Villa Park Redevelopment

[Villan82]

If this is the case it's remarkably naive.

Who knows what demand for quality GA+ in a new stand would be, but they must be able to see that trying to sell a subpar product to fans who are pissed off that you've just shat on their doorstep is hardly a reasonable barometer for demand.

This is why I am 100% convinced we have made a bad hire with heck. Just doesn't 'get it' and is making decisions, or advising for decisions, that will hold us back in the medium term which is so damn frustrating.

The plans were excellent and timely- i was really looking forward to seeing the new stand rise up over the next 18-24 months.

[Drummond]

We don't actually know what's going on, or being said, in the background. We don't know if he's looked at it and thought we could go bigger, or perhaps our new investors have come along and suggested the potential of something else. We all want bigger and better for our club, and everything the owners have shown is exactly that.

[ChicagoLion]

I think the error is comparing apples to oranges.

TV and LG are oddly conceived ideas that piss off the regular fan by taking their space and trying to get people to pay a premium for a relatively shit value product.

New stand hospitality would be much like current Trinity provision, which is over-subscribed isn't it?-

Exactly, with TV and LG they have tried to get half pregnant, ill conceived, poorly marketed and awful execution.
As you say miles away from the Trinity Road experience.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I think the error is comparing apples to oranges.

TV and LG are oddly conceived ideas that piss off the regular fan by taking their space and trying to get people to pay a premium for a relatively shit value product.

New stand hospitality would be much like current Trinity provision, which is over-subscribed isn't it?-

Absolutely this!

[chrisw1]

We don't actually know what's going on, or being said, in the background. We don't know if he's looked at it and thought we could go bigger, or perhaps our new investors have come along and suggested the potential of something else. We all want bigger and better for our club, and everything the owners have shown is exactly that.

Well we kind of do as it seems to have come directly from the club's new head of Strategy and Analytics.

[London Villan]

But it wouldn't all be like the high-end Trinity experience. There would be price bands from £150 per match up to £600/£700 (or more) per match.

Look at any of the premium offers from our current peers - there are loads of different choices. Yes there will be fewer at the top end - Man City have an option that is £16k per match - but that sliding scale will get you everything from unlimited street food through to meet the players and walk on the pitch for kick-off.

With the new stand we would have had 5000-6000 premium seats (including what we already have) and if there isn't the demand at the moment to fill 90% of them every match it casts a massive doubt on spending £100m on the new North Stand.

A few years down the line when hopefully we'll have won a trophy or two this might be different.

[VillaTim]

But it wouldn't all be like the high-end Trinity experience. There would be price bands from £150 per match up to £600/£700 (or more) per match.

Look at any of the premium offers from our current peers - there are loads of different choices. Yes there will be fewer at the top end - Man City have an option that is £16k per match - but that sliding scale will get you everything from unlimited street food through to meet the players and walk on the pitch for kick-off.

With the new stand we would have had 5000-6000 premium seats (including what we already have) and if there isn't the demand at the moment to fill 90% of them every match it casts a massive doubt on spending £100m on the new North Stand.

A few years down the line when hopefully we'll have won a trophy or two this might be different.

It's a lot of empty seats if things start going Pete Tong on the playing side

[Villan82]

Premium offerings work in the Trinity because it is set up for it. Premium offerings don't work in the Holte because it was built to replace a terrace that could hold 19k people. Bums on seats is what the Holte is designed for.

Premium would work in the proposed new North Stand because it would be designed to cater to it properly.

It truly is amateur hour if they do not see this.

[London Villan]

Do we think that at present, there is a market for 5000 premium seats to be sold at every single match? Starting a £150 up to say £900 per seat.

[Pat Mustard]

Do we think that at present, there is a market for 5000 premium seats to be sold at every single match? Starting a £150 up to say £900 per seat.

That is what will be tested next season, again particularly if we get Champions League.  With some of the remedial works for additional disabled spaces etc, next season will probably see a reduction in capacity so for an increasing number of people GA+ is going to be the only way they will get a ticket.  No doubt there will also be some strong-arming people into buying packages of tickets if they want ones for the bigger games.  This will also apply to regular admission tickets - if we think price rises have been steep in the last couple of year, I think we haven't seen anything yet.

Put it this way, there are regular admission tickets on sale for Tottenham on Sunday at £68.00 with no concessions.  What do you think that price will go up to for, say, Real Madrid in September?  What conditions will supporters have to meet just for the opportunity to buy those tickets.  As a comparison, I got an e-mail from the RFU yesterday offering me the opportunity to buy tickets for one Autumn International this year - just for the privilege of buying the ticket, they wanted to charge £99 - the ticket itself is another £130 on top!

[chrisw1]

Do we think that at present, there is a market for 5000 premium seats to be sold at every single match? Starting a £150 up to say £900 per seat.

There's seems to be a pretty high demand for full on corporate.

I'd imagine there would also be demand for high-quality GA+ - there seems to be at most other top-end clubs. 

The problem is they are trying to gauge interest in a reasonably premium Jag by seeing how many people are prepared to pay a similar price for a souped-up Vauxall Belmont, whilst kicking them in the balls at the same time.

[VillaTim]

Where are all these new uber rich Villa fans coming from (and i don't mean Lichfield).

[Brazilian Villain]

I got an e-mail from the RFU yesterday offering me the opportunity to buy tickets for one Autumn International this year - just for the privilege of buying the ticket, they wanted to charge £99 - the ticket itself is another £130 on top!

Better get in there quick, before Nev, Paulie and Martyn snap them up.

[London Villan]

The big matches are the easy sells though - try selling 5000 premium seats for Bournemouth, Luton or Crystal Palace... which we'd have to do to make it pay 90% capacity - for 25+ games every season. We aren't at that point yet.

I'm as disappointed as anyone about the decision, but I can see why there is caution, when added to the other factors too.

[VILLA MOLE]

Do we think that at present, there is a market for 5000 premium seats to be sold at every single match? Starting a £150 up to say £900 per seat.

£900 for a seat , what do you get for that ?