Season tickets next season

[Clive 1960]

They are waiting till we are relegated then the price of the tickets will be out so they know which league we are playing in ..

[vinrogue]

The whole lack of information is sad. So if the Early Bird price is scrapped and when relegation is confirmed do I want to pay a big increase when quite a few of the home games will be a push. (I live in Lincolnshire). Will this be the time to go back to picking games home and away and letting some one else buy our 2 seats in the Longside Upper great view, great position, great people and friends over the years around us, as we have nearly all been in these seats for over 15 years? Like many we have always bought in the Early Bird unfazed by Relegation or Promotion as always a loyal supporter.

[CrosspoolClarets]

The whole lack of information is sad. So if the Early Bird price is scrapped and when relegation is confirmed do I want to pay a big increase when quite a few of the home games will be a push. (I live in Lincolnshire). Will this be the time to go back to picking games home and away and letting some one else buy our 2 seats in the Longside Upper great view, great position, great people and friends over the years around us, as we have nearly all been in these seats for over 15 years? Like many we have always bought in the Early Bird unfazed by Relegation or Promotion as always a loyal supporter.

Very similar to me, big journeys, clash with other things on Saturdays and Tuesdays don’t bear thinking about, had a early bird season ticket for 25+ years. Would stick with it in the Championship but if prices go up massively from last year’s early bird, I’m done.

Clubs earn so little money from non corporate ticketing, a few million, the marginal gains of any approach to ticketing are immaterial, so clubs need to try really hard to retain their core support that lasts generations, as this is where the “feel”, “passion” and “togetherness” comes from. There is only so much that can be gained from the here one minute, gone the next, overseas or internet fan.

If that is messed up, it would turn the custodianship into a total failure, no matter what happens on the pitch. It would make the drum proposal appear genius in comparison.

[Rick_Muller]

The way I look at it is this.

A £50 increase for an adult season ticket for 10,000 seats is a mere £500k for the club - barely covers the wage of a squad player. So if the club want to alienate thousands of fans for the sake of another bench warmer who will never play, that's their prerogative.

I expect an increase though, as the argument will be that inflation affects everything and it should reflect in the ticket prices. That said, after this season it would be good to reward the existing season ticket holders to a discount on next years ticket to ensure we get the support in numbers we will clearly need to win promotion again... not going to happen though.

I'm also thinking that the delay is based upon a decision that affects the CFS and the possible introduction of safe standing - whether it is that it wont go ahead if relegated (increase in capacity wont be needed) or not I dont know.

[Chester Perry]

reading the above reminds me of this

People will have varying views of Inside Sport's articles - but they have started a new podcast series called - 'Behind the Badge' - the fact there is another long running podcast series of the same name that is reasonably high profile says a lot about Inside Sport).

However, the first episode features Burnley FC Head of Commercial, Markus Mellor, means it could be of interest to us

Burnley FC: From Championship to Premier League
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7924Z4xlu64&t=1s

I have not listened to it yet, so tread carefully

and the 'not your dad's Burnley" bravado of Burnley FC's commercial director - which is not an uncommon feature in modern club running, but is part of the ongoing charge to diminish the need for 'legacy fans' - which is an absolute nonsense for all clubs, particularly ones too small to become a permanent feature of the Premier League/UEFA club competition gravy train

[dougcollins]

Clubs earn so little money from non corporate ticketing, a few million, the marginal gains of any approach to ticketing are immaterial

This really is the point.

Let's hope they can read the room.

[Quickenthetempo]

The whole lack of information is sad. So if the Early Bird price is scrapped and when relegation is confirmed do I want to pay a big increase when quite a few of the home games will be a push. (I live in Lincolnshire). Will this be the time to go back to picking games home and away and letting some one else buy our 2 seats in the Longside Upper great view, great position, great people and friends over the years around us, as we have nearly all been in these seats for over 15 years? Like many we have always bought in the Early Bird unfazed by Relegation or Promotion as always a loyal supporter.

If the club are alienating fans like yourself we have a problem.

[Dark Cloud]

reading the above reminds me of this



and the 'not your dad's Burnley" bravado of Burnley FC's commercial director - which is not an uncommon feature in modern club running, but is part of the ongoing charge to diminish the need for 'legacy fans' - which is an absolute nonsense for all clubs, particularly ones too small to become a permanent feature of the Premier League/UEFA club competition gravy train

Well actually I AM "your dad" and actually your grandad, so for now it still is MY Burnley and people at the club need to realise this.

[NewClaret]

This really is the point.

Let's hope they can read the room.

I’ve always said I’m massively against any price rises at all. Not because I object paying myself, I can afford to and feel we’re reasonably priced generally, but because we should be a club at the heart of the community and NOT pricing ourselves out.

If I were chairman I’d be doing everything to fill every seat on Matchday. I’d be giving any spares away to schools and colleges and any disadvantaged people across the whole community. Every spare seat is a missed opportunity for part of our community to enjoy watching the clarets.

Besides all that, a packed stadium contributes to the atmosphere and enjoyment of everyone.

The club need to look very closely at re-shaping their squad and cutting back costs before charging fans any more, if that is the reason for the delay, but I actually suspect it’s for other reasons…

[Poulton-le-Claret]

I’ve always said I’m massively against any price rises at all. Not because I object paying myself, I can afford to and feel we’re reasonably priced generally, but because we should be a club at the heart of the community and NOT pricing ourselves out.

If I were chairman I’d be doing everything to fill every seat on Matchday. I’d be giving any spares away to schools and colleges and any disadvantaged people across the whole community. Every spare seat is a missed opportunity for part of our community to enjoy watching the clarets.

Besides all that, a packed stadium contributes to the atmosphere and enjoyment of everyone.

The club need to look very closely at re-shaping their squad and cutting back costs before charging fans any more, if that is the reason for the delay, but I actually suspect it’s for other reasons…

Quite right, instead we sell tickets to away fans in the home end.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Top and bottom of it is they really really don’t get us at all.

[Anonymous Claret]

reading the above reminds me of this



and the 'not your dad's Burnley" bravado of Burnley FC's commercial director - which is not an uncommon feature in modern club running, but is part of the ongoing charge to diminish the need for 'legacy fans' - which is an absolute nonsense for all clubs, particularly ones too small to become a permanent feature of the Premier League/UEFA club competition gravy train

I think that as a fan I am part of the problem. In other areas of my life I make a few decisions where I don't buy into the corporate cesspit of society. I try to support independent cafes and shops etc but fall short occasionally and succumb to the large corporate entities with whom they compete. I always feel a bit dirty afterwards.
It's different with football because as much as I despise the way the sport has gone over the last 30 years or so I have a huge emotional investment in Burnley FC. I want my club to be successful and compete in the elite league even though I can see that to the owners of the club we are mainly a business that they want to make profitable. I understand that and also realise that although it is a risky business it is probably the only way our club can have a level of sustained success. It is a model that in all other areas I have absolutely no time for as it is driven by greed but because I love Burnley FC I pretend its not happening.
On the season tickets if the prices are increased it would be amazing if 5 or 10 thousand refused to renew. It would send a clear message to the owners.
In reality the vast majority of fans, myself included will probably renew and on the Early Bird Scheme also if there is one.
But if thousands of us didn't renew it would be interesting to hear the commercial director's take on that.

[fidelcastro]

Great post AC.

I may be jumping the gun, as there might not be a price increase after all, but if there is, a show of solidarity by the fans would be just what was needed to show the board that we won't be taken for granted.

[Dark Cloud]

What really irks me is that football in grounds with hundreds if not thousands of empty seats is rubbish. Sky and Amazon et al actually need us. Showing matches on the TV at half empty stadiums would soon turn your average arm chair viewer off. They need atmosphere. We are the ones who provide that atmosphere. We're the people who travel to grounds, sometimes using public transport, visit the pub or the cafe, sometimes stay overnight, buy crappy concessions on the match and then sit wet and freezing, filling seats and creating atmosphere and at the same time putting plenty of cash into the local economy. The money we give the club, especially in the Premier League, is actually a mere fraction of their income and that's a very well publicised fact. It's in everyone's interest (imo) to have 20,000 people all paying £5 for a seat as opposed to 5,000 people paying £45 for a seat, especially as Sky would soon get bagged off screening games with nobody there. I noticed Rovers had acres and acres of empty seats on Saturday which not only looks awful to those watching on highlights, but it feels awful for those sitting inside. Plus ultimately, most of the huge sums of money generated by the upper leagues in football goes towards making already millionaire players even richer. Is that totally necessary?

[claretcarrot93]

A lot of doom and gloom on here. Last season my season ticket was about £16 per game to watch the best season in my lifetime. Short memory's.

[Chester Perry]

I think that as a fan I am part of the problem. In other areas of my life I make a few decisions where I don't buy into the corporate cesspit of society. I try to support independent cafes and shops etc but fall short occasionally and succumb to the large corporate entities with whom they compete. I always feel a bit dirty afterwards.
It's different with football because as much as I despise the way the sport has gone over the last 30 years or so I have a huge emotional investment in Burnley FC. I want my club to be successful and compete in the elite league even though I can see that to the owners of the club we are mainly a business that they want to make profitable. I understand that and also realise that although it is a risky business it is probably the only way our club can have a level of sustained success. It is a model that in all other areas I have absolutely no time for as it is driven by greed but because I love Burnley FC I pretend its not happening.
On the season tickets if the prices are increased it would be amazing if 5 or 10 thousand refused to renew. It would send a clear message to the owners.
In reality the vast majority of fans, myself included will probably renew and on the Early Bird Scheme also if there is one.
But if thousands of us didn't renew it would be interesting to hear the commercial director's take on that.

when the accounts make their appearance I think many are going to be surprised by the Matchday revenue figure for that promotion season - the reason will be as a result of the many matchday tickets being sold.

I suspect the club were surprised by the demand for season tickets last year and that is why they curtailed the threshold of how many they were prepared to sell, I also suspect that going forward they will seek to reduce this number, as a result of natural drop off. There is much more to be made from membership and matchday sales, particularly of the premium variety. It is well established that matchday ticket holders spend more around the club when they visit.

Of course that requires a fine balancing act of creating the demand with on the pitch performances, the general offering, pricing and possibly the most important, connection. I have a feeling that desperate as many are for the club to do well, there will not be the same level of match day ticket take up next season, even if there is a repeat of the results of last season, at a certain level there is a need to repair the relationship between the fans, manager and players.

[GetIntoEm]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

[mickleoverclaret]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

That would be a huge percentage increase for anyone, surely? Off the top of my head that'd be a roughly 33% price increase for me. Hard to justify on the back of an awful season and a relegation to a lower division. Not that I think they'd be daft enough to put it up anything like that much.

[Funkydrummer]

£150 ????? !!!!!!!!

They won't see us for dust if it's of that magnitude.

Can't see it myself but remain open minded at this stage.

[fidelcastro]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

Are you serious?

How could a £150 increase be justified after the season we're having?

[Anonymous Claret]

Great post AC.

I may be jumping the gun, as there might not be a price increase after all, but if there is, a show of solidarity by the fans would be just what was needed to show the board that we won't be taken for granted.

Thanks Fidel. It was such a good reply I liked it 3 times. It had nothing to do with the tablet freezing

[Murger]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

If it’s anything close to that then I’ll be keeping my money in my pocket.

[Anonymous Claret]

when the accounts make their appearance I think many are going to be surprised by the Matchday revenue figure for that promotion season - the reason will be as a result of the many matchday tickets being sold.

I suspect the club were surprised by the demand for season tickets last year and that is why they curtailed the threshold of how many they were prepared to sell, I also suspect that going forward they will seek to reduce this number, as a result of natural drop off. There is much more to be made from membership and matchday sales, particularly of the premium variety. It is well established that matchday ticket holders spend more around the club when they visit.

Of course that requires a fine balancing act of creating the demand with on the pitch performances, the general offering, pricing and possibly the most important, connection. I have a feeling that desperate as many are for the club to do well, there will not be the same level of match day ticket take up next season, even if there is a repeat of the results of last season, at a certain level there is a need to repair the relationship between the fans, manager and players.

Thanks again Chester. I always enjoy your posts as it helps me gain more of an insight into the financial dealings not only of our club but also football in general. It is a strong case that you put forward around the match day revenue and it will be interesting in what direction ALK choose to go. As you say it will require a fine balancing act but I am sure that the analysts will be all over it

[ŽižkovClaret]

UTC abhors a vacuum. The longer they wait to announce plans, or even a reason for the delay, people will speculate and maybe even find alternate plans for their Saturdays

[JTClaret]

Would I be correct in thinking that we sold out of season tickets in the early bird period last year?

That being the case, and the feeling that the early bird will be scrapped, I've been looking at the standard price the the 22/23 season;
https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/con ... ard-prices

They aren't doing themselves any favours with the delay, along with not saying what the general plan is.

[wilks_bfc]

when the accounts make their appearance I think many are going to be surprised by the Matchday revenue figure for that promotion season - the reason will be as a result of the many matchday tickets being sold.

I suspect the club were surprised by the demand for season tickets last year and that is why they curtailed the threshold of how many they were prepared to sell, I also suspect that going forward they will seek to reduce this number, as a result of natural drop off. There is much more to be made from membership and matchday sales, particularly of the premium variety. It is well established that matchday ticket holders spend more around the club when they visit.

Of course that requires a fine balancing act of creating the demand with on the pitch performances, the general offering, pricing and possibly the most important, connection. I have a feeling that desperate as many are for the club to do well, there will not be the same level of match day ticket take up next season, even if there is a repeat of the results of last season, at a certain level there is a need to repair the relationship between the fans, manager and players.

I’d completely forgotten about the “membership scheme”
Will we ever know the take up of that?

Be interesting to see if remains in place for next season

[Jeffbfc]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

If (as some have said on here) the early bird ticket is took away.
My ticket in the North Stand upper was £500 last year with the EB.
I'm not sure what the price was after, but if it was say £80-100 more expensive & then a increase on that this season with no EB then you could be looking at over £100-150 rise.
One of the lads I go with is kicking the tyre already if to bother or not.
That sort of increase could be it.
Sooner the details come out the better.

[Poulton-le-Claret]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

£150 is acceptable?! That's a 25% increase on the top price season ticket from last year (590 in the Bob Lord).

I still love going on, but I wouldn't pay anywhere near that much extra and I suspect I would not be alone.

[Spike]

I emailed ticketing and they say they are waiting to know as well
They really dont get us do they?
Matt Williams is totally out of his depth . This might have been OK at the Blackpool Gazette and Shrewsbury where the support isn’t as emotionally invested as we are.
He is the link to the clearly unconnected investors

[Jeffbfc]

Would I be correct in thinking that we sold out of season tickets in the early bird period last year?

That being the case, and the feeling that the early bird will be scrapped, I've been looking at the standard price the the 22/23 season;
https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/con ... ard-prices

They aren't doing themselves any favours with the delay, along with not saying what the general plan is.

EB for that season North Stand Upper was £455, increased to £590.
EB for 23/24 was £500. don't have the detail for full price.
But you can see what the increase would be without an EB.

[GetIntoEm]

what is it thats bothering people about not knowing yet? if theres no prices, they are not on sale, therefore nothing to worry about.

when they release the info it'll be a choice of get one or dont. i dont understand "they dont get us" vibe. what is there to get, thats lots of us are inpatient and stamp our feet because they are operating slightly different to previous years?

[GetIntoEm]

Are you serious?

How could a £150 increase be justified after the season we're having?

you'd be paying for next season, not retrospectively paying for this years performances.

[CaptainKirk]

If its less than £150 per ticket increase i wont bat an eyelid, anymore i'll look at it more.

I think there might be an element of "look at me, loadsamoney!" in this statement.

Not everyone is in your position.
£150 increase for a lower division would be a joke - and not a good one.

[GetIntoEm]

I think there might be an element of "look at me, loadsamoney!" in this statement.

Not everyone is in your position.
£150 increase for a lower division would be a joke - and not a good one.

its definitely not that. i enjoy going, the extra expense i would have to find. its a family outing for us, we wouldnt give it up over a bit of extra money.

i think its naive to think they wont go up, its just by how much.

[RickyBobby]

The club seem to think we are like Tottenham and Arsenal and that they can charge what they want.
They really are out of touch with the town and club.
Scrapping the early bird and raising prices by the amounts mentioned would lead to thousands not renewing and meaning they would generate less overall ticket revenue not more.
We are going to be a championship club next season in a small northern town. They aren’t going to be able to fill the seats with far eastern tourists! They seem completely deluded.
I am expecting gates of around 10,000 next season even if we are doing OK if all of these is true.
Keep prices low and there could be closer to 20,000 on with a much better atmosphere.
For ‘business’ men they really seem to have no actual business acumen. They do not understand the product they sell and who their customers are at all. This is a small football club not a gigantic galactic conglomerate like Amazon who can do as they wish.

[wilks_bfc]

its definitely not that. i enjoy going, the extra expense i would have to find. its a family outing for us, we wouldnt give it up over a bit of extra money.

i think its naive to think they wont go up, its just by how much.

It’s all relative though

£150 increase for a single person wouldn’t be too bad (it works out as £6 per game) however for a family it would add up

Obviously you wouldn’t be cover the kids prices to increase by that but if it is mum, dad & 2 kids then that would still be a fair chunk of money

[ŽižkovClaret]

what is it thats bothering people about not knowing yet? if theres no prices, they are not on sale, therefore nothing to worry about.

when they release the info it'll be a choice of get one or dont. i dont understand "they dont get us" vibe. what is there to get, thats lots of us are inpatient and stamp our feet because they are operating slightly different to previous years?

I don't like surprises. With any expenditure i like to be able to make an informed decision.

[Murger]

They can’t turn around a give people say a week to decide whether they can swallow any increase.

[ŽižkovClaret]

They can’t turn around a give people say a week to decide whether they can swallow any increase.

I suspect they just might

[Jimmymaccer]

Maybe they’ll increase the price but as there will be 4 more home games (and priority to 4 more away games/cup matches) etc they”ll say the average match price has only gone up by a smaller X%. You know, the old “no more than the price of getting a daily newspaper” trick…..they may even throw in the “you’ll be having much more chance of seeing your heroes actually win a game!”

There- next seasons marketing strategy sorted………..

[fidelcastro]

you'd be paying for next season, not retrospectively paying for this years performances.

Obviously, but given the season we're enduring right now, a goodwill gesture would be good PR and show that they actually care about loyal fans.

Some on here seem to be relishing a price increase. Strange mentality.

[CrosspoolClarets]

reading the above reminds me of this



and the 'not your dad's Burnley" bravado of Burnley FC's commercial director - which is not an uncommon feature in modern club running, but is part of the ongoing charge to diminish the need for 'legacy fans' - which is an absolute nonsense for all clubs, particularly ones too small to become a permanent feature of the Premier League/UEFA club competition gravy train

I listened to that 30 minutes now, recorded in August before the rude awakening on the pitch. I don’t have a problem with it. All this talk of “leveraging” and “TikTok” and “Dude Perfect” is fine. I want the club to be trendy and forward thinking. The staff doing these things now all sound so young, they are clearly more comfortable on their phones rather than talking to people. It’s a young person's world.

But the issue is that we as “legacy fans” are partly the hard core customer (one who too much additional dosh can’t be gained from) but we are also the product (the ones who fill away grounds and pump out the atmosphere, driving the team to wins, helping create social media clips). Clever commercial people would realise, and hopefully they do, that fans like us are vital to the success of their wider commercial offerings. Pricing that group out may well lead to a transition to a middle class trendy family coming along and spending more money, but it would be to the detriment of financial performance longer term.

I do this stuff for a living and feel confident in what would happen in a 10 year view under varying circumstances. I just hope the right choices are made because our lives have a big stake in it.

[Nori1958]

I suspect they just might

I suspect you're wrong

[Nori1958]

They can’t turn around a give people say a week to decide whether they can swallow any increase.

For once you're correct

[Nori1958]

Obviously, but given the season we're enduring right now, a goodwill gesture would be good PR and show that they actually care about loyal fans.

Some on here seem to be relishing a price increase. Strange mentality.

Who's "relishing" a price increase? Name and shame

[ŽižkovClaret]

I suspect you're wrong

We'll see, eventually

[Chester Perry]

I listened to that 30 minutes now, recorded in August before the rude awakening on the pitch. I don’t have a problem with it. All this talk of “leveraging” and “TikTok” and “Dude Perfect” is fine. I want the club to be trendy and forward thinking. The staff doing these things now all sound so young, they are clearly more comfortable on their phones rather than talking to people. It’s a young person's world.

But the issue is that we as “legacy fans” are partly the hard core customer (one who too much additional dosh can’t be gained from) but we are also the product (the ones who fill away grounds and pump out the atmosphere, driving the team to wins, helping create social media clips). Clever commercial people would realise, and hopefully they do, that fans like us are vital to the success of their wider commercial offerings. Pricing that group out may well lead to a transition to a middle class trendy family coming along and spending more money, but it would be to the detriment of financial performance longer term.

I do this stuff for a living and feel confident in what would happen in a 10 year view under varying circumstances. I just hope the right choices are made because our lives have a big stake in it.

Like I said there is nothing unusual in the attitude or approach, it is part and parcel of modern football economics.

That said, the thing you are talking about is well recognised not just by the clubs but especially by the broadcasters - hence the £30 away ticket they played a significant role in getting introduced (though many clubs are not making distinctions between concessions and full price on those, these days). What clubs are trying to establish is what level of cheap seats (in reality) they require to provide part of the experience/entertainment factor for those that are paying more for hospitality and matchday tickets that also require membership subscriptions.

At the biggest clubs it is edging ever closer towards 50%, and pricing options for seniors, students and young age groups etc are either disappearing or falling under broader categories with less discount.

At the highest level football's problem in waiting is that these hardcore traditional fans of ageing and there are few replacing them because of pricing and availability. Just who will be generating the experience in 20 years time.

One response has been attempts to manufacture atmosphere, and here we see age and supporter type differences coming into play, with younger supporters and those coming with young families being (in general) more amenable to the idea, to others (like me) it is just another step too far way from what they fell in love with.

[Nori1958]

We'll see, eventually

We will

[The Shire Claret]

Reading some of these comments my mind is boggled ?

I am NOT happy with the price hikes at the kiosks so I am no longer buying at the Kiosks.... I don't think they will raise season ticket prices as we are getting relegated and food and drink sales along with shirt sames must be WELL down due to the mess they made.... they will know people will just not buy ST's relative to this.

Nothing has been released yet and it's decided by some people that early bird is scrapped and prices are going through the roof ?


Have I missed something ?

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

what is it thats bothering people about not knowing yet? if theres no prices, they are not on sale, therefore nothing to worry about.

when they release the info it'll be a choice of get one or dont. i dont understand "they dont get us" vibe. what is there to get, thats lots of us are inpatient and stamp our feet because they are operating slightly different to previous years?

It’s bothering them as they’ve nothing concrete to moan about so making up possibilities about price increases is a good a way as any to pass the hours.