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Jim Smith

Watford fans upset at ticket prices

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Apparently the fact we are charging them £31 for a ticket in the away end has not gone down well.

I''m a bit torn on our current "income maximising" approach (this seems to be the latest thing along with the friendly prices, the credit charge booking fees, the replacement of lost st''s etc). On the one hand I can see the financial logic behind it. The Bowkett/Mcnally combo are clearly serious businessmen and are showing themselves to be much more ruthless. At the moment its all about supply and demand and they know that they can charge these sorts of prices as people will pay it. I am sure our income will be up significantly this season as a result.

On the other hand I can;t help but feel a bit uneasy at the ways things are going. I have been among those who have moaned in the past at being charged high prices for away tickets at the sc*m or Palace and I suspect that if we charge clubs high prices we may be hit with some steep reciprocal prices for some away games this season. Above all else though I worry that our current large and loyal fanbase has been built on the back of people being able to afford to go to games regularly and take their kids with them. many of thiose kids are now older and will be on U16 tickets or even adult tickets. I just hope that some fans won''t start being prices out of the Carrow Road experience and that those at the club judge this right. there may be some games where we can get away with charging these sorts of prices but it should not become the norm and I hope there will still be other games where prices are much lower.

Any thoughts?

 

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Fully support the Watford fans view - £ 31 is ridiculous for a second division football match - somewhere around £ 20 is probably reasonable , We now have no grounds for complaint at any other clubs prices at all and in fact can;t be surprised if we find that other clubs reciproate the pricing levels , local clubs have for a long time moaned about lack of crowds , well if NCFC charge as they are - increase in ground food and drink prices as well , you may find clubs such as Wroxham , Norwich United , Dereham etc gain fans who prefer to pay £ 8 - 10 and see a decent level of football

Ludicrous costs now to watch preofessional football , out of my league completely

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[quote user="gary "]Fully support the Watford fans view - £ 31 is ridiculous for a second division football match - somewhere around £ 20 is probably reasonable , We now have no grounds for complaint at any other clubs prices at all and in fact can;t be surprised if we find that other clubs reciproate the pricing levels , local clubs have for a long time moaned about lack of crowds , well if NCFC charge as they are - increase in ground food and drink prices as well , you may find clubs such as Wroxham , Norwich United , Dereham etc gain fans who prefer to pay £ 8 - 10 and see a decent level of football

Ludicrous costs now to watch preofessional football , out of my league completely[/quote]Exactly! [Y]Players get paid way way way to much over here. Foreign football is such a better systsem, they get paid less, and it costs about a tenner to watch a Bundesliga match ( I think).

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[quote user="Ooh Ahh Lee Power"]if they don''t like it they can watch it on tv[/quote]

so when the Reading game is on TV and charged at £ 30 - NCFC fans can Watch it on TV and all will be well

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And all the old Diehards will say the fans don''t need a voice.

Lets all sit back and enjoy the football, at the same time giving fortress carrow road the keys to the safe.

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Got a point there Jim, Might turn into the classic story that we always here on skysports about how the increase in ticket prices has stopped the hardcore fans being able to buy tickets, also i doubt theyre going to up prices for just one game in Revenge if you like (away games this is) :)

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[quote user="Ooh Ahh Lee Power"]if they don''t like it they can watch it on tv[/quote]

 

Of course they can but that wasn''t really my point. I would be p*8sed off at being asked to pay £31 for an away game but my bigger concern surround the general approach being taken at CR these days weher they are trying to cash in on everything. I think someone described it recently as the "ryanair approach" and they are right. Whilst I can see why they are doing what they are doing, I just hope that long term is doesn''t backfire by p**sing everyone off.

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King - I think you will find a few clubs will. I expect we''ll be charged over£30 at Palace, QPR, Ipswich anyway but would not surprise me if Watford also put their prices up.

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Good point Nana, but fans are willing to pay that are norwich and were not gunna lose fans because of it,as long as this doesnt become a norm, also first game of the season is always a bit of a spectacle with something going on, just look back to last season, if you can bear it.

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It`s a balancing act and i think you`re right that the club know that there is enough demand for those 6k or so casual seats to push it a bit, even if some people go to fewer games as a result.

I think a few warning shots across the bows of the club not to push it too far are fine, but what annoys me is that those people moaning about the childrens friendly prices don`t mention that a competetive game coming up is all of £1 and that they have presumably been taking advantage of the ridiculously low kids season-ticket prices for years.

I`ve always assumed that all supporters want the most successful team we can have on the pitch, but the attitude coming across from some is a bit like "We`ll watch any old cr*p as long as it`s cheap".  If we want our club to continue investing in the team we`re going to have to accept paying a bit more imo.

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From the clubs point of view I guess they feel justified in charging this £31 because they would get that from Norwich fans if they didn''t have to send those tickets to Watford. I would think if the game was at Watford live on Sky they''d probably have to reduce prices to get people to go. That''s the difference.

If it backfires in the way you suggest it could Jim then you can bet prices will be reduced.

 

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

I think a few warning shots across the bows of the club not to push it too far are fine, but what annoys me is that those people moaning about the childrens friendly prices don`t mention that a competetive game coming up is all of £1 and that they have presumably been taking advantage of the ridiculously low kids season-ticket prices for years.

[/quote]

I pointed this out yesterday. Surely a competetive cup tie is better than a meaningless friendly! I think a lot of the time folk moan for the sake of it[:O]

 

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[quote user="KING OF N8P"]Good point Nana, but fans are willing to pay that are norwich and were not gunna lose fans because of it,as long as this doesnt become a norm, also first game of the season is always a bit of a spectacle with something going on, just look back to last season, if you can bear it.[/quote]

Yeah charging a home team high money is not really ok, but is the norm. To charge an away team £31 for a start of season game when they are entering a season to avoid relegation its nto really fair. Its also a friday night which makes it slightly worse.

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

It`s a balancing act and i think you`re right that the club know that there is enough demand for those 6k or so casual seats to push it a bit, even if some people go to fewer games as a result.

I think a few warning shots across the bows of the club not to push it too far are fine, but what annoys me is that those people moaning about the childrens friendly prices don`t mention that a competetive game coming up is all of £1 and that they have presumably been taking advantage of the ridiculously low kids season-ticket prices for years.

I`ve always assumed that all supporters want the most successful team we can have on the pitch, but the attitude coming across from some is a bit like "We`ll watch any old cr*p as long as it`s cheap".  If we want our club to continue investing in the team we`re going to have to accept paying a bit more imo.

[/quote]

I agree with you in the main. I have thought that too many people get in too cheaply at Carrow Road for a long time with the various kids and under 16''s deal. But I would question whether the way to resolve that is to push the adult tickets up to £31. £30 is a big psycological barrier for a lot of people. For example we could charge £28 for adults and push the U16 price up a bit and probably get the same effect.

I guess my general point is that the club needs to be careful to strike the right balance and not become too obsessed with screwing every last pound out of every opportunity. So long as they do that it won''t become an issue. If they don''t get the balance right they may find the Norfolk public loses patience quite quickly.

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I wouldn''t expect the tickets to be that expensive all season. You must remember this is the first game since we got promoted and also of the new season so is always one of the most popular games. However given that its on sky i am suprised it isn''t a bit lower.

I would like to encourage bigger away followings because it leads to a much better atmosphere (leeds, millwall last season), but Watford are pretty poor fans anyway so didnt expect many of them.

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

It`s a balancing act and i think you`re right that the club know that there is enough demand for those 6k or so casual seats to push it a bit, even if some people go to fewer games as a result.

I think a few warning shots across the bows of the club not to push it too far are fine, but what annoys me is that those people moaning about the childrens friendly prices don`t mention that a competetive game coming up is all of £1 and that they have presumably been taking advantage of the ridiculously low kids season-ticket prices for years.

I`ve always assumed that all supporters want the most successful team we can have on the pitch, but the attitude coming across from some is a bit like "We`ll watch any old cr*p as long as it`s cheap".  If we want our club to continue investing in the team we`re going to have to accept paying a bit more imo.

[/quote]

That competitive game is Gillingham - a game where we are likely to " rest " players - I quote an example of prices affecting attendences

Sunderland Carling cup - full prices 13,000

Brentford Paint Pot - discount prices 12,500 with stands closed so would probably have got more

People are not flush with cash in Norfolk , the club has got prices right over the past few years and the result ahs been full houses - I remember when we used to get 15,000 regularly and 20,000 was a red letter day ,

The club needs to be careful that they do not price average fans out of the game experience , it seems to me that they have now gone down a road of making money and maybe it is the going rate for Football , but norfolk people are not daft and it won;t take much to see season ticket sales fall and crowds go back down to 19,000 every week

I understand that prices charged reflect the ability to buy players etc , but the gate receipts we are always told do not make any dent into the playing budget

We are in Norfolk and we do differnet here

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[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

I think a few warning shots across the bows of the club not to push it too far are fine, but what annoys me is that those people moaning about the childrens friendly prices don`t mention that a competetive game coming up is all of £1 and that they have presumably been taking advantage of the ridiculously low kids season-ticket prices for years.

[/quote]

I pointed this out yesterday. Surely a competetive cup tie is better than a meaningless friendly! I think a lot of the time folk moan for the sake of it[:O]

 

[/quote]

Hey stop that, you know we`re not allowed to agree with each other [;)].  Given that there were quite a few strange Geordie accents ("Oi support Nooocaaastle oi do"....) on Saturday i can`t say i`m too upset that the club squeezed a good bit of cash out of them.

In fairness though, £31 for a friday night tv game does look a bit high.  It could be a "toe in the water" by the club maybe?  I think that the game could well not be a complete sell-out which would be a shame, but as you`ve said, the club will have perhaps learned where the water-mark is.

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Theres a club not very far from us that can provide an example of what happens when you hike prices too high.

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[quote user="Ooh Ahh Lee Power"]if they don''t like it they can watch it on tv[/quote]

Precisely, and I''m sure a lot of them will, and I don''t blame them. What sort of Watford contingent can we expect? 400 - 500, instead of 1000 plus? £31 is daylight robbery for a game that people can watch on television!

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I couldn''t care less what they charge away fans. They''re coming to a lovely stadium or a nice day out. If they can''t afford it, don''t go. Grade A is appropriate for the first game of the season. If the price means 1000 more Norwich fans can buy tickets I''m all for it. And as for the "ryanair approach". They make money. These small charges add up. I understand that people can afford to fork more out, but how else are we going to afford a signing like Andrew Surman?we can''t keep expecting delia to sign players, that''s not how a business works. I''m happyto see the club at least trying to get back onto an even keel.

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It is about balance, but let''s not forget that the Club lost £5M during our last season in the Championship and we''ve yet to see the figures for last season, when a significant number of fans took advantage of the 20% rebates.

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£31 is too much for this game.

I think City prices have been unfair for a while, and its only due to loyal support that they have been able to get away with it.

A time will come, if we dont get into the premiership, where people wont be able to justify paying that abount for 90 minutes entertainment.

Cant see our attendences falling too much to be honest, but it will happen one day, like it or not.

Could be worse, we could be QPR!

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Totally agree; £31 is far too much. Sadly though, charging these prices seems to be the done thing at this level up and down the country.

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The CEO/Chairman have suggested that we need a regularly filled 35,000 stadium to be a sustainable premiership club compared to the current 27,000 capactiy. That indicates at say 300 quid income per seat a year we need another 2.4m a year income to be a premiership club. The Chairman also said on a webchat that 40% of tickets are discounted and they would look at it. So it seems that while we have high crowds, we have lower prices so we end up being a mid-table Championship club financially. It seems the Chairman/CEO are trying to push the income to make us a top-end Championship/premiership club but reading this thread suggests there may not be the demand in terms of volume or prices from the fans for us to be a premiership club. 

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We''ll no doubt be reciprocating their wrath when Watford charge the same amount for the return fixture.

500 Watford fans @ £31 or 1500 @ £16? Maybe if the club knew that there would be 1500 plus of them coming, they''d have charged a lower amount. Maybe the fact the game is on TV and its a Friday night means that Watford indicated that their travelling support would be of the "hardcore" bunch which is, usually, about 4,500-hence the hike (ie) they''re pretty much going to come regardless, so whack it up.

£31 though-if the club just nicked £2 off that, even £29 would look less severe. Still, as someone has said, its a "suck it and see", they''ve got all season to play with the pricing on just about everything, so...

 

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