A bit worrying

[Riseley]

Huge numbers of empty seats yesterday despite our second best attendance of the season. Methinks putting Mike Lewis in charge of gate receipts is a splendid idea. Even Woodcote can see that expansion is as dead as my Xmas dinner.

Not sure what your definition of "huge numbers" is but clearly it cannot amount to more than a few hundred in a stadium which houses a capacity of over 24000...so in other words the stadium was around 99% full.
Not sure I follow your logic.

I don't usually LOL at other posters but I will make an exception for the 99%.

[Geekins]

the 1% not attending could've brought a ticket then lost it on still on extended holiday. have i just brought this thread down to a new low?

[The 17 Bus]

Today sold out, last few went yesterday and Man U sold out as well.

[West Stand Man]

the 1% not attending could've brought a ticket then lost it on still on extended holiday. have i just brought this thread down to a new low?

... or maybe they are just ST holders who had a better offer for that afternoon?

[North Somerset Royal]

West Stand Man Posted: 01 Jan 2008 17:03 Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geekins wrote:
the 1% not attending could've brought a ticket then lost it on still on extended holiday. have i just brought this thread down to a new low?


... or maybe they are just ST holders who had a better offer for that afternoon?

or like me unable to use my tickets for West Ham & Spurs or my home ST due to breaking arm on Friday before Xmas in a drink related incident!

[PieEater]

Not sure if this is mentioned earlier in the thread, but the mysterious empty seats in the Upper West Corner are for the 106 Club, described here:

http://www.readingfc.premiumtv.co.uk/pa ... 61,00.html

The 106 Club is located in the contemporary Princess Suite which has a vibrant and lively atmosphere. This package is sure to impress you and your clients.

This hospitality package includes the following:

-Three course meal including half a bottle of wine per person
-Standard match seating in the South West corner of the upper West Stand
-Access to a pay-bar facility
-Halftime refreshments
-Complimentary match day programmes
-Match day hostess
-Player appearances

[Royal Lady]

That has been mentioned before I believe. Aren't the tickets something like £200 - and I believe I commented that if so many people are unable to get tickets to see us and we're not selling the hospitality ones, then we should be selling them at the usual Upper West prices so "ordinary" folk who are desperate to see Reading at the moment, and can't because the ground is too small, could.

It also begs the question, if they can't sell these seats out, being hospitality, why are we bothering to have a whole new hospitality area in the East stand as well.

[Dirk Gently]

That has been mentioned before I believe. Aren't the tickets something like £200 - and I believe I commented that if so many people are unable to get tickets to see us and we're not selling the hospitality ones, then we should be selling them at the usual Upper West prices so "ordinary" folk who are desperate to see Reading at the moment, and can't because the ground is too small, could.

It also begs the question, if they can't sell these seats out, being hospitality, why are we bothering to have a whole new hospitality area in the East stand as well.

We're not. The plan, as I last heard and understood it (this was in April!) was for a lounge for East Stand STHs prepared to pay a bit extra for a bar with carpet - think of it as being like the Jazz Cafe/Shooters but accessible to members before and after the match and at half-time.

No selling of seats involved - but an uplift of facilities for those STHs who are prepared to pay for it.

[Whore Jackie]

That has been mentioned before I believe. Aren't the tickets something like £200 - and I believe I commented that if so many people are unable to get tickets to see us and we're not selling the hospitality ones, then we should be selling them at the usual Upper West prices so "ordinary" folk who are desperate to see Reading at the moment, and can't because the ground is too small, could.

It also begs the question, if they can't sell these seats out, being hospitality, why are we bothering to have a whole new hospitality area in the East stand as well.

We're not. The plan, as I last heard and understood it (this was in April!) was for a lounge for East Stand STHs prepared to pay a bit extra for a bar with carpet - think of it as being like the Jazz Cafe/Shooters but accessible to members before and after the match and at half-time.

No selling of seats involved - but an uplift of facilities for those STHs who are prepared to pay for it.

The only difference being a view of the pitch rather than the A33, cost to get in, inevitable displacement of a hundred or so season ticket holders and probable closure of the Jazz Café – the only half-decent supporters bar in the stadium. I'm all for the expansion of the East Stand – North and South can wait – but this East Stand STH Lounge has been poorly thought through.

[The 17 Bus]

What makes you say it has been poorly thought through?? I thought it was additinal to the Jazz Cafe?

[Stranded]

That has been mentioned before I believe. Aren't the tickets something like £200 - and I believe I commented that if so many people are unable to get tickets to see us and we're not selling the hospitality ones, then we should be selling them at the usual Upper West prices so "ordinary" folk who are desperate to see Reading at the moment, and can't because the ground is too small, could.

It also begs the question, if they can't sell these seats out, being hospitality, why are we bothering to have a whole new hospitality area in the East stand as well.

I guess part of the reason being if you've paid £200 for a corporate seat, you wouldn't be too chuffed to end up sat in with people who have paid a fifth that for the same accomodation. I would also add that this may not be allowed under rules for people paying the same for the same accomodation in the stadium - though that may not be applicable here.

[Whore Jackie]

What makes you say it has been poorly thought through?? I thought it was additinal to the Jazz Cafe?

As I understood it, the development of the East Stand will mean the closure of the Jazz Café – it certainly won't be staying where it currently is. I'm not convinced that the need for an up-market STH lounge outweighs the downside of moving a hundred or so ST holders, many of whom have been there since the stadium opened.

If the market's there, build one in the new 'upper' East Stand. Access to this STH lounge will have to be by lift/stairs wherever it's sited, so what's the point in needlessly upsetting long-term supporters.

[Dirk Gently]

What makes you say it has been poorly thought through?? I thought it was additinal to the Jazz Cafe?

As I understood it, the development of the East Stand will mean the closure of the Jazz Café – it certainly won't be staying where it currently is. I'm not convinced that the need for an up-market STH lounge outweighs the downside of moving a hundred or so ST holders, many of whom have been there since the stadium opened.

If the market's there, build one in the new 'upper' East Stand. Access to this STH lounge will have to be by lift/stairs wherever it's sited, so what's the point in needlessly upsetting long-term supporters.

But the higher up you go in the East Stand the less concourse space there is behind the seating, for obvious reasons. Perhaps the size of this area, and its required service areas, requires it to be located at a certain height an not beyond that.

The whole point is that none of us know this yet - I'm not even sure the club know this! - so arguing over the details of something so undecided and so unknown is quite spectacularly futile.

[The 17 Bus]

I dont understand why the Jazz Cafe would be closed, the new concourses will be built under the new seats, as probably will the new posh bar for the posh seating area.

It cannot be long before we get a statemant from the club about the latest plans??

[Whore Jackie]

What makes you say it has been poorly thought through?? I thought it was additinal to the Jazz Cafe?

As I understood it, the development of the East Stand will mean the closure of the Jazz Café – it certainly won't be staying where it currently is. I'm not convinced that the need for an up-market STH lounge outweighs the downside of moving a hundred or so ST holders, many of whom have been there since the stadium opened.

If the market's there, build one in the new 'upper' East Stand. Access to this STH lounge will have to be by lift/stairs wherever it's sited, so what's the point in needlessly upsetting long-term supporters.

But the higher up you go in the East Stand the less concourse space there is behind the seating, for obvious reasons. Perhaps the size of this area, and its required service areas, requires it to be located at a certain height an not beyond that.

The whole point is that none of us know this yet - I'm not even sure the club know this! - so arguing over the details of something so undecided and so unknown is quite spectacularly futile.

Not arguing Dirk, merely discussing!

As ever, your point is a fair. However assuming it's just a bar (one presumes the lounge members will use their current ST seats) then I can't believe the footprint will be any larger than the Jazz Café currently is. This probably uses a third of the depth of the current East Stand, nestling in nicely under the top portion of seating. I'm no architect, but there doesn't seem an obvious reason why the new lounge couldn't copy this model, sited higher up, in the expanded area jutting out towards/over Shooters Way ...

[Riseley]

Is it is even more important to consider this issue with relegation on the horizon?

[T.R.O.L.I.]

That has been mentioned before I believe. Aren't the tickets something like £200 - and I believe I commented that if so many people are unable to get tickets to see us and we're not selling the hospitality ones, then we should be selling them at the usual Upper West prices so "ordinary" folk who are desperate to see Reading at the moment, and can't because the ground is too small, could.

It also begs the question, if they can't sell these seats out, being hospitality, why are we bothering to have a whole new hospitality area in the East stand as well.

I guess part of the reason being if you've paid £200 for a corporate seat, you wouldn't be too chuffed to end up sat in with people who have paid a fifth that for the same accomodation. I would also add that this may not be allowed under rules for people paying the same for the same accomodation in the stadium - though that may not be applicable here.

If you read DG's post regarding the 106 club, it actually mentions "standard" seating for the game (and thus the same seats as "normal" paying supporters) - so I can't see how there could be any reasonable complaints.

[Geekins]

That has been mentioned before I believe. Aren't the tickets something like £200 - and I believe I commented that if so many people are unable to get tickets to see us and we're not selling the hospitality ones, then we should be selling them at the usual Upper West prices so "ordinary" folk who are desperate to see Reading at the moment, and can't because the ground is too small, could.

It also begs the question, if they can't sell these seats out, being hospitality, why are we bothering to have a whole new hospitality area in the East stand as well.

We're not. The plan, as I last heard and understood it (this was in April!) was for a lounge for East Stand STHs prepared to pay a bit extra for a bar with carpet - think of it as being like the Jazz Cafe/Shooters but accessible to members before and after the match and at half-time.

No selling of seats involved - but an uplift of facilities for those STHs who are prepared to pay for it.

This new bar, what are the odds it will be called Madejski's Bar, just like Shearer's Bar up at St. James Park

[Jerry St Clair]

20k sold for tonight.

Assuming Tottenham have sold their allocation, that means that fewer than 16k Reading fans can be arsed with this one, despite tickets being easy to come by and despite multiple seats being freely available all over the ground (the crucial "bring a friend" angle on the stadium expansion).

[Skyline]

Don't the TO normally only report the numbers of home-end tickets sold in the stuff they put on the website? In which case it's actually 20k home seats sold. Not bad for a cup replay.

Be interesting to see if Spurs have taken up their whole allocation (which'll be the whole of the South Stand IIRC).