Our ticket sales and Middsbro all but sold all theirs

[lake district canary 4,531]

Just looked on Middsbro website and they have all but sold all their

tickets, with only four blocks with any seats left for sale at all.  Our seat

allocation is still showing good or very good availability still in the

top tier, nearly all the way round our section of the ground.   Have

Boro done it better by having a general sale from today?   

It also begs

the question whether we are going to sell all our tickets in time, as

if  the rush has stopped now, how much of a rush will their be on Wednesday when it is still only open to season ticket holders and priority memberships?   Even if people want to buy for family or friends, will the rush be that great?   I''ve got my ticket through being a member, but there is a demand for tickets from people who go to the occasional match each season, but who aren''t members. I don''t really understand why tickets aren''t being offered for general sale at some point. Are they scared Middsbro fans will try and take them because they think their demand might be greater than ours - or is it because they want our fans to be able to include family members who maybe never otherwise go to a match?  

Either way, there is a risk that occasional match goers with customer numbers, but who are not members, may find it difficult to get a ticket, in place of some who  would never otherwise go to a match.   Add that to the fact we still have apparently hundreds if not thousands of tickets for sale.......and time is getting short for selling/posting.   

[FenwayFrank 2,456]

Just been reported on sky that Middlesbrough have suspended sales of tickets to give their season ticket holders more time to get one. It said they have currently sold 17,000

[lake district canary 4,531]

Going by this, which shows only four blocks with anything for sale. Have looked again and it has been suspended, as you say.

[Fuzzar 1,702]

Well I''m hoping to buy 5, hopefully together when they go on sale on Wednesday.

Having tried on Saturday night, apparently I''m not a priority member and I''m a little concerned they might not arrive before Bank Holiday Monday. Hey ho.

[Matt Juler 148]

That''s 17k today general sale, after first priority had finished.

[Ginja 26]

[quote user="Fuzzar"]Well I''m hoping to buy 5, hopefully together when they go on sale on Wednesday.

Having tried on Saturday night, apparently I''m not a priority member and I''m a little concerned they might not arrive before Bank Holiday Monday. Hey ho.[/quote]

If you are not a priority or STH you won''t be able to buy Wed night from my understanding.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

They''ve made the decision to put them on general sale early and allow 4 tickets per buyer apparently which seems to have lead to some STH''s not being able to get a seat.

There''s no doubt if we''d put them on general sale today with 4 per person, exactly the same would''ve happened.

Having said that I think in another day or two, the remainder of ours should be on sale to anyone who''s a member of any variety, or depending on the numbers, to anyone who''s got a city customer number.

I''d be amazed if we don''t sell out.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

Tomorrow seems to be something of a wasted day under our system. Sales seem to have slowed now which idicates that ST holders and priority members have snapped their up but now there are no new sales until Wednesday night which seems to give them a very short window to get the tickets out to fans on Thursday and Friday. They should have had the next "tier" of sales starting tomorrow.

[Branston Pickle 3,635]

I think people are misunderstanding - they suspended sales so that they could ensure their priority groups are covered - they certainly haven''t sold out.

It rather looks like they put them on general sale too early, whereas we went the other way and seem to be doing it later than was needed.....IMO we could have had our first deadline as tomorrow noon and been fine - we''ll have next to no movement on sales on Weds followed by a mental late rush where the remainder will go in next to no time.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="Branston Pickle"]I think people are misunderstanding - they suspended sales so that they could ensure their priority groups are covered - they certainly haven''t sold out.

It rather looks like they put them on general sale too early, whereas we went the other way and seem to be doing it later than was needed.....IMO we could have had our first deadline as tomorrow noon and been fine - we''ll have next to no movement on sales on Weds followed by a mental late rush where the remainder will go in next to no time.

[/quote]

I agree. Surely they can bring it forward though provided they publicise it. Just bring Wednesday 6pm forward to Wednesday 9am and they will give themselves an extra day.

[mamamali 0]

Guys, I think about 20,000 tickets went over the weekend to season ticket holders and Boro Pride (Priority) members. I further 17,000 was sold out in less than four hours today, its been carnage ! Consensus is that somewhere short of 1,000 tickets are being held back for season tickets holders who didn''t manage to get one over the weekend with what''s left going on sale tomorrow afternoon. I do hope you have less stress getting your tickets sorted than we have.

[Branston Pickle 3,635]

You''d have thought so, Jim - just get the message out and bring it all forwards 24hrs is what I''d do. They can easily say sales have been faster than anticipated, and that they want to give plenty of time for tickets to be delivered (none of which is untrue).

[King Klose 0]

[quote user="Ginja"][quote user="Fuzzar"]Well I''m hoping to buy 5, hopefully together when they go on sale on Wednesday.

Having tried on Saturday night, apparently I''m not a priority member and I''m a little concerned they might not arrive before Bank Holiday Monday. Hey ho.[/quote]

If you are not a priority or STH you won''t be able to buy Wed night from my understanding.

[/quote]

Yep club said its only Season ticket and Priority members Wednesday, 1 per customer no.

[Badger 2,405]

[quote user="mamamali"]Guys, I think about 20,000 tickets went over the weekend to season ticket holders and Boro Pride (Priority) members. I further 17,000 was sold out in less than four hours today, its been carnage ! Consensus is that somewhere short of 1,000 tickets are being held back for season tickets holders who didn''t manage to get one over the weekend with what''s left going on sale tomorrow afternoon. I do hope you have less stress getting your tickets sorted than we have.[/quote]I found getting tickets pretty stressful. Spent hours on the website trying to associate others with me to get tickets together and then there was a continuing problem at the final stage. the couldn''t even get in the queue for the phone line. Drove down to the ticket office in the end but it was closed despite being advertised as open till eight pm. Finally managed to get through today though, so as long as they come through in the post on Thursday as promised!I will remain worried until I actually have them in my hand!

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]Tomorrow seems to be something of a wasted day under our system. Sales seem to have slowed now which idicates that ST holders and priority members have snapped their up but now there are no new sales until Wednesday night which seems to give them a very short window to get the tickets out to fans on Thursday and Friday. They should have had the next "tier" of sales starting tomorrow.[/quote]

Exactly this ^^^.   With so many tickets still to be sold, the process plainly needs re-assessing.

[TimDim 0]

Sheer stupidity to be selling tickets four at a time. It will simply mean glory hunters getting tickets (Boro)Our club should have stated that all season ticket holders have until Monday 12pm to claim their seats. Those with a customer number ie bought tickets in the past have the next 30 hours (6pm Tues) then the rest on general sale  - one each.That would give a fair allocation based on attendanceIt would also allow adequate time for tickets to be posted out to phone/internet purchasersWhat we have at the moment is a badly informed shambles

[Moanin Riverender 0]

Looking at that boro stadium plan, it looks like block 527 has been sold to both clubs. Should be interesting!

[09021980 1]

Ldc, like all the ticketing nothing is very clear, but I saw your image of boro tickets and saw unite the opposite. I think Wembley colour code to your team colours and when sold out code them grey. If that''s the case then they have sold out very few blocks. As I said all this ticketing is very opaque!

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="09021980"]Ldc, like all the ticketing nothing is very clear, but I saw your image of boro tickets and saw unite the opposite. I think Wembley colour code to your team colours and when sold out code them grey. If that''s the case then they have sold out very few blocks. As I said all this ticketing is very opaque![/quote]

Maybe so, but that picture was taken from the online Middsbro Gazette which published it as an indication that most seats had been sold.  Whatever the case, it still looks as if Middsbro sold upwards of 37,000 tickets to date and had to stop the process to allow some who should be able to get tickets the chance to get one. 

[Kingston Yellow 220]

Completely agree with this:

Brian Scott: "Our club should have stated that all season ticket holders have until Monday 12pm to claim their seats.

Those with a customer number ie bought tickets in the past have the next 30 hours (6pm Tues) then the rest on general sale - one each.

That would give a fair allocation based on attendance

It would also allow adequate time for tickets to be posted out to phone/internet purchasers

What we have at the moment is a badly informed shambles"

Firstly, why should a season ticket''s friend have a better chance of securing a ticket than fans with a customer number (who have therefore previously bought tickets)?

Secondly, assuming some tickets go on general sale on Thursday, there''s a risk that some tickets might not arrive in time.

Dumb.

[francis 0]

We sold 20,000 tickets to ST holders and Boro Pride members over the weekend and sold 17000 in 4 hours yesterday morning on general sale. The club have kept 1000 aside for ST holders who have yet to buy. They are selling them over the counter till 12.30 today, then any remaining will go an general sale.

I''d expect a lot of Boro fans in your end. Mainly because your tickets don''t go on sale till tomorrow when all ours will be sold out. I know loads of Boro fans who have said they''re going to try to get Norwich tickets.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="francis"]We sold 20,000 tickets to ST holders and Boro Pride members over the weekend and sold 17000 in 4 hours yesterday morning on general sale. The club have kept 1000 aside for ST holders who have yet to buy. They are selling them over the counter till 12.30 today, then any remaining will go an general sale.

I''d expect a lot of Boro fans in your end. Mainly because your tickets don''t go on sale till tomorrow when all ours will be sold out. I know loads of Boro fans who have said they''re going to try to get Norwich tickets.[/quote]

Well you had better let them know that they won''t get them then because ours are unlikely to go on general sale (tomorrow is season ticket holders and members again) and even if they do you will need a purchase history from Carrow Road.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 1,557]

Francis,

As Norwich tickets aren''t going on general sale at all I highly doubt there will be Boro fans in the Norwich end.

More likely the other way around as Boro did have tickets on general sale for a while.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]Francis,

As Norwich tickets aren''t going on general sale at all I highly doubt there will be Boro fans in the Norwich end.

More likely the other way around as Boro did have tickets on general sale for a while.[/quote]

Its starting to look like the policy of not putting tickets on general sale has some sense to it. It stops any chance of opposition supporters getting our tickets but still allows for the possibility of liason between Norwich fans to help each other by ST holders/members buying for friends who may otherwise miss out.  No system is perfect and there are bound to be some disappointed, but hopefully not many. 

[Jim Smith 2,314]

I think we have handled our a bit better than Boro but I think a couple of relatively minor tweaks would have made our process better/fairer.

Its pretty clear that virtually all season ticket holders and priority members had bought tickets by yesterday lunchtime. Maybe they bought them quicker than the club expected but if you look at the seating plan the available seats really have not changed hugely since yesterday morning. We appear to have sold about 25,000 over the weekend and about 5 or 6,000 since.

This being the case they should have put them back on sale to ST holders, members to get one each AND for those with customer numbers and say more than x points (e.g. 500) from today and then had a general sale if any left over tomorrow evening.

As you say though LDC, hopefully people who go reasonably regularly know enough season ticket holders and members for them to be able to get hold of a ticket.

[Mr.Carrow 376]

I don`t think realistically the club could have changed the dates once they were released as people would have used them as a basis for organising when to be at home online, or in the City to queue.

As for those who may miss out...well I feel sorry for some who are passionate supporters and who for various reasons live at a remove from the club (and I`m trying to help a couple of them out), but some of the whinges on here and under some of the articles are beyond belief. People whinging that their "membership counts for nothing", when all they actually have is a customer number (one of about 80,000 then....). I spent hundreds flying back early from Ecuador (wasting a flight I had booked on the 31st), had a mate queue to get me a ticket for 1p5wich at home and will be queuing from 2pm tomorrow even though I already have a ticket. A mate in Scotland has been to one game in about four years but still renews his membership exactly to avoid the situation that people are whinging about on here- and he has a ticket for Wembley. It`s called making an effort and having foresight folks, and it`s not rocket science.

Must admit it`s quite funny to see that some M`boro fans seem to have decided that because we still have 8,000 or so tickets left, we are struggling to sell them! Hope some of them are in front of me in the queue tomorrow. A two hour wait, then a "Do you have a season-ticket or membership number?" "Errr, no", "Have a nice drive back lads...."

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

lake district canary wrote ...Just looked on Middsbro website and they have all but sold all their

tickets, with only four blocks with any seats left for sale at all.  Our seat

allocation is still showing good or very good availability still in the

top tier, nearly all the way round our section of the ground.   Have

Boro done it better by having a general sale from today?   

It also begs

the question whether we are going to sell all our tickets in time, as

if  the rush has stopped now, how much of a rush will their be on Wednesday when it is still only open to season ticket holders and priority memberships?   Even if people want to buy for family or friends, will the rush be that great?   I''ve got my ticket through being a member, but there is a demand for tickets from people who go to the occasional match each season, but who aren''t members. I don''t really understand why tickets aren''t being offered for general sale at some point. Are they scared Middsbro fans will try and take them because they think their demand might be greater than ours - or is it because they want our fans to be able to include family members who maybe never otherwise go to a match?  

Either way, there is a risk that occasional match goers with customer numbers, but who are not members, may find it difficult to get a ticket, in place of some who  would never otherwise go to a match.   Add that to the fact we still have apparently hundreds if not thousands of tickets for sale.......and time is getting short for selling/posting.   

This is the case for me, Lakey. It looks like I''ll be watching on TV.

Fair enough, I discontinued my ST after many years for various reasons so am way down the pecking order but......

With an allocation this big surely anyone with a customer number ie anyone who has purchased occasional tickets at least; should have been able to get a ticket albeit on a priority basis.

But now ST and PM holders will get a second chance to buy more so you can be bought a ticket without even having a customer number.

What looks a bad move though is having such a long deadline for the first group to buy tickets. I doubt they needed so long and now any further purchases are subject to the vagaries of the postal system to arrive on time.

The Club could have given ST and PM''s until Monday noon then allowed Members until Tuesday noon then those with Customer numbers.

This all goes back to the policy of demand creation by selling a high proportion of STs so the price is kept high. The Club also wants to pander to the ST holders hence the second bite of the cherry.

I fear they will alienate a lot of casual support including us plastics and bear in mind over 1/3 of our support at Wembley will be plastics otherwise we''d have a lot of empty seats.

I''ll have a look after Wednesday and see what I can do but it looks like the TV for me. I hope enough of those ''guests'' going to Wembley know the songs!

I hope everyone who is going has a great day.

[raunds canary 215]

IM at ticket office now wanting 3 tickets but only got one priority membership.been told i can have additional ticket after 6pm tomorrow . Also was told they will definitely not be going on general sale

[mamamali 0]

Guys, all our (Boro) tickets have gone and already appearing on tickets sites from £148 up to £1,000 apparently.I''d really think the b*stards should be strung up for that, this is what happens when you let individuals have 4 tickets once on general sale. One woman on the local radio made 700 plus calls to ticket master without successfully getting through ! Also, a number of Norwich fans were caught in the act trying to buy tickets in the Boro end and refused, no idea how they do this but I think everyone has to be registered with the Boro ticket site to get access. I have to say I wouldn''t like to be the only guy in green stuck in the middle of a well lubricated sea of red come kick off. With hindsight I think you guys organised your tickets better than we did. Roll on Monday

[Branston Pickle 3,635]

I did have a look on the mfc site on Monday, to see how many sales had been made - it seemed you could register as a customer and buy at the same time, not that I actually tried. It does seem to have been a bit more of a bun-fight that end of things (as it might be at our end tomorrow eve for an hour or so) but if the tickets get sold to proper supporters that is the main thing.