Fleecing.

[PeterWithesShin]

The pricing is shit, but unless they've recently changed the rules then the away side has to agree to price reductions in cup matches. Usually they do as it benefits their own fans but there is always a chance that the prices are what they are because of Everton and not Villa. That said, my money would be on us as we do seem to have taken the view that fans customers are just walking wallets.

[ASHTONVILLA]

I had a conversation with my old man about this last weekend. He has a season ticket in the Holte as do my two nephews and he was annoyed at the price increases and the Terrace View.

I get the annoyance, but I don't think it is a simple as 'greedy owners fleecing the fans'. These greedy owners are well out of pocket since buying the club, and have ponied up their hard earned money to the tune of millions to invest in players. The transformation has been remarkable, and has come at great cost to them. It is then slightly incongruous to link the increases with 'greed'.

Where 'blame' needs to be levelled is FFP. The club does need to operate within the rather strange set of rules, and that does mean a straight choice between maximising revenue or being less competitive in the transfer market and consequently on the pitch. The fans are being pumped a bit more, but the owners are pumping in plenty as well.

My old man is of the opinion that the terrace view is unfair, as wealthy people can jump the season ticket queue. I have no problem with this and if it works it will help the club, not that it working thus far.

End of the day nobody forces any of us to spend money on our hobby. Watching Villa is not one of lifes essentials, and is hardly a human right. I do think they have pushed the envelope a little too far this season given the unrest amongst fans, market forces will sort that out eventually though.

What I think we can all agree on though is that the quality we are getting to watch is at a 30 year high, so I do think we are getting better value these days in some respects.

[cdward]

Selling seats for a match in the PL is now comparable to going to the theatre.
The clubs don't really care who buys the seat as long as they sell out. 
But crucially the clubs owners have identifed that the tourists/day trippers/occasional fans are willing to pay more per seat per match than the die hard season ticket holders.
So season ticket holders are no longer necessarily seen as a valuable commodity,  but instead a road block to selling that seat for more money.
I do think there will always be season tickets, but if we are successful and selling out every game, and also have a long waiting list for season tickets, they will definitely exploit that to make more money.

[Stinkin_Thinkin]

wouldn't put it past the club to drop the prices near to the game if it hasn't sold out. They're really playing hardball with the fans now.

[Gareth]

wouldn't put it past the club to drop the prices near to the game if it hasn't sold out. They're really playing hardball with the fans now.

That won’t happen I don’t think…once they go on sale tonight that will be the price as they won’t want to do refunds.

With getting rid of the ‘free’ cup ticket they could have read the room a lot better and done £20/£10 for STH then charged these prices for the left over tickets.

Premier League prices, Premier League team, Premier League view from seats, League 1 facilities, League 1 catering offering at best. Zero inclination to match the last two to match up with the first three

[VillaTim]

 

wouldn't put it past the club to drop the prices near to the game if it hasn't sold out. They're really playing hardball with the fans now.

Dynamic Pricing

[VillaTim]

i regret renewing my ST, £875 Witton Upper, it's too much. And all these Sunday games i won't be able to make . The midweek cup games i can't make either .

Hopefully you won't regret having it if we start pushing top 4-6.  Also when the North Stand redev starts there will be virtually no seats available nor non ST holders.  This is the problem, FOMO will have people clinging onto ST they can't really afford because if you give it up you won't get one back in the foreseeable future.

i'm expecting to get bounced out of our seats anyway , they are upper Witton smack bang on the halfway line - prime for corporate / padded seats / carpet etc

[UK Redsox]

Same for me in the LTR behind the dugouts. Prime gentrification territory

[VillaTim]

Tunnel View is another corporate concept springing up at a few grounds . Expect to see that in the LT or the new North Stand Lower (if it ever happens)

[rooboy316]

I had a conversation with my old man about this last weekend. He has a season ticket in the Holte as do my two nephews and he was annoyed at the price increases and the Terrace View.

I get the annoyance, but I don't think it is a simple as 'greedy owners fleecing the fans'. These greedy owners are well out of pocket since buying the club, and have ponied up their hard earned money to the tune of millions to invest in players. The transformation has been remarkable, and has come at great cost to them. It is then slightly incongruous to link the increases with 'greed'.

The number crunchers on here will know more about this than me, but isn’t it a case of owners pumping in money as an ‘investment’, and they’ll be making a significant amount of money if and when they decide to sell?

Agree with you about one of the unintended consequences of ffp is that it incentivises clubs to maximise revenue, i.e. squeezing us for all we are worth.

[Sexual Ealing]

Yep, whilst it's true the owners 'rescued' us. They did so because they saw a distressed asset that, with investment, would quickly become worth way more than they paid for it. They were right. They clearly know what they're doing.

But let's not descend into hero-worshipping a couple of billionaires. They're here to use us to make money. I know that's how it's supposed to work, and we'll have some fun along the way (hopefully). But let's never confuse them for benevolent benefactors. They're not doing us a favour by being here.

[dr.chekov]

Yep, whilst it's true the owners 'rescued' us. They did so because they saw a distressed asset that, with investment, would quickly become worth way more than they paid for it. They were right. They clearly know what they're doing.

But let's not descend into hero-worshipping a couple of billionaires. They're here to use us to make money. I know that's how it's supposed to work, and we'll have some fun along the way (hopefully). But let's never confuse them for benevolent benefactors. They're not doing us a favour by being here.

This.

[Rory]

Yep, whilst it's true the owners 'rescued' us. They did so because they saw a distressed asset that, with investment, would quickly become worth way more than they paid for it. They were right. They clearly know what they're doing.

But let's not descend into hero-worshipping a couple of billionaires. They're here to use us to make money. I know that's how it's supposed to work, and we'll have some fun along the way (hopefully). But let's never confuse them for benevolent benefactors. They're not doing us a favour by being here.

This.

Also this.

[Gareth]

Yep, whilst it's true the owners 'rescued' us. They did so because they saw a distressed asset that, with investment, would quickly become worth way more than they paid for it. They were right. They clearly know what they're doing.

But let's not descend into hero-worshipping a couple of billionaires. They're here to use us to make money. I know that's how it's supposed to work, and we'll have some fun along the way (hopefully). But let's never confuse them for benevolent benefactors. They're not doing us a favour by being here.

100%….a number of us will jump off the bandwagon & the club won’t care less so long as there is someone to fill the void.  They’ll definitely want to try and price out some of the concessions groups in time as they want full priced tickets sold.

[Monty]

I...well, I certainly don't want to go into the hero-worship, but I think they're much more in it for the ego than the money. They're billionaires; think about the levels of business they're used to operating at! For all we think football is big money, for these sorts of guys it's really not.

They want the club to be self-sufficient as they don't want to sink too much into it, and anyway the rules of the league dictate that we have to be. But as far as making money goes, these guys are much richer than the Glazers, who bought a much more valuable sporting asset in a much dodgier way, which is virtually the only way to make any money out of this sport. Sawiris is big in construction and telecoms - I really don't think he needs football.