SEASON TICKET RENEWALS

I understand wanting to incentivise season ticket holders to stay loyal.
When you have more capacity than demand and then get promotion and increase demand, it makes sense to me to incentivise more new season card holders with a very small gap to existing SC holders.
I would personally drop prices on promotion to existing card holders for a season (as media and other commercial income dwarfs ticket revenue) and have previous year SC prices for new card applicants.

I always come away shaking my head at Frozen Horse's consistent support of Middlesbrough FC's pricing strategy. I know he does with my criticism, we clearly won't change each other.

In the current circumstances I am sure we can all agree that the Club have done the right thing by SC holders. Hat's off.
 
I don't think it's a market they're too bothered about. They'd really like the old days of ST sell outs back.

I think they take more money with the model they use now: a large gap between ST and walk up prices, than they did a decade or so ago when the gap was smaller. Until lockdown, they were getting more through the gate.

Above all, the strategy depends on fans feeling confident they will be looked after if they invest in an ST, and that requires stability in the pricing structure.
I understand wanting to incentivise season ticket holders to stay loyal.
When you have more capacity than demand and then get promotion and increase demand, it makes sense to me to incentivise more new season card holders with a very small gap to existing SC holders.
I would personally drop prices on promotion to existing card holders for a season (as media and other commercial income dwarfs ticket revenue) and have previous year SC prices for new card applicants.

I always come away shaking my head at Frozen Horse's consistent support of Middlesbrough FC's pricing strategy. I know he does with my criticism, we clearly won't change each other.

In the current circumstances I am sure we can all agree that the Club have done the right thing by SC holders. Hat's off.
The ground has been half empty for nearly a decade. If that doesn’t tell you something is wrong with the pricing structure, nothing will.
 
The ground has been half empty for nearly a decade. If that doesn’t tell you something is wrong with the pricing structure, nothing will.

The average attendance hasn't been below 19.5k in the last 6 season.

I fully expect empty seats in the championship: everyone has them. If you don't it's a sign your ground is too small, and you'll need to expand it when you're next in the PL.

I take your point that there were more empty seats 7-10 years ago, but that was when we had a smaller gap between ST and walk up prices.
 
How many other clubs in the Championship have 12-15k empty seats? Or have about 30-40% empty seats?

There aren't many clubs in this division that sell out - unless their capacity is under 20K.

Funny how when we were in the PL, our pricing strategy was the same yet more seats were sold.

The pricing isn't the issue with most fans, it's the quality of football.

Our attendances last few seasons in the Championship haven't been bad - which indicates our pricing strategy has been decent.
 
How many other clubs in the Championship have 12-15k empty seats? Or have about 30-40% empty seats?

There aren't many clubs in this division that sell out - unless their capacity is under 20K.

Funny how when we were in the PL, our pricing strategy was the same yet more seats were sold.

The pricing isn't the issue with most fans, it's the quality of football.

Our attendances last few seasons in the Championship haven't been bad - which indicates our pricing strategy has been decent.
I tend to agree with this, it is the level of football we are playing at and the quality, as they say in ‘The Field of Dreams’ movie.....if you build it they will come......but I think Gibbo knows he is out of his league in comparison to Premiership owners, so is more comfortable at the second level......I think we have to accept, this is our level now.
 
That still leaves 12,500-15,000 empty seats. I think my point stands personally.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

I don't see the number of empty seats as a problem or a surprise, and I don't think the club does either.
They neither budget for, nor expect, bigger crowds in the championship.

I don't know where this idea that stadia should be close to capacity in the second tier has come from. There was usually 12-14k empty spaces back at AP, and no one regarded that as something that the club should be alarmed about.

This is all a bit of a digression though. My main point is that the lesson of history shows that the change in price structure in recent seasons has reduced the number of empty seats. When we had a smaller gap between ST and walk up prices, we had 17-19k empty seats. And you want to go back to that?
 
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In the final season at Ayresome apart from the first and last game was it still pay on the door or were games made all ticket?
 
In the final season at Ayresome apart from the first and last game was it still pay on the door or were games made all ticket

I think you could pay on the gate for most games.

I seem to recall that they ran a priority system for the last match; those with stubs from the previous few games got priority for the Luton tickets.
 
Just checked only the last 3 games of 1995 attracted a crowd of 20k+ attendances hovered between 15-17k so the Robbo factor soon wore off after the 1st game but that is a 1/2 decent crowd for a stadium that held just shy of 24k and saw crowds disappear during Lennie's last season (but alot of games were live on Tyne Tees i think people forget this and our inconsistancy on the pitch after winning the 1st 4 games)

The 30k capacity set for the Riverside was about right even if we could have shifted 35-40k once the likes of TLF and Rav and co arrived.
 
Just checked only the last 3 games of 1995 attracted a crowd of 20k+ attendances hovered between 15-17k so the Robbo factor soon wore off after the 1st game but that is a 1/2 decent crowd for a stadium that held just shy of 24k and saw crowds disappear during Lennie's last season (but alot of games were live on Tyne Tees i think people forget this and our inconsistancy on the pitch after winning the 1st 4 games)

The 30k capacity set for the Riverside was about right even if we could have shifted 35-40k once the likes of TLF and Rav and co arrived.
Don't worry it will be back at 30k if they keep taking seats out for TV cameras/studios etc and insist on no man's lands next to away fans that can be seen from space.
 
Just checked only the last 3 games of 1995 attracted a crowd of 20k+ attendances hovered between 15-17k so the Robbo factor soon wore off after the 1st game but that is a 1/2 decent crowd for a stadium that held just shy of 24k and saw crowds disappear during Lennie's last season (but alot of games were live on Tyne Tees i think people forget this and our inconsistancy on the pitch after winning the 1st 4 games)

The 30k capacity set for the Riverside was about right even if we could have shifted 35-40k once the likes of TLF and Rav and co arrived.

I think the official capacity that season was 26.5k. The reality of segregation probably meant that could actually be reached.

I think it also has to be remembered that we were pretty much there or thereabouts during the whole of that season: good form does make a difference to the attendance. The Robbo factor, last season at AP, and the excitement at the prospect of the RS also contributed to higher than normal attendances. We can't expect to recreate that every season.
 
I do wonder if we had a 20k capacity and were averaging 19.5k, we would be perceived as well supported and 'packing them in' every week.
 
I really think they should contemplate a Bob end type of place for the under 18's at say a tenner, it would surely fill a few empty seats on a walk up basis.
 
I do wonder if we had a 20k capacity and were averaging 19.5k, we would be perceived as well supported and 'packing them in' every week.

Interesting question. My gut reaction is that perception would change, but reality wouldn't: we'd be exactly as well-supported as we are now. It's reality that is important, right?

Either way, we'd be looking to expand the ground next time we got promoted.
 
Interesting question. My gut reaction is that perception would change, but reality wouldn't: we'd be exactly as well-supported as we are now. It's reality that is important, right?

Either way, we'd be looking to expand the ground next time we got promoted.

I'm not sure, Sunderland are a well supported team but their stadium is still too big for them and it shows, even with mass ticket offers.

I think our stadium is too big for us, we rarely sold out even in our recent prem season.
 
Support is often about perception.
In reality I believe crowds broadly reflect catchment area, with notable exceptions (Leeds being a good example).
Though it gets complicated in London.
 
I'm not sure, Sunderland are a well supported team but their stadium is still too big for them and it shows, even with mass ticket offers.

I think our stadium is too big for us, we rarely sold out even in our recent prem season.

I think we had 9 home sellouts; matches like Stoke first day, there were a few spaces in the away end.

If it's a home sellout for half your home fixtures in the top flight, I'd say it was the right size. Any smaller, and we'd be frequently turning customers away.
 
I think we had 9 home sellouts; matches like Stoke first day, there were a few spaces in the away end.

If it's a home sellout for half your home fixtures in the top flight, I'd say it was the right size. Any smaller, and we'd be frequently turning customers away.
I agree.It's a shame we could not just close an upper tier(,like Leeds, Sunderland), to look fuller/ have better atmosphere in the remainder.
 
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