Marketing options

[Dazvillain]

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2162202,00.html

Several autumn packages of tickets available just announced on the OS.

Looks tempting for those non ST holders but if consistant discounts such as these and others for LH wings £10 and the first 1000 applications for Chelsea at £10, then some ST holders will get a bit anxious and maybe hold off renewals next year in the hope of grabbing these kind of bargains.

I applaud the board for deviating from the price list as with any commodity of sales/demand and offer options, they are trying to fill the ground, but am starting to wonder if i tracked all the different options and took them up for my seat would it work out cheaper than my block booking ST ?

When replying with your thoughts, please mention if you are a ST holder or not and if so, where you sit as i am trying to guage the effect and thoughts of many ...

[Bungle]

I am not a STH, but can see why folks who are may get upset with this kind of thing.  On the other hand though there are plenty of people out there who are unable to commit to an ST (reasons vary: work patterns, lack of money etc).  In my view these are a good idea, what folks have to remember is that the club is a business and needs to get money in the bank.  Which would folks rather see at matches empty seats or people in the ground?  I think most would probably chose bums on seats.

Having said that though I still can't afford t go along at the moment.

[Dave Cooper please]

It's hard to knock the club for trying to get people in the ground, they'll just have to use other incentives to keep ST holders happy.

[Des Little]

My view is I pay the going rate every summer and don't mind the club dropping the prices to get seats filled.  I'd rather sit in a full stadium with a decent atmos than a sterile one so the more the merrier.  By the way please don't think I'm loaded because believe me I'm not, but this kind of activity is a fact of life...buy a car/holiday/settee etc and you'll always, always see it cheaper or in a sale late on. 

Oh, and I'm Upper Trinity by the way.

[Chris Smith]

Agree with Des, I'm a season ticket holder (Lower Holte) but don't have any real problem with the club having these kind of offers to encourage more people to attend.

[Concrete John]

As a ST holder I don't feel put out by this sort of thing!

[AV82EC]

As a ST holder I don't feel put out by this sort of thing!

Agreed.  My ticket is costing me about £20 a game this season and there's no way I'd get that type of price if I bought individual tickets to each match with or without offers.

[Hookeysmith]

The Blues fans always used to maon about this when they brought in the kids for a quid scheme, but then again their dole money was more precious to them i would imagine

I agree with most buy something today and in a few weeks it will always be cheaper - the biggest advantage of early season tickts is that you get the pick of the better seats.

On match days i would prefer if they gave all the un sold tickets away just so the stadium was full - i am sure Sunderland used to do this and that was why their gates were always so good

[Brend'Watkins]

The season ticket is as much about where you sit and who with as to any saving you might be making if you were paying top whack for individual matches.  I like my seat location and that guarantee that it will always be there for me for every league game.

If this incentive means that Villa fans who can't normally afford a season ticket can now get to see some games at an affordable price then all well and good as far as I'm concerned. 

[mozza]

I applaud the club for trying different strategies to attract new supporters,
tempt people back who have stopped going especially when we all have
to watch our spending -

The recent deal allowing season ticket holders to apply for 6 tickets at Chelsea
match has I believe been a success - I've managed to get six seats together
in L6 not far from my season ticket place 

Maybe I'm stating the obvious but even if our marketing people allowed
us all in for free is it likely we would fill the ground unless the visitors
were Manu Chelsea Arsenal (I don't believe L'Pool are in that same bracket)-

I've got memories of being at Villa Park with 63k - that's not going to be
repeated in my life time, and would in any event require a new stadium
and major investment over many years to achieve.

Tommy Docherty (is he still alive?) once said thousands of Villa fans
would turn up to watch the shirts drying on a washing line (or something
similar) ................that may have been the case back then but do we
still have the same number of supporters who would be there through
thick and thin and thinner such as when we found ourselves in the
Third Division

I don't believe anyone came close to guessing the crowd for the
Blackburn match on Wednesday night - it was both disappointing
and a tad embarrassing for the club. Certainly the size of the attendance
may not have helped both sets of players on the night, but there is
a long held opinion of the older support that the link between supporter
and player at VP is like no other in football. A recent example of this
was our 10 goal thriller v Rovers in the semi last season.

Apologies for going slightly off topic but I believe marketing and pricing
is not the answer to the problem on it's own. 
               

[MalcolmP]

Perhaps if ST prices had not increased they might not be having to do this.
My ST went up 8%, my Dad's 15%!! (He's 81 and can ill afford this on his pension).  With the economy in recession and no payrise in 2 years I thought twice about renewing and I have been a ST holder since 1968. It's getting very close to the point where it will be too expensive for me to renew again - it's not just cost of ST but travel costs too which have increased by 33% with petrol price increases and with a 100 mile return journey that is not insignificant. Its a great shame when two supporters with 114 years support between them are priced out of the market. Rant over.

[arfanvilla]

Makes no difference - the attendances are still rubbish. I'm no season ticket holder, but will try to go to as many games if possible. The 18'000 was heartbreaking - i was in the doug ellis for £15 - lower north was a tenner. Reccession is not an excuse any more, the fact that the footy is boring half the time and no exiting players to drool over is the reason vp will not be a full house this season (except for maybe the sky4). FYI i still love goin to the villa no matter how shite the footy can be, but not the same for most people i know.