Club's thoughts on the recent reporting of BBC survey
Wednesday, 11th September, saw the release of the annual BBC ‘The Cost of Football’ survey which looks at various match costs at the Premier League and Football League clubs up and down the country.
The Shropshire Star ran a story about the findings of the BBC survey and decided to focus their story and headline on the higher costs in the survey rather than look at the positive savings that Shrewsbury Town fans can enjoy.
We were most disappointed they once again chose a negative headline to introduce the story instead of highlighting the many excellent savings and pricing initiatives which, as a club, we have been pleased to implement and that fans have complimented the club upon.
Martin James, STFC Head of Community Development and the Supporter Liaison Officer, expressed his disappointment at the way the story has been structured. ” The club have worked hard to put in place measures that try to save supporters money on purchasing their tickets and surely these positive savings should be highlighted as good news, and come first in reporting . We sold nearly 1000 Early Bird season tickets. We sold NONE of the stated most expensive season tickets.
“The dynamic ticket pricing allowing savings on match day ticket through buying in advance, the early bird season tickets, the family offer and group rate tickets for schools and junior football clubs are surely worth highlighting?
“To start a story with the least positive aspect of ticket pricing, and one which had no take up from supporters is regrettable and we would ask the Shropshire Star to be more equitable in their reporting of stories about the club. Contacting us for an opinion and factual information before publishing would have been beneficial to both.”
Here is more detail of the offers which we believe compare very favourably to other clubs in the Football League.
Our Early Bird season ticket prices continue to give fans excellent value for money, as they have over several seasons.
These prices were frozen for the 2013/14 SKYBet League 1 season. If one of our fans bought the most popular Early Bird season ticket it would have cost £285 which equates to around £12 per game over the season
This season we have introduced a dynamic pricing system for match day tickets. This is aimed at the ordinary fan who cannot justify buying a season ticket. This means that any supporter who buys in advance will save more money the earlier they buy their ticket.
If a fan was to buy a ticket four weeks in advance, they will pay £16 for the most popular ticket rather than £21, a substantial saving of £5 per game.
Shrewsbury Town have always tried to make coming to see the team more affordable for families, offering significant savings on family tickets over recent seasons.
The Early Bird season ticket for an adult and child is £435 which works out at just under £19 per game. For an adult and two children under 11 years of age, it equates to £17 if booked four weeks in advance of the league game.
Below are the answers that the club provided to the BBC when they asked us for our details for their survey:
1) Cost of a pie: £3.10
2) Cost of a cup of tea: £1.60
3) Cost of a programme: £3
4) Cost of an individual ADULT match day ticket for a league game from your lowest category, excluding special offers, (bought on the day of the match) - your cheapest ticket)
A - £19 up till one hour before kickoff and then £21
5) Cost of an individual ADULT match day ticket for a league game from your highest category, excluding hospitality, (bought on the day of the match) - your most expensive ticket:
A - £22 up till one hour before kick off and then £24
6) Your cheapest individual ADULT season ticket (including your early bird offer):
A - £285
7) Your most expensive ADULT season ticket (post early-bird period but not including hospitality):
A - £475
*Cost of a season ticket (if you have a PDF advert for this that will do fine or if the details on your website are up-to-date that you can send me the URL link as part of your email reply)*
8) In addition we would like to invite you to highlight your best offers at adult and junior level - what are you doing to bring in the new generation to your club?
A - Shrewsbury Town are running a dynamic ticket price this season where by supporters save more money on advance ticket purchases. The cheapest is £16 for an adult ticket when purchased four weeks in advance.
As we have for a number of seasons, there are special offer family tickets where one adult and one child purchases on a match day is £22, and additional child under 11 is free. The dynamic pricing also is reflected in the family ticket and if an adult books four weeks in advance for themselves and two children this would be £17.
We have a special group rate for youth football teams and youth clubs of £10 per adult and £2 per child when attending a league match. This includes a £2 and £1 donation to charity.
We offer schools 30 free tickets to a league match per season. Extra tickets are charged at the special group rate above. Community Trust sports coaching clubs get complimentary tickets to matches.