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Season ticket waiting list

Well if history tells us anything about this, it is that SAFC will always bounce back, and that extension you refer to was without question the right thing to do, even though at the time we didn't have your decade of demand to point to. However many empty seats we had during the dark days (I'd rather we count the actual attendance figures than the empty seats, and they were nothing short of fantastic), was it not worth 'looking ridiculous' (which IMO we never did) for the benefit of having a larger stadium over the long term, which we are now reaping the rewards from and will continue to do so in future? We're in the same position now as the club was then in needing to grow, only the rationale is far stronger, given the importance of maximising revenues under new financial rules.

Financially, we very much do need it. And we have thousands of fans who can't get tickets also, apart from anything else.
If they thought it wouldn't make the money back then they wouldn't do it. Far too premature to get it extended now like
 

Yeah, I wonder if something like a membership scheme that you pay for but get priority for ticket applications and a discount on them (so if you go to enough games it covers the cost) would work, but that is probably getting far to complex!
That's what's happened at the mags and fans have ended up paying even more trying to get lucky getting a few games a season. It's the same at other clubs also as it's just another way to generate revenue yet fans still don't get to many more games than they would without it as many 1,000s still join the membership for the few tickets available.

Also not every fan buying a ST to ensure a seat for selected games can afford it. Yes there is the resale but then you can only get a max £100 credit which is only a few games, plus you've got to pay it in full when it comes to renewal. As you'll know we're not as affluent up here so this isn't an option for all fans.

As mentioned, extend the stadium and make sure they milk the corporate side of things for those willing to spend more to bring in the extra £millions. This means no continuous price rises to bring us into line with other clubs that milk fans due to demand exceeding supply.

I bet more fans started going to games in the lower division than the top division. Why is that? It's because up here it isn't all about the glory days, it's about going with your parents or whoever takes you to your first match and that gets you hooked at a young age.

Fans still go to games even though the footy is shit and the weather is cold and they've fucked about with the kick off times as it's part of their social life. That's a big reason when we still got such huge crowds during the shit years as we've always had a large core of 'die hard' supporters who didn't just go to see Premier League teams, they went to see family and friends.

One thing the club doesn't want to do is cut that chain off at any point by restricting fans access. Even during the shit PL seasons 10 years ago we had over 40,000. Some of those clubs looking to expand are also potential relegation candidates so why are they doing it?

It's because footy has grown considerably since then and that's why many clubs are now looking to extend. In time some will have bigger capacities than us, plus they'll be wanting more corporate offerings as many fans are willing to spend more money. Our potential fan base will have grown in the last 10 years but being out the top league will have lost fans to the mags in certain areas. Those who chose the mags now can't get to games but fans who can still get to games may choose us instead if they can actually get to games. By getting to games, it's not just ticket revenue it's the potential of another life long fan who'd go through the good and bad times and them also spending more money on the club than a fan who can't get to games.

Look at the Brighton prices I hoyed up and what they've done in 7 years of Premier League and how they're milking fans that much they've got a massive revenue from just 31,000 fans. I bet if Brighton went down, they'd see a mass exodus of fans if they didn't compete at the top of the Championship because they've priced out many young fans with their crap concessions and higher ticket prices. Would those who've missed out think about going back when it's shit seeing what happened to them when it was good? Possibly but not all of those empty seats would be filled.

We haven't done that and have a far larger loyal fan base than most clubs. If we just keep raising prices then the more affluent will pay but then they'd be pricing out the less affluent but possibly more passionate and loyal fans who would go no matter what is served up on the pitch.

We had a huge capacity during the Roker Park days and sometimes it was in the 60k but other times it was in the 30k, sometimes 20k but neebody was bothered about empty spaces. All games have fluctuating crowds, it was around 10,000 range in the Reid era and 30,000 in Roker Park days, so if a clubs now sells out every game means fans who'd want to go are missing out.

This empty seats is a new thing that fans use to bash other clubs but so what if there's a few 1,000 empty seats up a height? Would fans not rather have cheaper seats and more fans getting to games? A seasonal increase of £100 taking the average from £400 per fan to £500 on 43,000 would be just over £4m. That wouldn't even be enough to cover the wages of a PL player. Whereas if we extended, another 10,000 extra fans paying £400 would also add that £4m, plus whatever the corporate could add. More fans and also the original 43,000 are £100 better off so may spend some on the club in some way.

With the large stadium, we could easily follow the German model and have cheaper tickets. Especially for the bairns who are the future generation of fans and fuck the greed shown by other clubs chasing the impossible dream by milking fans.

I've waffled enough and my keyboard battery is overheating so get it built and let's get carried away man 😉 🤣
 
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This mind set of assuming we'll fail is like a city wide chip on people's shoulders.

I'd rather have the entire stadium extended than worry about what it looks like IF we go back to league 1.
This, if we don’t aim high we won’t achieve anything:
- Don’t want to get promotion cos we’re not ready
- Don’t want to qualify for Europe because our squad isn’t big enough
- Don’t want to extend the Stadium in case we go down again.

The gap between the Championship and PL is getting bigger every year so we will have a head start on the 3 teams coming up every year.
There is no reason why we can’t be a PL team for years to come, imo teams have to get it badly wrong to go down these days.
 
No not yet
It's pessimists like you that hold us back. What are you worried about, that a mag mate at work says we have empty seats... so what? Are you really that bothered if we had a few empty seats?

If we're selling out, we're missing out on revenue. Get it extended.
 
That's what's happened at the mags and fans have ended up paying even more trying to get lucky getting a few games a season. It's the same at other clubs also as it's just another way to generate revenue yet fans still don't get to many more games than they would without it as many 1,000s still join the membership for the few tickets available.

Also not every fan buying a ST to ensure a seat for selected games can afford it. Yes there is the resale but then you can only get a max £100 credit which is only a few games, plus you've got to pay it in full when it comes to renewal. As you'll know we're not as affluent up here so this isn't an option for all fans.

As mentioned, extend the stadium and make sure they milk the corporate side of things for those willing to spend more to bring in the extra £millions. This means no continuous price rises to bring us into line with other clubs that milk fans due to demand exceeding supply.

I bet more fans started going to games in the lower division than the top division. Why is that? It's because up here it isn't all about the glory days, it's about going with your parents or whoever takes you to your first match and that gets you hooked at a young age.

Fans still go to games even though the footy is shit and the weather is cold and they've fucked about with the kick off times as it's part of their social life. That's a big reason when we still got such huge crowds during the shit years as we've always had a large core of 'die hard' supporters who didn't just go to see Premier League teams, they went to see family and friends.

One thing the club doesn't want to do is cut that chain off at any point by restricting fans access. Even during the shit PL seasons 10 years ago we had over 40,000. Some of those clubs looking to expand are also potential relegation candidates so why are they doing it?

It's because footy has grown considerably since then and that's why many clubs are now looking to extend. In time some will have bigger capacities than us, plus they'll be wanting more corporate offerings as many fans are willing to spend more money. Our potential fan base will have grown in the last 10 years but being out the top league will have lost fans to the mags in certain areas. Those who chose the mags now can't get to games but fans who can still get to games may choose us instead if they can actually get to games. By getting to games, it's not just ticket revenue it's the potential of another life long fan who'd go through the good and bad times and them also spending more money on the club than a fan who can't get to games.

Look at the Brighton prices I hoyed up and what they've done in 7 years of Premier League and how they're milking fans that much they've got a massive revenue from just 31,000 fans. I bet if Brighton went down, they'd see a mass exodus of fans if they didn't compete at the top of the Championship because they've priced out many young fans with their crap concessions and higher ticket prices. Would those who've missed out think about going back when it's shit seeing what happened to them when it was good? Possibly but not all of those empty seats would be filled.

We haven't done that and have a far larger loyal fan base than most clubs. If we just keep raising prices then the more affluent will pay but then they'd be pricing out the less affluent but possibly more passionate and loyal fans who would go no matter what is served up on the pitch.

We had a huge capacity during the Roker Park days and sometimes it was in the 60k but other times it was in the 30k, sometimes 20k but neebody was bothered about empty spaces. All games have fluctuating crowds, it was around 10,000 range in the Reid era and 30,000 in Roker Park days, so if a clubs now sells out every game means fans who'd want to go are missing out.

This empty seats is a new thing that fans use to bash other clubs but so what if there's a few 1,000 empty seats up a height? Would fans not rather have cheaper seats and more fans getting to games? A seasonal increase of £100 taking the average from £400 per fan to £500 on 43,000 would be just over £4m. That wouldn't even be enough to cover the wages of a PL player. Whereas if we extended, another 10,000 extra fans paying £400 would also add that £4m, plus whatever the corporate could add. More fans and also the original 43,000 are £100 better off so may spend some on the club in some way.

With the large stadium, we could easily follow the German model and have cheaper tickets. Especially for the bairns who are the future generation of fans and fuck the greed shown by other clubs chasing the impossible dream by milking fans.

I've waffled enough and my keyboard battery is overheating so get it built and let's get carried away man 😉 🤣
Some good points there. Very important to keep ticket prices affordable and as you say we can do that by extending the stadium and getting more fans in
No not yet
When then?
 
If they thought it wouldn't make the money back then they wouldn't do it. Far too premature to get it extended now like
So you're saying we shouldn't do it, without knowing if the club thinks it would make money back? How do you know it's 'far too premature'? What if they do think they'd make money back? Would you change your stance then? There's not a lot of logic involved in your position.

Maybe just let the club decide if they think it's worth it, since that's what will happen anyway, and they'll do it if the numbers stack up, regardless of whether some fans think it's too early.
 
Some good points there. Very important to keep ticket prices affordable and as you say we can do that by extending the stadium and getting more fans in

When then?
I mentioned £4m from the extra 10,000 fans (if we averaged 55,000) paying the £400 average but I forget to mention that Brighton have well over 3,000 corporate in their stand, probably paying £1,500 on average.

If we extended the East stand then we could offer say 3,000 with a similar average price and that alone would be another £4.5m in revenue. Hoy in another 1,000 paying say £1,000 from the South stand extension and that's another million. It could be more as the 76 yards is a lot higher than that, yet a new lounge could offer a lot more so potentially even that could be more than £1,0000.

That £5.5m corporate is the equivalent of 13,750 fans paying the average £400, or an increase of £130 for the 45,000 fans. Plus corporate would also be spending money in the lounge increasing revenue again.

Bear in mind that in 2023/24, we generated just £11.9m from an average 41,000 fans before the significant price rises, it just shows how much having corporate can add. That means no need for price rises in coming seasons because we sell out and so what if we only sell out half the games a season and have a few empty seats in others. The average would still be over what we have now as we'd easily get over 50,000 this season.

This is all rough numbers made up but the club will have an idea of potential revenue they're missing out on and also the impact that price rises this season has on renewals. Hopefully they do down the extension path rather than the milking fans path.
 
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We dont need an extension though, theres nothing to suggest we do. Just being realistic
Have a dose of my reality.
I'm an exiled pensioner on a small income. I first went to Roker Park in 1958. (See ALS 137) My two lads were born and bred in North London, but are red'n'white to the bone. We all love coming up for games and to stay with the family: my nephews are SC holders. My lads both work obviously, so it's down to me to play fastest-finger on a Tuesday to get tickets and it is a nightmare. We managed only two games so far in the Prem but are coming up for Brighton. Away games are a fantasy. It was so much easier to sort out Gillingham, Portsmouth, Reading, Norwich etc.
We have toyed with the idea of getting SCs (as @RTGAdmin above) but it would be ruinously expensive and I don't think it's right to re-sell the majority of the tickets, or maybe get my sister and BiL onboard to farm them out to.
Having enough tickets to meet demand is a GOOD THING if you don't want to see SC prices raised to 2 or 3 times what they are now.
Also matchday revenue is crucial for the coming SCR regs.
I really don't see what people are scared of!
 
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Some good points there. Very important to keep ticket prices affordable and as you say we can do that by extending the stadium and getting more fans in

When then?
If/when we are an established premier team and the attendances stay the same and/or demand goes up
 
If/when we are an established premier team and the attendances stay the same and/or demand goes up
So what does established look like? Are Brentford for example more established than us, making them less likely to go down next season? I’m not so sure
 
There's only 17 tickets left for the next home game which is over two week away.

Does that not suggest we do need an extension?
These are extras that went on sale a few days ago aswell, part of the Brighton away section they havnt taken up, Game was sold out straight away. Sold another 1,000 extra than the usual home capacity for this one, 1,700 extra for Fulham and Burnley, 1,300 for Palace, 1,500 for Bournemouth, 1,000 for Brentford.
 
So what does established look like? Are Brentford for example more established than us, making them less likely to go down next season? I’m not so sure
I mean Brentford are now established and I will assume they would look at extending their stadium if they sold out every game and have waiting lists
 
Just had a look, man united definitely don't:

"Season Ticket holders are required to make use of their ticket for at least 16 out of 19 Premier League games in 2025/26. To help with this, you can use the following options if you cannot attend:

1. Forward your ticket to another fan
2. Donate the cost of your ticket to the MU Foundation
3. Return your ticket and get a refund using the resale option online

How do I use these options? You will be able to use all of these options within the Official Manchester United App.

Is there a deadline? We ask fans to use resale and donate as early as possible. If using resale, in order to receive a full refund (subject to resale of the ticket), this needs to be no later than two weeks before the fixture. Any tickets listed and resold after this time will be subject to a £10 fee. Note that only the ticket owner or transaction lead can list a ticket for resale.

Do all of these options count towards minimum attendance? Yes, they do. Only where a ticket is listed for resale within 14 days of the game and not resold will minimum attendance be impacted."

Haven't looked at Liverpool but I'm sure they're the same. Haven't heard of any clubs imposing anything stricter than that, they don't really care as long as the seat is taken
Interesting! I got told by a Man U fan that loads of their fans got letters about reselling your ticket etc. at the start of the season - but I think I mgiht have got it wrong/ he told me wrong. Quick google I think they get charged £10 to resell it, and the club block you reselling for games that aren't selling well though!
 
I mean Brentford are now established and I will assume they would look at extending their stadium if they sold out every game and have waiting lists
Brentford do sell out pretty much every game. Their new-ish ground is wedged between the railway and the M4, surrounded by tower blocks and could not possibly expand. They PLAN to be a second rate side, perhaps dropping to the Championship, but remaining solvent. That is the height of their ambition.
We think bigger.
 
What is behind the obsession of attendances and full stadiums with many of our supporters and the Visitors mob too? I was young, but I do not remember any of this being an issue until the plans for the SOL were annouced and suddenly the initial capacity became a hot topic… it seems to hsve grown into an obsession ever since!

Surely, we all should be more focused on getting behind anything that attracts more people to games and maximises the clubs revenues?
 
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