Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[ChicagoLion]

We all know football is too expensive. But we all want success. It's almost impossible to have  the latter without the former.

Expensive compared to what though? If it's football 20 years ago then yes, but if you compare it to equivalent entertainment options then probably not.

A basic seat at the NEC for a gig £60+
Mostertrucks at the NIA £50+
Big show at the Hippodrome £70+

You don't go to any of them every other week.

I would pay not to go t any of the,.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

There are no towel dispensers - just two hand dryers...

I know this is a minor issue but it's a genuine "who the f**k thought this up?" reflecting a number of basic issues for fans atm....took out about 4 towel dispensers which worked perfectly well, replaced with two hand dryers which a lot don't bother queuing for because...there's a queue! it's totally impractical, a pain and I have people outside waiting for me to go to our seats...

[Risso]

When are we going to see the improvements in every part of the ground, as promised in his dog walk video from Bodymoor? No changes in the Trinity, other than now having luke warm water in the sinks, rather than water directly from the Arctic. Still no way of people drying their hands without queueing. 

Yep it's all bullshit. "This isn't about one set of fans, it's about all fans". No it isn't. You've made the service vaguely bearable for the people prepared to pay daft prices for some shit food in the TV and LG, but in most of the stands the service and overall experience inclusing toilets is still absolutely dismal.

[London Villan]

We all know football is too expensive. But we all want success. It's almost impossible to have  the latter without the former.

Expensive compared to what though? If it's football 20 years ago then yes, but if you compare it to equivalent entertainment options then probably not.

A basic seat at the NEC for a gig £60+
Mostertrucks at the NIA £50+
Big show at the Hippodrome £70+

You don't go to any of them every other week.

I would pay not to go t any of the,.

Maybe not - but try getting a ticket to any big event these days, it's a nightmare.

Add cricket to that - ballots, waiting list, payment to get on the pre-sale list... a long way from test matches in the 80s and 90s where you could pretty much turn up on the day.

[Chris Smith]

We all know football is too expensive. But we all want success. It's almost impossible to have  the latter without the former.

Expensive compared to what though? If it's football 20 years ago then yes, but if you compare it to equivalent entertainment options then probably not.

A basic seat at the NEC for a gig £60+
Mostertrucks at the NIA £50+
Big show at the Hippodrome £70+

You don't go to any of them every other week.

I would pay not to go t any of the,.

Maybe not - but try getting a ticket to any big event these days, it's a nightmare.

Add cricket to that - ballots, waiting list, payment to get on the pre-sale list... a long way from test matches in the 80s and 90s where you could pretty much turn up on the day.

Again that’s not every other week, I’ve never had a problem getting a ticket for any non-international game at Edgbaston and it’s ‘relatively’ inexpensive.

[Dogtanian]

Getting to that time of year again. I'm not expecting ours to be frozen. Not with all these badge redesigns we have to fund.

https://theathletic.com/5285601/2024/02/19/arsenal-season-ticket-increase/

4-6% increase at the Arse.

"We are also continuing to make investments to improve the matchday experience for our supporters at Emirates Stadium."

"Arsenal announced a five per cent increase in season ticket prices and the reducing the number of games included in a season ticket from 26 to 22 in February 2023."

[Gareth]

My son turns 18 the week before we play Spurs so he moves up an age/price bracket and I paid £110 for tickets for me and him in the lower Holte. Getting very close to my tipping point.

I think that’s the same with a lot of people Chico & I think the club understand that but they will test that line, they will be perfectly fine pushing some over that tipping point whilst they are still confident they can back fill - maximising ticket revenue with the existing seats by pushing the prices up 10/15/20% a year but still selling out is cheaper than building a new stand.

Fully expect they will come up with new hospitality offferings that will see people booted out of season ticket seats…I have a great seat at the front of Witton Lane Upper, sure those seats will be targeted to make a hospitality offering at some point…I’ve said before if I was the club knowing Birmingham councils issues I’d be looking to purchase that bit of park over the road from the Witton, level it and whack up marquee or shipping containers as a hospitality zone.

As for catering & facilities…they have no inclination to improve anything for the existing fans, couldn’t care less about toilets, crowded concourses or catering offerings, there’s only minimal revenues attached …only hospitality with its big ticket prices.

[ChicagoLion]

My son turns 18 the week before we play Spurs so he moves up an age/price bracket and I paid £110 for tickets for me and him in the lower Holte. Getting very close to my tipping point.

I think that’s the same with a lot of people Chico & I think the club understand that but they will test that line, they will be perfectly fine pushing some over that tipping point whilst they are still confident they can back fill - maximising ticket revenue with the existing seats by pushing the prices up 10/15/20% a year but still selling out is cheaper than building a new stand.

Fully expect they will come up with new hospitality offferings that will see people booted out of season ticket seats…I have a great seat at the front of Witton Lane Upper, sure those seats will be targeted to make a hospitality offering at some point…I’ve said before if I was the club knowing Birmingham councils issues I’d be looking to purchase that bit of park over the road from the Witton, level it and whack up marquee or shipping containers as a hospitality zone.

As for catering & facilities…they have no inclination to improve anything for the existing fans, couldn’t care less about toilets, crowded concourses or catering offerings, there’s only minimal revenues attached …only hospitality with its big ticket prices.

But that is not how smart business people think.
They have a captive audience for a few hours so first try and keep them for longer, then give them something to spend money on.
The big  Tescos is now full of matchday Villa Fans buying food and drink, most people would not consider buying food and drink at the ground so they are losing tens of thousands every game.

[artvandelay]

For comparing to test cricket, my day one ticket at the test match behind the bowlers arm at Edgbaston was £72.50 (top price for that day). This gives me of course 7 hours of entertainment.

This compares to £80 in the '1888 seats' or £68 in 'zone 1' to watch us lose to Newcastle on a Tuesday night.

[Gareth]

My son turns 18 the week before we play Spurs so he moves up an age/price bracket and I paid £110 for tickets for me and him in the lower Holte. Getting very close to my tipping point.

I think that’s the same with a lot of people Chico & I think the club understand that but they will test that line, they will be perfectly fine pushing some over that tipping point whilst they are still confident they can back fill - maximising ticket revenue with the existing seats by pushing the prices up 10/15/20% a year but still selling out is cheaper than building a new stand.

Fully expect they will come up with new hospitality offferings that will see people booted out of season ticket seats…I have a great seat at the front of Witton Lane Upper, sure those seats will be targeted to make a hospitality offering at some point…I’ve said before if I was the club knowing Birmingham councils issues I’d be looking to purchase that bit of park over the road from the Witton, level it and whack up marquee or shipping containers as a hospitality zone.

As for catering & facilities…they have no inclination to improve anything for the existing fans, couldn’t care less about toilets, crowded concourses or catering offerings, there’s only minimal revenues attached …only hospitality with its big ticket prices.

But that is not how smart business people think.
They have a captive audience for a few hours so first try and keep them for longer, then give them something to spend money on.
The big  Tescos is now full of matchday Villa Fans buying food and drink, most people would not consider buying food and drink at the ground so they are losing tens of thousands every game.

I don’t disagree but would they claw back that tens of thousands if they improve the offering or will those people still buy a £3 sandwich at Tesco?  I don’t think you’ll ever create a culture where significant people want to be around the ground for hours other than the couple of games a season where the sun is out

[Drummond]

We all know football is too expensive. But we all want success. It's almost impossible to have  the latter without the former.

Expensive compared to what though? If it's football 20 years ago then yes, but if you compare it to equivalent entertainment options then probably not.

A basic seat at the NEC for a gig £60+
Mostertrucks at the NIA £50+
Big show at the Hippodrome £70+

You don't go to any of them every other week.

I would pay not to go t any of the,.

Great, I can do you no ticket for £20 each.

[Villan82]

They won't create a culture of being at the ground spending money when they don't follow through on plans to provide such facilities for people who want a place to go and eat etc on match day

[Somniloquism]

For comparing to test cricket, my day one ticket at the test match behind the bowlers arm at Edgbaston was £72.50 (top price for that day). This gives me of course 7 hours of entertainment.

This compares to £80 in the '1888 seats' or £68 in 'zone 1' to watch us lose to Newcastle on a Tuesday night.

Do watching Cricket and "7 hours of entertainment" go together?

[Chris Smith]

For comparing to test cricket, my day one ticket at the test match behind the bowlers arm at Edgbaston was £72.50 (top price for that day). This gives me of course 7 hours of entertainment.

This compares to £80 in the '1888 seats' or £68 in 'zone 1' to watch us lose to Newcastle on a Tuesday night.

How does that compare to the best seats to watch England at Wembley?

Watching Villa has become very expensive but we should be making like for like comparisons otherwise it’s the equivalent of going to the Ritz and judging prices against your local Pizza Express.

[rob_bridge]

They won't create a culture of being at the ground spending money when they don't follow through on plans to provide such facilities for people who want a place to go and eat etc on match day

Indeed - the last 3 times (as weather allowed) I had a beer in the fans area outside the Trinity. Think they need (where they can) more of that - obviously with covering. The Forest game last season was great as they had an interview with Ken Swain, an excellent as a Villa legend and he played for both clubs.