Season Tickets - 2011/12

[stanleyhouse]

Just been looking back through the archives and found the season ticket prices from 2006/07 - our first year in the league.

2006: adult: standing £265, seating £305
2011: adult: £255

2006: seniors: standing £160, Seating £200.
2011: seniors: £170

Cheaper than 5 years ago and we could be in a league higher!

[bdc]

Standing Prices were £160 for this season
Standing Prices are £255 for next season

This is an increase of 63% as long as you pay within 23 days otherwise it is an increase of 78%. One thing that seems to be lost in all this is the fact that the fans were willing to pay their money towards season tickets and we have never been certain of the future and whether we would have a club to watch (up to now). If the club would have gone to the wall then the fans would have lost a large chunk of their money.

Its easy to say that we are pricing our season tickets in line with other clubs but we struggle to bring fans on. How is a price rise to this extent going to encourage families and roaming fans to purchase a season ticket? The deadline is a double whammy, asking people to find the money in 23 days is difficult for most working families especially in these difficult times we face. Most businesses are having to make better of what they have got or only increasing prices as a last resort. We should maybe have another look at this in facts and figures at the end of the month to see how many renewals we have in 2011 compared to 2010. It wouldn't surprise me if renewals drops by a reasonable chunk, I hope I am wrong but I feel this policy is rather short-sighted and will only be to the detriment of the clubs finances in the longer term.

[bdc]

Macclesfield Prices

Early Bird
Standing £220
Seating £289

Full Price
Standing £275
Seating £365

Free Macclesfield Player subscription for the first 500 people worth £34.99
Free 3 course meal in the Sammy McIllroy Suite
£10 cashback for every 10% increase in season ticket sales compared to this season
Game by Game voucher scheme including discounts on catering and club shop merchandise

Deadline 27th May 2011 or pay in two instalments - 1st one on date of purchase and 2nd by 16th June

Seems like they have done a whole package option and given them 45 days to pay or the chance to pay in 2 instalments.

[smudgie]

Well said bdc. Totally agree.

[JEFF]

How do you expect the Club to survive if prices aren't increased. It has been proved that we cannot survive with the prices that are currently being charged. Ilyas cannot make up the shortfall indefinately. The increase in prices will certainly not wipe out the difference between income and expenditure but it will help a little. The price of everything has increased dramatically over the last few years. Have you all stopped smoking ? Have you all stopped drinking ? Have you all stopped buying petrol ? Probably not, so why stop buying a season ticket ?

[cashman]

dont reckon many folk dont expect prices to rise jeff, its a whole bigger game than that, a sensible early bird cut off fer starters, people are well aware the club needs to survive,so prices must rise, the main focus to me should be retaining what fans we have n trying to attract new/folk to come back, this fails badly in that area to me.

[maccawozzagod]

Originally Posted by JEFF

How do you expect the Club to survive if prices aren't increased. It has been proved that we cannot survive with the prices that are currently being charged.

I expect the club to start running on a professional level. I expect the club to start to exploit its commercial viabilities. I expect the club to stop having mobile phone bills of £30k per month. I expect the club to stop the silly promotions that only take the money away from them and start work on proper promotions that are advertised in a more relevant fashion. For a start.

Originally Posted by JEFF

The price of everything has increased dramatically over the last few years.

on a supply and demand level? the price of necessities has increased dramatically, the cost of entertainment for which their is a multitude of options, has dropped or the service has improved. The film is the same and the entry fee is the same - would you watch the film at a leaky cinema with fold out plastic seats or would you travel to Burnley and watch the said film in a warmer environment with no leaks in the roof, padded seats, better food and draught beer?

Originally Posted by JEFF

Have you all stopped smoking ?

yes many have and the % of smokers to non smokers grows wider by the day

Originally Posted by JEFF

Have you all stopped drinking ?

yes many have, as indicated by the number of pub closures on a daily basis. Take a look around Accrington centre or any of the suburban pubs over the weekend

Originally Posted by JEFF

Have you all stopped buying petrol ?

I don't think anybody stops buying it but you stop making un-necesessary journeys

Originally Posted by JEFF

so why stop buying a season ticket ?

will follow suit as per the previous three answers.

[lancsdave]

The club needs the money to survive so the best way of doing that is to get as many people as possible to buy a season ticket. The easiest way of doing that is to allow staged payments.

I can't see how that can be difficult given that there is already a scheme in place which allows you to 'bank' money at the club via vouchers etc.

£50 down in April and £50 payments in May, June, July and begining of August should be feasible, and keep the money coming in during the close season, and judging by the response on here will raise ticket sales in comparison to what is going to happen. Why is that so difficult ?

[Outback Ozzy]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

The club needs the money to survive so the best way of doing that is to get as many people as possible to buy a season ticket. The easiest way of doing that is to allow staged payments.

I can't see how that can be difficult given that there is already a scheme in place which allows you to 'bank' money at the club via vouchers etc.

£50 down in April and £50 payments in May, June, July and begining of August should be feasible, and keep the money coming in during the close season, and judging by the response on here will raise ticket sales in comparison to what is going to happen. Why is that so difficult ?

Its not Dave, and personally, if that were the system, I believe it would attract a hell of a lot more potential season ticket holders!

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Outback Ozzy

Its not Dave, and personally, if that were the system, I believe it would attract a hell of a lot more potential season ticket holders!

Certainly the only way one in this house would get one unless we win the lottery or get some massive orders in the next week , and no it's not me, I'm not that converted

[Pendle Red]

Economics I love it

Supply & Demand or Econmic Equilibrium

Supply will be there but will the demand?

[DaveinGermany]

Seems a few folk have problems attending matches although the hold a season ticket, would it not be possible to "reimburse" these people at the end of the season when reapplying for a new ticket. By that I don't mean handing over cash, but deducting the cost of the unvisited games7unused tickets from the price of the new one ? If they choose not to renew then those lost games would be forfeited as the action would only be carried out with a renewal.

Just a suggestion, as to practicality & feasibility, I don't know if it's a viable form of encouragement, but it'd certainly make people feel less hard done to & for want of a better expression "cheated". We do something similar over here with day tickets for our lake, if the lads have paid up for 5 sessions, their next visit is given to them for free so they don't feel as though they're being milked & they always come back.

[bdc]

Originally Posted by JEFF

How do you expect the Club to survive if prices aren't increased. It has been proved that we cannot survive with the prices that are currently being charged. Ilyas cannot make up the shortfall indefinately. The increase in prices will certainly not wipe out the difference between income and expenditure but it will help a little. The price of everything has increased dramatically over the last few years. Have you all stopped smoking ? Have you all stopped drinking ? Have you all stopped buying petrol ? Probably not, so why stop buying a season ticket ?

I haven't said that I am against a price increase, I think it would have been more sensible to pitch it around the £200/ £210 mark with a deadline cut off of around the 15th May. Like Rob has said, I think it is now upto the clubs personnel to step up to the plate on the commercial side and start putting together a good strategy to help promote the Stanley brand to the business world. We need a ground sponsor, a shirt sponsor, matchday sponsors, matchball sponsor, commercial partners like Burnleys BOA and sponsors for the boards around the ground. Getting these things sorted is a basic requirement as part of the solution to solving the cashflow problems at Accy.

The second part should be reasonably priced season tickets designed to follow the community club ethos that would help to bring new people in and keep the current fans feeling like they are wanted. This means reaching out to the local people in numerous ways whether that being involved in local festivals such as having Winstanley down at the food festival from last week or properly advertising discounted tickets in the local papers, on the radio and advertising boards in areas of large footfall. Why dont we have tie ins with the shops in the centre of Accy such as maybe a free drink with every matchday ticket, this gets people into the bar and use the voucher as a loss leader. We should also be getting the players out into local schools or arranging coaching schools for after school to help start getting the younger fans in for the next generation of supporters. These are all basic things that when brought together can help to allieviate the problems of the past and help us move forward into a more solid financial footing. But this will take a good few years to put fully into place.

There is also the simple fact that if you have more bums on seats then they are more likely to spend money on merchandise, programs, beer, food etc. If the increase in season ticket prices means less people renew then this means we are no better off financially and will suffer from a loss of reputation just at a time when we had finally broken free of the ghosts of the past. As a fan I would seriously urge a rethink on the current process for season tickets including an extension of the early bird deadline to the 15th May and the idea of charging to get in the supporters bar completely dropped.

[bdc]

Originally Posted by Outback Ozzy

Its not Dave, and personally, if that were the system, I believe it would attract a hell of a lot more potential season ticket holders!

Burnley have a system in place to either pay it over 10 months or 3 months for a small fee. They outsource the financing of it to a loan company who give the club a small commission per transaction which adds up to a decent chunk with the amount of renewals they have. Surely this is something that Stanley could sort if they had researched it? An early bird renewal cost £390 and if it was paid over 3 months it cost around an extra £15 which is not bad really and gives another avenue for fans to go down in order to ensure that they have the financial flexibility to pay for the season ticket.

[maccawozzagod]

there is the pre-pay thing in the club shop which wasn't advertised enough from early on. We've all had a gripe about the pricing but everyone who reads this knows for next season that is an option. please use it.

Though god only knows why we can't have installments. It doesn't even need to be done on any other basis than paying cash at the shop. They don't issue the season tickets until twenty minutes before the season starts usually so it will cost them naff all to allow April, May, June, July, August as five monthlies. As others have said it would encourage far more sales - pay your deposit now. The only reason I can see for avoiding it is that the club wants the money right now to see them through the summer - fine this year because we are lumbered with the ghosts of christmas past. Hopefully by this time next year we will have learnt how to make 9 months worth of income last 12 months and season ticket installments will be an option.