1st Season Attendances Man Utd 24,945 Liverpool 24,942 Stoke 24,932 Arsenal 24,924 Sunderland 24,917 Newcastle 24,914 Middlesbrough 24,912 Chelsea 24,906 Bolton 24,903 Man City 24,902 West Ham 24,896 West Brom 24,879 Everton 24,845 Portsmouth 24,802 Tottenham 24,742 Aston Villa 24,727 Blackburn 24,612 Fulham 24,525 Wigan 22,618 2nd season attendances Liverpool 25,030 Arsenal 25,023 Sunderland 25,012 Man City 24,959 Chelsea 24,957 Wolves 24,957 West Ham 24,909 Tottenham 24,735 Everton 24,685 Man Utd 24,627 Stoke 24,516 Burnley 24,369 Fulham 24,361 Blackburn 24,124 Aston Villa 23,842 (night game) Birmingham 23,759 Portsmouth 23,720 Bolton 22,999 Wigan 22,822
Interesting that Sunderland was so high, our 3rd highest ever attendance (I'm guessing). Seems I was wrong too and Liverpool is still the record, but the point remained that we managed that in season 2 by shifting seats around to maximise space.
We need to increase the Stadium capacity to at least 31,000. I think we need to be hitting 30,000 people every home game. Slightly less embarrassing when a team comes round and we've got 24,000 people there. Although, saying that, the Drama Queens must have a torrent of abuse every time a team cafe to visit Loftus Road.
I think youâre the one simplifying things. If we reduce some prices and increase others the overall profit would be more or less the same. Even taking into account catering and merchandise (both of which have small profit margins) the only real increase in revenue is ticket sales from the additional capacity. So for that to be relevant we need to make sure the demand is there, at the moment I donât think it is. With regards to free tickets, the club didn't give them away when there were 10,000 empty seats last season, can't see them doing it in the PL.
What was with City legends and current player’s families having to pay for tickets then? If there were 'loads' of free tickets last season it makes our attendances even more embarrassing.
The problem you've got with your stadium capacity, is that there'll be plenty of games next season that would tempt people that had rarely or maybe never attended a City game before, but there simply won't be any availability for these potential 'new' supporters to get a seat, for the games that would interest them. If you did have another 6-8k seats then you'd fill them for a decent number of games I reckon & some of those fans would 'get it' & start coming more regularly. It's a bit chicken & egg, but whilst there's PL football at the KC there'll be very strong interest imo & Hull has got a massive untapped catchment area for PL football these days.
It's about sustainable development though, we gained a few thousand new fans when we were last promoted but three years after relegation our attendances were at a 10 year low. I agree there is the potential to fill some extra seats for the big games and of those new fans a few may stick around but until we have consistent crowds and a stable PL team then an extension is just a waste of money which can be better spent elsewhere.
He has got a point. If people wanted to come to say the top 5 glamour games of the season but cant cos there are no tickets available, they'll soon find something else to do with their time and money and may get hooked on something else. It's all a bit of a pointless argument anyway - who are we trying to convince? Our owner publicly has said he wants to increase the stadium, the owners of the stadium are happy for him to do it but dont want to give away ownership. So all sides agree we need a bigger ground.
That's just the fickle nature of football fans mate, but as long as you've got the PL 'product' then there'll be a strong demand in Hull. I'm speaking with experience btw, as despite being an Everton pass holder, I live in East Yorks & when we were away & there was a PL game on at the KC I tried a number of times to get tickets just to catch a match, but to no avail. Good luck for the season btw, I think Bruce will keep you up, he's being linked with some decent talent & he knows what it takes, he's a much underated manager imo.
Can't see where safe standing will increase capacity from seating and don't know where they'll add anymore to current capacity without extending at some considerable cost (prob £10m for East Stand Upper)
It would, definitely. If all the seats were ripped out the north stand you'd get an extra 500 in no problem.
That's staggering and deeply depressing. I hope someone in Welton had the humility and intelligence to rethink the whole infrastructure of the non football staff and realise how lightweight we are, what a great opportunity we have and how there is more to to football than a balance sheet.
In Germany, for the games where the safe standing areas are to be used for standing only, they allow in 30% more fans than when they are issuing people with a seat each(as safe standing can actually be used for seating or standing, depending on the occasion).
I accept that seats have a great profit margin - it must be close to 100% - but hospitality, catering and merchandising has a high profit margin.
There seems to be plenty on here who need convincing that we need a bigger ground. I remember when I started following City. I could just walk to the ground and pay to get in. I got a season ticket for my first full season but plenty of people didn't have season tickets and just turned up. I'm sure a lot of people are put off by the hassle of getting tickets. I remember the FA Cup Final Liverpool v Wimbledon. I woke up and was watching the build up on TV and decided I'd like to go so I got on the tube and bought a ticket from a tout for about £30 and saw something memorable. Pay on the day is how it should be!
Simple fact is that in the Premiership - for a team doing well our stadium isn't big enough - we have the potential to sell 40,000 tickets against the top 6 - and that sort of attendance would develop - not necessarily to higher crowds, but would certainly be a possibility against mid-table and lesser sides if city were doing well. However, for a team struggling at the arse-end of an unsuccessful top-flight campaign, or even a very successful championship campaign, the stadium is currently quite adequate. We don't necessarily have the capacity to introduce new fans in the premiership, but realistically, we have a way to go before we're established enough for extra seats not to become white elephants. ANY cash spare we have has to go into product development - that is the playing squad/youtha and training facilities and the matchday experience for those already attending - particularly at the corporate end - from a rational sales and marketing perspective that is.... Once we start under-selling capacity - that is the time to think about promotions. It would be nice to have 32,000 seats to maximise potential in all ways, but the cost - benefit ratio isn't proven for that yet. As an established premiership club it would be. If prices were significantly reduced it probably would be - but what's the point in spending £5,000 per seat - once supporting infrastructure costs are factored in , juut to reduce prices and not increase turnover?
The more people who are in the ground the more they spend on catering and merchandising. Sponsors will pay more. It's not just about ticket sales.
