Season Tickets 26/27 massive price increase

[Doom]

I just went through the booking process:

Total
£26.50

Tickets
Full Price Ticket: £22.25 x 1
£22.25
Fees
Service Fee: £3.00 x 1
£3.00
Venue Facility Fee: £1.25 x 1
£1.25

My guess is that Steelers advised Ticketmaster that the price of the tickets should be £26.50

Ticketmaster took that as the net price before add-ons, but Steelers meant gross price including add-ons.

Considering prices elsewhere in the league, this looks very reasonable.

Well done Steelers.

Regards

Doom

[Clear The Zone]

OK this is better than the first round of prices, but still not amazing:

Last year (25/26):
Adult Ticket £20
Service Charge £2.50
Facility Charge £1.00
Parking £10

This year (26/27):
Adult Ticket £22.25 - Up 12.5%
Service Charge £3.00 - Up 20%
Facility Charge £1.25 - Up 25%
Parking £14 - Up 40% !!!!!!!!!

Overall single adult in total (ticket plus both fees) is up 12.8%. Anyone else's wages up 12.8% this year? No, me neither. An in-line-with-inflation rise would have been about 2.6%, so this is almost a five times the rate of inflation increase. This is pretty hard to stomach during a cost of living crisis.

The car parking charges are just blatant profiteering, given I doubt their staff are getting a 40% pay rise, and the overheads on an empty gravel carpark are as close to zero as anyone could get. Remember when they originally moved from cash-on-the-door the price jumped from £3.50 to £5, the excuse being that they had to pay for the cashless infrastructure. What are they using this 40% rise to pay for, painting out all the spaces in gold leaf paint? Full valet, detailing and wash-n-wax while you're in the game?

[Zakatron]

Mainly an arena problem in why everything has gone up not a steelers problem.

Apparently steelers make nothing from the car parking so again blame the arena.

[Clear The Zone]

Apparently steelers make nothing from the car parking so again blame the arena.

Oh don't worry, I am.

[Jayboy]

I hear its valet parking this year... So i am looking forward to that

[Doom]

Mainly an arena problem in why everything has gone up not a steelers problem.

Apparently steelers make nothing from the car parking so again blame the arena.

Agreed....the majority of the increase appears to be arena/ticketmaster driven.

The Steelers element of this increase is also well over inflation, but that may also be due to the arena wanting a much higher rental fee....I doubt the Steelers can afford to absorb this.

I get it that arena costs will have risen substantially. The increase in minimum wage and NI was always going to hit venues and get passed on, as was the increase in energy bills (I would think ice plant uses a lot of energy).

It does seem a lot, but when you look around the league, other clubs are also seeing significant increases and our prices don't look bad in comparison (the updated prices that is).

There's not a lot clubs can do if their hosts put up the costs substantially.

Regards

Doom

[Keith Sheppard]

The Steelers element of this increase is also well over inflation, but that may also be due to the arena wanting a much higher rental fee....I doubt the Steelers can afford to absorb this.

I get it that arena costs will have risen substantially. The increase in minimum wage and NI was always going to hit venues and get passed on, as was the increase in energy bills (I would think ice plant uses a lot of energy).

It does seem a lot, but when you look around the league, other clubs are also seeing significant increases and our prices don't look bad in comparison (the updated prices that is).

There's not a lot clubs can do if their hosts put up the costs substantially.

Regards

Doom

I wonder how Manchester are going to address the presumed hike in costs moving to a huge city centre arena? They finished last season with a fan base of a couple of thousand? They are going to have to grow this quickly to maintain a stable financial position. As with all businesses, stability then growth costs money, every sports club will have to balance their finances hoping they don’t alienate their customers, (the fans), either by over pricing, or by not spending on players and having an inferior product. Both can damage the clubs… It’s a financial conundrum I’m thankful I don’t have to solve.

[Doom]

It's certainly a difficult one for Manchester.

I believe their ticket prices were originally pitched at over £30, but after a bit of a backlash it's a little under £30 now.

The suggestion seems to be that ticket sales for the pre season friendly against us are roughly 9.5k, which is very impressive, although that is at a reduced price.

The difficulty will be keeping those supporters especially if the team don't perform well. On paper Manchester don't look like they've taken a huge gamble and thrown money at the team, but will the good folks of Manchester be willing to pay nearly £30 for what is likely to be a mid table team?

I don't know what their break even crowd is, but I would guess in excess of 5,000, which could be a challenge.

Is the AO meant to be their permanent home or is it a stepping stone to a new purpose built facility?

Regards

Doom

[Keith Sheppard]

Is the AO meant to be their permanent home or is it a stepping stone to a new purpose built facility?

Regards

Doom

I was under the impression that the AO is to be their permanent home, but I’m not 100% certain. It would be a great venue to hold a ‘Magic Weekend’ as they do in Rugby League. All teams come together over two or theee days days and play meaningful league games. It could certainly raise the sports profile in Manchester with the right publicity.

[DSLSteeler]

I suspect that Manchester have got some very favourable rates for the AO, at least in the short term while they grow their fan base, as them becoming the tenants at the AO is as much a good deal for the AO as it is for the Storm. The AO was in danger otherwise of becoming a venue without a purpose after the opening of the Co-Op Arena. I reckon they will have a couple of years grace on non ruinous terms whilst they speculate to accumulate, otherwise it all looks like a huge gamble. If so, its win win for them.

As for us, I am certainly relieved that the £31 price turned out to be false. Yes, its still above inflation but for now, its do-able.

But one thing's for sure. I will be a regular user of the tram from the park and ride this coming year because I sure as hell ain't paying £14 to park the car at the arena on principle. I am hoping that lots of people take the same approach because price gouging deserves to fail.