Yeh, it is not the fact that they have got rid of the cheap section (which was obviously coming), it is more the fact that those in the cheap section are being forced to move and the lack of options at a price point that is even remotely close to a '10-15 increase' are shocking
It was a great offer and like said above the club deserved (and got) credit for it. £479 is a bit of a falsehood, how many season tickets will really be available in Blocks 1 and 37? It won’t cover everyone displaced by a wide margain. Which means more of the ex-cheap section will have to go for Chapel goal which is £519 (an increase of £160 or roughly £12 per game). Bear in mind most of these sections bar block 1 already have a number of season ticket holders in situ so there may not be many seats available here either.
Few of my mates are all happy paying £490 for a season ticket at Bristol City. Not sure if that is the cheapest and appreciate is 4 more games but compared to the market it doesn’t seem like Saints is very expensive I do get the argument and I’m sure an extra 100 quid a season from, what, like 20000 fans isn’t going to make much of a difference financially for the club compared to how it annoys some supporters
Yeah there's only two blocks at that price not in the standing section and also means you have to move to a worse seat.
I am just ranting now. I have been in the cheap section because it has been great value but I am lucky enough that I can still afford to pay more if I need to. So of course I will be renewing, just wondering if the scramble for block 1 or 37 will be equivalent to the scramble for Wembley tickets
Number of people to availability it will be worse than Wembley, 37 will already have season ticket holders in it and Block 1 is teeny, so there will be nowhere near as many tickets available as the number moving from the cheap section. Also block 1 means you have the sun in your eyes for half the season, but that’s by the by.
I disagree that they deserve criticism. Those cheap ST's worked out at less than £16 per game. No way that was sustainable for the club going forwards. Even with 19 home games that still works out at less than £19. Completely unsustainable for a PL club, especially with the new financial regulations. The club are spending money improving the stadium and the surrounding area. You could also argue about the fairness of such cheap tickets in comparison to the Kingsland/Northam corner which were a lot more expensive for the same view just at the other end of the ground. I enjoyed taking advantage of the prices while they lasted but they were always going to go sooner rather than later. Fair play to the club for keeping them as long as they did.
https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/ne...-premier-league-campaign?utm_source=dotmailer My ST should be £549 renewable on June 6th. I thought the away area was going to be in the South East Kingsland/Chapel but the map says South West.
They definitely deserve criticism for a sudden £160 increase for some (there will be very few tics available at £479), but I do appreciate the cheap tics weren’t likely to stay and were a very good offer for the time. Although let’s be frank, the club had done such a **** job with fans prior to that point that we were due something and the club got decent Championship attendances out of it that might have collapsed otherwise.
I think the only way the club could have avoided this was to gradually increase prices over the past 5 seasons rather than freeze them. It does seem like a large increase (for some seats) and I understand why people may not be happy at stumping up an extra £140. But you were able to benefit from very cheap seats for a few seasons because of the price freezes, which is the only reason this increase seems so big. Regardless of what anyone paid before, we still are cheaper than most which is probably the fairer way of looking at it.
A lot of it on my part is frustration and I do acknowledge there are worse clubs and we got a very good deal last season. Probably more an issue with the greed and extortion in the game at large. Commercially I don’t understand it as I’m not sure it makes an iota of difference to the clubs funds, it’s a big cost to fans, but probably 0.01% of the clubs income and doesn’t necessarily make a difference because of the people you lose.
I get that it is pennies compared to the football operating costs and revenues, but matchday and non-footballing revenue will be managed separately internally and ticketing will be their major revenue stream. These increases will probably generate an extra £1/2m, which is a huge amount of money. Although with that said, I think clubs like Saints should think more about the long term implications of ticket prices, particularly with regard to youth pricing. We should do all we can to get the kids of Southampton into St Marys before they start supporting the Liverpools & Man city's of this world. For example, I would have all U16s tickets at next to nothing for all cup games and the odd league fixture too. Sure, you'd lose revenue short term, but in 10/15 years we would likely sell out week in week out - which we really should do as a one-club city!
Just noticed From next season all tickets will be digital, providing a new way to enter St Mary’s. This includes Season Tickets, general admission and hospitality tickets. All physical Season Cards will be discontinued, and at the end of June, fans will receive a 2024/25 digital Season Ticket, for use on your smartphone through a new app. I don't use a smart phone.
We understand this new process may raise questions and some fans may have accessibility reasons for needing a physical ticket. We'll support anyone who needs further assistance and provide an alternative entry method where necessary. Junior fans who may not have a smartphone will be able to store their tickets on their registered Adult’s smartphone within the new app. More detailed information about digital ticketing and how you can access tickets will be provided this summer ahead of the new season.
The thing for me is the way it was done by stealth and hidden behind the stadium reconfiguration. If they'd have come out early on and said that due to these changes this section will no longer exist then I think it'd gone down better with people. Instead they've gone with everyone averaging a 15% increase - oh unless you were in the cheap section in which case you'll have a minimum of 30% increase (for potentially a worse seat). It doesn't affect me personally as I won't be renewing regardless but I do find it sad that lots of people will be priced out of next season having enjoyed the current one so much. Be interesting to see what they do next year in the event of relegation. Definitely wouldn't see us getting similar crowds to this season with this new pricing.
