[Albion] Still 2,000 season tickets to be sold for next season

[METALMICKY]

But the club will just respond (if they even bother to do that to a question like your - very very questions of course) that you can spend more money fortune tell if someone you know might wanna go and put the seat up on the exchange so dont blame us blame the PL or do you wanna go back to Withdean? Gillingham?
ABSOLUTELY YES it is expensive and the travel is a real pain and the Terrace needs toilets you can actually find and use but hey ho we play Liverpool, Burnley, Leeds, Arsenal and co. next season so whats the problem im sure would be the response.

Is there some sort of snow blindness with regard the Terrace toilets?

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

Is there some sort of snow blindness with regard the Terrace toilets?

Only for one supporter I think

 

[Hamilton]

A few 1901’s kicking about too

Probably why I received that email from the club telling how special I was and inviting me to be able to apply for 1901. Like I want to sit there alone without mates.

 

[BNthree]

Probably why I received that email from the club telling how special I was and inviting me to be able to apply for 1901. Like I want to sit there alone without mates.

Think we all got that email with the invite to join the waiting list for £50

 

[Dave the OAP]

Think we all got that email with the invite to join the waiting list for £50

I didn’t get that….must be a super fan thing

 

[BNthree]

I didn’t get that….must be a super fan thing

Maybe they knew you’re broke after your daughter’s wedding!

 

[Greenbag50]

Got the 1901 email, but have renewed for me and son in standing area in N1G next season…. He will prob go to uni 26/27 so will see if I renew then

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Can’t disagree on the latter. And of course it’s expensive for families - PL football generally is.

But most games sell out, so “general drop in interest” doesn’t stack up.

The biggest problem, as the club has acknowledged, is the aging fanbase.

Club could do with more 20- and 30-somethings, with money to spend. But do they even exist?!

I didn’t know the club had acknowledged that as a problem.

I haven’t reflected on the age demographic at The Amex in a while, but your post has reminded me that it has always felt underrepresented by millennials and older gen Z types. Whereas it feels as though there are lots in the boomers and gen X age range.

 

[mile oak]

At literally no point have I said the club would prefer tourists. I said the club would be happy as long as tourists fill empty seats.

But several people on here, including our football finance expert, have expressed opinions that Premier League football clubs are happily courting the fan that's happy to pay rocket high prices once a year and blow £350 a game in the megastore, rather than a 66 year old 'legacy fan' with a season ticket who might buy a bovril each week and treat themselves to an annual new bobble hat.

Isnt Man U an example of this?

 

[mile oak]

I didn’t get that….must be a super fan thing

Me too never got it

 

[Wozza]

I didn’t know the club had acknowledged that as a problem.

I haven’t reflected on the age demographic at The Amex in a while, but your post has reminded me that it has always felt underrepresented by millennials and older gen Z types. Whereas it feels as though there are lots in the boomers and gen X age range.

Actually, I don't think they defined it as a 'problem' as such.

But the aging fanbase is the reason it's upping the concession age limit, I believe. (We'd soon all be claiming it!)

 

[NorthstandRacoon]

More and more hating the PL and going non-league? Don't blame them at times, tbh. I absolutely love doing non-league.

 

[Weststander]

Me too never got it

We received it, it seemed the club had researched a target market ….

“Following your praise and support online for our new innovative Fanzone, we are delighted to offer you the opportunity to apply to join the 1901 Club”.

 

[BNthree]

Me too never got it

Only sent to people that successfully found The Terrace toilets

 

[Hamilton]

Think we all got that email with the invite to join the waiting list for £50

And I felt so SPECIAL!

 

[Hamilton]

You can tell that something is shifting by the amount of games not selling out and going to the exchange, and then the huge amount of tickets on the exchange that dont get sold when the game finally sells out. I think finances are starting to really bite and paying over £50+ for a ticket to watch 90 mins of football, plus all the additional costs that go with it are making it less and less attractive.

If the season tickets dont sell out will be interesting to see the clubs strategy re those STH that dont turn up. Would hardly make sense to vilify and penalise them for not listing tickets, and risk losing yet another STH. I also wonder if making it really hard to pass a ticket onto a family member is also a factor. It's all good when you know demand outstrips supply but looks stupid when the ground isnt full.

I wonder if there is something bigger going on. Just looked at the BARB ratings and year on year Sky’s viewing numbers and reach have fallen for Sky Football and Sky Premier League.

Has the market at last reached saturation point for mainstream viewers?

And as fans like @Motogull have said, when it comes to planning life around a football schedule that cares little for the loyal attending fan, then we shouldn’t be surprised when something eventually snaps.

 

[bennibenj]

Absolutely gutted but next season will be the first without Season Tickets for me and the boy...

Purely financial and life commitments... He took up Go-Karting as a hobby 2 years ago, it has now become serious and requires alot of time and disposable income allocation... Especially with the outdoor championships and progressing in these...

We have had to miss a few games this season due to clashes with races - with them being all over the country, it means weekends away. I cannot justify having the ST and risk not selling for games we cannot attend... The Exchange has been good for the most part this season as an aside.

Other than this, we have attended through everything previously, so if this situation hadn't been the case, we would be there for each game.

Funny how life changes, didn't see this time coming a few years ago.

 

[dazzer6666]

Well you could do that - but there’s a risk you’ll be asked for ID. !

OR put it on the exchange , get guest to buy it - they just need to have a fan number - and if you’re paying - they get a legitimate ticket, and once you get the refund it’s cheaper than an A+ membership (£38). Assuming it’s your first share of the season you don’t pay the sharing fee anyway. (At least I think that works!)

There’s 100 or so tickets left so it will probably go to the Exchange in next 24 hours.

Has anyone been asked for ID at a home game ? Never seen it. Imagine it only might happen if there’s a problem with the ticket

Whether any STH would want to take the risk of a ban/points deduction is another question of course (I wouldn’t)

 

[Blatter]

Varying kick off times piss me off. I guess the further away you are the bigger the hassle.

Tell me about it. I live in Bath...........

 

[Zeberdi]

Cost of living has increased at a ridiculous rate in the past 2 years - people are being crippled by utilities bills and construction/building costs so its no wonder house owners especially are really struggling- if there are kids still at home, the cost of family STs has become unmanageable for many. I would get a season ticket again but the costs of travel, hotel, attending games etc even on a monthly basis is just getting prohibitive. When I retire, it should become easier with concessions/pensions etc

If the season tickets dont sell out will be interesting to see the clubs strategy re those STH that dont turn up. Would hardly make sense to vilify and penalise them for not listing tickets, and risk losing yet another STH. I also wonder if making it really hard to pass a ticket onto a family member is also a factor. It's all good when you know demand outstrips supply but looks stupid when the ground isnt full.

There’s a waiting list for 1901 STs which are much easier to pass on/transfer so this is probably a factor as you say.

Perhaps having the same flexibility with all STs as the 1901 has would make sense but it is so easy to relist a ST seat on the exchange at a click of a few buttons, surely there’s not really any excuse not to? IMO there needs to remain an incentive to do so (even if they might not resell) and as others have said, it’s one of the only ways it is possible for non-STHs to get seats at matches that are sold out - risk of penalisation is a necessary incentive imo otherwise many people would buy season tickets (because of the benefits) with no commitment to attend the bulk of games which leaves seats unused and therefore doesn’t work on a number of levels.