General sale tickets

Attending live games is habit forming - if can get tickets easily, many fans will go regularly otherwise remain content (or reluctantly) to follow the club in the media as it easy to do so.
 
james_AFCB said:
On a different but slightly related topic for those who are interested (I know someone raised the question the other day) , I registered my son on the portal for the first time this morning - now up to supporter number 311k.

Also for those who missed out in the first batch - looks like more Cardiff tickets have been made available.
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Agreed, I got an email for the Cardiff ticket price drop and someone already mentioned they were being nudged by the TO for home tickets available... So we should assume that 311k people are also being 'nudged' for tickets... You're telling me that of that 311k we couldn't attract another 4/5k fans if we had improved options and facilities...

As a side note, for Barnsley, there are literally under 10 tickets left for sale, and guess where most of them are..? In the front 3 rows...
 
SteveJonesLegend said:
Re enlarging capacity... we're assuming that we have to sell out... Expanding capacity is not just for the now... It's called future planning... Again with the "If you build it..."

Who cares about having 3/4k empty seats if we've increased the actual bums on seats by 3/4k fans...!!! It's increasing supply immediately and offering even more for the games when we really need it...

You still see lots of kids around in Bournemouth shirts so whilst we 'think' we've missed an opportunity, yes we have, but it hasn't all being missed... So there is still the chance for younger fans to jump on in if they are given an opportunity...

It's not my money to play with but if there is any sort of long-term plan for this club then expanding DC has to be a priority... Even if it's just a slightly larger temporary structure...
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I suspect the guy who's pumped £60m into the new ground would care. The actual gate receipts in the second tier would probably still be lower than the PL even with 3-4k extra seats.

As someone else has said, our gates would be similar to Reading's and would average 16-17k. It makes people very cross but you can see why they didn't go for it.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
I suspect the guy who's pumped £60m into the new ground would care. The actual gate receipts in the second tier would probably still be lower than the PL even with 3-4k extra seats.

As someone else has said, our gates would be similar to Reading's and would average 16-17k. It makes people very cross but you can see why they didn't go for it.
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I agree, and in no way am I advocating a new stadium... 15-19k is definitely our level... I genuinely think it would be a massive white elephant and would be the death of the club...

But redeveloping DC for the long-term security of the club is a different thing... I get that a new stand would cost double figure millions (AFC Wimbledon's entire new ground cost just £31m so it wouldn't be stupid money to build just one stand), however, if there is a long-term plan with Max at the helm then surely expansion in some way has got to be on the table...? If he's not in for the long-term then 100% I get it, and only he knows the answer to that one...

I mean, most fans, myself included would be happy with a Ted Shed that is double it's size... Small steps to see if there is demand... But it's not my money... :)
 
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We are the odd one out on the South Coast connurbation wise.

Plymouth, BCP, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton. The only one with a small stadium. Going to be a rocky road but we need to get the capacity over 15k somehow..
 
Bizarre that we paid £27mn (??) for Lerma and have shut up shop on the training ground and DC expansion. It’s just exasperating … how do we get out this mini-stadium dead-end? If only we could build it, then THEY WILL COME!
 
langham said:
Bizarre that we paid £27mn (??) for Lerma and have shut up shop on the training ground and DC expansion. It’s just exasperating … how do we get out this mini-stadium dead-end? If only we could build it, then THEY WILL COME!
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It's not really bizarre though is it... It has been been made very clear that the strategy was to throw all our eggs at players in the hope that they will be the ones that actually keep us in the PL... That didn't work, and not we're hopefully seeing the club and owner being a lot more cautious in how we approach the next few years... I genuinely don't think the 'at all costs' goal is to get promoted this year...

Hopefully a change in approach might also bring about a change in thinking Re expanding the club as a whole... Max is not the Mr Moneybags we all assumed he would be as the stark reality is that his wealth of hundreds of millions is not enough to prop us up in the way he was doing so over the PL years...

However, there are clubs that are prospering a lot better than us, both on and off the pitch, with owners that have a lot less in the bank... So it can be done and maybe we're starting to take a leaf out of their books (Norwich, WBA etc)...
 
Yes, bizarre is the word … cos throwing those sums at player fees, wages etc was never going to BUILD the club. What was needed? … sensible combination of player investment with ground improvement. We got some dumb buys (Ibe - glory be!!) and total inaction on DC development.

Not just a sad story but one likely to hang heavy on the club for many years. If we can get back to the PL a radically different approach will be required.
 
RobWells said:
its not really that b&w is it. I must admit I dont want a bigger stadium, but if there was one.... the dynamics for selling more tickets would be completely different.
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What was the reason the South stand expansion was called off again? Complications around land ownership?

Like others mentioned, understand why we didn't expand and invested in.players instead, but does seem a shame for all reasons already stated in this thread.

There's definitely an element of too much friction, hassle, uncertainty amongst getting or how to get tickets, for people not really close to the club like most on here are.or hard to get tickets with mates, family next to each other etc.
Any decent business knows it's key to make things as convenient and easy for customers, or they won't bother or will go elsewhere. Particularly those on the fence, or more casual who decide on the day they want to turn up. Many will be busy at work when tickets go on general sale, so may not be able to call in, plus if coupled with perception that its likely to be hard work or futile, a fair % won't even bother.

A good example is someone like reading, who seemed similar to us prior to made ski getting involved. Few years in the top flight seems to have swollen their core support, which has carried over for years after relegation from the pl.

I'd love to see am expansion, even if its 'just' having a massive south stand, similar to pompey, perhaps with corners filled in up that end.
 
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langham said:
Yes, bizarre is the word … cos throwing those sums at player fees, wages etc was never going to BUILD the club. What was needed? … sensible combination of player investment with ground improvement. We got some dumb buys (Ibe - glory be!!) and total inaction on DC development.

Not just a sad story but one likely to hang heavy on the club for many years. If we can get back to the PL a radically different approach will be required.
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The sums they threw at players kept us in the top flight for five years and generated hundreds of millions in broadcast fees and player sales. Ground development doesnt do that.
 
Disagree SDD - some of the recruitment worked but some (including the most expensive) was ineffective at best or an outright fail. But that’s not all. How much effort went into strategic thinking about expanding the fan base - the critical long-term issue for the club? Our micro-stadium means thousands of local youngsters (like my own kids) never get to see live football at DC … and never become “embedded” as fans. The club can’t grow as long as we’re stuck in the present impasse.
 
langham said:
Disagree SDD - some of the recruitment worked but some (including the most expensive) was ineffective at best or an outright fail. But that’s not all. How much effort went into strategic thinking about expanding the fan base - the critical long-term issue for the club? Our micro-stadium means thousands of local youngsters (like my own kids) never get to see live football at DC … and never become “embedded” as fans. The club can’t grow as long as we’re stuck in the present impasse.
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Yes well we've been through all of this but as desirable as expanding the fanbase is for us as fans it doesn't yield a financial return to justify the expenditure. We don't own the ground therefore you can add £15m+ onto the total cost too.

There's always hits and misses in recruitment. You say the most expensive have been failures yet half of them have been sold for profit.
 
SlowDownDerek said:
Yes well we've been through all of this but as desirable as expanding the fanbase is for us as fans it doesn't yield a financial return to justify the expenditure. We don't own the ground therefore you can add £15m+ onto the total cost too.
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Short term of course. Which is the crux of it. All the Premier League money flushed in to the club and flushed straight out again to players, agents and other employees.

Long term over 10+ years there has to be some form of financial yield for the club over a few thousand extra people buying tickets, buying stuff in the club shop and concourses etc, then those few thousand get others involved, their families expand and so does the fan base.

You’d also have a football club that’s easier to sell if it had some form of tangible assets and it would be something much more attractive to invest in.
 
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