4. Ticketing
Home ballots:
KL opened up by asking THFC for their view on how the home ballots were working in practice and what had been learned so far. IM felt the Club had been potentially over cautious in how many seats were sold for the first 2 or 3 games. This had led to more tickets going on sale later than desired and empty seats in some sections of the stadium.
KL questioned whether the late release of tickets ahead of the Sunderland match had been as a result of the ballot. IM stressed partner, staff, sponsor, player returns had always come back late in previous years and this season they were keen to provide as many seats as possible for fans, but that this was nothing new. And not a result of the ballot.
IM stated that the ballot was leaving the Club with more single seats than they’d like, which are harder to sell on.
The ballot was a different challenge. It had its operational issues, of course, but there was now more familiarity and comfort with the process. IM stressed that the ballot had removed the pain of 19 huge on sale dates with large volumes of unhappy fans and felt the ballot was the right call to have made.
KL stated that when the Club approached THST towards the end of last season to tell them the sales mechanism was changing to a ballot, the prime reason given was to remove the pinch point of thousands of Members all attempting to purchase a significantly reduced number of tickets and potentially missing out. But the ballot figures are relatively low: c 7,000 applications for c 5,000 seats. Why did IM think this was the case? IM thought there was still a lack of understanding around the ballot which meant fans either didn’t know how to apply, were put off applying or thought they wouldn’t get a ticket so didn’t bother.
KL shared THST’s views on the reasoning for lower figures than anticipated. The first being
Price. The ballot encourages fans to price higher than they normally would to stand a better chance. There's only so many times a season you can do that. So people are being selective.
The next reason was the issue of
Concessions. KL explained that, because of the very restricted number of seats available at a concessionary rate, parents were cautious about being forced to pay full rate for their kids. KL requested that concessions either be extended further around the stadium this season or that all concessionary members successful in the ballot are prioritised into existing concessionary stands.
A discussion followed where THFC expressed caution at the financial impact of opening up concessions around the ground. KL suggested the increased revenue from the 500-750 seats taken from the visitors allocation at White Hart Lane could be used here, as those seats were now selling at higher than the £30 away price. IM reminded KL that the loss of over 4,000 seats in the North East corner had resulted in a significant loss to the Club already. IM, DC and DL to discuss internally and report back to THST.
The next issue was the inability to select between
North and South stands in the ballot. Each stand has its own personality and none more so than Paxton and Park Lane. Appreciating the restrictions members would be placing on themselves by selecting only one of those stands in the ballot, THST wanted to explore the practicalities of separating those out. IM agreed to explore and report back.
KL flagged the inflexibility of the
StubHub platform as a major problem when allocating tickets at primary source via a members only ballot and asked for assurances other providers would be consulted prior to their contract expiring in May. IM confirmed that no decision had yet been made about secondary ticketing beyond this season and that THFC would explore all oprions.
Away tickets:
MC asked for IM’s views on the impact of the away price cap. IM said they hadn’t seen the huge spike in applications some people were anticipating.
- Transferring of away tickets
MC flagged the transfer of away tickets across social media platforms. IM confirmed that where there was an explicit breaking of T’s and C’s, THFC would, and do, follow up.
The removal of subsidised travel has caused some ill feeling amongst fans. MC stressed the national campaign which resulted in the £30 away price cap had been about reducing the price of going to football, not just ticket pricing. There was a feeling the Club had given with one hand and taken away with the other. THST had written to both THFC and Thomas Cook Sport to ask for the reintroduction of subsidised coaches.
THFC responded with their view that subsidising coaches for such a small segment of the fan base wasn’t fair or appropriate. Take up rates at full price were parallel with where they’d been last season at a subsidised price.
THST responded that it had been both fair and appropriate when it was THFC’s preferred method of spending the ASI over the previous 3 seasons. THFC said this was because it was one of several measures that had benefitted a wider spread of fans.
THFC confirmed it would provide trains for fixtures without an alternative public transport option but would not subsidise coaches again. The preference was to focus on favourable pricing for Cup games and Wembley as had been demonstrated.
THST expressed its disagreement with the decision and will investigate external sponsors for coach subsidy.
Champions League at Wembley:
87,000 tickets sold for the Monaco match was a great success; the Trust thanked the Club for a progressive approach on pricing, making Wembley a home from home and setting the atmosphere at the game. The three match package has worked well. Breaking three home attendance records was also cause for congratulations. However, a couple of issues had arisen that needed addressing.
- Sales mechanism and process
KL said communication around the staggered release of blocks in the members’ sale window could have been better. Some fans felt they were misled about the seats that were available on Day 1 of the members’ window.
IM explained that this was the first time the Club had attempted to sell a game of this magnitude and there were a lot of moving parts. Some seats weren’t available for the group package, some areas were held back until others had sold out in case the take up wasn’t great – in agreement with Wembley National Stadium Ltd - some seats only became available after TV requirements and other stadium commitments had been confirmed. It was a complicated process and there was no desire to mislead.
It was agreed to improve ticketing communications in future so as to try to manage expectations.
KL raised the failure of Ticketmaster to deliver an acceptable level of service on the opening day of the members’ window.
IM acknowledged the problems experienced by some fans and said detailed discussions have taken place with THFC and Ticketmaster subsequently with cast iron guarantees this would not happen again.
DC asked for THST’s support in urging fans to arrive in plenty of time for future Wembley matches. Large walk ups in the ten minutes before kick-off put severe pressure on Wembley’s ticket entry systems at the Monaco game.
Season away:
KL asked for a discussion around offering an Amnesty for Season Ticket holders at Wembley. THST’s latest survey had revealed that, while the vast majority of existing ST holders would not take the option of a year out, the majority felt there should be the choice of one. Therefore, THST needed to reflect that call.
IM and DC explained THFC’s current position: the fans had wanted a London venue, the Club had delivered Wembley and there was a concern about giving fans the option to drop out at exactly the time they needed ST holders to support the Club both financially and physically.
There was also concern around the practical implications and effect an amnesty would have on those at the top of the ST waiting list and when offering ST’s for the new ground.
KL was certain that those practicalities could be worked through if there was a will to deliver this. An amnesty would mean a ST holder freezing their membership for the year. So they’d effectively be non-members. That brought with it implications that would deter most unless there was a genuine reason for not being able to travel to Wembley throughout the season. KL stressed that no fan had asked for the Club to relocate and by moving for a season, THFC had fundamentally changed their terms of engagement.
After some discussion, it was agreed further internal discussion was needed and THFC asked that the matter be deferred to the next meeting with THST.
IM confirmed THFC was still working through the details of offering new ST’s at Wembley but this was anticipated to happen once numbers and other considerations had been clarified.
Given the problems at the London Stadium, KL asked for reassurance that the migration of our fans into Wembley and onto the new stadium would be better thought through than West Ham’s.
IM confirmed this was in hand and valuable lessons had been learned from the Champions League sales process and from East London.
KL stated THST’s call for price parity at Wembley – as in no fan should pay more to watch a match at Wembley than at White Hart Lane. Transport, catering and parking should all be considered in this.
JW explained that catering was run by Wembley and Car Park was currently operated by CSP on behalf of Quintain. JW confirmed discussions are ongoing over the provision of disabled parking for the season away at Wembley.
IM noted the comments on ticket pricing.