[Albion] Unsold seats

[Green Cross Code Man]

The club makes £1 per resale? I reckon if we STHs could share out tickets among our chums, the club would make much more than £1 per game on food and drink sales.

Definitely. People I used to pass my brother's ticket onto, when they were still cards, usually didn't go very often at all and made the most of the beers and pies etc. It also encouraged a few to go to different matches afterwards. All that, bringing back older lapsed fans, casual supporters and kids, is lost with My Albion + membership being too highly priced for a one-off impromptu visit.

 

[Wardy's twin]

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.

27k attendance does not mean we have 27k committed fans , far from it. Brighton probably has a worse situation than a lot of clubs because it is a town that attracts people to move down from all over the place (or stay post university) and often they bring their support of another club with them but they see going to the Amex as a 'nice thing to do' (at the moment) The good news is that lots of kids are developing the Brighton bug (based on the wearing of albion shirts) and hopefully the number of core fans will increase but it will take time.

 

[Bozza]

I thought they sold the ticket at a ‘matchday’ price as against what a STH would have paid therefore making more than a quid….or am I mistaken

Correct. So, using my WSU season ticket as an example...

If I sold it on the exchange, I'd get (£710/19) - £1 = £36.37 back. The club would sell it for £60 for Liverpool, pocketing £23.63.

If I sold my son's seat next to mine, I'd get (£330/19) - £1 = £16.37 back as he's an under-18. The club would still sell it for £60, pocketing £44.63. If he were an under-10, it would be even more.

 

[pocketseagull]

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.

It's tricky. As a relative JCL I've gone from never missing an Amex game including cups to sometimes this season just not being into it. Been done to death but the atmosphere is pretty dire now and I don't really feel I've missed out when I've not gone.

 

[Weststander]

It's tricky. As a relative JCL I've gone from never missing an Amex game including cups to sometimes this season just not being into it. Been done to death but the atmosphere is pretty dire now and I don't really feel I've missed out when I've not gone.

By comparison, how did you find the Amex atmosphere and your own mojo at our home games 2022/23?

 

[bhafc99]

This thread is making me think about how different it is now to when I was young.

Back in the 80s, as teenagers, if we were free on a Saturday there was a game on, we’d catch the train over from Bexhill, walk up and POTG at the Goldstone North Stand, and that was it.

Now my own boys are reaching that age, but for them, that kind of spontaneity and choice is non-existent. Going to a game is a complex, expensive and highly-restricted palaver*.

I know we’ll never go back to how it was, but does make me wonder if the pendulum has swung too far the other way now.




*Please refer to ‘Old fashioned words you use’ thread.

 

[The Wookiee]

Woke up on Sunday morning and I fancied going to the Newcastle game as I now had a free Sunday.
I went online to buy a ticket and I wasn’t able to, I’m guessing as you can’t by tickets on the day of the game ??

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Woke up on Sunday morning and I fancied going to the Newcastle game as I now had a free Sunday.
I went online to buy a ticket and I wasn’t able to, I’m guessing as you can’t by tickets on the day of the game ??

My sister in law had the same problem. My nieces football match was cancelled Sunday morning and she wanted to go to the game instead. For some reason she couldn’t buy them even though she has an Albion membership but I managed to buy her two as my season tickets guests and allocated the tickets to her. This was done at about 11am Sunday morning as my cancelled Nr 2 bus drove past me!

 

[PascalGroß Tips]

Woke up on Sunday morning and I fancied going to the Newcastle game as I now had a free Sunday.
I went online to buy a ticket and I wasn’t able to, I’m guessing as you can’t by tickets on the day of the game ??

I thought you could buy them pretty much up to kick off.

 

[Jim in the West]

This thread is making me think about how different it is now to when I was young.

Back in the 80s, as teenagers, if we were free on a Saturday there was a game on, we’d catch the train over from Bexhill, walk up and POTG at the Goldstone North Stand, and that was it.

Now my own boys are reaching that age, but for them, that kind of spontaneity and choice is non-existent. Going to a game is a complex, expensive and highly-restricted palaver*.

I know we’ll never go back to how it was, but does make me wonder if the pendulum has swung too far the other way now.




*Please refer to ‘Old fashioned words you use’ thread.

We’re on hols near Verona, and on Sunday we thought we’d go to a footie match. Closest to us was Brescia (Serie B). We pitched up at the ground 45 mins before the game and bought tickets….we had to show ID, our names were printed on our tickets, then had to show ID again at the turnstiles. It was a very minor palaver, but Brescia made €90 from the three of us, plus a bit more for drinks (you could have a pint in your seat watching the game!).

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

We’re on hols near Verona, and on Sunday we thought we’d go to a footie match. Closest to us was Brescia (Serie B). We pitched up at the ground 45 mins before the game and bought tickets….we had to show ID, our names were printed on our tickets, then had to show ID again at the turnstiles. It was a very minor palaver, but Brescia made €90 from the three of us, plus a bit more for drinks (you could have a pint in your seat watching the game!).

Many years I saw Roma v Brescia in Rome. We arrived at the stadium about 90 minutes beforehand and bought in cash two tickets at about €35 euros each from the official club ticket office…..then 10 minutes later had to get them changed as the official ticket person had deliberately given us lesser value tickets to the ones we had paid for!

 

[Zeberdi]

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.

Brighton/Sussex has always had a demographic that includes ‘wealthy’ people - it is one of the most affluent areas in the SE outside London.

IMO, we are noticing that as Brighton fans now because the Amex was specifically designed to maximise revenue from hospitality and corporate sponsorship as was the addition of the Terrace tbh - that was always factored in as a crucial part of our financial sustainability plans to survive in the Premier League. Lower league stadia (ie smaller clubs with less overheads) don’t have or need the same level of hospitality facilities and can survive (‘just’) on a more traditional fan base.

In general though, the football industry has changed dramatically in the past 30 years and one of the biggest changes is the broader family appeal of football (especially after some fairly successful World/Euro Cup runs and the rise of women’s professional football).

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

I don't have angst, but I do have an interest.

It feels to me as though our support, in terms of the number of people prepared to pay and travel to home games, has dropped off this season, but I don't have data to back that up.

In recent prior seasons, it has always felt like exchange tickets were quite few and far between and, as you say, those second sales were significant.

This season, certainly over recent months, we've seen thousands - sometimes in excess of 4,000 - unsold exchange seats. I just don't think that happened before.

So, as I say, it's more personal curiosity and interest.

I think, Sussex police would hold the actual attendance figures somewhere, rather than the ‘pretendence’ numbers.

I’m sure someone posted them a few years ago but it needs an FOI?

 

[Stuart Munday]

I am going to get slated for this but apart from a few exciting exceptions I think we are boring to watch at home.

Most of the games where it has been easy to get tickets for a casual fan have been poor, my wife and daughter continued their run on Saturday of not seeing a win this season although they have been to over a third of the games.

Although the ref made a good atmosphere on Saturday watching Brighton pass the ball around in their half for 75 minutes would not make a newcomer want to rush back.

 

[tstanbur]

Woke up on Sunday morning and I fancied going to the Newcastle game as I now had a free Sunday.
I went online to buy a ticket and I wasn’t able to, I’m guessing as you can’t by tickets on the day of the game ??

You should be able to. Maybe you weren’t logged in which always means the buy button isn’t active.

They should really have some text under the button to highlight this as it’s not obvious.

This is what it looks like if you’re not logged in

 

[timbha]

I am going to get slated for this but apart from a few exciting exceptions I think we are boring to watch at home.

Most of the games where it has been easy to get tickets for a casual fan have been poor, my wife and daughter continued their run on Saturday of not seeing a win this season although they have been to over a third of the games.

Although the ref made a good atmosphere on Saturday watching Brighton pass the ball around in their half for 75 minutes would not make a newcomer want to rush back.

with Pedro suspended and Mitoma and Rutter injured, who are you expecting to create that excitement?

 

[Guinness Boy]

Brighton/Sussex has always had a demographic that includes ‘wealthy’ people - it is one of the most affluent areas in the SE outside London.

IMO, we are noticing that as Brighton fans now because the Amex was specifically designed to maximise revenue from hospitality and corporate sponsorship as was the addition of the Terrace tbh - that was always factored in as a crucial part of our financial sustainability plans to survive in the Premier League. Lower league stadia (ie smaller clubs with less overheads) don’t have or need the same level of hospitality facilities and can survive (‘just’) on a more traditional fan base.

In general though, the football industry has changed dramatically in the past 30 years and one of the biggest changes is the broader family appeal of football (especially after some fairly successful World/Euro Cup runs and the rise of women’s professional football).

I do agree. Our business model is never going to be the same as a Man U or Liverpool or Arsenal so we have to make money where we can. Player sales, 1901 and the Terrace, signing players like Mitoma who have a huge fan base abroad and targeting ticket sales at DFLs and wealthy Mid-Sussex families. None of it is very 'Goldstone' but the upside is we're financially secure and a Premier League regular, rather than fighting to save a club with no money and no ground.

I've highlighted your first sentence though because it may be that Brighton / Sussex always had a demographic that includes wealthy people but not very many of them went to the football back in the day. The group I went to games with had three lads from Moulsecoomb / Bevendean and others from Whitehawk, Portslade and Lancing. Another group was from Wick, others were part of the original A21 club. We were a Sussex club still (maybe more as many youngsters now watch non league) but from all the wrong parts of Sussex. Now at the Amex you still get a lot of old school working class fans but there's a lot more money and a lot more families too.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

This thread is making me think about how different it is now to when I was young.

Back in the 80s, as teenagers, if we were free on a Saturday there was a game on, we’d catch the train over from Bexhill, walk up and POTG at the Goldstone North Stand, and that was it.

Now my own boys are reaching that age, but for them, that kind of spontaneity and choice is non-existent. Going to a game is a complex, expensive and highly-restricted palaver*.

I know we’ll never go back to how it was, but does make me wonder if the pendulum has swung too far the other way now.




*Please refer to ‘Old fashioned words you use’ thread.

I dunno, twice this season I've made a last minute decision to go to a game, buying a ticket on the train to the ground an hour before kick-off, each time nice and central at the back of west lower. And I got to watch us turn over Spurs and Man City, which was fun I don't think its that hard expensive, I guess so, but its the Albion, so well worth it.

 

[Zeberdi]

I've highlighted your first sentence though because it may be that Brighton / Sussex always had a demographic that includes wealthy people but not very many of them went to the football back in the day. The group I went to games with had three lads from Moulsecoomb / Bevendean and others from Whitehawk, Portslade and Lancing. Another group was from Wick, others were part of the original A21 club. We were a Sussex club still (maybe more as many youngsters now watch non league) but from all the wrong parts of Sussex. Now at the Amex you still get a lot of old school working class fans but there's a lot more money and a lot more families too.

Good post.

Just re. the quoted bit, I think you, Jack and I are on the same page here with regard to the changing demographic of our supporters/fans - It’s probably a circular discussion but I would suggest ( was trying to suggest ) that there’s more than a casual link between providing sponsored hospitality areas and attracting a wealthier demographic that would want that ( as well as working hard to attract the next generation of STHs by so much kid friendly engagement). Chicken and egg maybe..

 

[Guinness Boy]

Good post.

Just re. the quoted bit, I think you, Jack and I are on the same page here with regard to the changing demographic of our supporters/fans - It’s probably a circular discussion but I would suggest ( was trying to suggest ) that there’s more than a casual link between providing sponsored hospitality areas and attracting a wealthier demographic that would want that ( as well as working hard to attract the next generation of STHs by so much kid friendly engagement). Chicken and egg maybe..

Yep