Just The Ticket

By Bristol Boy

Bristol Boy looks at ticketing and Bristol City Football Club

Depending on your viewpoint and the Internet & Radio Phone Ins have been full of them, our ticketing policy was “understandable” “A smack in the mouth for ST Holders” “Just one of those things” “Unfair, particularly on those who travel away or are regulars at home, despite not having a Season Ticket-or, if you prefer, Just Plain Wrong.

The majority opinion (and this isn’t scientific) but garnered from the fans forum and personal conversations with City diehards, would appear to be that it was badly handled, certainly it could have been done better and, coming at a time when we seemed to have “hit the straps” on the field, is a negative when so much on the field is positive. It also follows hundreds of fans being displaced from seats that have been their home at AG for decades to allow for the introduction of The Premier Club, which SL recently confirmed had been a disappointment. To make maters worse, Colin Sexstone confirmed that ten percent of those ST Holders displaced, did not renew.

Whilst I fully understand the need to sweat assets and maximise income in these days of financial madness surrounding football……don’t agree? Two words…..Ashley Young and further evidence would be £26.5m for finishing bottom of the Premiership in 2007/2008, what price loyalty to a customer base…..that’s right, I said customer, not fan, that has stayed with the club through thick and thin………and let’s face it, there ain’t been much thick, particularly since we were relegated straight back into what is still, in reality, the Third Division.

One direction that I am convinced that blame shouldn’t be apportioned is towards Helen Mills and the guys in the ticket office who did superbly well under extreme pressure. They have to do as they’re told by senior management and they did. To those that say, “get some more staff in,” there is little point, as without a computer terminal, those additional staff can’t sell tickets although, I suppose they could assist with mailing etc and my understanding is that that has happened. City have nine such terminals, five on the phone and four for personal callers.

One thing I cannot understand, and I’ll come on to some solutions and proposals soon, I promise, is the fact that tickets were placed on UNLIMITED general sale, so soon. I’d heard anecdotal stories surrounding people buying 10-30 tickets at a time for various reasons include profiteering and touting and I really had to check that out. I confirmed this morning that the tickets that were not Season Tickets were on unlimited sale and anyone (A member of Boros Firm-The Frontline, for example) could visit and buy as many as they liked for whatever part of the ground…….well, apart from the away end!

What would stop a tout buying thirty tickets and selling to them all to Middlesbrough fans, unsuspecting or otherwise, for the middle of the home end? Imagine the repercussions at the FA if fighting broke out in the middle of the home sections after what could only be called a minor scuffle when we played Coventry came to national prominence? The game is on National TV on the evening as a featured match.

Season Ticket holders I am assured, will get priority for a game against Rovers in the JPT, if that happens and, barring postponements, we’ll know by tomorrow night if that’s on the cards…….and so we come on for the reason quoted, tenuously I feel, for this rabid stampede of a sales policy. Given the limited resources at AG, it was decided that we couldn’t sell high numbers of tickets for Boro & Rovers at the same time. With AG the venue for an area final, first leg, we’ll have less than a week to prepare, although, one would hope that plans are in place and it’s just a question of “pushing the button” Let’s face it, we won’t sell out if it is Shrewsbury.

There was less excuse for the Boro match. We knew we had a home game after the draw was made on the 8th January having drawn with Coventry on the 6th.

We knew that if we beat Coventry, we were at home and therefore could have offered ST Holders & Priority Groups (Frequent Away Fans, City 2000 etc, etc) the opportunity to book tickets in advance-For example I could have confirmed that, irrespective of whether it was Hull or Boro, I would be there and I could have done that by e mail, letter, phone or personal visit .Although, ST Holders, for some strange I.T. reasons can’t use the online service, perhaps that could have been adapted or e mail used to further facilitate the reduction of phone traffic?

When we won at Coventry, it would have then been a simple matter of sending and billing the ticket (We have to do that now anyway) and, if we can sell 9,000 tickets in a day, we could have allocated a day and a half to this process, to sell 7,600 maximum, less in all eventuality as, at any given game up to 1,000 ST Holders are no shows.

That would have left us eight and a half working days to sell the remaining 8-9,000 tickets after Boro’s allocation of 3,100.That time would allow for a rethink if Boro returned a significant number.

As I write, Boro have sold 500 tickets for the game however, they are selling to ST Holders only up until Tuesday evening, with the remainder on general sale from Wednesday morning. They are now predicting a sell out after interest from non season ticket holders, so a significant return, whilst not impossible, looks unlikely.

Some Solutions

It’s 2007 and there are better ways.

Promotion & Construction work at AG may even mean a reduced capacity in the future, so what can be done to assure that the real fans and the long term loyal customer base are not disenfranchised?

As they are the lifeblood of any club, ST Holders must take priority and I’ll concede that the Premier Club Members and Corporate Hospitality clients will have their own arrangements and rightly so if they have invested significantly in seats whatever the rights and wrongs of their location and price structure.

Here are some ideas that have been suggested both on The Forum & In Person.

1.Invest in an I.T.System that allows ST Holders to buy online. That would remove somewhere between 30-70% now and in the future from the telephone traffic. Before people say “what if I haven’t got a computer,” I would say that:

a.Lots of people have.
b.If you can’t use one you will normally know someone who can/does.
c.That wouldn’t be the only way of getting your seat, however, if you do want to write in, phone or visit, at least a lot of people like me wouldn’t be stood in your way!

2.Give the ST holders a dedicated phone line that needs PIN access to buy. Change that phone line every season and don’t publish the number.

3.Always set the first day or two aside for ST Holders only.

4.Particularly if we are promoted, City could have as much as 75% of the home seats as ST’s. Good I.T./Online Sales will be cost effective as it will ease sales and reduce staff costs.

5.Offer Trust Membership with real benefits like cheaper away travel/home tickets to regular fans who cannot afford to buy a ST.This membership would need to be at reasonable cost in order to discourage those who would join for one big game. It should take 7-10 Days to obtain for the same reason. So,say, £20 payable in four monthly instalments. That would make them a priority group after ST holders.

6.One ticket per ST or Membership, not both.

7.Do not allow unlimited general sale, until the last day or so AND ask for ID to stop tickets falling into the wrong hands.

8.To boost ST Sales offer people six-ten interest free instalments when prices increase if we’re promoted. The other way around, offer a discount for paying in advance as per our early bird current deal.

That there are better ways must surely be beyond doubt and the Club needs to address concerns that are not just about ticketing, but a feeling that persists with some fans at City and thousands nationwide, that they are not as important as the corporate pound and that their game is rapidly being taken away from them, as grass roots supporters.

The views expressed in this 'Soapbox' section are those of the author of each article and do not necessarily reflect those of the Bristol City Supporters Trust

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