I think you are twisting this a bit to suit your argument.
The majority of the empty seats on Saturday were because people that bought tickets didn’t turn up.
Many reasons:
Covid and health fears
Change in financial circumstances
More seats available
People relocating away from the area
All genuine reasons for not renewing and accounting for the vast majority of the less than 10% not renewing. I think we are quite high in the PL ST retention league...
I can’t see many STHs giving up their STs because of this (or anything really). Every season there’s an issue that “will stop STHs renewing” yet we always come back. I’m not giving up my ST because of bottle tops, loyalty points, parking, mustard coloured jumpers or the ticket exchange system...
Really good post. Thanks. Re your penultimate point about passing on tickets, is this an implied permission or is it actually stated that ST can be “lent” (or does the club administer the transfer so they know who is using the ticket) ?
I wonder if the teams that have been in the PL much longer...
Out of curiosity I’ve just scanned Southampton’s ST terms and conditions. It doesn’t say if they are transferable or not but I did note:
Ticket exchange facility for sold out fixtures
The ability to upgrade Season Tickets for Juniors and Enablers who cannot attend matches
Window to purchase...
Some recent excellent posts (Nick, Bozza, etc) are in danger of derailing those intent of keeping this thread going round in circles.
PB has explained why we can’t share tickets, not least because STs are sold at a discount so why should “friends” get cheaper tickets when they are not even...
Business contact. He can give tickets to who he likes. Like 1901 then?
We can all claim to find examples of how other clubs treat their fans better than we do. You know the answer
Interesting post and understandable from your perspective. We all have to make choices and clearly living some distance from Brighton and being a STH aren’t always compatible.