Away Fans to pay £20 per ticket

[Johnny Bognor]

The £30 cap for away tickets is welcome by all fans, but Virgin Media are going to subsidise away ticket prices at St Mary's, so that away fans will pay £20 per ticket.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3731191/Southampton-cap-St-Mary-s-ticket-prices-away-fans-20.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

 

I personally welcome the £30 cap and think it is good for the Prem, but would rather Virgin Media subsidise home fans...

[benjii]

That's a bit ****ed up. So away tickets will be much cheaper, per match, than my home season ticket. But I can have a free bottle of Pepsi or pint of **** on Saturday, provided I turn up by 14:30.

 

Great, thanks a lot.

[Saint_Jonny]

That's a bit ****ed up. So away tickets will be much cheaper, per match, than my home season ticket. But I can have a free bottle of Pepsi or pint of **** on Saturday, provided I turn up by 14:30.

 

Great, thanks a lot.

 

You could always have a pint of bitter.

[angelman]

I'd be happy with a £190 rebate on my ST.

[yellow&blue]

That's a bit ****ed up. So away tickets will be much cheaper, per match, than my home season ticket. But I can have a free bottle of Pepsi or pint of **** on Saturday, provided I turn up by 14:30.

 

Great, thanks a lot.

 

Yes but compared to away fans, how much does it cost on average for home fans to travel to games?

 

At least we appear to be leading the way, it's a shame the likes of Arsenal, both Manchester clubs, etc who CAN afford it more haven't done anything. It would be good PR all round....

[Griffo]

If true then I think the club/Virgin Media should be aware that this is out of order. As has been mentioned elsewhere for some games home fans will be paying nearly double that of the away fans. I appreciate Virgin are subsidising the odd game and travel here and there but if they're taking a tenner off every away ticket at SMS then we should be getting that at all of our away games.

[UpweySaint]

Little bitter about it but it's a good step, hopefully we can look forward to other similar initiatives from teams across the league going forwards.

[mrfahaji]

It does sound a bit strange - Virgin Media are our sponsors yet they're launching an initiative to help our opponents...?

 

Slightly different if we set the precedent for other clubs to follow suit of course.

[alehouseboys]

Just because they sponsor our shirts doesn't mean we have a monopoly on Virgin's good will. They're putting something back into football for the fans, good on 'em, more than Sky have done over the years. If they had been another club's sponsors then we'd have benefitted too but I like their thinking and glad they're here, I'm sure we'll benefit other ways throughout the season on top of what they've already done.

[Shandy_Top_89]

Odd move as it will put the sponsor at odds with the clubs supporters. Doesn't appear to be a great bit of decision making regarding the clubs own fans, I wouldn't blame Virgin Media as I'm sure the idea probably comes from the club and VM are probably having to fork out a fairly large sum to subsidise.

 

That said I imagine this is targeted at enhancing the clubs reputation in the league as a whole and is a general PR stunt that will probably go down well in the PL and media, it shouldn't take the shine off of what VM have done so far, if they continue to make offers like the Utd one then I think we will have a pretty sweet deal in the long run.

 

Overall a decision that will give the club some good PR, but will annoy most of us unless we suddenly get a nice ST rebate or all away games subsidised in return (the former obviously won't happen, but we may see more of the latter), we are definitely getting the short end of the deal here mind.

 

At least the hideous gap in the Northam might shrink.

[Baird of the land]

Good national PR for Virgin Media whilst the club doesn't lose out either.

 

Hopefully other club's sponsors will follow suit.

[yellow&blue]

At least the hideous gap in the Northam might shrink.

 

Agreed

[explorer saint]

Why should we encourage more away fans to support their team against us ?

[DJ_TOAST]

Why should we encourage more away fans to support their team against us ?

 

and have extra money to spend on more beer and be even more vocal, encouraging us to lose.

[angelman]

Why should we encourage more away fans to support their team against us ?

 

it's bad as it is, and even worse in cup games. Palace's FA Cup visit took the **** IMO.

[100%Red&White]

Why should we encourage more away fans to support their team against us ?

 

That's one way to look at it, and it's a valid point, but maybe we need to look at the bigger picture and appreciate how Virgin could be setting a precedent for others to follow.

 

No doubt some of our fans won't going on previous meltdowns every summer. Probably best to wait and see how this develops.

[Sour Mash]

Why should we encourage more away fans to support their team against us ?

Agreed. We already give one of the better away ends in the league for visitors.

[Manuel]

What have away fans ever done for us?

 

Would rather they did "bring a kid for a quid" for home fans or something similar, if we're not going to sell out.

[Noodles34]

i thought it was subsidising all of our away tickets, which would have been fine but to subsidise the away fans that come to our ground is a bit of a kick in the balls really.

[saintrich]

That's a bit ****ed up. So away tickets will be much cheaper, per match, than my home season ticket. But I can have a free bottle of Pepsi or pint of **** on Saturday, provided I turn up by 14:30.

 

Great, thanks a lot.

 

 

It's not really different from our season tickets being more expensive than another club, who cares if the fans coming to St Marys are getting a cheaper ticket than us? It's one game. I'm sure some other clubs will follow suit and we'll get a £20 ticket at a different ground and that can only be positive.

 

A

[niceandfriendly]

So now not only are we gifting our opponents by letting them have our best players, we're encouraging more of their fans to turn up and support them by giving them cheaper tickets than the home fans? They really are trolling us all.

[Jimmy_D]

i thought it was subsidising all of our away tickets, which would have been fine but to subsidise the away fans that come to our ground is a bit of a kick in the balls really.

 

Well, they have for the Man Utd game, maybe they will for the rest of ours, considering they're now subsidising for all of the away fans at our games?

 

Does mean the club gets more income as well, for every extra away fan that turns up because of this, they'll get the full £30, £20 from the fan, and £10 from Virgin Media.

[Ohio Saint]

More away fans = more incentive for Saints fans to out sing them = more atmosphere = higher profile on TV = more recognition = more cash in the long term.

 

I can see how it would be galling for Saints supporters, but in the grand scheme of things, anything that gets more full stadia in footy a plus.

[JRM]

it is a annoying that every away team will look at Southampton as a good away day, cheap tickets with a big allocation, (in fact for most teams coming to Saints will be the most tickets they'll get all year, at the cheapest price)

 

just hope it will see others follow suit and we'll start being offered £20 tickets elsewhere as well.

[Ohio Saint]

 

just hope it will see others follow suit and we'll start being offered £20 tickets elsewhere as well.

 

That's the way I see it going if this scheme works. Good news for all optimists!

[JRM]

Well, they have for the Man Utd game, maybe they will for the rest of ours, considering they're now subsidising for all of the away fans at our games?

 

Does mean the club gets more income as well, for every extra away fan that turns up because of this, they'll get the full £30, £20 from the fan, and £10 from Virgin Media.

 

No they have said there will be one other away game for us after Man Utd that will be subsidised, plus a Europa League Group bundle ticket subsidised, hopefully that will be a bargain and we get 3 sell outs.

[stevegrant]

No they have said there will be one other away game for us after Man Utd that will be subsidised, plus a Europa League Group bundle ticket subsidised, hopefully that will be a bargain and we get 3 sell outs.

Given the awful timing of it, I fully expect that other away game to be Everton in January.

[pluto]

If Virgin Media are now using money from the sponsorship it means the club are losing this money.

[simo]

That's a bit ****ed up. So away tickets will be much cheaper, per match, than my home season ticket. But I can have a free bottle of Pepsi or pint of **** on Saturday, provided I turn up by 14:30.

 

Great, thanks a lot.

 

This! I can't see how this benefits saints or us fans at all , just a Pr exercise for Virgin media ! Surely there must be a rule somewhere stating that us home fans cant be charged more for tickets than away fans ?

[krissyboy31]

If Virgin Media are now using money from the sponsorship it means the club are losing this money.

 

It's nothing to do with our sponsorship. Completely separate initiative with the FSA. Pity they're not subsidising our away ticket at other grounds though!!

[Barry the Badger]

Fair play to the club, away travel is bloody expensive. Hopefully this will lead other clubs to follow suit.

[nta786]

Fair play to the club, away travel is bloody expensive. Hopefully this will lead other clubs to follow suit.

 

Not the club doing it though is it? We would've said something on our OS otherwise.

 

 

Personally I am really disappointed with this deal, financially may help us a little bit (a drop in the ocean), but in terms of atmosphere, we have given away end a massive helping hand.

 

To me just seems like Virgin using us as a PR exercise for them to get recognition.

[Didcot Saint]

If true then I think the club/Virgin Media should be aware that this is out of order. As has been mentioned elsewhere for some games home fans will be paying nearly double that of the away fans. I appreciate Virgin are subsidising the odd game and travel here and there but if they're taking a tenner off every away ticket at SMS then we should be getting that at all of our away games.

Absolutely spot on. I have a 120 mile round trip to every game and I pay £37 a game to watch with my season ticket.

[Lighthouse]

Wouldn't mind so much if they just kept the buggers locked in after FT for 10 minutes, instead of closing the North car park to home fans half the time.

[Stu Man Do]

Will other clubs follow suit though? It's not as if saints have said "hey come watch prem football for 20 quid!" We are still taking 30 quid a ticket just virgin are subsidising a tenner of it. Unless other clubs sponsors follow suit why should other clubs make less money on their away ends than us? It'll still cost us 30 quid everywhere but Virgin will have a lot of good will from football fans across the country which is obviously what they want

[Saint-Fred]

Will other clubs follow suit though? It's not as if saints have said "hey come watch prem football for 20 quid!" We are still taking 30 quid a ticket just virgin are subsidising a tenner of it. Unless other clubs sponsors follow suit why should other clubs make less money on their away ends than us? It'll still cost us 30 quid everywhere but Virgin will have a lot of good will from football fans across the country which is obviously what they want

 

Nice that with the campaign to cut prices for away fans that we have ended up paying more to go to Arsenal than we have the last two seasons!

[lambjo1976]

I hope that this will encourage other clubs to charge us only £20 as a good will gesture.

[Saints foreva]

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20160405-southampton-season-tickets-on-sale-now-3043014.aspx

 

• Renewal prices for Adults in the Wings and Goals have been lowered to £570 for the season, to ensure Season Ticket holders who sit in similar areas to away fans will not pay any more than visiting supporters.

 

[Golden Balls]

Surely would have made more sense to cut the prices for Saints away fans all season?

 

I guess from VM point of view it's good PR with the other 19 sets of fans around the country.

[Pamplemousse]

Is there necessarily any correlation to more away fans = a home defeat for us? The club will make more money by selling food/drink in the concourses, the city's economy will benefit by more people visiting, it's a good thing and hopefully other clubs will do the same.

[Shance]

I think this is a great idea. Fair play to Virgin and Saints for doing it as well. I know people are moaning that they won't see the benefit of this but if we want a sport in which we can all afford to watch then one club has to jump first. I'd rather support the club that sets the trend than be one of the sheep.

 

This is a positive step in the right direction. Away games are a nightmare as travel, food and other costs need to be factored in.

[warsash saint]

I think this is a great idea. Fair play to Virgin and Saints for doing it as well. I know people are moaning that they won't see the benefit of this but if we want a sport in which we can all afford to watch then one club has to jump first. I'd rather support the club that sets the trend than be one of the sheep.

 

This is a positive step in the right direction. Away games are a nightmare as travel, food and other costs need to be factored in.

 

So as their OUR sponsors, why not subsidise all away tickets that OUR supporters buy instead?

[John B]

So as their OUR sponsors, why not subsidise all away tickets that OUR supporters buy instead?

Because it is likely that SFC will get more revenue if away tickets at St Marys is cheaper that is the point of sponorship for our club to get more money

[Saint86]

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20160405-southampton-season-tickets-on-sale-now-3043014.aspx

 

 

 

 

£20 x 19 does not £570 make.

[suewhistle]

Is there necessarily any correlation to more away fans = a home defeat for us? The club will make more money by selling food/drink in the concourses, the city's economy will benefit by more people visiting, it's a good thing and hopefully other clubs will do the same.

 

Similar to what I would have written. It'll increase the average away following and the club still get the full £30, as I understand it. There'll be none of this "will block 42[?] be open" and home non-season supporters will have to make sure of their tickets earlier, giving an impetus to sales. I've never noticed a large away following to impact the result negatively: if anything it gets the home crowd going and makes for a better atmosphere and more of an event.

 

I presume all our Europa cup matches will be televised somewhere, so giving subsidised tickets for the group games will also ensure a good atmosphere for those, and it's understandable why Virgin would want that too.

[Monkou]

A good initiative that hopefully will catch on.

 

Not sure why people are in such a tiff about this. VM are a national company with potential customers from all around the country. They will reach far more people doing this than if they only subsidised the 5,000 or so saints fans who go to away games each season (who they probably feel will already be getting benefits from them with the other initiatives).

 

More people through the gate means more money for the club and a better atmosphere. There are no losers here.

[The9]

Similar to what I would have written. It'll increase the average away following and the club still get the full £30, as I understand it. There'll be none of this "will block 42[?] be open" and home non-season supporters will have to make sure of their tickets earlier, giving an impetus to sales. I've never noticed a large away following to impact the result negatively: if anything it gets the home crowd going and makes for a better atmosphere and more of an event.

 

I presume all our Europa cup matches will be televised somewhere, so giving subsidised tickets for the group games will also ensure a good atmosphere for those, and it's understandable why Virgin would want that too.

 

They'll all be on BT Sport, though whether we're on at the same time as Man U (or West Ham or Man City if they end up in the Europa League group stages as well) might affect our profile a bit. Fortunately as there are two kick off times and two channels Virgin Media won't have to worry that we get shunted to a red button they don't have, or something equally awkward.

[100%Red&White]

A good initiative that hopefully will catch on.

 

Not sure why people are in such a tiff about this. VM are a national company with potential customers from all around the country. They will reach far more people doing this than if they only subsidised the 5,000 or so saints fans who go to away games each season (who they probably feel will already be getting benefits from them with the other initiatives).

 

More people through the gate means more money for the club and a better atmosphere. There are no losers here.

 

Nutshell.

 

A few on here (and I understand some are just on a wind-up/and/or/Division4 dinlos) just come across as greedy, spoilt and ungrateful lightweights that have never left their bedroom.

[sandwichsaint]

Clever move, and a win/win for Virgin, they get the publicity/PR for sponsoring cheap away tickets but more importantly they ensure that their team/their brand is regularly seen playing in front of a 'full-house' with a decent (and hopefully, for them, noisy and colourful away support). No more empty-seat misery on match of the day, hate that when you go to a game, there's 30k plus in the ground and a decent atmosphere and you go home and watch MOTD and there's a gaping empty block right in line with the cameras.

 

Great move for Virgin, not so sure about for us, hopefully there is more upside of having 3000 away fans at every one of our home games then there is downside.