A bit worrying

[paultheroyal]

Dont you just love playground spats on this forum!!

I am all for expanding....but lets just increase the east stand to make it 30,000 in total.

To me its obvious - we are all working on the basis that we are staying in this league...if we struggle to sell tickets.... the general sale tickets go into the new east stand...and the whole of the south stand would be for away fans only.

18,000 + season tickets
5,000 away fans -

and the rest general sale will easily push the gates up to 26,000 + min.

The following games would always generate 5,000 away fans...

Man City
Chelsea
Portsmouth
Man Utd
Newcastle
Arsenal
Liverpool
Tottenham
West Ham
Villa
Birmingham

Arguably Sunderland and Derby would fill it too.

Case closed.

[Royal Rother]

Might not the fact that the game took place when a fair percentage of fans would be on holiday be a contributory factor to the slightly disappointing crowd on Saturday?

[Dai Brainbocs]

I think the crucial thing was not being relegated last season, and once that was achieved expansion made sense as long as:
a) it's to no more than 30,000.
b) done by extending the east rather than either or both ends.

Thinking being that there's a much bigger market for seats along the side, as casual customers/spectators will be more tempted by a view which mirrors the one on TV. And the sums in the new TV deal make it even more likely than it already was that a small group of six to eight clubs will yo-yo perpetually the top two divisions, always able to afford to return before the parachute payments cease.

Any club established in the Prem or sitting in this group would have a realistic enough chance of selling 30K tickets or close enough to it often enough in the mid to long term to make it worth investing in the extra seats.

[FinchOwl]

All this talk of dwindling attendances etc is bullsh*t, the fact is the club has x amount of member card and season ticket holders(i would imagine x is a number vastly in excess of the current capacity minus the away allocation)

So therefore the club will believe that by expanding the stadium to accomodate number x that everybody who has a member card will buy tickets more regularly thus making expansion a viable option. This also does not take into account the extra 'punters' not yet in possesion of a member card but who may use a friends to buy tickets, and the vast market available to reading that have simply not thought about going to watch the football/are lazy because they know tickets are not available/sell out quickly. All of which has been discussed. Also, we need to stay in the premiership. Fact.

[Royal Lady]

All this talk of dwindling attendances etc is bullsh*t, the fact is the club has x amount of member card and season ticket holders(i would imagine x is a number vastly in excess of the current capacity minus the away allocation)

So therefore the club will believe that by expanding the stadium to accomodate number x that everybody who has a member card will buy tickets more regularly thus making expansion a viable option. This also does not take into account the extra 'punters' not yet in possesion of a member card but who may use a friends to buy tickets, and the vast market available to reading that have simply not thought about going to watch the football/are lazy because they know tickets are not available/sell out quickly. All of which has been discussed. Also, we need to stay in the premiership. Fact.

There are x number of member card holders who do not come regularly. The tickets have been on general sale for all 3 matches which we have played so far - and have been advertised as such. FACT.

[Sharpy]

so is the general consensus that prices will drop when we get the extension thus meaning more seats will be filled?

[Winchester Royal]

so is the general consensus that prices will drop when we get the extension thus meaning more seats will be filled?

Yes, thats part one.
And when we do fill them, they'll up the prices again, and the attendances will level out somewhere.

[Hoop Blah]

There are x number of member card holders who do not come regularly. The tickets have been on general sale for all 3 matches which we have played so far - and have been advertised as such. FACT.

As were similar home games last year, although they eventually sold out.

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~893604,00.html

Read the very last paragraph. Tickets available a few days before the second ever Premiership game at the Madejski. They sold out at the end of the week.


http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~909330,00.html

Chelsea tickets only sold out on the Tuesday before the game.

Neither say the ponits threshold that tickets were avaiable to though, but they were still available within a few days of the games....

[papereyes]

Odd. There's spare seats in the North stand for the West Ham game. Surely they're all ST holders?

[Behindu]

Odd. There's spare seats in the North stand for the West Ham game. Surely they're all ST holders?

No, I'm fairly sure that there are a limited number of seats available for general sale in all 4 stands. Probably single seats.

[papereyes]

Fair enough - when I looked earlier in the week, I'd have thought that they'd have come up.

Now, why the hell won't it accept my card?

[The 17 Bus]

maybe you have been banned for being a plastic.

[Schards#2]

Has Saturday's game sold out?

OS hasn't updated the ticket information since 22nd August when they went on open sale.

[PieEater]

I'm still amused that they call it "general sale" when it's sales member card holders only. General sale + £5 might be a more accurate description.

[AJ~]

Has Saturday's game sold out?

OS hasn't updated the ticket information since 22nd August when they went on open sale.

Seats still available in:

North: B12, B16, B17, B18
East: Y20, Y21, Y24, Y25, Y26
South: R30, R31, R32
Lower West: G3
Upper West: GU1, GU2, G10

[hybrid2005]

bought my ticket yesterday, was suprised how many were available.

[papereyes]

I'm pretty much sat in my old ST seat.

[Behindu]

Crowd expected to be just above 22k

Not heard if tickets will be on sale tomorrow (and to be honest not checked the OS either !!)

[The 17 Bus]

Still holiday season, and last weekend before kids go back to school, sales low in shops at Woodley, Asda and Tesco not busy, popped to Makro this evening and was deserted, no more than dozen cars in the car park, no queue at tills at all.

I wonder if they consider this a fall in demand or a seasonal drop that heppens every year? With retail the same happens in Feb after the sales end, I wonder why that could be?

Last season we han only one game at home prior to schools going back, which was our first ever game in the Prem. Our second game was not untill Sep 11th due to International breaks.

[Behindu]

There's bound to be a bit of a seasonal issue but whether there is or not is not really that crucial in terms of any stadium expansion and the whole thing has taken on a bizarre level of interest that it doesn't merit (in terms of expansion).