Bradford and Hartlepool have done the £150 ST in recent years, with a jump in attendances as a result.
We have around 10,000 ST holders at half decent prices so how many could we get for £150?
I think we could easily add another 5,000 on top of what we get already, even more if it was marketed well....
Orient have 2,000 more ST holders this season with the free season tix to students, and big discounts on adult tickets with referral schemes....
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We are in a different position to Orient in terms of expectations and pricing strategies. Charlton would need to time an intiative like that just right and with strong marketing. Doubtful that the current management has capability or strength of foresight just now. Could be something new owners try.
Never a bad thing to try pulling in new supporters if done properly.
The obvious place to sell a £150 season ticket would be the Lower North (worst view) but this would prevent the club charging away fans a premium rate in the equivalent seats in the Jimmy Seed.
Alternatively the club might consider selling £150 season tickets in the far wings of the East or West stands, but how would stewards prevent people moving to better seats given the stands are never remotely full?
From what I can see Hartlepool just charge £150 for anywhere in the ground, there arent different prices relating to the quality of the view....
And more than likely reduced walk up
We'd be out of pocket and moneys too tight to mention
Obviously bigger sales in merch isnt guaranteed, but thats the general theory behind super cheap STs...
There would be a danger that existing ST holders would down grade their ST's in future.
Not sure a £150 ST is a the answer to crowds in the medium term, performances on the pitch tend to have a stronger effect long term.
We could, of course, charge a flat fee of £150 irrespective as to where you sit in the ground then we would probably get an extra 10,000 fans in. Of course we would probably need to 'raise' another few million to cover the shortfall, or sell Solly, Wiggins and Morrison and play players from the youth side.
Although not necessarily a great comparision, nonetheless this map of the new stadium of the New York Mets illustrates in just how many ways they carve up the stadium in order to entice the wealthiest fans to pay more whilst not alienating the poorest fans from showing up at all.
The Trust could survey fans on a variety of pricing issues such as those raised by NYA and how many cheap games for a fiver are tolerable before Season Ticket Holders get pissed off.
To implement more differentiation you would have to know what additional facilities are available - clear to me that people are willing to pay more to sit in line with the penalty area / half way line for a good view of the game AND smaller queues.
I am sure there are different markets for Charlton fans first... lapse fans...new local fans... fans who come 10 x a year, i.e., those on the verge of break even for buying a Season Ticket... Sending some of these people a one off proposal might help but a blanket price drop is far too painful and is simply not going to fly!
It does work for one off games, so yes something the Trust can take up with the club in order to assist raising gates AND revenue
smaller gates but more money from higher priced STs
larger gates but less money from cheaper STs....
I would love a full stadium, but I fear this is just another example of something that the fans would like that someone else has to pay for. I, for example, sit on the half way line in the East Stand. I accept that my view is better than some of the others, but as I've had the same seat for nearly 20 years I would be reluctant to pay a lot more for it so that those that haven't been coming during that time can get in for less than half what I pay!
I think our tickets are too cheap when compared with other clubs that are competing with us to sign the same players. In the end we have to pay more or fall behind other teams. I am, obviously, assuming that we are not expecting someone else to subsidise our hobby for ever. Small incremental rises is the best way to increase our prices to the other teams in our division. Any reduction increases the necessary rise, and in some cases fans will not renew due to the perceived value when in reality it's the same (or less) than most other clubs we play each week. There were a number of unhappy fans on here when they worked out the percentage increase on their season ticket last March.
The club can't win. If we were to fall into administration I am very sure than no one will come on here and say "On reflection I guess we should all have been paying more for our season tickets!"
People will indeed pay more to sit close to the halfway line and except in the lower west they currently do. However, having too many price points without physical separation in a ground that is up to 50 per cent empty will just encourage people to buy one price of seat and sit in another. It's not worth the enforcement hassle.
I don't wish to dampen seriously_red's enthusiasm, but we have explored all sorts of pricing models and initiatives over many years. There will always be new and different ideas, but the way to find out what works is to try them out, not carry out surveys, especially in a niche market as small as ours.
Cant justify £300 this year for a seaosn ticket because by shite part time weekend job means I cant get to almost all weekend games.