uRRRs blogWe Don’t Know What We’re Doing part two – or do we? The All New Season Ticket Fiasco |
Posted: February 27th 2009
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I wonder what the Italian for “pig’s ear” is? Could there be an equivalent Indian colloquialism for “shooting yourself in the foot”?
Our esteemed owners, the mega rich mob, the ones who “don’t do failure”, have just announced the 09-10 season ticket prices. In February. Kind of.
With typically grand hyperbole, they have announced that the ‘early bird discount’ scheme is back...quietly ignoring the fact that it should never have been unceremoniously dumped last year in the first place.
“Prices frozen!!!” they scream unnecessarily. Frozen, that is, if you opt into the early bird scheme...by April 17th. Blimey, six weeks to find the dosh, and before the season’s even ended. That bird’s so early there won’t be a worm in sight.
So naturally the questions on everyone’s lips are: (1) what will the prices be post-April 17, ie what’s the saving?; (2) why, in what economists are telling us daily is really the most awful, beastly recession for a jolly long time, would we seem to be about to put prices up again a mere year after an absolutely mammoth rise that flabbergasted and outraged the fanbase in equal measure...a rise which has seen disappointing gates all season, and an often poisonous atmosphere caused by the raised expectations the prices led to?
Amit Bhatia, the board member who has clearly tried to position himself as people’s champion, has attended meetings with fan groups where this has been top of the agenda, and says he has listened. If he had listened, surely this is what he would have done:
- Price freeze on all seats, both season tickets & match day walk ups
- 10-15% early bird discount for season ticket renewals (deadline: mid-late June)
- A series of ongoing special promotions throughout the season
- Publish two sets of prices, one for another season in the Championship, then a Plan B in the event of the unlikely but still not impossible event that we sneak into, and then win, the Play Offs
It really could have been that simple. Instead we are none the wiser as to what next season’s prices will be, other than the assumption that, if the early early early early bird price is frozen, for everyone else prices will go up.
The give away comes with the line:
“With the Rs hopeful of mounting a play off push in the closing months, you could be in line for a Premier League season ticket at a Championship price!”
...except we already pay Premier League prices for a Championship season ticket. And with the top 4 places looking pretty sewn up, and with Rangers one of arguably 10 clubs who still harbour realistic Play Off hopes, that’s a one in five chance of making the Play Offs, which you then have a one in four chance of winning, which makes the odds....er....slim.
Oh why am I bothering? It’s crap. I’m as annoyed by the incompetent way in which it’s been handled as I am about the actual prices.
The club is taking a huge gamble, based on our somewhat pathetic 18,000 capacity. Whilst forever emphasising that they won’t splash the cash to chase promotion, but will build towards it sensibly, they are clearly trying to create a mood whereby we all feel promotion is assured within the next couple of years. No doubt having seen an average gate of 16,000+ when we won promotion from League One in 03-04, they know that people will find the money to watch a winning team mounting a serious promotion assault. If we finish in or near the Play Offs this season, then make a couple more signings in the summer, we’ll be looking good for a tilt at automatic next season. And before you know it, demand for seats is outstripping supply.
The additional factor, of course, for us season ticket holders is that, having bought into the dream that promotion will come within the next couple of years, we don’t want to risk giving up our seat, as if we go into the Prem with the aforementioned 18,000 capacity, it’ll be house full signs every fortnight – whether that be long suffering die hards or Johnny come lately glory seekers matters not a jot to the bean counters.
Hang on a minute, that’s it, isn’t it? Maybe I was wrong at the start of this piece. Maybe they know exactly what they’re doing. As in any sport there’s a gamble element based around whether or not the team can actually deliver, but that goes with the territory.
Maybe the conclusion should simply be that they don’t give a toss about the loyal supporters. And that was the gamble we as fans had little choice but to take when we welcomed our loaded saviours with open arms.