Longer term higher prices would affect attendance, people may be able to afford last night in which case it may seem to work out better for the club to have £35 instead of £16 but 3 home games down the line they may run out of money and we could see a really low crowd.
I don't have a season ticket at the moment as I have 3 young kids and get it in the neck off the wife. I do try and go to as many games as possible though. Saying that, I won't be able to do it as much this year as it just costs too much. My daughter is interested in City and I have a duty to take her and show her what it all means so that the next generation get the bug. I can't wait until I can take my boys aswell. Having said that, I may be priced out of football by then. I couldn't go last night as the wife is at college on a Monday night but it would have cost me £45 for me and the nipper and then £62 for the Man City game. So I don't think its a coincidence that there was 3000 empty seats last night. You'll struggle to shift tickets for West Ham at £35 a pop.
Do people think expansion is still absolutely necessary? If we stay in the Premier League, we're going to be on TV a hell of a lot and if that means attendances are going to be like they were last night, is it really worth it right now?
There may be empty seats at Old Trafford. But they have been sold and won't be available for sale. Same with Arsenal. Well off season ticket holders who pick and choose their games.
You can't base a long term strategy on stadium expansion on the attendance of a Monday night televised game against West Ham ffs.
Why we feel the need to announce the attendance is beyond me, all it does is attract ridicule. If your that interested in what it is buy a programme the following game.
Assad should think about moving his tinpot operation to Craven Park if the crowds continue to dwindle like they are.
It's a good point actually - why do we announce the attendance? I cant think of a single reason for it other than it's something we've always done in the past. If people want to see it, look at the club website or they could even flash it on the big screen for 5 seconds, but we certainly dont need to audibly announce it. It serves no purpose.
No, but you can base it on the fact that if televised games are going to bring poor attendances and we're going to be on television more and more, our average attendance for the season is going to be slightly lower. I don't think the fact that it was on a Monday night bears much credence, partly because we got a full house against Trencin and that was a midweek game, but partly because what better thing did people have to do on a Monday night? If the club can't be arsed to make an effort to get people into a Category B game, how are they expected to be arsed to work towards a stadium expansion?
They would obviously have to address the poor marketing of games and ticket pricing in conjunction with any stadium expansion(not pissing off supporters would also help). There's no doubt that a place the size of Hull and the East Riding could easily fill a 30k+ stadium, it's achieved in many cities smaller than ours, I don't even think there's a debate to be had, if done properly, it would be easy.
But that's the clincher. It isn't done properly. It seems odd that they have the ability to go all out for the Trencin game (selling tickets for a tenner, giving away free programmes and making a real day of it) but then can't use the glamour of the Premier League to fill seats despite the fact it's on television. I agree that the area has the potential, but I think the first point of action is to fill the seats we already have by doing the above and it needs doing for every home game. Then, once they've sorted out how to attract a wider fan base, they can look at putting more seats in.
Ah but with the spare £19 do the 25,000 spend it on food, programmes, merch and beer? Maybe they dont and the club earn much less from a sell-out at £16 but as I said, it would be interesting to see.
That's not the case though is it with 18000 (ish) season ticket holders. Lets say theres an extra 7000 tickets to make things easier. Sell out at £35 is £245,000 Sell out at £16 is £112,000 There was 4000 empty seats last night, so thats roughly 3000 sold at £35, or £105,000. I think what it proves is there's too big a gap between Cat A and Cat B. I think we'd be much better off at £20, £30 and £40.
He cant fill a stadium at £35 - lets see how many cash on the gate punters he attracts against Man City when the gate is £50 - last time we were in the Prem we had sell outs almost every game - unfortunately vast swathes of support have decided enough is enough either because of all the Allam **** or just because the novelty has worn off - Allam needs to focus on getting his core support back in the ground rather than doing his utmost to piss them off
It's my first season for a long while without a season pass, I could've gone last night but I just couldn't get excited enough to go after Thursday and paying £35 was just the icing on the cake. I reckon citeh will be a sell out though
