Empty Seats / No-show ST holders

What's the deal with ST holders not turning up for games - and I don't mean the odd fixture (where it's just not possible to attend) but EVERY GAME?!

Myself and the kids have 3 STs in the family stand. On the weekend we were trying to get an extra ticket for my wife (as it was my son's birthday on the day of the game). No empty seats to be found anywhere near us of course, even in the same block.

BUT, as is the case every week, the three seats next to us remain empty for the whole of the game. I think every game bar one this season they have been empty. They don't even appear to put them on the ticket exchange for sellouts! I guess from the club's perspective they get their money for the seats whether people attend or not, but it just seems ludicrous, especially when it's sometimes hard for a non ST holder to get (for example) a pair of tickets together or in this case 3 in a row! Particularly in the family stand. I know this from before we bought STs ourselves.

What is most frustrating is that if we knew who they were we could offer to pay for one of them when the missus does want to come along with us...

And before someone says "better the devil you know" etc - yes, an empty seat and legroom is probably better than some smelly b*****d, but frankly I would prefer a packed stand than a "paid for" but empty one....

 

The two people to my right haven't attended much this season. Sometimes the couples son and a friend uses the parent's ST's, but around half the time the seats are empty. I'd rather have someone sat there, than have the legroom.

That said, when I can't make it (like this Wednesday) I don't usually advertise my seat for resale. Either my seat goes to someone my dad or I know, or it stays empty. That's given me something to think about, thanks.

 

That's the thing with season tickets. It's a guaranteed bum on seat even when there isn't one there. Think of a way around that situation where nobody is adversely affected. I'd be surprised if anyone can come up with a proper solution.

 

This is part of the consequence of Southampton the city not being in a major football-mad conurbation. I remember a woman I used to work with who hailed from Newcastle telling me that friends and family members of hers had to pay out hard cash, similar to our membership scheme but more expensive, just to register on a waiting list for a season ticket at St. James Park. In such cases there is always someone who knows someone when a seat held by a ST holder is going spare for a particular game. At Southampton, although members of this forum might not realise it, there simply isn't the same degree of interest in the beautiful game. It's even worse in the West of England where the city of Bristol, twice the size of Southampton, has to compete with a Premiership rugby team for supporters.

I suppose the point I'm making is along the lines of Ralph Krueger's statement that the club will only start thinking about expansion of the stadium when they get average attendances of 98% or more, which so far hasn't happened in the history of St. Mary's Stadium. As Saint Alban says above, even when every seat is theoretically sold, you never see a completely full stadium, and one reason is that there isn't enough of a "reserve" of customers waiting to fill the empty seats. Until the club can reach out beyond the city to the rest of the South of England, far more than it already does, this will remain the case.

 

Being from Bristol I think the problem here is the lack of success of the teams in recent times. Virtually everybody I know who grew up here is into football more than rugby but the majority support some team and then have Rovers/City as a second team that they will watch maybe 3/4 times a year (unless they get to Wembley or something). It has now been a couple of generations since City were in the top flight, so it is hard for them to attract the young support in the city

 

Part of the reason why I want other clubs on the south coast to do well is that it generates greater interest. A trio of AFCB, Southampton and Portsmouth doing well would be a football boost to the area. Saints didn't help themselves when they unavoidably had to reduce The Dell's capacity to 15,575. That turned away a whole swathe of potential supporters for years, and it is something that is difficult to recover from. People simply end up structuring their leisure and forming a habit of doing something else rather than going to watch football. I know because it happened to me too and I am certainly not unique. There must be thousands of Sotonians and others out there who would have made a habit of going to watch the Saints had they been able to. It's a slow recovery that'll take a generation or two. That, and the club remaining in the top flight and being relatively successful.

 

I don't think a solitary empty seat here and there (it's not entirely impossible to find a single seat on its own, there were plenty at 3pm on saturday) - rather where pairs/threes/fours stay empty. That is where the "ticket exchange" concept fails in my opinion.

We, for example, can't come to the game on Wednesday either (the kids are 6 and 8, late games are not really an option and we're not on half term yet here) and I've put the tickets on the exchange but it doesn't become active until it is a complete sellout. If our tickets were put on the website earlier, they are more likely to sell a group of three to a family with older kids than they are to 3 random individuals.

Although there are a good number of individual STs, I would suggest (unqualified statement warning!!) that the majority of non STHs go to matches in a group of some size and unless it is a high profile game, people are less likely to take seats that are miles apart than those together. And even less likely of course if you're taking kids to a game....

I don't understand why the exchange doesn't kick in slightly earlier, i.e. when only sporadic single seats are left.

I feel a "Dear Ralph" email coming on!

 

Many ST holders aren't local. I don't get to every home game so my ST is simply there as a guarantee that I can get to games, as well as giving me a shout for tickets for other games. I have a family member who is able to use my ticket when I can't - probably 3-5 games a season - but I have often thought we need a simpler fan run system to enable non-ST holders to be linked to ST holding fans who would like their ticket used. The club doesn't have any incentive to run such a system.

Your point about the non-football culture may have validity. My local pub can often be the venue for ST holding fans of Liverpool (it's a Reds pub) reaching agreement with ticket-less others when they know they can't get to a match. I cannot imagine this exchange in Southampton, although it does have to be said I haven't lived on the South Coast for decades so I am happy to be corrected.

 

I'm thinking about buying a ST next season.

Weird situation as it's first time in years I can afford one, but I work shifts so I don't know how many games I'll be able to make. I would obviously try to sell the ticket if I could but if not then it would end up being empty.

 

The main club in Mallorca is RCD Mallorca. There are around 1 million people who live on the island, quite a sizeable population for the club to attract to its games. The reality is that they get around 5,000. Most football fans here support either Barca, Real and now Atletico has a growing fanbase.

 

I agree with Lambo,just on this forum there are at least four of us who travel long distances to get to games so can't always make it.To the original poster if you believe those seats are season tickets then it's fairly easy to resolve,next time they are there speak to them.

 

Paid for my new ST today, no guarantee I will fill the seat for every game, but the money is in the coffers.

 

Yep, just did mine whilst I remembered. Got some big spends coming up in the next month, so got it out of the way now not the other half couldn't veto it

 

Ticket exchange.? Just shows how much I am out of the loop these days. What is this idea.? In my post I asked for people to come up with an idea, and nobody said 'there's a ticket exchange'. Am I not alone in being ignorant on this one.?

 

For sold out games STH's can sell their seat back to the club for them to resell.

 

Not quite. I believe they sell them and keep the money as a credit against your next season ticket.

 

I stand corrected, cheers Godders

 

Does the ticket have to be re-sold for you to get the credit?
I know it doesn't happen every season but we've had some huge matches this season where tickets were tough to get, so a season ticket would be a decent investment for those who can't attend every match if you have a way of getting cash back on matches you can't attend.

 

I'm thinking about getting one next year even though I do shift work... I would probably sell/give to a friend rather than go through club though tbh.

 

It is terrible how most football fans on the island seem to support Barcelona or real Madrid but it's more of a Catalan/Castilian thing which you'll find in quite a few other parts of Spain. Mallorca actually have around 10,000 season ticket holders. Many people/households buy them because they're so cheap ( from 60€! ).
Not everyone goes all the time because they're god awful!
QUOTE="The Ides of March, post: 10394918, member: 1015144"]The main club in Mallorca is RCD Mallorca. There are around 1 million people who live on the island, quite a sizeable population for the club to attract to its games. The reality is that they get around 5,000. Most football fans here support either Barca, Real and now Atletico has a growing fanbase.[/QUOTE]