Season Tickets (2022/23)

[Dr Venkman]

30 minutes ago, bowlingcrofty said:

The fairest solution is no new season tickets until supply can keep up with demand (ie stadium expansion).

Expecting this to be the case.

[Rich]

1 hour ago, bobbydazzla said:

I've been to most home games since the takeover but buy tickets before general release by using a pal's ST priority rather than a membership.

Am sure there are loads of other people like me too.

 

If they prioritise members then I'd be excluded even though I rarely miss a game.

 

I can't see any other fair solution apart from general sale or even a ballot. It'll be carnage but at least it's a reasonably level playing field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why, though? To save £40? For ease?

[bowlingcrofty]

Everyone’s definition of “fair” is basically whatever suits their own individual needs best (me included).  

[Rich]

I reckon I'll be sound in any scenario other than an absolute free-for-all, genuinely, but post takeover there was a clear opportunity to sign up/re-sign up as a member (if you didn't have a season ticket or weren't already one) and to start building your digital purchase history up again with the knowledge that future season ticket sales/one-off ticket sales were only going to get more competitive. At that time there was no certainty that the club even had data going back years, and there were rumours of it all being wiped for those who'd packed in.

 

If you didn't take that opportunity, you were a bit lazy or a bit silly. It probably won't matter regardless, like, but still. For £40 it was a no-brainer, especially with no booking fees to pay versus general sale (not that general sale was a factor towards the end of the season).

 

Thunderdome is the only real solution IMO.

[bowlingcrofty]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

I reckon I'll be sound in any scenario other than an absolute free-for-all, genuinely, but post takeover there was a clear opportunity to sign up/re-sign up as a member (if you didn't have a season ticket or weren't already one) and to start building your digital purchase history up again with the knowledge that future season ticket sales/one-off ticket sales were only going to get more competitive. At that time there was no certainty that the club even had data going back years, and there were rumours of it all being wiped for those who'd packed in.

 

If you didn't take that opportunity, you were a bit lazy or a bit silly. It probably won't matter regardless, like, but still. For £40 it was a no-brainer, especially with no booking fees to pay versus general sale (not that general sale was a factor towards the end of the season).

 

Thunderdome is the only real solution IMO.

Yeah agree with all of this. They still do

have everyone’s history there but think I’m in the same boat as you. I was ST holder for years, loads of loyalty points etc. signed up as a member on takeover day and I’ve been to every game since. So got the purchase history, ST history and I’m a member. I would hope that would count for something, but again that’s my personal circumstances and can see why people would argue differently.

[Fantail Breeze]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

I reckon I'll be sound in any scenario other than an absolute free-for-all, genuinely, but post takeover there was a clear opportunity to sign up/re-sign up as a member (if you didn't have a season ticket or weren't already one) and to start building your digital purchase history up again with the knowledge that future season ticket sales/one-off ticket sales were only going to get more competitive. At that time there was no certainty that the club even had data going back years, and there were rumours of it all being wiped for those who'd packed in.

 

If you didn't take that opportunity, you were a bit lazy or a bit silly. It probably won't matter regardless, like, but still. For £40 it was a no-brainer, especially with no booking fees to pay versus general sale (not that general sale was a factor towards the end of the season).

 

Thunderdome is the only real solution IMO.

 

Why on Earth should someone get priority simply for signing up as a member last November? 

 

The membership system is rank in general. I wouldn’t sign up to it purely because you get absolutely no value in it whatsoever. 

 

I don’t know why we need a tiered system/hierarchy of who gets preferential treatment. If you’ve binned your ST, or never had one, you should all get in one line together. I’m in that group myself and I accept that.

I think we’ve already seen a glimpse into the future with the new system of random allocation of places in a queue online.

 

 

[Rich]

I'd honestly be happy just buying singles every week moving forward, or scrounging for tickets when unsuccessful, it's a bit of a fuck about but not enough to put me off doing it.

[Rich]

Just now, Fantail Breeze said:

 

Why on Earth should someone get priority simply for signing up as a member last November? 

 

The membership system is rank in general. I wouldn’t sign up to it purely because you get absolutely no value in it whatsoever. 

 

I don’t know why we need a tiered system/hierarchy of who gets preferential treatment. If you’ve binned your ST, or never had one, you should all get in one line together. I’m in that group myself and I accept that.

I think we’ve already seen a glimpse into the future with the new system of random allocation of places in a queue online.

 

 

 

Explained in the post, to be fair. Can you read?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

5 minutes ago, Rich said:

I reckon I'll be sound in any scenario other than an absolute free-for-all, genuinely, but post takeover there was a clear opportunity to sign up/re-sign up as a member (if you didn't have a season ticket or weren't already one) and to start building your digital purchase history up again with the knowledge that future season ticket sales/one-off ticket sales were only going to get more competitive. At that time there was no certainty that the club even had data going back years, and there were rumours of it all being wiped for those who'd packed in.

 

If you didn't take that opportunity, you were a bit lazy or a bit silly. It probably won't matter regardless, like, but still. For £40 it was a no-brainer, especially with no booking fees to pay versus general sale (not that general sale was a factor towards the end of the season).

 

Thunderdome is the only real solution IMO.

Are you thinking an existing membership will have any influence over whether you get a ST? Best money I ever spent if so

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 minute ago, Rich said:

I'd honestly be happy just buying singles every week moving forward, or scrounging for tickets when unsuccessful, it's a bit of a fuck about but not enough to put me off doing it.

Me too, but not sure it’ll be physically possible. 
 

I’m just terrified of another period like when I was a kid, when going to the match was out of the question. Guess the stadium was a lot smaller then. 

[Rich]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Are you thinking an existing membership will have any influence over whether you get a ST? Best money I ever spent if so

 

From everything I've heard, it won't, and I don't think it even featured on NUST's recommendations did it?

 

Decent common sense test for the owners, this, and they've done pretty well in that regard so far.

[bobbydazzla]

20 minutes ago, Rich said:

 

Why, though? To save £40? For ease?

 

Both. 

 

I'd have paid £40 for a membership if that was the only option. But I was able to get the same priority level for free and it was dead simple to just log in on my pals account, so paying £40 just seemed to be lobbing money away. 

IIRC they also stopped accepting new members relatively soon after the takeover.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by bobbydazzla

[Fantail Breeze]

3 minutes ago, Rich said:

 

Explained in the post, to be fair. Can you read?

 

I can. Your explanation just seems to be “because that’s what I did and that suits me” though.

 

Even without a £40 membership (and just having a membership number by purchasing tickets previously), you have a purchase history. I’ve not had a ST or Membership for 2 seasons and can see every ticket I’ve purchased since then.

[bowlingcrofty]

Just now, bobbydazzla said:

 

Both. 

 

I'd have paid £40 for a membership if that was the only option. But I was able to get the same priority level for free just by using my pals log in, so paying £40 just seemed to be lobbing money away. 

IIRC they also stopped accepting new members relatively soon after the takeover.

 

 

They stopped new members at the end of feb, because otherwise the “annual membership” would have lasted less than three months.

[Rich]

2 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

 

Both. 

 

I'd have paid £40 for a membership if that was the only option. But I was able to get the same priority level for free just by using my pals log in, so paying £40 just seemed to be lobbing money away. 

IIRC they also stopped accepting new members relatively soon after the takeover.

 

 

 

 

Think it was January/February for memberships stopping, but might be wrong.

[Fantail Breeze]

1 minute ago, bowlingcrofty said:

They stopped new members at the end of feb, because otherwise the “annual membership” would have lasted less than three months.

 

Owners could scrap the membership system altogether, tbf. It was only ever an Ashley money making scheme.

[Rich]

10 minutes ago, Fantail Breeze said:

 

I can. Your explanation just seems to be “because that’s what I did and that suits me” though.

 

Even without a £40 membership (and just having a membership number by purchasing tickets previously), you have a purchase history. I’ve not had a ST or Membership for 2 seasons and can see every ticket I’ve purchased since then.

 

So, in my view, you got 17 opportunities this season to show you were desperate to go to the match post-takeover. Buy a membership and then go to every home game thereafter (including Cambridge). If you didn't do that, then you weren't that desperate and now you're clamming because you're worried you won't get the same "rights" as people who made more effort than you if/when season ticket time comes.

 

Everything before that was clouded by Ashley, which is why it seems like a fair cutoff point for me. If you were on board/supportive of the takeover then you were at every game you could attend since October. I'll happily admit I can't be arsed with aways and would be fully alright with anyone who did all 16 home games plus even just one away being ahead of me in the queue.

 

I can't really abide people who cherry-picked their games or just didn't bother going at all being given the same preference for a ST for me, though. So I'm clamming about that. If it goes on history, I'll still be fine, but then you're favouring people based on age in some cases, which is a bit dodgy really. 99% of people interested in a ST could've been going to games already this season, hence why I reckon it should take precedence.

EDIT: Little addition to mention that you could even group memberships together on your account, so if you were buying tickets for family/friends who had their own memberships (even junior magpies) you could have been assigning tickets to them individually so they also got the benefit of the purchase showing on their history.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

4 minutes ago, Fantail Breeze said:

 

Owners could scrap the membership system altogether, tbf. It was only ever an Ashley money making scheme.

Loads of clubs have one mind. I’ve had for about 4 or 5 different clubs myself. But you’re right, it obviously just favours people who have extra money to buy themselves a better position in the queue. 

[bobbydazzla]

 

I think anything that makes it harder for people to get tickets is a bad thing. The more people who can get to go to home games, the better. Open out the experience to as many fans as possible over the course of the season.

 

Just as long as the owners pledge to dish out lifetime bans for any day tripper Insta-twats with selfie sticks. St James Park turning into Old Trafford would be soul crushing.

 

[Rich]

Opening it up generally would just be an invitation for touts and bots, that's the biggest danger in the whole process, the ground being full of day trippers, away fans, or whoever can just afford to pay the highest price.

[Yassassin]

As someone who jacked my season ticket in a few seasons ago, I think that giving priority to people like me isn’t on as it’ll skew the profile of season-ticket holders in terms of age and, probably, sex as more women attend PL games each season (I think that’s correct) and are more likely to apply for a season ticket than when I first got mine. But having been a member for only seven months because you think you’ve spotted the ‘main chance’ shouldn’t give priority either. For me, ballot and waiting list backed by strict identity checks to ensure genuine applications 

[Fantail Breeze]

My preferred option:

 

Tickets on sale with a random allocation in a queue, no shop sales to prevent queues outside.

 

Those who miss out can apply for the waiting list, again assigning you with a random position. You’re then contacted when one comes up.

 

Individual match tickets sold to ‘members’ - a new, free scheme that is based on last season’s purchase history and continues to build from here on in. 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Fantail Breeze

[bobbydazzla]

7 minutes ago, Rich said:

Opening it up generally would just be an invitation for touts and bots, that's the biggest danger in the whole process, the ground being full of day trippers, away fans, or whoever can just afford to pay the highest price.

 

Would free membership with allocated supporter number stop the touts and bots ?

 

In global terms there's loads of entertainment events where demand outstrips supply, you'd assume PIF can speak to some firms who manage that and lift a ticketing system from a different team or venue. 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by bobbydazzla

[Fantail Breeze]

Also think we need a re-sale ticket system. At the moment people sell their unwanted tickets (or use of ST) via social media which offers no protection to buyer or seller.

 

That’ll continue and demand will increase too, it won’t stop or go away. Also sets parameters regarding cost etc.

[HaydnNUFC]

32 minutes ago, Rich said:

I reckon I'll be sound in any scenario other than an absolute free-for-all, genuinely, but post takeover there was a clear opportunity to sign up/re-sign up as a member (if you didn't have a season ticket or weren't already one) and to start building your digital purchase history up again with the knowledge that future season ticket sales/one-off ticket sales were only going to get more competitive. At that time there was no certainty that the club even had data going back years, and there were rumours of it all being wiped for those who'd packed in.

 

If you didn't take that opportunity, you were a bit lazy or a bit silly. It probably won't matter regardless, like, but still. For £40 it was a no-brainer, especially with no booking fees to pay versus general sale (not that general sale was a factor towards the end of the season).

 

Thunderdome is the only real solution IMO.

 

They knocked new memberships on the head in February so that's a tad unfair. In addition (I'll just tell you my situation), I've been to every game post takeover this season bar Spurs, Norwich, Everton and Wolves and I've been buying my old ST seat which I had, next to me dad, from 2016-2019. I've been getting singles through my dad's account as he's a ST holder which also comes with first dibs on tickets. This is to save a tad more money, I'm a student so am a penny pinching cunt by nature and I've had to pay for train travel back to town from Derby every other week on top of the cost of the ticket and beer/food money. Doing it membership only rules me out as I was using my dad's so that is completely unfair from my POV.

 

General sale/first come first serve gets rid of all of these asterisks, favourability and prioritisation.