons. There are 2 short periods in the last 50 years where we have been a team capable of doing more than just surviving in the PL. It's madness to base a strategy on those peaks. It makes far more sense to concentrate on the typical cases and just accept that during the rare boom years there will be more demand than we have seats.

Strategy has to be to get up there and stay there otgerwise there is no point and the fans will simply whine and leave because of lack of ambition, we saw it a few years ago.
I mean tactically you adjust to championship status but the strategy has to upwards from here

 

[B_G]

They already do

They don't. 80% of kids do though. It's not rocket science on how you could potentially reduce that.

 

[indeedido]

List of Middlesbrough F.C. seasons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Look at this list of seasons. There are 2 short periods in the last 50 years where we have been a team capable of doing more than just surviving in the PL. It's madness to base a strategy on those peaks. It makes far more sense to concentrate on the typical cases and just accept that during the rare boom years there will be more demand than we have seats.

We have had 24 out of the last 50 seasons inc this in the top flight.
The wheels have come off since 2009.

I can't ever accept that we can't sustain PL football with the Revenue streams it brings.
How can't we, if Palace, Bournemouth, Brentford, Wolves, Fulham, Brighton, Leicester can?
And if provincial clubs can yo yo like Burnley (9/15 seasons in top flight) Southampton (11/12) West Brom (13/21), Watford (7/18), Norwich (7/21)

Nobody in their right mind would think we are entitled to be in the top flight - and if there, then seasons like 1974-75 and 2004-05 would be league exceptions.
But I'd rather be focused on what those 12 clubs above get right, rather than bobbing around with Birmingham, Millwall, QPR, Bristol City, Blackburn and Preston like we are.
I honestly don't think for a minute that Gibson will settle for being a Championship club. Sadly I just don't think he has the skill any more.
He does still have the financial clout to get there, especially given P&S and FFP constraints. It is the judgement that he lacks.

The price for SC's is not the issue for me, it is the extortionate prices for walk ups for everyone and the premium for new SC applicants and matchday tickets.
The price increase itself is not the issue for me, it is the **** poor communication and arrogant approach when challenged.

If the club make promotion then there is no need to extortionately price SC's as the revenue spills in from other channels.
If the club are in the Championship then price to retain AND attract supporters. It is a small business at the end of the day, it is not a difficult revenue model to build, provided you have your principles right.

 

[Nano]

We have had 24 out of the last 50 seasons inc this in the top flight.
The wheels have come off since 2009.

I can't ever accept that we can't sustain PL football with the Revenue streams it brings.
How can't we, if Palace, Bournemouth, Brentford, Wolves, Fulham, Brighton, Leicester can?
And if provincial clubs can yo yo like Burnley (9/15 seasons in top flight) Southampton (11/12) West Brom (13/21), Watford (7/18), Norwich (7/21)

Nobody in their right mind would think we are entitled to be in the top flight - and if there, then seasons like 1974-75 and 2004-05 would be league exceptions.
But I'd rather be focused on what those 12 clubs above get right, rather than bobbing around with Birmingham, Millwall, QPR, Bristol City, Blackburn and Preston like we are.
I honestly don't think for a minute that Gibson will settle for being a Championship club. Sadly I just don't think he has the skill any more.
He does still have the financial clout to get there, especially given P&S and FFP constraints. It is the judgement that he lacks.

The price for SC's is not the issue for me, it is the extortionate prices for walk ups for everyone and the premium for new SC applicants and matchday tickets.
The price increase itself is not the issue for me, it is the **** poor communication and arrogant approach when challenged.

If the club make promotion then there is no need to extortionately price SC's as the revenue spills in from other channels.
If the club are in the Championship then price to retain AND attract supporters. It is a small business at the end of the day, it is not a difficult revenue model to build, provided you have your principles right.

I fully agree that we can be a PL club. I disagree that we can be one that performs well enough that we will see attendance at capacity continuously. A year or two and the novelty wears off. The last 13 year spell of PL football was 5 or 6 years of a full stadium and then steady decline. A period that saw us spending massive amounts of money to compete with the best. I don't think we will ever be capable of doing that again. The financial regulations don't allow it.

You have to do something to increase the core that will attend regardless of performance and pricing kids out of it is a stupid way to do that because in 10-20 years time they are the ones who should be that core.

 

[indeedido]

I fully agree that we can be a PL club. I disagree that we can be one that performs well enough that we will see attendance at capacity continuously. A year or two and the novelty wears off. The last 13 year spell of PL football was 5 or 6 years of a full stadium and then steady decline. A period that saw us spending massive amounts of money to compete with the best. I don't think we will ever be capable of doing that again. The financial regulations don't allow it.

You have to do something to increase the core that will attend regardless of performance and pricing kids out of it is a stupid way to do that because in 10-20 years time they are the ones who should be that core.

I think we are in agreement really. I think the pricing has to be realistic to retain AND attract is what I posted.
Don't rip off fans in the PL. Price to attract if in the Championship.

 

[Loop]

I fully agree that we can be a PL club. I disagree that we can be one that performs well enough that we will see attendance at capacity continuously. A year or two and the novelty wears off. The last 13 year spell of PL football was 5 or 6 years of a full stadium and then steady decline. A period that saw us spending massive amounts of money to compete with the best. I don't think we will ever be capable of doing that again. The financial regulations don't allow it.

You have to do something to increase the core that will attend regardless of performance and pricing kids out of it is a stupid way to do that because in 10-20 years time they are the ones who should be that core.

That's because we were getting beat most games, so it becomes soul destroying watching the same dross week in, week out.