Wigan Charging £250 For A Season Ticket

[LadywellToi]

When this is cheaper than a East Stand ticket and the chasm in quality compared to the two it just shows how out of touch our league now is.

 

Granted the owner is super minted however for £12.50 a game you get to see Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, etc. OK, so you'll get an odd West Brom and Stoke however we'll get a Caley Thistle.

 

Wigan £250 deal

[JimH]

I suppose if we got anything like the £20 million per season TV money Wigan get then we may be able to reduce prices a little.

 

It's not just in the quality that the chasm exists, it's the whole finances of clubs here compared with England.

[ML1]

Blackburn : http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/SeasonTickets/

 

 

If we had the same TV money up here as them the clubs wouldnt have to squeeze the fans for as much as they think they can get

[LadywellToi]

Premiership TV money - granted, however we don't have a Premiership wage bill.

 

The thought of Motherwell even increasing its attendance next season by 250 seems to be quite a mountain to climb, even more so considering the bring a mate deal that didn't seem to boost attendance by much at all.

 

If that happened the club could reduce the season ticket by approx £20 per season ticket holder and still achieve the same revenue.

[weesacs]

the Wigan chairman was interviewed months back saying he could actually afford to let the fans in for free for the whole season - i dont have time to post a link to it, maybe someone will be kind enough too

 

the point he was making was something relating to how much money they recieve from TV revenue and how other clubs were not managing their finances properly

 

bear in mind, that if you win the SPL - you get what? £1m? if that?

 

if you get relegated from the Premiership you get a £30m parachute payment

 

yes, prices up here are out of touch, however you cant make any comparison

[Ya Bezzer!]

On top of Sky money the Premiership clubs also make huge amounts from selling TV rights outside of the UK and the money is split evenly between all the teams (Man Utd get the same amount as Wigan for example).

 

Each club can expect £23 million a year just from that revenue stream. Sky pays about the same meaning each Premiership club is guaranteed more or less £50 million from television each season.

 

Season ticket money is almost irrelevant in the great scheme of things especially for smaller to medium sized clubs in the premiership, who don't have 50,000 - 60,000 season tickets to sell.

[David]

How much are mid-table clubs in leagues similar to ours charging for season books?

 

Norway? Sweden? Denmark?

[Motherwell Seagull]

This can be argued from all sorts of viewpoints.

 

As a counter I will simply point out that you can take up an early bird option at Brighton's Withdean stadium (the equivalent of EK's Whitemoss running track) for £425 (its £489 after the early bird).

 

For that money you get to see League One football, and for an extra £1 you can buy your very own poncho to make up for the lack of a roof...

[Juan Kerse]

I posted this in the ST thread but - yes we are actually missing an opportunity here with the recession by not being the first to slash prices - on the gate and on ST - families, adults, students all still need ways to spend their leisure time and by offering VAST reductions on football, well watching the 'Well COULD become a leisure pursuit of many old and new.

 

However, let's have it right - an average of £310 a Season Ticket (or £294 paying early) is still FAR too expensive in this climate for sub-standard SPL football. Why are we sticking our head in the sand here? This was the time of all times to take a punt with the Season Tickets and get the price way down, market the Season Ticket as a real bargain and get the numbers up.

 

At £294 average - if we get 18 homes and no cup games it is £16.30 a game - hardly a bargain!! Assuming there will be at least one 'pennies' game (like Hibs) and one 'Friend for Free, BOGOF' etc.. throughout the season and considering most miss one or two it is practically cheaper to not get a season ticket.

 

Fairplay to those who sign up every year but the powers won't get the message. And if the standard £18 entry goes up (chances are if ST's effectively are going up) then it will end up being a smattering of diehard ST holders only at games with a few extra weans.

 

Sub 4000 crowds next year? - absolutely

[David]

What kind of numbers would we deem acceptable when it comes to a season ticket in the current economical climate?

[weesacs]

Fairplay to those who sign up every year but the powers won't get the message. And if the standard £18 entry goes up (chances are if ST's effectively are going up) then it will end up being a smattering of diehard ST holders only at games with a few extra weans.

 

I agree with you, and in that same thread I suggested i wouldnt be renewing (for the first time ever) purely down to money. As for the powers, JB said in his letter - a season ticket is more than getting into the game every week, its making a commitment to the club. For as long as he takes that stand, I cant ever see the price being dropped dramatically or any other incentive becoming available

[Ya Bezzer!]

How much are mid-table clubs in leagues similar to ours charging for season books?

 

Norway? Sweden? Denmark?

 

Don't know about season books but Brondby charge about 130 Kr. for a average Super League match which is roughly £15, so not really that different. Big matches against FC Kobenhavn are double the standard price.

[David]

As for the powers, JB said in his letter - a season ticket is more than getting into the game every week, its making a commitment to the club.

Maybe it's about time that the club made a commitment to the fans, and showed something of real substance when it comes to working in the current economic climate?

 

It's all well & good making statements asking for fans to show commitment to the club, but we need to see some commitment from the club as well.

 

The deal allowing under 16's to claim a free book is certainly a move in the right direction, and will go some way to filling up some of the empty seats we have, but we need to see more.

[LadywellToi]

Interested to know if there are any on here who are of an age and internet savvy, our highest attendance was in 1952 how much was it to get in and secondly how much was the average wage back then, just to draw a comparison to see if its way out of kilter.

 

Safe to say there was less to do in the shire 7 years after the War than there is now, no Wii's and Sky telly.

 

From BBC: Average wage in UK 2008 = £20,801 gross

Weekly: £400 gross

Entry to FP: £18

Based on 37.5 week: 1 hour 40 mins work to gain entry

 

1952?

[Kylie]

You can add that they get approx. £800 000 for every place they finish in the league.

[Ya Bezzer!]

However, let's have it right - an average of £310 a Season Ticket (or £294 paying early) is still FAR too expensive in this climate for sub-standard SPL football. Why are we sticking our head in the sand here? This was the time of all times to take a punt with the Season Tickets and get the price way down, market the Season Ticket as a real bargain and get the numbers up.

 

 

Sub 4000 crowds next year? - absolutely

 

Numbers up?

 

The problem is no one wants to come apart from the hardcore fans. We were effectively letting people in for free a couple of weeks ago and we got a crowd that barely crept over 4,000.

 

Season ticket and gate receipts make up more than 40% of our income, slashing season ticket prices means halving our working budget.

 

Fans need to be realistic about price cuts, it means less money invested in the team. So do you want a cheaper season ticket and a poorer squad with no real chance of making the Top 6/Europe and risk relegation or do you want to pay the current rate and more than stay away from the bottom of the league.

 

I've not been able to afford a season ticket this season and probably next season as well so I'd love for prices to come down but being realistic about it but unless there is a huge drop off in season ticket sales then it probably wouldn't be worth it over all for the club.

[Bill Bones]

So close to the English Premier£hip, so far from Sky('s cash).

[LadywellToi]

Ya Bezzer

 

What sort of money could you justify paying to renew? This is the sort of thing Leeann and the board need to know, because if we attract x new season ticket holders and are prepared to break even on this years income then at least its a start.

 

Based on 250 increase paying £250 = £62,500 extra income

£62,500/3000 season ticket holders = £20.85 call it £20 for admin and handling.

So its feasible we could reduce the season tickets by multiples of £20 for every new 250 season ticket holders from the 2009-10 season. That is if we don't increase revenue from season tickets.

 

So (I may get shot down here) we could get a £190 ticket if we get 1,000 new season ticket holders. I'm also being overly simplistic.

 

If the club wants to make something from this then it could be £15 to the fans and £5 to the club per 250 fans, an extra £20k if it works, not much but as they say in the credit card ads:

 

Season Ticket: £250

Puma (?) strip: £40

Atmosphere: Priceless

 

 

Also from the FT:

 

1952 Average wage: £589.59

Per week: £11.33 and therefore 30p an hour roughly

Entry to FP in 1952: ?

[David]

The problem is no one wants to come apart from the hardcore fans. We were effectively letting people in for free a couple of weeks ago and we got a crowd that barely crept over 4,000.

The real problem is that no one except hardcore fans even know about the price-cut deals!

 

No one i've spoken to has heard anything about the prices for the Hibs game. Where are the club advertising this?

 

As for these deals themselves, it's all well & good doing the odd game here and there, but what we really need to do is take the prices down for an extended period of time.

 

It's no good doing it for the odd game, as that won't make any difference, and will only upset the loyal season book holders.

 

What we need is a decent reward for those who put their money into the club by way of season tickets and merchandise purchases, and some incentives to draw people into doing just that.

 

This would involve having to operate in the real world though, so i'm not holding my breath.

[LadywellToi]

How about as a start asking NLC if we can have a billboard beside the Civic Theatre one at the Strathclyde/Airbles/Dual Carriage Way junction?

 

Next game, prices, offers

 

Think how many pass through there daily on their way to Motherwell/Wishaw

 

Next is the Raith interchange and then at the M8 at Newhouse and Whifflet cutoff

[Finlay]

All of this ST pricing talk can be put to bed, or given more reason to be pursued, in a little over 24 hours.

 

If we STILL struggle to break the 6,000 mark tomorrow, with prices set at £10 and £1, for our biggest domestic match in two years on a night (if I am correct) that there is no other 'big name' live football on TV, then I'm not sure we will ever be able to do anything to substantially (and by that I mean add 1,500 - 2,000 people onto our crowd per match) 'up' our attendances. Apart from be competitive for the league and the domestic cups. Which won't happen on a regular basis and in some cases, ever.

 

Which is very sad.

[Lobey_Dosser]

Agree with that, anything less than 6/7,000 tomorrow night should set a few alarm bells ringing.

[Brazilian]

I think I get your point finlay

 

but am the exact opposite opinion about stopping all the season ticket talk

 

I'm pretty angry that the price of season tickets has went up for many of the the fans that show loyalty every year, the ones that put their money in early every season

 

I'm almost certain I will not be renewing our tickets this year, If the prices had stayed the same or we had seen a slight reduction I would have renewed as even though I'm liable to miss a few games it would have still felt as tho' I was contributing to the club

 

but the increase, in the early bird price, means its just not worth it and to be honest makes a mockery of all the club talk of putting loyal fans first over chasing new fans

[David]

I think I get your point finlay

 

but am the exact opposite opinion about stopping all the season ticket talk

 

I'm pretty angry that the price of season tickets has went up for many of the the fans that show loyalty every year, the ones that put their money in early every season

 

I'm almost certain I will not be renewing our tickets this year, If the prices had stayed the same or we had seen a slight reduction I would have renewed as even though I'm liable to miss a few games it would have still felt as tho' I was contributing to the club

 

but the increase, in the early bird price, means its just not worth it and to be honest makes a mockery of all the club talk of putting loyal fans first over chasing new fans

I think you're bang on the money there.

 

There is no real incentive for anyone to buy a season ticket, and Boyle using the old "it's more than buying a ticket, it's a commitment to the club" line won't wash with as many people this summer as he thinks.

 

It's time that people who are willing to put their money down in advance are given some real incentives to do so.

[Finlay]

I think I get your point finlay

 

but am the exact opposite opinion about stopping all the season ticket talk

 

I'm pretty angry that the price of season tickets has went up for many of the the fans that show loyalty every year, the ones that put their money in early every season

 

I'm almost certain I will not be renewing our tickets this year, If the prices had stayed the same or we had seen a slight reduction I would have renewed as even though I'm liable to miss a few games it would have still felt as tho' I was contributing to the club

 

but the increase, in the early bird price, means its just not worth it and to be honest makes a mockery of all the club talk of putting loyal fans first over chasing new fans

 

I do agree with this point and raised my concerns in another thread. Prices weren't frozen for those (and I include myself in that) who financially committed themselves to the club for Season 2009/10 before May 2009 was out. £333 I paid for a seat in the POD Stand in May 2009 for this season. £351 this year (before June 2010) for season 2010/11. Pretty poor imo. Plus how many 'special offer vouchers' are in the book for the 'food kiosk' and the shop? How many have been used? To my knowledge one.....and even then you had to spend £60.00+ to get a free CCC scarf or size 4 Motherwell football.

 

The point about paying into every home game and waiting for reduced rates (more likely in the last 7 or so home games) is the most financially prudent idea. Full price Season Tickets are now for the 'hardcore' support imo. The individual takes a hit in the pocket whilst the club gets the rewards from financial commitment. The fan is paying into the club not for his/her own benefit but in the (possibly misguided) hope our pre summer money will somehow make its way on to the pitch.

 

I am all for 'rewarding' ST holders. £300 - £320 would have seemed like a really good gesture from the club. However, the club are going for it with free ST for the under 16s and they have to get some of the money back somehow. Again, one of the most loyal group of fans have taken the hit again. Maybe, because the club think they will take it. Perhaps....perhaps not.

 

What I DO see as wasted energy is the talk of a £200 (and below) ST. That would, whether we like it or not, reflect on the quality we see every other weekend on the pitch at Fir Park. A club our size can't have it every way. Tomorrow night imo is going to show people that low prices aren't going to guarantee big attendances at Fir Park.......and like I said if it doesn't happen tomorrow I'm not sure when it will.

 

I'm happy to pay a decent amount each summer in the hope it allows the club a chance at signing a better standard of player. I don't like the club taking that loyaty for granted though by stinging me in the pocket.

 

If one thing forces me to walk away from a ST next year it will probably be due to ongoing pitch problems that obviously wouldn't be resolved this summer either. That is a differnet debate for another time though.