[Albion] Unsold seats

[El Presidente]

We have enough match by match fans that the exchange opens and then quite a few exchange tickets are bought - that doesn’t seem to be a problem.

We’ve still got everything to play for, our 2nd highest top flight points haul with 3 still to play, but it seems thousands of ST holders aren’t attending either yesterday or v West Ham. If it’s ‘apathy’ then we have a seriously fickle fan base.

It’s no more fickle than any other local fan base.

The issues are
1: The Albion are relatively new to having 31,000 watch them, so therefore there’s limited ‘excess’ demand.
2: Provincial rather than big city location
3: Despite Mitoma-mania not much of a tourist destination
4: Ongoing transportation/access issues. I’m not sure the Club can do much more than they have done already, the Terrace has helped a bit and trains for Newcastle were better from Lewes but at same time it is a ballache at times to which they do seem to be in denial.
5: We’re not in a dogfight for either relegation nor Europe, despite the chance of 8th and Conference…it’s still 8th.
6: Transferring tickets is also a pain

 

[oldboyroy]

I think it's the general rip off around football clubs in general which is beginning to hit. The travel issues don't help, especially on a bank holiday weekend. You need membership to buy a ticket so casuals either can't get a ticket and this season ticket holders who can't make a certain game and their ticket can't be passed onto a mate or risk getting the wrath from the club. Its happening at City, United and I imagine many others in the Premier league!

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

I actually don't think they are not selling because of travel/membership situation, we are just reaching that point 8 seasons into the premier league, where for some people they are losing the appetite. My mum didn't go Sunday, usually I can find a MyAlbion+ to shift it to with ease, Saturday nobody was interested.

I would have thought with your media presence they’d at least advertise the Jack Albion Experience separate from a run of the mill West Upper ticket? Maybe a Yellow Astrix next time on the seat planner?

 

[Mellotron]

Yeah definitely its an aspect, but I do think the appetite for some of those who maybe bought season tickets for the premier league, or those are just in all honesty just not really into it.

Yeah I think you're right that it's a factor.

I also think - as discussed elsewhere on here - a LOT of people are increasingly seeing local, lower league football as more attractive in many ways.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I actually don't think they are not selling because of travel/membership situation, we are just reaching that point 8 seasons into the premier league, where for some people they are losing the appetite. My mum didn't go Sunday, usually I can find a MyAlbion+ to shift it to with ease, Saturday nobody was interested.

Certainly part of the problem IMO.

Whenever you get a bad patch in the season there are a lot of people who revert on here saying anyone moaning is "entitled" and that little old Brighton should know their place, we're so well run, yada, yada, yada.

The fact is we're in a place right now where we're never going to win the league we're competing in and we'd have to have an absolute disaster to go down, so we're effectively competing to qualify for the lower tier European competitions. It is incredible for a team with our history to have played Europa League and it would be a huge achievement to do that again, but even then Europe isn't something you can parade around town on your head on top of a bus.

The club has targets to regularly qualify for Europe and to even try to make a Champions League one season, precisely because otherwise we'd just be another Palace or Wolves or Fulham. 25-30k ish fans watching a mid table team quietly play out a season while hoping for a cup run or a win over local rivals (two things we've not done this season and Palace have). It's madness to think wanting to hit those targets from the club senior management is entitlement.

And yet, even when we're close the 'product' isn't always that great. On the face of it you could spin Sunday as a draw against a well supported team chasing the Champions League or you could spin it as a mundane game of missed chances and terrible refereeing played out to a backdrop of thousands of empty seats. Both can be true.

Football to me (and I know you) has always been a day out. A few beers with friends and family, a good laugh and a chance to support the team that represents your local community. A routine, almost a religion. But to many people it isn't. If they see it as too expensive or too inconvenient that's one thing, but I suspect many are seeing it as expensive and inconvenient to watch something that's barely going to change. No real chance of a trophy, no real chance of relegation, just the chance to see some very overpaid human beings getting close but no cigar.

 

[atomised]

And the crucial point is that you were selling a pair. I have put my single seat on the exchange 3 times in the last 2 seasons (WSU) and it has never sold

Yet I've put my single seat on the exchange several times and it's only failed to sell once.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

I do wonder if price categories factoring in day of the week would help the demand for exchange tickets.

And what happened to being able to buy concession tickets on there, you certainly could a few weeks back, I think it was Fulham or Leicester?

 

[jackalbion]

I would have thought with your media presence they’d at least advertise the Jack Albion Experience separate from a run of the mill West Upper ticket? Maybe a Yellow Astrix next time on the seat planner?

Last person who bought an exchange ticket next to me did not return at half time.

 

[Bold Seagull]

It’s no more fickle than any other local fan base.

The issues are
1: The Albion are relatively new to having 31,000 watch them, so therefore there’s limited ‘excess’ demand.
2: Provincial rather than big city location
3: Despite Mitoma-mania not much of a tourist destination
4: Ongoing transportation/access issues. I’m not sure the Club can do much more than they have done already, the Terrace has helped a bit and trains for Newcastle were better from Lewes but at same time it is a ballache at times to which they do seem to be in denial.
5: We’re not in a dogfight for either relegation nor Europe, despite the chance of 8th and Conference…it’s still 8th.
6: Transferring tickets is also a pain

I was addressing the posts that said it’s ‘apathy’ - then it would be fickle, but I’m not sure it is, I agree more likely a combination of factors beyond apathy.

 

[jackalbion]

Football to me (and I know you) has always been a day out. A few beers with friends and family, a good laugh and a chance to support the team that represents your local community. A routine, almost a religion. But to many people it isn't. If they see it as too expensive or too inconvenient that's one thing, but I suspect many are seeing it as expensive and inconvenient to watch something that's barely going to change. No real chance of a trophy, no real chance of relegation, just the chance to see some very overpaid human beings getting close but no cigar.

Definitely and we have a large portion of our fanbase or definitely compared to other clubs that don’t fall in the category of seeing it as a big day out on the beers, or as part of their day out. I find talking to some people it all a bit bizarre is that all they are worried about is how quickly they can get away from the ground. It’s why our away support seems to go from strength to strength but the home support seems fickle. I do think it’s not exclusively a Brighton problem however, the demographics that football is aiming for is not the, meet your mates at 12 at the Albert, hit a few beers, one in the concourse pre game, a couple after then a night on the town, anymore.

I think football however could hit a wall soon, there is only so much the regularly attending fan will pay, and the attractiveness will wear off. I meet more and more now who support their local club however which is only a good thing. We of course are not having big issues with this, but the way the premier league is moving it won’t be long before we catch up.

EDIT: Another thing is that I do feel having a season ticket in Brighton was a bit of a fad, and maybe that’s worn off. There’s been a lot of wealthy people moving into Brighton who just sort of bought a season ticket because they could. Maybe they tried to get the kids hooked but never did, it seems to me anyway that the sort of new demographic that Brighton/Sussex is gaining now is a very different target market most lower league clubs have. It’s definitely a different type of fan I’m seeing more and more, especially the sort of target of the Amex Lounge upstairs terrace thing seems to be for.

 

[ROSM]

On Sunday I had two people sit behind me who turned up late to both halves and pne of them spent the whole game discussing how they set their five a side team up to teach people to pass backwards (seriously)

Much as it was grating on me I resisted any comment as actually to have someone in that seat was better than not

 

[Sue1983]

I do wonder if price categories factoring in day of the week would help the demand for exchange tickets.

And what happened to being able to buy concession tickets on there, you certainly could a few weeks back, I think it was Fulham or Leicester?

I think the price categories is a big factor. We are in ESU which it one of the more expensive tickets and probably is why they haven't sold.

 

[jackalbion]

On Sunday I had two people sit behind me who turned up late to both halves and pne of them spent the whole game discussing how they set their five a side team up to teach people to pass backwards (seriously)

Much as it was grating on me I resisted any comment as actually to have someone in that seat was better than not

Someone near me one game was having a conversation about how many different stadiums they’ve had a shit in, as well as which stands had the cleanest toilets, which I have to say was quite interesting.

 

[Weststander]

It’s no more fickle than any other local fan base.

The issues are
1: The Albion are relatively new to having 31,000 watch them, so therefore there’s limited ‘excess’ demand.
2: Provincial rather than big city location
3: Despite Mitoma-mania not much of a tourist destination
4: Ongoing transportation/access issues. I’m not sure the Club can do much more than they have done already, the Terrace has helped a bit and trains for Newcastle were better from Lewes but at same time it is a ballache at times to which they do seem to be in denial.
5: We’re not in a dogfight for either relegation nor Europe, despite the chance of 8th and Conference…it’s still 8th.
6: Transferring tickets is also a pain

7: Our home PL wins record is poor. Punch drunk from losses/draws against all and sundry, quite a few thousand have lost their appetite for this season. Two years ago the stadium was packed to the rafters in the run-in at any KO time.

 

[southstandandy]

It’s no more fickle than any other local fan base.

The issues are
1: The Albion are relatively new to having 31,000 watch them, so therefore there’s limited ‘excess’ demand.
2: Provincial rather than big city location
3: Despite Mitoma-mania not much of a tourist destination
4: Ongoing transportation/access issues. I’m not sure the Club can do much more than they have done already, the Terrace has helped a bit and trains for Newcastle were better from Lewes but at same time it is a ballache at times to which they do seem to be in denial.
5: We’re not in a dogfight for either relegation nor Europe, despite the chance of 8th and Conference…it’s still 8th.
6: Transferring tickets is also a pain

Plus quite a few fans I have spoken to also find the constant changing kick off times / days when matches are played can affect peoples arrangements. As there are no regular days when matches are played anymore (in the Prem) this can be a problem for some. When I was working I worked 6 days a week Sunday to Friday from 8am to 8pm. This meant realistically I could only go on Saturdays or I had to arrange time off work.

This is also definitely an added factor for some.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Last person who bought an exchange ticket next to me did not return at half time.

The area around us is hilarious. To our left and in front we've got some very old school Brighton fans, several I recognise from Withdean, one of whom contributes to a well known Brighton electronic media outlet and the bloke just in front and to the left is the one who set fire to a flag in Rome. Then right in front we've got an extended family, one of whom wears red trousers unironically. One of them moved about 10 seats to the right on Sunday after the tenth time Pawson was called a c***.

 

[Happy Exile]

Someone near me one game was having a conversation about how many different stadiums they’ve had a shit in, as well as which stands had the cleanest toilets, which I have to say was quite interesting.

Given the varied kick-off times of games I wonder if they have a special gift for saving it for special moments or if they have such an irregularity of bowel movements throughout the day they should see a specialist?

My benchmark for in-game conversation is from one of the evening games against Palace, maybe 3 or 4 seasons ago, quite a feisty atmosphere, a couple of their fans ran on the pitch at various points when they scored, all around me quite enthusiastically getting involved in the panto and a lot of absolute filth being shouted at them from all sides...but the two guys directly behind me spent most of the match talking about road systems, different routes between places, speed cameras, if it was quicker to go to Marlowe via the A-whatever or A-whatever-else and take the third exit at the roundabout by the cafe, no not that cafe, the one that has the payphone outside...red phone box or newer clear glass one? I think a red one. Or I might be thinking of that one on the B172. Hang on, if I can get a signal I'll check. Oh I didn't take the third exit, I took the fourth, silly me and there's a road that looks like it'll be a farm lane but it isn't, and that cuts 20 metres off the journey so it's worth it but not in winter though if it snows.

And so on, only occasionally interrupted with an exasperated "Oh...HELLO!" when they disagreed with something the referee or a Palace player did.

 

[Hamilton]

Certainly part of the problem IMO.

Whenever you get a bad patch in the season there are a lot of people who revert on here saying anyone moaning is "entitled" and that little old Brighton should know their place, we're so well run, yada, yada, yada.

The fact is we're in a place right now where we're never going to win the league we're competing in and we'd have to have an absolute disaster to go down, so we're effectively competing to qualify for the lower tier European competitions. It is incredible for a team with our history to have played Europa League and it would be a huge achievement to do that again, but even then Europe isn't something you can parade around town on your head on top of a bus.

The club has targets to regularly qualify for Europe and to even try to make a Champions League one season, precisely because otherwise we'd just be another Palace or Wolves or Fulham. 25-30k ish fans watching a mid table team quietly play out a season while hoping for a cup run or a win over local rivals (two things we've not done this season and Palace have). It's madness to think wanting to hit those targets from the club senior management is entitlement.

And yet, even when we're close the 'product' isn't always that great. On the face of it you could spin Sunday as a draw against a well supported team chasing the Champions League or you could spin it as a mundane game of missed chances and terrible refereeing played out to a backdrop of thousands of empty seats. Both can be true.

Football to me (and I know you) has always been a day out. A few beers with friends and family, a good laugh and a chance to support the team that represents your local community. A routine, almost a religion. But to many people it isn't. If they see it as too expensive or too inconvenient that's one thing, but I suspect many are seeing it as expensive and inconvenient to watch something that's barely going to change. No real chance of a trophy, no real chance of relegation, just the chance to see some very overpaid human beings getting close but no cigar.

Is it bigger than just the Albion though?

It's hard to get an accurate figure for attendances because the club only publish the number of sold tickets.

But, UEFA reported a 4% drop in Premier League attendances for the 2023-24 season. What might their report say for this season?

As I mentioned in another post, BARB ratings were also showing a drop in year for year TV viewers last month. Maybe that's because the PL race is boring this year. Maybe that makes this whole season feel boring for everyone. And qualifying for Europe from 8th is a bit of a joke, especially when you look at what you might be qualifying for i.e. the Europe's equivalent of the Johnston's Paint Trophy.

 

[ROSM]

The area around us is hilarious. To our left and in front we've got some very old school Brighton fans, several I recognise from Withdean, one of whom contributes to a well known Brighton electronic media outlet and the bloke just in front is the one who set fire to a flag in Rome. Then right in front we've got an extended family, one of whom wears red trousers unironically. One of them moved about 10 seats to the right on Sunday after the tenth time Pawson was called a c***.

The funniest comment I heard at withdean was when a drunken friend dropped the c word a few times towards Prosser.

A middle aged well spoken lady turned round and said in a plummy voice. 'I object to your use of that word. I have one of those and it's much more useful than him'

 

[skr80aa]

Poor access, poor kick off times midweek etc, expensive tickets. I used to expect to sell my seat if on Holiday or unable to go.
I do wonder if it will sell via the little change next season.
If not, we may well stop being season ticket holders, and buy individual tickets for the games we can get too. A shame as we like our seats however it may not be financially realistic if they don't resell.