Ticket prices, its started again

[dj161]

As I'm sure many of you remember last season we were heavily criticized for our prices particularly from those traveling from Derby and Leeds, i believe both games were priced at £40 if i remember correctly, now already we are being criticized by Crystal Palace for charging £45 for the opening game of the season.

We are in somewhat of a conundrum here as to what we can do, we have 22000 season ticket holders, which leave around 4000 tickets left, which for the upcoming season i would expect around 2000 to go on general sale and the other 2000 to go to away fans

we charge the general sale prices the same for home and away fans, which some away fans don't seem to understand and just see themselves as the ones being ripped off, but what can we actually do about the prices

if the price of general sale prices go down to around the £20-£25 mark which most fans want it would seemingly be the season ticket holders who are punished as they'd be paying more to have a season ticket than it would to just buy a ticket every game, so how can we keep prices low, and keep season ticket holders, home and away fans all happy

one option could always be to reduce the cost of the season ticket but that's obviously not going to happen, another could be to reduce the prices of the games for the smaller/bottom half teams, and then charge more to the bigger clubs with the rich owners who throw money around for fun anyway, but it's still the fans of those clubs who are punished and it wont really affect the billionaire owners one bit,

so does anyone have any thoughts on what can be done to keep everyone happy

heres an article from a palace fan for those interested

http://www.fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk/news/6361-an-open-letter-to-norwich-city-regarding-ticket-pricing-for-crystal-palace-supporters.html

 

[Suffolk Canary]

It seems our "we're a bigger club than we think we are" mentality has transferred from the championship to the premiership. The main problem is we have so many ST holders, it means the they can charge almost whatever they like for the remaining tickets as there will always be people willing to pay it. 

Look at it this way, if we got charged £45 for Palace away we'd feel a bit annoyed right?  And they've been in the PL for like 3 years now, and we're the new boys. 

It's even more annoying when Swansea have just announced they'll subsidise away tickets so it's never more than £22. They really are a good club 

 

[splutcho]

£45 for 90 minutes at Carrow Road is a disgrace.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

£45 is moreorless what you pay to see a pop concert though of similar duration. A more relevant argument would be how we compare to our rivals. By the sound of it we are charging more and its hard to see where the justification for that comes from

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Its a good letter from the Palace fanzine, but I think someone should remind them our year in the Championship was a blip and we are only 'newcomers to the Premiership' in the technical sense of the term. Its not like we had an extended absence. Something we'll prove to them on opening day

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

@https://mobile.twitter.com/Captain5MFC/status/619414732525731840?p=v

Hmmm

 

[Personal Trainer]

The whole question of ground capacity, Season Ticket numbers and away / casual prices is all interlinked and is a debate that should be had at the next Club AGM or before then if the CEO meets the fan groups again this year.

There is no doubt it will be raised at the Supporters Summit next weekend and probably when the Premier League Supporters Trusts meet with the PL before the Summit.

 

[splutcho]

£45 is moreorless what you pay to see a pop concert though of similar duration. A more relevant argument would be how we compare to our rivals. By the sound of it we are charging more and its hard to see where the justification for that comes from

£45 is steep for an average gig. That sort of price is reserved for the major bands and artists. You're also more or less guaranteed good entertainment for that. Also, concerts are a one off. The same band doesn't play every other week at the same place.

 

[Canaryboy]

Hopefully the solution in the future will be safe standing. 

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

@https://mobile.twitter.com/LondonBirder69/status/619443037320671232?p=v

Okay then...

 

[splutcho]

I can understand the anger, but "shithole"? Carrow Road is like Buckingham Palace compared to their dump. One of the worst grounds and areas I've ever had the misfortune to visit.

 

[CanaryNath]

I agree that £45 (for both home AND away supporters) for the Palace game is steep, however they could just not pay, and not come?!!

Just a thought.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I agree that £45 (for both home AND away supporters) for the Palace game is steep, however they could just not pay, and not come?!!

Just a thought.

But that would violate their perceptions of super-fan.

Anyway, it would be nice for a Londoner to go somewhere and think 'crikey thats a lot more expensive than Im used to', then they'd know what it was like when we visit the capital

 

[Paul Handscombe]

it's all about supply and demand, the only way that clubs will be forced to reduce away prices is for away fans not to come, but that isn't going to happen, and if it did they would just go on sale to home fans at a cheaper price and still be sold

 

[Dubai Mark]

The pricing is high, but it is very understandable when looking at the facts. Would be different situation if we had a 40,000 stadium with 10000 empty seats every match......   we would be back to "kids for a tenner". As mentioned earlier its about demand.....and the club is in a very lucky position.   

 

[Din]

£45 is ridiculous, but I would imagine that it's simply because it's the opening day. There's so much excitement around the first game that Mr McNally knows that Palace fans will pay it, and likely sell out the away end. Prices stay that high all season.

 

[CPFC1983]

Palace fan here in peace and all that guff youre supposed to say when posting on another teams forum...

I came here sepcifically to gauge the Norwich City fans views on your own ticket pricing policy and I have to say I'm a lot more comfortable paying the £45 than I was previously.

As I'm sure many of you remember last season we were heavily criticized for our prices particularly from those traveling from Derby and Leeds, i believe both games were priced at £40 if i remember correctly, now already we are being criticized by Crystal Palace for charging £45 for the opening game of the season.

We are in somewhat of a conundrum here as to what we can do, we have 22000 season ticket holders, which leave around 4000 tickets left, which for the upcoming season i would expect around 2000 to go on general sale and the other 2000 to go to away fans

we charge the general sale prices the same for home and away fans, which some away fans don't seem to understand and just see themselves as the ones being ripped off, but what can we actually do about the prices

if the price of general sale prices go down to around the £20-£25 mark which most fans want it would seemingly be the season ticket holders who are punished as they'd be paying more to have a season ticket than it would to just buy a ticket every game, so how can we keep prices low, and keep season ticket holders, home and away fans all happy

one option could always be to reduce the cost of the season ticket but that's obviously not going to happen, another could be to reduce the prices of the games for the smaller/bottom half teams, and then charge more to the bigger clubs with the rich owners who throw money around for fun anyway, but it's still the fans of those clubs who are punished and it wont really affect the billionaire owners one bit,

so does anyone have any thoughts on what can be done to keep everyone happy

heres an article from a palace fan for those interested

http://www.fiveyearplanfanzine.co.uk/news/6361-an-open-letter-to-norwich-city-regarding-ticket-pricing-for-crystal-palace-supporters.html

I don't really think it has anything to do with capacity or season tickets  allocation.  I assume Norwich, like Palace the lion share of money comes from TV and by comparison gate receipts are largely irrelevant.  Would dropping the price by a tenner mean you couldn't pay the wages of your top player?  I guess not as you must have dropped your prices in the Championship yet largely retained most of you PL squad.

I think the rules regarding charging home fans and away fans the same price is only relevant if both fans are in the same stand with the same facilities.  You could, in theory then put away fans next to Season ticket holders and then your 2,000 odd home day trippers in a the opposite stand and charge them less.

The reason away fans feel more hard done by is that we also have to pay for travel.  I bought my train tickets on the day the fixture list was released and the return is costing me £18.  So the day out, without eating or drinking is going to be £63.

Oh I believe the full allocation to away fans is 2686.

It seems our "we're a bigger club than we think we are" mentality has transferred from the championship to the premiership. The main problem is we have so many ST holders, it means the they can charge almost whatever they like for the remaining tickets as there will always be people willing to pay it. 

Look at it this way, if we got charged £45 for Palace away we'd feel a bit annoyed right?  And they've been in the PL for like 3 years now, and we're the new boys. 

It's even more annoying when Swansea have just announced they'll subsidise away tickets so it's never more than £22. They really are a good club 

The problem with the Swansea initiative is that it encourages other teams to raise their prices further still as they know Swansea will pick up the tab so to speak.

The far better ideas are fans from ever team supporting Twenty's Plenty ( http://www.fsf.org.uk/petitions/20plenty/)Clubs Reciprocal Ticket Pricing Agreement (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24559809).  I hope Palace sign up to the latter and have made my thoughts known to the owners.

£45 is moreorless what you pay to see a pop concert though of similar duration. A more relevant argument would be how we compare to our rivals. By the sound of it we are charging more and its hard to see where the justification for that comes from

As far as I can remember, Chelsea, West Ham, Man Utd and Arsenal were £45 or above.  Chelsea and West Ham being the most ridiculous.

I can understand the anger, but "shithole"? Carrow Road is like Buckingham Palace compared to their dump. One of the worst grounds and areas I've ever had the misfortune to visit.

That's true you have a way nice ground.  But I won't here a bad word said about SE25...you obviously didn't travel away to M*llwall or Ch*rlton last year?!  We were recently voted the worst away day experience in the country, but I put that down to campaign largely orchestrated by Liverpool and Br*ghton fans.

You'll be please to know we've replaced the wooden seats with plastic ones since your last visit!

The thing is, if the Away team don't want the full allocation, you'll sell them to home fans so there is no reasons for you to lower the price, unless through pressure of fans and other clubs.  WHich makes the scheme's I mentioned all the more important for all of us to get behind.

With regards to Norwich V Palace, the general consensus among Palace fans is to boycott your food and drink outlets for all the good it will do.  I think this is a shame as you have such nice food, easily the best in any ground I've been.  In fact I'd be quite happy to pay £35 on a ticket and a tenner on food but I guess you wouldn't be getting the same profit margins that way round.

Anyway, I wish you a relative amount of luck and success over the course of the season and can honestly say despite your away ticket prices there are at least 3 other teams I would rather see relegated this year.

 

[Canaryboy]

Would dropping the price by a tenner mean you couldn't pay the wages of your top player?  I guess not as you must have dropped your prices in the Championship yet largely retained most of you PL squad.

Could also argue that having an MD who micromanages like McNally and tries to squeeze the last pound out of everything is the reason why we managed to keep such a strong squad last season, we cleared our external debt in the Premier League and broke a £6m profit in our relegation season. Under the previous MD we were badly managed, and were close to administration when the current one came into the club. Trust me we have these debates a lot, and often question whether our own fans are being squeezed too much, yet alone away fans.... but there can be no denying that we're a really well run business these days. 

The reason away fans feel more hard done by is that we also have to pay for travel.  I bought my train tickets on the day the fixture list was released and the return is costing me £18.  So the day out, without eating or drinking is going to be £63.

How do you think we feel when we go to London and have to pay £9.20 for a tube ticket, and then an extra £1 per pint? We've already spent more than you on a trip to London by the time we've sank 5 pints and paid to get from Liverpool Street to whichever ground we're going to. At least our train station is 5 minute walk from the ground, and our beer is cheaper. The designated away pub is right next to the train station too. 

I know our tickets are expensive, but I hope you don't mind if I reserve my sympathy for Swansea, Sunderland and Newcastle fans next season, who have to travel much further and are accustomed to much lower prices. London based fans who follow their team on the road are, in the grand scheme of things, really lucky to have such great transport links, by both coach and train. How much do you think it costs being a Norwich fan travelling away by train, considering our geographical location? Takes two trains to get pretty much anywhere from Norwich, and London is pretty much the only place we'd be able to reach with an £18 budget.

The easiest solution for us in terms of increasing supply and being able to offer more casual tickets is to build a new out of town stadium, because our current one is going to be very difficult to extend (unless the law allows for safe standing). But that would mean moving the stadium away from the train station, and there's a chunk of your tenner gone straight away getting to the ground. 

Do you think Norwich fans would be able to get to Selhurst Park and back for £18, there isn't even a tube stop near the ground is there? We have to get a train to Liverpool street, then have to get a tube to Victoria Street, then another train near a station which is a further 10/15 minute walk away from Selhurst Park. 

Palace away is going to cost Norwich fans more than Norwich away is going to cost Palace fans? 

 

[CPFC1983]

Could also argue that having an MD who micromanages like McNally and tries to squeeze the last pound out of everything is the reason why we managed to keep such a strong squad last season, we cleared our external debt in the Premier League and broke a £6m profit in our relegation season. Under the previous MD we were badly managed, and were close to administration when the current one came into the club. Trust me we have these debates a lot, and often question whether our own fans are being squeezed too much, yet alone away fans.... but there can be no denying that we're a really well run business these days. 

How do you think we feel when we go to London and have to pay £9.20 for a tube ticket, and then an extra £1 per pint? We've already spent more than you on a trip to London by the time we've sank 5 pints and paid to get from Liverpool Street to whichever ground we're going to. At least our train station is 5 minute walk from the ground, and our beer is cheaper. The designated away pub is right next to the train station too. 

I know our tickets are expensive, but I hope you don't mind if I reserve my sympathy for Swansea, Sunderland and Newcastle fans next season, who have to travel much further and are accustomed to much lower prices. London based fans who follow their team on the road are, in the grand scheme of things, really lucky to have such great transport links, by both coach and train. How much do you think it costs being a Norwich fan travelling away by train, considering our geographical location? Takes two trains to get pretty much anywhere from Norwich, and London is pretty much the only place we'd be able to reach with an £18 budget.

The easiest solution for us in terms of increasing supply and being able to offer more casual tickets is to build a new out of town stadium, because our current one is going to be very difficult to extend (unless the law allows for safe standing). But that would mean moving the stadium away from the train station, and there's a chunk of your tenner gone straight away getting to the ground. 

Do you think Norwich fans would be able to get to Selhurst Park and back for £18, there isn't even a tube stop near the ground is there? We have to get a train to Liverpool street, then have to get a tube to Victoria Street, then another train near a station which is a further 10/15 minute walk away from Selhurst Park. 

Palace away is going to cost Norwich fans more than Norwich away is going to cost Palace fans? 

You don't need to tell a Palace fan about poor financial mismanagement!  But I accept you point though.

I have a TfL season ticket so didn't factor in the cost of travel across London.  I would imagine most Palace fans don't though and would also have to pay for travel across London, so yes I do think for a Norwich fan travelling to Palace will pay less than the average Palace fan travelling to Norwich, when just considering the price of ticket and travel.  Even if you drink both fans were to drink 5 pints and a pie it would still be cheaper as I imagine the Palace Norwich game will be £32, which incidentally is less than Home Fans in the same stand (albeit only by £3).

As I said, I didn't come here to moan or for your sympathy or even to attack you club and it's policies.  I'm also well aware of perks of supporting a London club, but it has it's downsides too I assure you.

I assume that you've designated our match as a A+ Grade match then?  I'm going to choose to believe that it's because of the high amount of esteem Norwich has for the mighty Palace (and not because it's the opening game).

 

[Beauseant]

Speaking for the Canaries Trust we fully  support  the principle of "Twenty's plenty", the FSF's long running campaign to have away ticket prices capped at £20, but we also, through our regular dialogue with the club, see that there is another side to the coin. I do sympathise with Palace fans, because I know that I will be moaning about paying £60 or more at Man U, Chelsea etc but that's where the real issue is, ie the big clubs who could afford to cut prices but don't, preferring to splash ever more obscene amounts on questionable talent (Sterling for £49million for example).

Realistically the only way to get prices down is for the process to start at the top and be imposed across the board, because otherwise the smaller clubs will simply be put at an even greater disadvantage. It's also a dangerous game for clubs to start taking the moral high ground in these arguments because they all tend to cash in. Last year Derby got "holier than tough" about City charging their fans £40, yet charged Leeds fans (hardly a top of the table clash) £39. Its a complex issue and can only be solved by all parties working together.

It would be interesting to know the new Supporters Club's stance on this.