ticket prices

[Papahet]

1 minute ago, Mucker1884 said:

Re the highlighted sentence...

How can you state the first bit, if you don't know the second bit?

I'll rephrase that if it's that big an issue:

Ridiculously overpriced for a Championship club, who already struggle to fill the home end, with more than 5,000 empty seats a common theme. I doubt/question if  theres many clubs at this level who charge such inflated prices for something which doesn't actually sell too great in the first place.

 

[Ghost of Clough]

7 minutes ago, DCFC Ram said:

I think that it is unfair to charge such prices for people who do not have / cannot use season tickets.

The cheapest ST costs about £450 meaning the average price per game is about £19.50 for 23 games.
Buy home membership for £40 and get 20% off tickets and no booking fees, and 1 free game. For the same £450, You could get to 19 games.
Without any form of membership, for the same £450 you could get to 15 games.

So in saying matchday tickets should be cheaper, you're saying ST holders and home membership holders should attend more games to get their value for money, or the club should lose even more money by reducing the cost of a ST or membership. For football in this country, the pricing is roughly on par with the level of football being offered

[Mucker1884]

3 minutes ago, DCFC Ram said:

I'd like PP to be sold out as I think that the atmosphere was good when it was (a few seasons ago).

I think that prices like these are unlikely to achieve a sell out.

I think that the price for the WBA match is too high.

I think that it is unfair to charge such prices for people who do not have / cannot use season tickets.

I don't think that anying buying a ticket is a glory hunter

My two mates had to give up their season tickets a couple of years ago when they were posted overseas.

1/  There are some that would argue that whilst the noise levels may rise (with a full capacity), that may not equate to "a good atmosphere",  when positivity/negativity (amongst the crowd) is taken into account.  Not me, I hasten to add.  I'd agree with you.

2/  Totally agreed.

3/  Hmm... I suppose I ought to agree.  Not sure I'd want to be paying £33 for a game this early in the season... but then I don't have to.  Selfish of me, I know.  Against WBA at the end of the season, when we need to win to get into the play-off's?  Yeah, I'd pay it then... or rather, I'd pay it to ensure my missus could join me for the "big occasion", as per last season!  (Honestly can't remember the ticket price though, if truth be told).

4/  What is fair?  We could all answer that, and all come up with different answers!  Matchday Ticket prices are what they are.  Season Ticket Holders get a generous discount due to paying up front... and even more so if forking out during the "Early Bird" period.  Don't make the mistake of seeing the Season ticket (equivalent) price as "the going rate".  Also don't make the mistake of thinking that as a breakdown, the match day equivalent = ST price divided by 23 home games.  On a ST breakdown,  each game would "be worth" more for WBA/Red Dogs/Leeds etc, than they would v Barnsleh/Luton/Charlton.  Game categories are still taken into account on a ST... officially, at least!

5/  I only used the term "glory hunter" in relation to my own kith and kin, who occasionally tag along for "the big games", as it is usually ONLY the big games that they tag along to!  I certainly meant no offence to other match day ticket buyers, and apologies if that was how my earlier comment came across.

6/You won't find a bigger admirer of members of our armed forces on here, than me, partly due to personal reasons... but it is what it is.  My own lad missed out on many a game due to the same reason, and subsequently for reasons associated with previously "being posted away", even after his return!  There are of course, such avenues as "Tickets for Troops", but I appreciate this doesn't cover all games for all clubs, so not perfect.  Personally, I'd like nothing more than for our club to give away 100 tickets (for instance) to servicemen and women... past or present... for each and every Rams home game, and would even go as far as to pay a supplement on my own ticket to help finance this, but I'm sure not every paying fan would agree!  If the club took it upon themselves to offer service personnel discounted match day tickets, how many other "deserving causes" would put their hands up, or cry foul? 
If I was a pre-match pub-goer, I'd offer to by them a couple of pints each, to off-set their ticket prices, but I'm not... so I won't.  Please give them a big thumbs up from me though, and tell them the thought was there!  :-)

 

[Ghost of Clough]

37 minutes ago, Papahet said:

I'll rephrase that if it's that big an issue:

Ridiculously overpriced for a Championship club, who already struggle to fill the home end, with more than 5,000 empty seats a common theme. I doubt/question if  theres many clubs at this level who charge such inflated prices for something which doesn't actually sell too great in the first place.

 

Let's look at a midtable side with a stadium of reasonable capacity but loads of empty seats... Birmingham (21.8k attendance last game, 29.4k capacity).

Randomly selected seats showed me £30 for the games against Stoke and Preston. Not too dissimilar to our pricing.

[Mucker1884]

39 minutes ago, ThePrisoner said:

If match day tickets became cheaper than the average price of each game for a season ticket holder in their category then 22,000 people would be kicking off.

They can... and occasionally have done in the past... have match day tickets cheaper than the per-match average of a season ticket holder.  They "got around" this by claiming our ST's are still categorised, so the bigger games would still be "valued" higher than others.  This came out a few years back, when they were throwing cheap match day tickets about.  "Friends for tenner" and such like! 

Somewhere on the DCFC website, I assume they show what each game is "valued at" for Season ticket holders?  It keeps their backsides covered, for when they want to throw some cheap offers about!  

 

[Mucker1884]

48 minutes ago, Papahet said:

I'll rephrase that if it's that big an issue:

Ridiculously overpriced for a Championship club, who already struggle to fill the home end, with more than 5,000 empty seats a common theme. I doubt/question if  theres many clubs at this level who charge such inflated prices for something which doesn't actually sell too great in the first place.

 

As my post clearly stated, it was but a mere question.  There was no hint of it being an issue... not to me, at least.

As to your question re other clubs, I have absolutely no idea what they charge, if truth be told, but yes, in theory at least, I too would much prefer to see those 5,000 empty seats taken up.  

[ThePrisoner]

2 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

They can... and occasionally have done in the past... have match day tickets cheaper than the per-match average of a season ticket holder.  They "got around" this by claiming our ST's are still categorised, so the bigger games would still be "valued" higher than others.  This came out a few years back, when they were throwing cheap match day tickets about.  "Friends for tenner" and such like! 

Somewhere on the DCFC website, I assume they show what each game is "valued at" for Season ticket holders?  It keeps their backsides covered, for when they want to throw some cheap offers about!  

 

Of course, granted friends for a tenner required the STH to buy it I believe but still. I don't really mind it on the odd game though, they don't do it often.

[Mucker1884]

Derby County guarantees its Season Ticket Holders that no seat in the same block of the stadium will be sold cheaper than the price they have paid for that seat, for their age concession for each league match. Pricing information can be requested at any time from the Ticket Office.

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/ticket-pricing-policies

 

Also on that page, it also states that, come match day, adult prices automatically go up by £3, and £2 for concessions.

So going on the OP's prices, they'll be £36 (for the ticket alone) come the day of the WBA game!  That's not good! 

 

EDIT:

Just checked my bank statement... Looks like I paid £30 for my missus to join me for last season's last home game v WBA... That's NE corner... Cat D seats. 

[Jourdan]

The club sold 38,000 tickets for Wembley and there were thousands of people left without tickets.

By contrast, only 27,000 were there for Swansea at home.

So clearly we have a lot of floating support that we are struggling to get through the turnstiles.

And I would imagine it all comes down to pricing.

What worries me about the pricing is where is our ceiling.

If we can charge £30+ for Swansea at home in the Championship, it’s frightening to think what the club will the club charge if we get back to the Premier League.

Will Bournemouth at home be £40 a ticket? Liverpool at home £50 a ticket? Where does it end?

My best friend is a university lecturer and for his old seat in the East Stand, it is £600 for a season ticket and he felt that was high, and threads like this one appear on the forum on a regular basis criticising ticket prices.

So clearly the club is not doing something right.

[ThePrisoner]

Just now, Jourdan said:

By contrast, only 27,000 were there for Swansea at home.

Attendances are always around this during August due to holidays. It will probably be pick up in a few weeks, admittedly not by much.

[Mucker1884]

1 minute ago, Jourdan said:

The club sold 38,000 tickets for Wembley and there were thousands of people left without tickets.

By contrast, only 27,000 were there for Swansea at home.

So clearly we have a lot of floating support that we are struggling to get through the turnstiles.

And I would imagine it all comes down to pricing.

 

Not sure I'd agree with that last line.

Swansea at home... Early season "nothing game", right in the heart of the family holiday season.  There's quite a few missing/unavailable to attend, I'd wager.

Wembley... Biggest game since the last biggest game.  Bank Holiday Monday.  Plenty of folk off work/school, but too early in the year for many to be away on a family holiday.  Plenty who could make that game, I reckon.

Obviously ticket pricing has an effect, but your last line appears to over-egg the argument, in my opinion.

[TibshelfRam]

14 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

Not sure I'd agree with that last line.

Swansea at home... Early season "nothing game", right in the heart of the family holiday season.  There's quite a few missing/unavailable to attend, I'd wager.

Wembley... Biggest game since the last biggest game.  Bank Holiday Monday.  Plenty of folk off work/school, but too early in the year for many to be away on a family holiday.  Plenty who could make that game, I reckon.

Obviously ticket pricing has an effect, but your last line appears to over-egg the argument, in my opinion.

I thin that @Jourdan and yourself are both pretty much right. It is down to money, of course, but maybe not entirely so.

I doubt we'd ever get the 38,000+ fans who got/wanted Wembley tickets to come to every home game. For a variety of reasons - I know fans from all over the country, if not the world, who came to the Wembley game because of what it was. They wouldn't come to each home game.

I also know plenty of family of fans who only really wanted to come because of the magnitude of the fixture. They probably wouldn't come to each home game.

Of the fans who came to Wembley who could feasibly come to each home game or would want to, I'd suggest that money is the biggest contributing factor, you're quite right. Not necessarily as a straight consequence of the cost (but I accept that the ticket prices probably are too high) but more because of financial priorities - spending £30 to watch Derby could be the price of a meal out or a day with the kids.

Equally, I would wager that for a lot of people, its the time commitment. There's absolutely nowhere I'd rather be on a Saturday afternoon than watching the Rams. Would I still be able to say that in 5 years when I've got kids and I've spent all week at work? Probably, but it might not be a priority. For a lot of fans, giving up every weekend is too much of a commitment, financial or time wise. Take me for example, on Saturday I spent the whole day revolving around the match - early train, in town with mates for 7/8 pints, then the match, then a couple more followed by the train home. Even my Mrs is competing for my time, but when I have kids, will I be able to do that? Probably not.

So, it is fair to say that prices probably are the biggest contributing factor but it certainly isn't entirely that.

I accept that its market forces. But prices are too steep, no doubt about that. And that isn't an indictment on Mel or Derby, more English football as a whole. It certainly doesn't help pull in a crowd. Something needs to be done about it right at the very top.

[Jourdan]

36 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

Not sure I'd agree with that last line.

Swansea at home... Early season "nothing game", right in the heart of the family holiday season.  There's quite a few missing/unavailable to attend, I'd wager.

Wembley... Biggest game since the last biggest game.  Bank Holiday Monday.  Plenty of folk off work/school, but too early in the year for many to be away on a family holiday.  Plenty who could make that game, I reckon.

Obviously ticket pricing has an effect, but your last line appears to over-egg the argument, in my opinion.

Maybe you are right and attendances in September and October and beyond will be higher, and maybe you are right that there is more than pricing at play.

But with Wembley, we have seen that we have the potential to attract much larger numbers. We could have sold 40,000 tickets for Wembley by all accounts.

We have roughly 23,000 season ticket holders, so if we say 3,000 fans on average come on a game by game basis, that’s 3,000 out of a potential 17,000 fans through the gate. Less than 20%.

Our average attendance last year was around 27,000. Surely we are not doing enough to make Championship football attractive to our wider audience if we are regularly unable to sell 5-6,000 tickets and fill the ground?

Take myself, I usually only go to games in August and during the Christmas period because I work outside of the UK.

There are three home games in August. I’ve been to one and in theory I’ll be here, so I could go to all three. But it’ll cost me close to £100 to go to all three. I am someone who would go to matches at every opportunity, but pricing matters.

Take WBA at home as an example. It is a minimum of £33 for the cheapest seat in the ground. It’s also on Sky. So immediately it’s already in my best interests to pay £5 for a six pack of beer and watch the game at my brother’s house, saving £28. Thousands of people will have the same idea.

[angieram]

I don't really think that many more than a couple of thousand of those 17,000 fans who went to Wembley would be regular attendees at Pride Park even if the prices were lower.

@Mucker1884 is a good example - family members who are occasional fans wanted to go to the big game. Judging by the people round me that was replicated throughout our end. There was a big day out, family picnic type atmosphere that we never get at ordinary matches.

Look at our cup games - at home. Even when Derby sell tickets at £10 then the crowd is very sparse.

 

 

[Ghost of Clough]

2 hours ago, angieram said:

I don't really think that many more than a couple of thousand of those 17,000 fans who went to Wembley would be regular attendees at Pride Park even if the prices were lower.

@Mucker1884 is a good example - family members who are occasional fans wanted to go to the big game. Judging by the people round me that was replicated throughout our end. There was a big day out, family picnic type atmosphere that we never get at ordinary matches.

Look at our cup games - at home. Even when Derby sell tickets at £10 then the crowd is very sparse.

 

 

How many people who bought a season ticket specifically to gain priority for the Playoff Final still have that season ticket? ?

[bimmerman]

I'm a prime example of this floating support being priced out

Been a rams fan since I was a kid, always will be 

But I live 4 hours away. Don't pay for fuel due to business fuel card, but at the risk of sounding tight, can go and view 2/3 exeter or Plymouth games for the price of 1 of the cheaper Derby tickets. It's still professional football at a decent level

When they used to do demand based ticketing I made it to about 10-15games but now its not really worth investing all that time when I can just buy it on now TV for 9 quid and bang the heating on, which is a shame. If they went back to demand pricing, I'd definitely make more of an effort

[Anag Ram]

12 hours ago, DCFC Ram said:

I am a season ticket holder and needed to buy 2 extra adult tickets for the West Brom game - in the cheapest area. £33 each plus the 'booking fee'! 

£68.

the only way to get a reduction would have been to shell out an extra £40 for 'membership' to save about £15!

for a game that's on tv.

anyway, we are all '12th man' so it's fine

 

 

 

 

Appreciate it's expensive but be glad you don't have to shell out £60 for rail fare on top like I do before being branded a half fan by some. ?

[rammieib]

1 hour ago, bimmerman said:

I'm a prime example of this floating support being priced out

Been a rams fan since I was a kid, always will be 

But I live 4 hours away. Don't pay for fuel due to business fuel card, but at the risk of sounding tight, can go and view 2/3 exeter or Plymouth games for the price of 1 of the cheaper Derby tickets. It's still professional football at a decent level

When they used to do demand based ticketing I made it to about 10-15games but now its not really worth investing all that time when I can just buy it on now TV for 9 quid and bang the heating on, which is a shame. If they went back to demand pricing, I'd definitely make more of an effort

it's not demand pricing, it's just sensible pricing.

I love MM and what he wants for the club, (And that's a wholesale change of opinion from 3+ years ago) but attractive pricing for games isnt one thing he will do sadly.

We are wholly being shown up by our friends down the road on this aspect. They have shown with increased attendances what lower ticket prices can do (and their football isnt great). We didn't sell out one game last season, including Forest and play offs.

I think we have to accept that either 1) The club Is happy with 26-28k (but these are better fans and support the team better), 2) The club believe they are maximising revenue received and 3) They dont mind you not going to games.

[europia]

11 hours ago, sawley_ram said:

When I was between 17 and 22 I simply didn't earn enough to be able to afford the prices and that was true of lots of friends. I actually applaud Forest for what they did last season for younger fans, offering 4-11 year olds a season ticket for £10, 12-17 year olds for £50 and 18-23 year olds £100 for the season.

For those that can make games we make the commitment and part with our hard-earned cash age regardless, but I feel we could boost our support by offering a similar structure for the young. 

That's a surprise. Have to say Forest are doing something right with that pricing structure. I guess their full price tickets have to subsidise the discounted tickets for young fans? 

[bimmerman]

1 hour ago, rammieib said:

it's not demand pricing, it's just sensible pricing.

I love MM and what he wants for the club, (And that's a wholesale change of opinion from 3+ years ago) but attractive pricing for games isnt one thing he will do sadly.

We are wholly being shown up by our friends down the road on this aspect. They have shown with increased attendances what lower ticket prices can do (and their football isnt great). We didn't sell out one game last season, including Forest and play offs.

I think we have to accept that either 1) The club Is happy with 26-28k (but these are better fans and support the team better), 2) The club believe they are maximising revenue received and 3) They dont mind you not going to games.

Yeah, it's a shame really but ultimately the game moves on and it's the owners choice what to do with club finance at the end of the day

I suppose this is how people end up with second teams

Just a shame for the next generation really, as if parents arnt going they'll not be taking their kids, and that's the future income gone to man city and the like ?