TheHeathI haven’t been since Hull under Rooney and it was that toxic it put me off. I’ll be going against Sunderland.
I think the model of different classes is wrong and there should be a standard price. If you go to the cinema it’s the same price whether you’re watching the latest blockbuster or something forgettable.
If it’s £30 a ticket whether it’s Riotherham or Leicester people know there’s nowone in this division that justifies higher or lower prices.
This is something I agree with and I know was a heavy debate within the club last summer. I hope this is the kind of thing that blues matters forum discusses - and if the majority agree, pushes the club to change.
It is very different to Sky in that Sky compensate the clubs, albeit not very adequately in the Chump. The pirates are just parasites thieving from the club as are the fans who watch the streams. Same with the pubs showing the games. No idea why they aren't losing their licences over this. Prosecutions can and do actually happen so the streams can be stopped. An IPTV supplier from Sutton Coldfield was sent down only last week for 12 months and just watching the streams can potentially carry a sentence of up to 5 years. Viewers also put themselves at risk of identity theft and malware as well as funding organised crime if they are buying cheap IPTV subscriptions. Copyright theft is actually a serious criminal matter which is hurting the club that fans profess to love but are clearly very happy to thieve from.
The reason behind attendances being low in my view is much less to do with ticket pricing than people make out, and it's more to do with our home record being one of the worst in the country over the last 10 years (pretty sure it's top 5 worst, I remember reading a stat on it).
£37 a ticket won't help, but, people would be more willing to pay it if we were looking like we might actually have chance of doing something this year.
I've had a ST for years, but I do get why some people don't go. The convincing has to be done with consistent results.
Having said that, I will be embarrassed if Sunderland doesn't sell out. I'm sure it will - people are looking at the ticket map as if it's this weekend, it's 2 weeks away still.
I'd like to see that too. One price, you're paying to watch Blues, not the opposition and it gives certainty. £30 in the champ is the sweet spot I think, if we go up increase it as you need.
Kop CornerIt is very different to Sky in that Sky compensate the clubs, albeit not very adequately in the Chump. The pirates are just parasites thieving from the club as are the fans who watch the streams. Same with the pubs showing the games. No idea why they aren't losing their licences over this. Prosecutions can and do actually happen so the streams can be stopped. An IPTV supplier from Sutton Coldfield was sent down only last week for 12 months and just watching the streams can potentially carry a sentence of up to 5 years. Viewers also put themselves at risk of identity theft and malware as well as funding organised crime if they are buying cheap IPTV subscriptions. Copyright theft is actually a serious criminal matter which is hurting the club that fans profess to love but are clearly very happy to thieve from.
I think your argument is flawed in the same way that the argument vs people downloading music was.
One person streaming does not equal one ticket not sold. Most people who stream games illegally would never pay anyway, and as such while it's illegal they do not represent missed customers.
I do think that the time has come for football clubs to come together to work on a better streaming solution which legalises a paid framework for people in the UK to watch content; however like ticketing this too needs to provide value as I believe people will only pay on a monthly basis for something that they consider is worth it.
Yeah I don’t know one supporter who’d rather watch it online than go if they enjoyed/wanted to go to games.
Absolutely. While Spotify has major issues it’s effectively wiped out piracy in music, same as Netflix did when it first started the streaming service.
Now that every company and their wealthy dog wants a subscription the piracy of TV and Film has gone back up massively. Consumers will pay for something if it’s convenient.
I cannot afford the time or money to go to away games and may struggle to get tickets due to not attending an away game for 5 years. However, I would pay for a stream but on Saturday I would have to be overseas to get a paid stream. I am sure a model that somehow allowed streams to away games wouldn’t affect the attendance, it would generate more revenue and more regular contact with the club. I think we are going a month without a home game?
AgramontI cannot afford the time or money to go to away games and may struggle to get tickets due to not attending an away game for 5 years. However, I would pay for a stream but on Saturday I would have to be overseas to get a paid stream. I am sure a model that somehow allowed streams to away games wouldn’t affect the attendance, it would generate more revenue and more regular contact with the club. I think we are going a month without a home game?
Two home games in a week next week :)
The red button is also one that hits attendances.
I don’t feel guilty as I have a 350 mile round trip to games and have season tickets anyway, but if the game is midweek and on the red button these days I am generally unlikely to go to it and will watch it at home.
So I’ve paid for it twice over via a Sky subscription but it does mean our seats are empty.
When you think about how many options there are now to watch the game other than being inside the stadium, it is no surprise that seats are empty whether or not you have a season ticket.
I don’t feel guilty as I have a 350 mile round trip to games and have season tickets anyway, but if the game is midweek and on the red button these days I am generally unlikely to go to it and will watch it at home.
DvB ☝️
They are opening rows up in the lower Kop that were greyed out. Block 26 now.
El MayorTheHeathI haven’t been since Hull under Rooney and it was that toxic it put me off. I’ll be going against Sunderland.
I think the model of different classes is wrong and there should be a standard price. If you go to the cinema it’s the same price whether you’re watching the latest blockbuster or something forgettable.
If it’s £30 a ticket whether it’s Riotherham or Leicester people know there’s nowone in this division that justifies higher or lower prices.
This is something I agree with and I know was a heavy debate within the club last summer. I hope this is the kind of thing that blues matters forum discusses - and if the majority agree, pushes the club to change.
Derbies aside it's a backwards approach anyway.
We're going to charge you more to watch us against Leicester - i.e. a team we're likely to lose to.
At the moment, it's viable for people to run a small business offering illegal streams. It costs money to do it but they make that back through running adverts and because they attract a lot of people, it makes a nice profit.
If there was an officially run UK service that people could pay for, it would cut right into those profits and there would be less and less of them whilst redirecting that money towards the clubs.
I'm not defending these sites or the people that use them but saying "they're bad" achieves eff all as it did with music and films. Putting your head in the sand or making vague threats about going to jail if you catch people won't ever work. If they found a way to entirely shut off illegal streams, it would have a minor effect on attendances. Some would go to matches who don't bother now but others who can only go occasionally would become disconnected from their club and would stop going altogether.
"Attendances across the Vanarama National League reached an all-time high this season as over three million people attended games during the 2022/23 season.
The record figure is indicative of the surge in interest of the Vanarama National League over the past season as the total attendances across the National, North and South broke the three million mark for the first time – with the average gate across the three divisions being over 5,000."
"The latest attendance numbers show a desire to watch live football despite the introduction of the League streaming platform National League TV."