Bigger Ground = Less ST's ?????

LumpWarden · by **LumpWarden** » 12 Oct 2006 19:47

I was just wondering what others thought - In the short term, the increased capacity may have a negative impact on the number of people willing to splash out on a season ticket;

A lot of people will have bought ST's this season for fear of missing out on the big games. With the increased capacity, won't a lot of people have less incentive to do so?

M4 Junction 11 · by **M4 Junction 11** » 12 Oct 2006 20:16

If you go to all the home games why not get a ST if you can afford it

1871 Royal · by **1871 Royal** » 12 Oct 2006 20:26

Season tickets also work out cheeper than paying for every game

LumpWarden · by **LumpWarden** » 12 Oct 2006 20:37

Yes - If you're going to go to all the home games a season ticket makes sense, but you're missing my point;

Many people will be holding season tickets right now, purely because they feared that they wouldn't be able to see games if they didn't get an ST (ie a good proportion of those that jumped in with an HST last Xmas) - how will those folks react to a bigger ground (and therefore better availability of tickets)?

bigmike · by **bigmike** » 12 Oct 2006 20:52

LumpWarden wrote:Yes - If you're going to go to all the home games a season ticket makes sense, but you're missing my point;

Many people will be holding season tickets right now, purely because they feared that they wouldn't be able to see games if they didn't get an ST (ie a good proportion of those that jumped in with an HST last Xmas) - how will those folks react to a bigger ground (and therefore better availability of tickets)?

If it means that they dont buy season tickets allowing Reading fans to get them then i am all for it.

I wonder howmany HST holders are Chelsea fans

Row Z Royal · by **Row Z Royal** » 12 Oct 2006 21:18

Fewer STs

orange · by **orange** » 13 Oct 2006 00:43

Its much more versatile not to get a season ticket.

bobby1413 · by **bobby1413** » 13 Oct 2006 08:57

orange wrote:Its much more versatile not to get a season ticket.

I can't ever see me giving up my season ticket. Even if I coudl only get to 10 games in the season - there will always be someone who wants it. I love my seat/position in the stadium and love the fact that I will always have a guaranteed ticket.

Another factor is the much talked about royalty points. Without them you will struggle to get tickets for home matches and some away matches.

SWLR · by **SWLR** » 13 Oct 2006 09:02

LumpWarden wrote:I was just wondering what others thought - In the short term, the increased capacity may have a negative impact on the number of people willing to splash out on a season ticket;

A lot of people will have bought ST's this season for fear of missing out on the big games. With the increased capacity, won't a lot of people have less incentive to do so?

Yes

There are plenty of examples.

Although I made the point some time ago in a thread about whether we should increase capacity and as is the hobnob way got shot down. So enjoy

southbank1871 · by **southbank1871** » 13 Oct 2006 09:07

There will obviously still be a lot of people who will get STs as they will know that they can make pretty much every home game.

However, as LW states, there are a lot of people who only really got a ST (and originally a HST last season) because they knew they would get tickets on a game to game basis.

The fact is, that if you miss more than a few games with a ST, you start to lose money and so I do think there will be a lot of people who won't bother when the stadium gets expanded.

If the stadium is going to be anywhere near full for some of the less glamourous games, they are really going to have to drop their prices.

Ian Royal · by **Ian Royal** » 13 Oct 2006 09:32

but then there were people who applied for ST's but couldn't get one due to availability.

southbank1871 · by **southbank1871** » 13 Oct 2006 09:34

Ian Royal wrote:but then there were people who applied for ST's but couldn't get one due to availability.

Not sure there were that many of those in the end.

Ian Royal · by **Ian Royal** » 13 Oct 2006 09:38

southbank1871 wrote:
Ian Royal wrote:but then there were people who applied for ST's but couldn't get one due to availability.
Not sure there were that many of those in the end.

fair enough. Had I not got stupidly skint I was going to apply for one, but I realised I had a snow balls chance of getting one anyway, even if I had the money.

Hoop Blah · by **Hoop Blah** » 13 Oct 2006 10:17

I think LW is spot on.

The demand will probably dwindle a little after the novalty factor of the Premiership kicks in anyway but I suppose the club think now is the time to speculate to accumulate.

Royalphil · by **Royalphil** » 13 Oct 2006 12:35

bobby1413 wrote:... I love my seat/position in the stadium....

Surely this will be a more valid reason for a ST in a bigger stadium.... There will be far more seats but the view will be correspondingly degraded!

Huntley & Palmer · by **Huntley & Palmer** » 13 Oct 2006 12:48

Depends really, in theory the ST price will come down due to the larger capacity. This happened at Charlton, it's basic marketing. Reduce season ticket prices and get bums on seats rather than keep the price the same and struggle to get people in.

Woodcote Royal · by **Woodcote Royal** » 13 Oct 2006 14:29

LumpWarden wrote:I was just wondering what others thought - In the short term, the increased capacity may have a negative impact on the number of people willing to splash out on a season ticket;

A lot of people will have bought ST's this season for fear of missing out on the big games. With the increased capacity, won't a lot of people have less incentive to do so?

As a STH myself, I hope a sensible limit is placed on their sale post expansion, to give more chance to those who can't make enough games to make it worth their while buying a ST...................and we should remember that some people just can't afford one.

I would like to see 6k tickets available to non STH's.

As for the demand, if we establish ourselves in the top flight we will sell 38k seats for every league game and even if this means prices are held (can't see them dropping without relegation) this will be far out weighed by the extra revenue generated from having increased capacity by 50%.

Hoop Blah · by **Hoop Blah** » 13 Oct 2006 14:36

Woodcote Royal wrote: As for the demand, if we establish ourselves in the top flight we will sell 38k seats for every league game.

Do you think?

I hope your right but I'm not sure there will be that level of demand if we spend the next 5 years doing a Charlton or a Fulham.

Now is definately the time to get new fans indoctrinated into being a Reading fan though, so maybe your right.

Woodcote Royal · by **Woodcote Royal** » 13 Oct 2006 14:44

I'm not saying all these seats will neccessarily go to Reading fans, but I'm sure our massive catchment area will attract sufficient football fans in general, who want to watch top flight football, to fill those seats every week.....................and, I think some of these people will become supporters of RFC.

I know of one supporter of a midland club, now living locally, who has just stumped up nearly 5k for 2 of the last hospitality packages................and he intends to keep them even if we get relegated.

Hoop Blah · by **Hoop Blah** » 13 Oct 2006 14:51

Woodcote Royal wrote:I'm not saying all these seats will neccessarily go to Reading fans, but I'm sure our massive catchment area will attract sufficient football fans in general, who want to watch top flight football, to fill those seats every week.....................and, I think some of these people will become supporters of RFC.

I know of one supporter of a midland club, now living locally, who has just stumped up nearly 5k for 2 of the last hospitality packages................and he intends to keep them even if we get relgated.

Agreed, a certain percentage of most Prem grounds are probably taken up by 'tourist fans.' I'd say that our current attendances already contain quite a number of these already.

As you say, it's the conversion of these from tourist to RFC regular and hopefully then supporter that is the future.