Coronavirus and the Scottish Championship

[CALDERON]

4 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

Some, will have bought out of. Sense of philanthropy to support the club at this time.

Most, stupidly, did so thinking they would still get value out of it by being admitted to most games.

Also possibly because when we do get to a point of allowing fans in, having a season ticket gives you the best chance of being able to watch your team at all. 

[RossBFaeDundee]

1 hour ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

Somebody recently pointed out that you're unlikely to get hundreds of restaurant-goers losing the plot and hugging each other when the chef digs out a last-minute soufflé.

I would love to see that tbh

[vikingTON]

11 minutes ago, CALDERON said:

Also possibly because when we do get to a point of allowing fans in, having a season ticket gives you the best chance of being able to watch your team at all. 

'When' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this sales pitch that any sensible observer would have dinghied instead. There is no good reason to expect crowds to be back inside football grounds before the end of the scheduled season. A season ticket won't get you priority entry to the 21/22 season as well. 

12 minutes ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

Really? Surely not.

I've obviously not been on every thread on here, and not every supporter uses P&B, but surely to f**k the expectation for this season should have been that we'll be lucky to see the inside of a ground at all, other than on camera.

You have to remember that clubs were flogging their season tickets during the summer when things were (more or less) steadily opening up and even international travel was on the go again. Preferential entry was definitely being flagged up at the time - our chief executive talked about a three-stage process of closed door, season ticket only and then more general entry games being hoped for. 

I'm sure that a lot of people felt that they wanted to make some contribution anyway but the idea that the season ticket was going to be your golden ticket back to games was being taken up by quite a few as well. If clubs were trying to sell season tickets now then they would hardly be mentioning that at all. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by vikingTON

[Jamie_M]

9 minutes ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

Really? Surely not.

I've obviously not been on every thread on here, and not every supporter uses P&B, but surely to f**k the expectation for this season should have been that we'll be lucky to see the inside of a ground at all, other than on camera.

Making spunking so much on a season ticket a preposterous concept.

[BFTD]

3 minutes ago, Jamie_M said:

Making spunking so much on a season ticket a preposterous concept.

I suppose it depends on whether or not you're all that fussed about the club folding.

[Jamie_M]

12 minutes ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

I suppose it depends on whether or not you're all that fussed about the club folding.

As i said, some bought for that reason. Most likely bought through the expectation to be first in and for that to come soon. 

The clubs will be delighted at the numbers who paid full exoeriece prices for shit streams. 

[Monkey Tennis]

VT has got this.

Until we can let everyone who wants to attend in person do so, clubs at this level should not be embarking on participating in competitive football.

[The Ghost of B A R P]

8 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

VT has got this.

Until we can let everyone who wants to attend in person do so, clubs at this level should not be embarking on participating in competitive football.

Totally wrong.

The season should and will go ahead and there will be limited crowds at some point (above season-ticket levels). If there aren’t, or it takes too long to happen, there will be a financial support package.

It isn’t difficult.

[Jamie_M]

13 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

VT has got this.

Until we can let everyone who wants to attend in person do so, clubs at this level should not be embarking on participating in competitive football.

I do think more than a few Chairmen will be regretting the decision to vote for the October restart.

[Thereisalight..]

11500 at the Dortmund game today. Yet we’re looking at a full season in the lower leagues without fans. Madness

Edited October 3, 2020 by Thereisalight..

[Skyline Drifter]

1 hour ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

Really? Surely not.

I've obviously not been on every thread on here, and not every supporter uses P&B, but surely to f**k the expectation for this season should have been that we'll be lucky to see the inside of a ground at all, other than on camera.

Really? 

Look back 4 weeks on every single thread and you will find assumptions, led by the Govt itself which flagged up an imminent date for outdoor live event attendance being allowed, that limited crowds would be in for the season starting and a hope for normality by January.

As wildly optimistic as that probably was it was the widely held view at month ago.

[CALDERON]

1 hour ago, virginton said:

'When' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this sales pitch that any sensible observer would have dinghied instead. There is no good reason to expect crowds to be back inside football grounds before the end of the scheduled season. A season ticket won't get you priority entry to the 21/22 season as well. 

You have to remember that clubs were flogging their season tickets during the summer when things were (more or less) steadily opening up and even international travel was on the go again. Preferential entry was definitely being flagged up at the time - our chief executive talked about a three-stage process of closed door, season ticket only and then more general entry games being hoped for. 

I'm sure that a lot of people felt that they wanted to make some contribution anyway but the idea that the season ticket was going to be your golden ticket back to games was being taken up by quite a few as well. If clubs were trying to sell season tickets now then they would hardly be mentioning that at all. 

Quite, however during the late summer the outlook was perhaps a bit more optimistic and I don't think it was a wild assumption that football would be played at some point in the season in front of limited attendances. 

[BFTD]

2 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Really? 

Look back 4 weeks on every single thread and you will find assumptions, led by the Govt itself which flagged up an imminent date for outdoor live event attendance being allowed, that limited crowds would be in for the season starting and a hope for normality by January.

As wildly optimistic as that probably was it was the widely held view at month ago.

That's absolutely mental, considering that there's been stark warnings about an inevitable second wave since...well, the virus was at its peak, if memory serves.

I can only assume that some folk figured we'd all just be putting up with it by now. Which, I suppose, may still end up happening if enough people do as they please.

[vikingTON]

30 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

Totally wrong.

The season should and will go ahead and there will be limited crowds at some point (above season-ticket levels). If there aren’t, or it takes too long to happen, there will be a financial support package.

It isn’t difficult.

Why would the government provide taxpayer's money to bail out a sector of the economy that is demonstrably up and running despite Covid restrictions?

A: It won't because every business that cannot in fact restart - think live music venues - will rightly scream blue murder about a bailout for a sector that has seen what was coming, guilt-tripped its customers into paying more money, handed out new contracts while punting its existing staff on furlough and now wants extra money because the garbage business model that the SPFL chose to run with isn't delivering enough revenue. That's nobody's fault but the clubs who signed up to this nonsense campaign.

You are absolutely deluded if you think that the SPFL is going to have its cake and eat it with the support of the SG. It is politically toxic. 

Edited October 3, 2020 by vikingTON

[vikingTON]

15 minutes ago, CALDERON said:

Quite, however during the late summer the outlook was perhaps a bit more optimistic and I don't think it was a wild assumption that football would be played at some point in the season in front of limited attendances. 

It would be a wild assumption to buy a full season ticket on that basis because the time frame mentioned between streaming, limited entry and then tickets being available on general sale was always back of a fag packet nonsense. As soon as some fans were back the business imperative would be to get the rest in as soon as possible at this level. 

I didn't consider buying a season ticket for a second because it was clear that it would be better too see how events pan out. And in the sunny outlook clubs were hoping for I could get a general ticket for games at Cappielow soon enough anyway: the ground is rarely close to 20% capacity. Paying £250 or whatever it was up front for some shan streams and the faint prospect of one or two extra home games in person was never a justifiable deal.

 

 

[AlbionMan]

15 minutes ago, virginton said:

It would be a wild assumption to buy a full season ticket on that basis because the time frame mentioned between streaming, limited entry and then tickets being available on general sale was always back of a fag packet nonsense. As soon as some fans were back the business imperative would be to get the rest in as soon as possible at this level. 

I didn't consider buying a season ticket for a second because it was clear that it would be better too see how events pan out. And in the sunny outlook clubs were hoping for I could get a general ticket for games at Cappielow soon enough anyway: the ground is rarely close to 20% capacity. Paying £250 or whatever it was up front for some shan streams and the faint prospect of one or two extra home games in person was never a justifiable deal.

 

 

Irrespective of the reasons why supporters would buy season tickets for 2020/21, in the increasingly unlikely event of spectators being admitted to grounds it would be a foolish business to deny access to their customers who had paid for the product in advance in favour of cash customers on the day. 

[Monkey Tennis]

49 minutes ago, The Ghost of B A R P said:

Totally wrong.

The season should and will go ahead and there will be limited crowds at some point (above season-ticket levels). If there aren’t, or it takes too long to happen, there will be a financial support package.

It isn’t difficult.

It's extremely difficult, which is why it won't happen that way.  

[Jamie_M]

3 minutes ago, AlbionMan said:

Irrespective of the reasons why supporters would buy season tickets for 2020/21, in the increasingly unlikely event of spectators being admitted to grounds it would be a foolish business to deny access to their customers who had paid for the product in advance in favour of cash customers on the day. 

Of course they can't deny season ticket holders instead of cash customers, but clubs will have no desire to just let season ticket holders in. That scenario loses them money.

[vikingTON]

41 minutes ago, AlbionMan said:

Irrespective of the reasons why supporters would buy season tickets for 2020/21, in the increasingly unlikely event of spectators being admitted to grounds it would be a foolish business to deny access to their customers who had paid for the product in advance in favour of cash customers on the day. 

Well of course it would. It would be equally foolish for a club to open a game to season ticket holders only to get more revenue though.

ST holders have exchanged their money for streaming access, whatever delusion of priority access back into grounds is meaningless now that clubs have actually got their money and yet still need much more than that to avoid financial disaster.

Edited October 3, 2020 by vikingTON

[parsforlife]

1 hour ago, Jamie_M said:

Of course they can't deny season ticket holders instead of cash customers, but clubs will have no desire to just let season ticket holders in. That scenario loses them money.

Short term vs long term here?   Short term opening stadiums to season ticket holders creates costs without providing revenue,  however long term if clubs can legally provide access to season ticket holders but don’t do so, or season ticket holders get very little value by not being able to get into games this season then sales next summer are going to completely collapse.    Season ticket holders are a massive revenue stream,  and any club thinking long term is surely going to be desperate to keep them happy?  Sure it might cost a bit this year but the risk of losing future revenue is incredible.