Ticket Price Protest

[LingfieldBee]

One thing to remember football is a desired luxury to attend it's not a entitlement. like many things in life. We choose not to have Sky and our only subscription is Netflix, that's a financial choice so we can afford other things. I'm not going to protest against Sky I personally think their prices are ridiculous but everyone pays it. I choose not.

We are fairly priced on the footballing Market. One of the cheapest in the league.

 

[BEEcool]

Given that we have just been confirmed as the biggest drinkers in the Premier League with 41% of fans drinking 5 pints or more on game day I feel like now is not the best time to protest about ticket prices.

 

[AB]

Given that we have just been confirmed as the biggest drinkers in the Premier League with 41% of fans drinking 5 pints or more on game day I feel like now is not the best time to protest about ticket prices.

Cut out one pint and you’ve paid for the increase. Protest by making that one of the pints you’d normally buy in the ground and maybe the club would notice because the bar contractors would try to renegotiate their concession. But it might not work because fans unaware of the protest who normally don’t buy in ground because of the queues might start doing so!

 

[rebus]

The club shouldn’t have put match by match tickets up by £5 now when many are feeling the pinch and when it is getting huge amounts of PL money that make ticket revenue a drop in the ocean. It might be justifiable in that its own expenses on the operations side will have gone up due to rising prices (eg stadium staff wages, energy etc) and wants not to put football revenue in to cover it. It might be justifiable on the basis of demand and comparability with other clubs locally even at a lower level.

But the club hasn’t made any of those arguments publicly. The worst thing is those increases were slipped in alongside a complex and contentious redesign of the process for buying away tickets which was done suitably poorly that it had to follow it up with a more detailed rationale (albeit one which thinking about it a few on here did posit before the club confirmed). The problem is the club really didn’t treat its consultation with BIAS/BU fairly so it looked like the changes were agreed by our representatives when in fact the club deviated from what the fan representations were and didn’t say they’d done that.

For me we are a way off protesting at matches because the thing to do would be for BIAS/BU to argue that relationship point more and better to the right people. If after that the conclusion is that relationship is broken or not taken seriously then maybe we need more direct action. We need more to get involved in BIAS/BU (and maybe now to move to a single organisation having standing to represent fans).

Also, protests can only work if we’re willing to follow through. The reality is right now the majority of fans in the ground are paying £23 a game in the PL. Most of them were paying more to stand on Ealing Road in the Championship as they were neither STs nor members back then and would rarely buy tickets in advance. Even with sympathy for fellow Bees a lot more would be needed to translate that sympathy into solidarity that would have large numbers make them take on the club at matches when we are absolutely loving what the club has made itself into on the pitch. I hope we never have to get to that point.

Excellent post.

 

[aslan]

The best protest is just not paying those prices

It's not. Brentford fans don't pay those prices, "fans of the EPL" will pay. You're then left with a soulless stadium with more pizza than noise. This is the crossroad the club is currently at. Do we care about fans of Brentford, or the fans of football?

 

[Idaho Bee]

The "real" fans of Brentford, who've been following the club for many years, are used to watching League 1 football, in a run down stadium, and that is what they were paying for. Brentford have since spoiled those fans rotten by gaining promotion (after many years of investment and hard work) to the best league in the world, defied the odds by staying there, and they get to watch it all in a brand new, world class stadium.

5 quid extra a match, for a non season ticket holder is a very small price to pay for being able to continue to watch this fantastic product.

Storm in a teacup.

 

[Raise The Roof]

This coming season.

If we are renegotiating with the club, is there anything that could be designed that linked TAPs to pricing. Now that Bees with 1000TAPs have been offered season tickets, it’s the regular attenders in the band below 1000 TAPs who are most affected. So for example could those with say 500 TAPs qualify for a £5 credit/discount against Matchday prices? Or those buying 10 or more tickets in a season, get £5 off anything above 9 tickets. Or credits against away coaches?

So the strapline objective would be to reward the loyalty of those who are building up enough TAPs to eventually qualify for a season ticket.

 

[AB]

If we are renegotiating with the club, is there anything that could be designed that linked TAPs to pricing. Now that Bees with 1000TAPs have been offered season tickets, it’s the regular attenders in the band below 1000 TAPs who are most affected. So for example could those with say 500 TAPs qualify for a £5 credit/discount against Matchday prices? Or those buying 10 or more tickets in a season, get £5 off anything above 9 tickets. Or credits against away coaches?

So the strapline objective would be to reward the loyalty of those who are building up enough TAPs to eventually qualify for a season ticket.

This sounds like an interesting thing to explore for next season assuming we stay up and continue our trajectory. It might be easiest to implement by having a new membership tier qualified for with TAPs and set by reference to actual data on buying habits. If “Gold” membership were qualified for by having something just short of the criteria for the new STs offered for this season it would neatly provide a clear path to being eligible subject to demand and sufficient 23-24 attendance for a 24-25 ST. But the downside is that doing this makes getting matchday tickets for new fans harder.

 

[Bee(h)Iver]

I appreciate the thoughts behind this. For years, first through starting a family and then through debt I was unable to afford to come to GP. Had to give up a season ticket and then for years only came on a few occasions when I could justify it. I'm luckier now as I'm financially comfortable and can treat myself to the North Stand, almost in exactly the some position as my old New Road seat (and previously New Road standing!).
Personally don't think ticket prices should have gone up this year but can also understand in a business sense and with a rapidly increasing workforce and additional costs why they did. We still do have some of the lowest ticket prices in the PL. And although I'm signed up to BIAS I'm a silent member and now recognise that all of us, the supporters, need to do more to make sure that the club are aware of our feelings.

One thing I'm not prepared to do, ever, is turn my back on the players who have taken us to this undreamt of level and so respectfully I will not take part in any such protest, and I would encourage my fellow supporters not to do so. If you wish to make a protest then lets do it through the proper channels.
Ironically, even if a majority of people supported the protest you have also picked the absolutely wrong game. There will be enough clowns in the away end wearing green and yellow because they are protesting in the way their club is run. Do we really want to be associated with them? Do we want to seen as churlish fans who are turning our back on our club at the greatest time of our lives?

The economy is a mess and the cost of living is going to be a nightmare for so many families in this country. Some will be experiencing real poverty for the very first time. Energy prices are going to get higher and higher before they possibly stabilise in the spring or summer NEXT year. Inflation won't fall for a while, the cost of loans and mortgages will continue to rise plunging more and more people into debt or negative equity, and it's heartbreaking because a lot of the pain could have been avoided if tackled earlier, but that's another thread. Some people, some of them loyal fans who have been coming for years, will have to stop attending games because it's a choice between food, or school clothes, or heating and football. I know it's tough because I've been there: it's horrible when something which has become an integral part of your life has to be given up, but people will make the right choice because family comes first. And one day things will get better and you'll be able to come back, although you'll be horrified about how much the ticket price has gone up while you were away ( I remember my dismay the day I rocked up on a Saturday afternoon and found it was going to cost me a tenner to get in!)

It's a shame that just as we're preparing for our second season in the Premier League (and just pause and let that sick in for a moment) that such a bad feeling has been created. Some of this is undoubtable the clubs fault for the way the pricing and ticket announcement was handled, but some of it is down to circumstances outside of anyone's control. If everyone was getting inflation linked pay rises, their job was secure and we weren't staring down 100% increases in fuel very few people would have complained about a fiver. The players aren't to blame for the economy, and I won't take it on them. Ever!

 

[Raise The Roof]

This sounds like an interesting thing to explore for next season assuming we stay up and continue our trajectory. It might be easiest to implement by having a new membership tier qualified for with TAPs and set by reference to actual data on buying habits. If “Gold” membership were qualified for by having something just short of the criteria for the new STs offered for this season it would neatly provide a clear path to being eligible subject to demand and sufficient 23-24 attendance for a 24-25 ST. But the downside is that doing this makes getting matchday tickets for new fans harder.

@AB, you have hit upon they key - which is that anything designed has to be consistent with how the club propose to grow the fan base of the future. Priority surely needs to be given to new youngsters and (what could be called) “family-planning“. “Families” could be seen as new youngsters with their responsible adults tagging along! Do we need additional family areas, perhaps in East Stand? It would be great to know if the club were developing this new-fan-strategy with the level of professionalism that they invest in their new-player development - and to have some publicity and insight into this. The upcoming meeting between BIAS/BU and the club seems a great start.

 

[Bee(h)Iver]

It's not. Brentford fans don't pay those prices, "fans of the EPL" will pay. You're then left with a soulless stadium with more pizza than noise. This is the crossroad the club is currently at. Do we care about fans of Brentford, or the fans of football?

I think there has to be a balance. If you are talking about hardcore fans who have followed us through thick and thin, been coming since L1 or L2 and have all the scars and away ticket stubs then you are talking about less than 25% capacity of the BCS. Even with fans who have been along during the MB era is about 50%

I know it's easy to point the finger at new fans and say they are ruining the club at the cost of loyal fans who have done the miles but the truth is the club need both. Traditionalists who know the history and the ethos of the club, and fresh blood who will buy shirts and tickets. Of course, many of these will head elsewhere if things go south on the pitch, but some of them will stay, and fall in love the club, and maybe in 30-40 years be on here complaining about new fans!

 

[AB]

I think there has to be a balance. If you are talking about hardcore fans who have followed us through thick and thin, been coming since L1 or L2 and have all the scars and away ticket stubs then you are talking about less than 25% capacity of the BCS. Even with fans who have been along during the MB era is about 50%

I know it's easy to point the finger at new fans and say they are ruining the club at the cost of loyal fans who have done the miles but the truth is the club need both. Traditionalists who know the history and the ethos of the club, and fresh blood who will buy shirts and tickets. Of course, many of these will head elsewhere if things go south on the pitch, but some of them will stay, and fall in love the club, and maybe in 30-40 years be on here complaining about new fans!

Agree. I think we’re a bit too apt to mythologise a load of fans who loyally came through the dark days and are being excluded now. The reality, despite the fact that we all probably know a few who used to come and now don’t very much, is the vast majority of long term fans are still coming.

There’ll be very few pre-BCS STs who aren’t coming now, almost all will have got STs. The number who got refunded in Covid was low and I’d be surprised if most of those didn’t as members last season attend enough to get offered a ST this season (other than those who’d moved away and missed last season or were themselves buying as a punt on promotion in 2020).

The club (and BIAS?) ought to have numbers for long term high TAPs fans who have stayed as members. Some will have qualified for a ST and declined it- these are fans who are mainly likely not to be feeling priced out but having good reasons for staying as members. Others will be just short of the ST threshold this year but that might well be quite a small number of whom a proportion would refuse a ST if offered. Year on year those guys will dwindle and there’ll be a higher number of members who’ve accrued 1000TAPs largely or solely over 2+ years in the PL.

 

[Raise The Roof]

Agree. I think we’re a bit too apt to mythologise a load of fans who loyally came through the dark days and are being excluded now. The reality, despite the fact that we all probably know a few who used to come and now don’t very much, is the vast majority of long term fans are still coming.

There’ll be very few pre-BCS STs who aren’t coming now, almost all will have got STs. The number who got refunded in Covid was low and I’d be surprised if most of those didn’t as members last season attend enough to get offered a ST this season (other than those who’d moved away and missed last season or were themselves buying as a punt on promotion in 2020).

The club (and BIAS?) ought to have numbers for long term high TAPs fans who have stayed as members. Some will have qualified for a ST and declined it- these are fans who are mainly likely not to be feeling priced out but having good reasons for staying as members. Others will be just short of the ST threshold this year but that might well be quite a small number of whom a proportion would refuse a ST if offered. Year on year those guys will dwindle and there’ll be a higher number of members who’ve accrued 1000TAPs largely or solely over 2+ years in the PL.

On this point, could BIAS/BU seek a confirmation by the club that 1000TAPers will be offered a ST next year (and in future years), even if this breaches the 10,000 ST limit (which feels a slightly arbitrary limit)? This would then make 1000 TAPs a hard target for the aspirant ST purchaser.

 

[hobbsy]

On this point, could BIAS/BU seek a confirmation by the club that 1000TAPers will be offered a ST next year (and in future years), even if this breaches the 10,000 ST limit (which feels a slightly arbitrary limit)? This would then make 1000 TAPs a hard target for the aspirant ST purchaser.

The TAPs threshold this year was decided by how many season tickets they were willing to sell, not the other way round.

I suspect it will be the same again.

 

[Newport Pagnell Bee]

The club shouldn’t have put match by match tickets up by £5 now when many are feeling the pinch and when it is getting huge amounts of PL money that make ticket revenue a drop in the ocean. It might be justifiable in that its own expenses on the operations side will have gone up due to rising prices (eg stadium staff wages, energy etc) and wants not to put football revenue in to cover it. It might be justifiable on the basis of demand and comparability with other clubs locally even at a lower level.

But the club hasn’t made any of those arguments publicly. The worst thing is those increases were slipped in alongside a complex and contentious redesign of the process for buying away tickets which was done suitably poorly that it had to follow it up with a more detailed rationale (albeit one which thinking about it a few on here did posit before the club confirmed). The problem is the club really didn’t treat its consultation with BIAS/BU fairly so it looked like the changes were agreed by our representatives when in fact the club deviated from what the fan representations were and didn’t say they’d done that.

For me we are a way off protesting at matches because the thing to do would be for BIAS/BU to argue that relationship point more and better to the right people. If after that the conclusion is that relationship is broken or not taken seriously then maybe we need more direct action. We need more to get involved in BIAS/BU (and maybe now to move to a single organisation having standing to represent fans).

Also, protests can only work if we’re willing to follow through. The reality is right now the majority of fans in the ground are paying £23 a game in the PL. Most of them were paying more to stand on Ealing Road in the Championship as they were neither STs nor members back then and would rarely buy tickets in advance. Even with sympathy for fellow Bees a lot more would be needed to translate that sympathy into solidarity that would have large numbers make them take on the club at matches when we are absolutely loving what the club has made itself into on the pitch. I hope we never have to get to that point.

Great post

 

[AB]

The TAPs threshold this year was decided by how many season tickets they were willing to sell, not the other way round.

I suspect it will be the same again.

Funnily when the new STs were released I was surprised at how low the thresholds were. Possibly because of a year of people complaining how impossible getting a ticket was for long term fans and how closed a shop STs were going to be.

 

[Isleworth_Bee]

Personally, I would pay £50 per match ticket, but as a member I only manage to get a few a season, so it's an extra treat for me.
So I wouldn't complain at prices below that.

Out of choice?

 

[MinkyBee]

I appreciate the thoughts behind this. For years, first through starting a family and then through debt I was unable to afford to come to GP. Had to give up a season ticket and then for years only came on a few occasions when I could justify it. I'm luckier now as I'm financially comfortable and can treat myself to the North Stand, almost in exactly the some position as my old New Road seat (and previously New Road standing!).
Personally don't think ticket prices should have gone up this year but can also understand in a business sense and with a rapidly increasing workforce and additional costs why they did. We still do have some of the lowest ticket prices in the PL. And although I'm signed up to BIAS I'm a silent member and now recognise that all of us, the supporters, need to do more to make sure that the club are aware of our feelings.

One thing I'm not prepared to do, ever, is turn my back on the players who have taken us to this undreamt of level and so respectfully I will not take part in any such protest, and I would encourage my fellow supporters not to do so. If you wish to make a protest then lets do it through the proper channels.
Ironically, even if a majority of people supported the protest you have also picked the absolutely wrong game. There will be enough clowns in the away end wearing green and yellow because they are protesting in the way their club is run. Do we really want to be associated with them? Do we want to seen as churlish fans who are turning our back on our club at the greatest time of our lives?

The economy is a mess and the cost of living is going to be a nightmare for so many families in this country. Some will be experiencing real poverty for the very first time. Energy prices are going to get higher and higher before they possibly stabilise in the spring or summer NEXT year. Inflation won't fall for a while, the cost of loans and mortgages will continue to rise plunging more and more people into debt or negative equity, and it's heartbreaking because a lot of the pain could have been avoided if tackled earlier, but that's another thread. Some people, some of them loyal fans who have been coming for years, will have to stop attending games because it's a choice between food, or school clothes, or heating and football. I know it's tough because I've been there: it's horrible when something which has become an integral part of your life has to be given up, but people will make the right choice because family comes first. And one day things will get better and you'll be able to come back, although you'll be horrified about how much the ticket price has gone up while you were away ( I remember my dismay the day I rocked up on a Saturday afternoon and found it was going to cost me a tenner to get in!)

It's a shame that just as we're preparing for our second season in the Premier League (and just pause and let that sick in for a moment) that such a bad feeling has been created. Some of this is undoubtable the clubs fault for the way the pricing and ticket announcement was handled, but some of it is down to circumstances outside of anyone's control. If everyone was getting inflation linked pay rises, their job was secure and we weren't staring down 100% increases in fuel very few people would have complained about a fiver. The players aren't to blame for the economy, and I won't take it on them. Ever!

Very well worded response ?

 

[Raise The Roof]

The TAPs threshold this year was decided by how many season tickets they were willing to sell, not the other way round.

I suspect it will be the same again.

@hobbsy, I do accept the Real-Politik of this, but this sort of sums up the club-centric view, rather than fan-centric. The number of 500-1000 TAPers is presumably a relatively small number now. Do BIAS have/know those numbers?

 

[hobbsy]

@hobbsy, I do accept the Real-Politik of this, but this sort of sums up the club-centric view, rather than fan-centric. The number of 500-1000 TAPers is presumably a relatively small number now. Do BIAS have/know those numbers?

No we don't have any up to date breakdown

 

[Banana]

Such a protest is only suitable after the club stop listening to representations made by BIAS.

 

[IslandBee]

I find it astonishing that you think a group of fans turning their backs for few seconds will have any impact whatsoever.

A warning shot across the club's bows would not do any harm at all IMO.

 

[Bee(h)Iver]

A warning shot across the club's bows would not do any harm at all IMO.

Neither would engaging with the proper process. Are you signed up to BIAS?

 

[IslandBee]

Neither would engaging with the proper process. Are you signed up to BIAS?

I think they can work in tandem. Fair point on Bias - I have been in the past but my involvement lapsed. Seems it is time to engage again.

 

[BeeWalla]

For fans without a ST this increase results in £95 extra per person per season. That quickly adds up if you take family who you want to grow up in love with BFC. If a ST went up by £95 there would be protests.

However, I don’t think it’s correct to turn our back on our team.

If you want to protest then don’t buy a pint and pie at half time, or have a drink in a nearby pub before the match, or don’t get a match day programme.

I’m sure BU and BIAS will discuss this with BFC as for many fans this increase in the current climate will mean they can’t afford to attend.

 

[Wise old Bee]

I'm a ST holder so don't have a dog in this fight but I have friends who are Members and they are happy to pay these ticket prices to watch BFC. They are able to afford this, which is nice, but clearly prices will impact harder on some supporters. As has been said, it is a matter of choice. I would quite like to go to the theatre or to concerts etc a lot more than I do but am not prepared to pay the large amounts often charged for tickets. I also don't buy food at BCS, hardly ever drink there, and haven't bought a programme for years.

 

[BURFORD BEE]

Re-read my post in the morning then come back to me where I mention turning our backs on MB.

Isn’t that exactly what you would be doing.
After what he’s done for the club and the fortune he’s sunk into it.
The players really need this in the first home fixture of the season.
Incomprehensible!
If someone sat next to me pulled this stunt I would make my feelings felt!

 

[coconino]

It's not. Brentford fans don't pay those prices, "fans of the EPL" will pay. You're then left with a soulless stadium with more pizza than noise. This is the crossroad the club is currently at. Do we care about fans of Brentford, or the fans of football?

I do. Am I not a Brentford fan?

 

[aslan]

I do. Am I not a Brentford fan?

That's not the context the sentence was said in. It was in reply to "the best protest is to not purchase tickets", so if Brentford fans do not buy the tickets, someone else will - to be able to watch EPL football, rather than Brentford - and there won't any impact to anything bar the Brentford fan not watching Brentford. The club won't think "oh coconino didn't buy a ticket, maybe we've priced him out", they just think "happy days, another sell out"

 

[mhead bee]

Did I say was part of this behaviour??

Why would you take your wife to Barnet away unless you didn’t want her to attend again

Sounds like a good plan, we drink more beer then anyone else so who wants her there ruining your day, wanting to go for a nice meal on the way, quick look round the shops to make a day of it then leave 5 minutes early to miss the rush.

 

[A Real Mysteron]

I voted yes without reading the post.
I do think raising the prices is taking the piss in the current climate, and with the obscene amount of money the club get for bing part of this league.
The turning the back idea is Mickey Mouse.

 

[Frothybaby]

I appreciate the thoughts behind this. For years, first through starting a family and then through debt I was unable to afford to come to GP. Had to give up a season ticket and then for years only came on a few occasions when I could justify it. I'm luckier now as I'm financially comfortable and can treat myself to the North Stand, almost in exactly the some position as my old New Road seat (and previously New Road standing!).
Personally don't think ticket prices should have gone up this year but can also understand in a business sense and with a rapidly increasing workforce and additional costs why they did. We still do have some of the lowest ticket prices in the PL. And although I'm signed up to BIAS I'm a silent member and now recognise that all of us, the supporters, need to do more to make sure that the club are aware of our feelings.

One thing I'm not prepared to do, ever, is turn my back on the players who have taken us to this undreamt of level and so respectfully I will not take part in any such protest, and I would encourage my fellow supporters not to do so. If you wish to make a protest then lets do it through the proper channels.
Ironically, even if a majority of people supported the protest you have also picked the absolutely wrong game. There will be enough clowns in the away end wearing green and yellow because they are protesting in the way their club is run. Do we really want to be associated with them? Do we want to seen as churlish fans who are turning our back on our club at the greatest time of our lives?

The economy is a mess and the cost of living is going to be a nightmare for so many families in this country. Some will be experiencing real poverty for the very first time. Energy prices are going to get higher and higher before they possibly stabilise in the spring or summer NEXT year. Inflation won't fall for a while, the cost of loans and mortgages will continue to rise plunging more and more people into debt or negative equity, and it's heartbreaking because a lot of the pain could have been avoided if tackled earlier, but that's another thread. Some people, some of them loyal fans who have been coming for years, will have to stop attending games because it's a choice between food, or school clothes, or heating and football. I know it's tough because I've been there: it's horrible when something which has become an integral part of your life has to be given up, but people will make the right choice because family comes first. And one day things will get better and you'll be able to come back, although you'll be horrified about how much the ticket price has gone up while you were away ( I remember my dismay the day I rocked up on a Saturday afternoon and found it was going to cost me a tenner to get in!)

It's a shame that just as we're preparing for our second season in the Premier League (and just pause and let that sick in for a moment) that such a bad feeling has been created. Some of this is undoubtable the clubs fault for the way the pricing and ticket announcement was handled, but some of it is down to circumstances outside of anyone's control. If everyone was getting inflation linked pay rises, their job was secure and we weren't staring down 100% increases in fuel very few people would have complained about a fiver. The players aren't to blame for the economy, and I won't take it on them. Ever!

I agree with this in the main. Have never been able to afford a seaskn ticket (until the last two seasons!) And for 10 years never missed a home game. I think that there are more pertinent ways of the club getting fucsed income, without this price increase. Yet they did keep the home shirt. I would rather the savings was on the ticket than a shirt. But the costs are increasing for all. I remember free parking.

I think turning my back may be construed as a protest against the club. I do think fans and families are being priced out. But not just by the price of entry. I am happy to.protest, but i think it can be done in a less ambiguous way. Sing a song about prices increasig, chant about fans and thwir rights. I hope it can be raised in discussiin first.

I have attended many protests, but all concerned need to know what it is and how the.message is delivered. I do think it should be raised and if no resolution, then action. But there doesnt seem to be.much fight left in people these days. I also believe people should manage their money better and cut their cloth. There is terrible waste and terrible poverty.

 

['Ayes B]

This conundrum has played on my mind a lot yesterday.

The fact is that our pricing, in comparison to others, particularly Fulham holds up really well and will be appealing to Football tourists and those that just want to watch the odd game

However, our club wants 'affoardable football' and if you are a regular fan the costs have increased a lot.

Season Ticket holders appear to have been looked after and in my opinion we need through BIAS to suggest benifits for our regular non ST holder fans.

The way forward is probably to create a series of small wins, for BIAS to sell these to BU and with BU's support to put these to the club.

A few small wins would be...

Rolling membership... automatically renewing membership saving £45.

GOLD membership... given free to those above a certain TAP threshold. Could also be a ST holders waiting list.

Discounted matchday addmission for members. £5 off per game would equate to free membership if they attend nine games and a profit for ten or more games.

A family membership... upto two adults and children registered at the same address.

Ticket bundles, for those purchasing for two consecutive matches.

Reducing the price of junior tickets

Reducing the price of Senior tickets

All of the above allows the club to maintain the current pricing for irregular fans whilst rewarding and keeping football affoardable for our regular fans and shift workers.

 

[rebus]

This conundrum has played on my mind a lot yesterday.

The fact is that our pricing, in comparison to others, particularly Fulham holds up really well and will be appealing to Football tourists and those that just want to watch the odd game

However, our club wants 'affoardable football' and if you are a regular fan the costs have increased a lot.

Season Ticket holders appear to have been looked after and in my opinion we need through BIAS to suggest benifits for our regular non ST holder fans.

The way forward is probably to create a series of small wins, for BIAS to sell these to BU and with BU's support to put these to the club.

A few small wins would be...

Rolling membership... automatically renewing membership saving £45.

GOLD membership... given free to those above a certain TAP threshold. Could also be a ST holders waiting list.

Discounted matchday addmission for members. £5 off per game would equate to free membership if they attend nine games and a profit for ten or more games.

A family membership... upto two adults and children registered at the same address.

Ticket bundles, for those purchasing for two consecutive matches.

Reducing the price of junior tickets

Reducing the price of Senior tickets

All of the above allows the club to maintain the current pricing for irregular fans whilst rewarding and keeping football affoardable for our regular fans and shift workers.

Fulham are a complete outlier in respect of prices. There is no comparison to them as they simply don’t give a sh*t about their non season tickets and haven’t done for decades.

 

[coconino]

I won‘t be joining a protest. For all that it might sometimes feel like life and death, the reality is that attending matches is an optional extra. I’ve had plenty of times when I couldn’t afford the entrance fee and regretted it sorely, but that wasn’t because the price was too high, it was just too high for my circumstances.

If the club’s shareholders were trousering wads of our cash with no visible benefits then we might have an argument, but with a sparkling modern ground and a second season of our hugely entertaining playing staff mixing it in the world’s greatest league, I don’t see that we’re being short changed, quite the opposite. The evidence is there to see that we have a well-run club.

Yes budgets are growing tighter for very many of us now, and prices in general are running high, but that’s going to be the same for the club too, and MB’s wealth isn’t infinite. The club uses energy just like every household, as do all their suppliers, it’s inescapable that their costs will be going up. The cause of this lies elsewhere (and the ballot box is the place to protest).

Having said that, I completely agree that there is work needed to ensure long-term fans and their families are not left behind or squeezed out by randoms, or worse still by rival supporters, and I agree with a lot of the ideas posted here regarding reduced prices for ticket bundles, etc., with a bias towards policies which strengthen continuity down the generations and build community.

But turning my back on the club? It’s a no from me.

 

[rebus]

I won‘t be joining a protest. For all that it might sometimes feel like life and death, the reality is that attending matches is an optional extra. I’ve had plenty of times when I couldn’t afford the entrance fee and regretted it sorely, but that wasn’t because the price was too high, it was just too high for my circumstances.

If the club’s shareholders were trousering wads of our cash with no visible benefits then we might have an argument, but with a sparkling modern ground and a second season of our hugely entertaining playing staff mixing it in the world’s greatest league, I don’t see that we’re being short changed, quite the opposite. The evidence is there to see that we have a well-run club.

Yes budgets are growing tighter for very many of us now, and prices in general are running high, but that’s going to be the same for the club too, and MB’s wealth isn’t infinite. The club uses energy just like every household, as do all their suppliers, it’s inescapable that their costs will be going up. The cause of this lies elsewhere (and the ballot box is the place to protest).

Having said that, I completely agree that there is work needed to ensure long-term fans and their families are not left behind or squeezed out by randoms, or worse still by rival supporters, and I agree with a lot of the ideas posted here regarding reduced prices for ticket bundles, etc., with a bias towards policies which strengthen continuity down the generations and build community.

But turning my back on the club? It’s a no from me.

We made £50m profit last year. Bear that in mind. Costs are going up but putting prices up like this to the most affected is not on.

 

[hobbsy]

The club have said that matchday income is insignificant. Broadcast, Sponsorship and Player Trading are the main income sources only.

 

[coconino]

We made £50m profit last year. Bear that in mind. Costs are going up but putting prices up like this to the most affected is not on.

So £50m works out at roughly £150 per seat per home game, which is a lot I agree, but in another perspective it is two or three reasonably top-class players in this crazy world. Although it galls me to say it as a solid old leftie, I would much prefer the club were in profit than loss, as that can only be good for survival in a volatile league.

I’m not saying I wouldn’t like cheaper tickets, for goodness sake I spent well over the cost of a season ticket last season on matchday admission prices alone, and it was difficult at times to scrape the cash, but it’s not like it was my human right to attend games, it was my choice and I went without other things to make it happen. The bit I don’t agree with is this gesture of turning backs in demonstration, save that for when MB announces he’s selling up to a faceless corporation or that he’s fed up with stripes and wants us to play in hoops.

Of course I’d like that profit used to ease the cost for families and bolster the fan community, but I think that protesting in that way solely about ticket prices is negative, and possibly corrosive to the relationship between fans and the club, where some of the more positively constructive ideas voiced in this thread could serve the fans better.

 

[wanderer paul]

We made £50m profit last year. Bear that in mind. Costs are going up but putting prices up like this to the most affected is not on.

How much are we stuffing under and inside the mattress for “a rainy day”? (Just in case, you know, we get dumped down a division or two when the time comes….) ?

 

[BURFORD BEE]

I really struggle to understand this proposal.
Every bloody thing is going up. Like it or not watching Brentford is optional. A half decent meal for two with wine now gives small change from £100.
Answer? You don’t have to do it!
A trip to the theatre in London including getting there having a drink and a bite to eat for two people will see little change from £200 and that’s not for the front stalls either.
A drink at my local for me and the wife plus son and dil plus 2 grandkids including a couple of packets if crisps is about £30 a round.
All these things are optional and for some unaffordable. It’s going to get much worse before it gets better.
We can hardly expect BFC to be an exception. PL football in a new stadium. By today’s prices it’s nowhere near overpriced. It just has to be looked at along with everything else we buy after the things that are essential. Like it or not watching our much loved club isn’t !

 

[nocoat]

I really struggle to understand this proposal.
Every bloody thing is going up. Like it or not watching Brentford is optional. A half decent meal for two with wine now gives small change from £100.
Answer? You don’t have to do it!
A trip to the theatre in London including getting there having a drink and a bite to eat for two people will see little change from £200 and that’s not for the front stalls either.
A drink at my local for me and the wife plus son and dil plus 2 grandkids including a couple of packets if crisps is about £30 a round.
All these things are optional and for some unaffordable. It’s going to get much worse before it gets better.
We can hardly expect BFC to be an exception. PL football in a new stadium. By today’s prices it’s nowhere near overpriced. It just has to be looked at along with everything else we buy after the things that are essential. Like it or not watching our much loved club isn’t !

I was with you until the last line ?

 

[rebus]

I really struggle to understand this proposal.
Every bloody thing is going up. Like it or not watching Brentford is optional. A half decent meal for two with wine now gives small change from £100.
Answer? You don’t have to do it!
A trip to the theatre in London including getting there having a drink and a bite to eat for two people will see little change from £200 and that’s not for the front stalls either.
A drink at my local for me and the wife plus son and dil plus 2 grandkids including a couple of packets if crisps is about £30 a round.
All these things are optional and for some unaffordable. It’s going to get much worse before it gets better.
We can hardly expect BFC to be an exception. PL football in a new stadium. By today’s prices it’s nowhere near overpriced. It just has to be looked at along with everything else we buy after the things that are essential. Like it or not watching our much loved club isn’t !

We’re not customers in a retail world. We are supporters. That’s the difference.

 

[coconino]

We’re not customers in a retail world. We are supporters. That’s the difference.

Aren’t we kinda both? Isn’t that the perennial problem? We see ourselves as supporters, members of a club and jointly contributors to its success, but in the club’s eyes we’re loyal customers of an entertainment product. It’s where the balance lies which is the conundrum. For some clubs the relationship is purely commercial and exploitative, but we like to think we’re somehow different, particularly with regard to our history, but perhaps that’s naive.

 

[Chipshop Bee]

I reckon all of this depends on how much of a philanthropist MB is. I'm not sure he is, but if he is then, a conversation would be more appropriate. If he turns out to be a commercial opportunist, then, only money or embarrassment will move him.

 

[rebus]

Aren’t we kinda both? Isn’t that the perennial problem? We see ourselves as supporters, members of a club and jointly contributors to its success, but in the club’s eyes we’re loyal customers of an entertainment product. It’s where the balance lies which is the conundrum. For some clubs the relationship is purely commercial and exploitative, but we like to think we’re somehow different, particularly with regard to our history, but perhaps that’s naive.

Unless you change football clubs you are stuck with Brentford for life. Therefore, any comparisons are invalid. Some clubs might have just a commercial relationship but the club have said many times they want to make admission affordable. It’s coming from the club, not us!

 

[Banana]

I reckon all of this depends on how much of a philanthropist MB is. I'm not sure he is, but if he is then, a conversation would be more appropriate. If he turns out to be a commercial opportunist, then, only money or embarrassment will move him.

You're new around here I believe. So to bring you up to speed he's just a money-grabbing yacht owner dressed from head to toe in this week's latest designer clothes and a white cat to stroke. Forever building lairs inside volcanoes and planning world domination.

 

[JCMcBee]

How much are we stuffing under and inside the mattress for “a rainy day”? (Just in case, you know, we get dumped down a division or two when the time comes….) ?

.... recognise this is probably tongue planted in cheek.....however....maybe some truth in it re pricing.....the day you allude to will probably come....and would I pay £45 in the championship to watch a game at BCS...... probably......but question is......how many other members would......that's the tricky bit for the club.....but I guess 4-5 season remaining in PL would help 'hook' newer members......no protest from me for paying £45 to watch PL football.....as I've said elsewhere I'll get my VFM in E115......great entertainment

 

[BURFORD BEE]

We’re not customers in a retail world. We are supporters. That’s the difference.

Sorry but you’re wrong. There isn’t a difference.
The clubs costs increase with everyone else’s. Wages for non playing staff, electricity, transport, maintenance. What are they meant to do? Absorb it?
No business can survive with that ethos

 

[nocoat]

Sorry but you’re wrong. There isn’t a difference.
The clubs costs increase with everyone else’s. Wages for non playing staff, electricity, transport, maintenance. What are they meant to do? Absorb it?
No business can survive with that ethos

rebus’s point is they can survive with that ethos because the gate revenue as a whole is such a small percentage of Total revenues . Personally I think the prices are fine - boosting up the kids by 50 percent was a bit naughty but still quite good value for premier league football . I won’t be turning my back mainly because I don’t want to see @Andy Mutton ‘s mug staring back at me !

 

[rebus]

Sorry but you’re wrong. There isn’t a difference.
The clubs costs increase with everyone else’s. Wages for non playing staff, electricity, transport, maintenance. What are they meant to do? Absorb it?
No business can survive with that ethos

There is a difference. Are you checking out the first weekend’s fixtures and seeing what game you want to attend? No, you’ll be cheering on Brentford. We are football fans, not shopping for different variety of crisps in Tescos.