Members Willjag Posted November 15, 2010 Members Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Does anyone know if the Club intend passing the VAT increase onto the fans come January via higher admission prices? My Falkirk supporting workmate was telling me that Falkirk are offering tickets for sale for the second half of the season now and selling them as 'VAT busters'. If Thistle are intending to raise ticket prices, this would be a great idea IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jags365 Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 (edited) I just hope they don't raise prices! (well, personally it won't affect me but surely not a good idea currently) Edited for typo. Edited November 15, 2010 by jags365 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I can see the campaign.....: "VAT busters for FAT b*stards!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vom Itorium Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 If they increase the gate prices further I'll be calling it a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honved Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Does anyone know if the Club intend passing the VAT increase onto the fans come January via higher admission prices? My Falkirk supporting workmate was telling me that Falkirk are offering tickets for sale for the second half of the season now and selling them as 'VAT busters'. If Thistle are intending to raise ticket prices, this would be a great idea IMO. I don't believe there is any intention to raise the prices at present but it's worth noting that the effect will be 36p on a £17 pay at the gate ticket. Given that there are a good number of season ticket holders and also kids getting in for free, that 36p per ticket splits down to a smallish number in terms of overall effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleGreySky Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 If they increase the gate prices further I'll be calling it a day. Wrote something to this effect earlier, but it just depressed me so I didn't post it. I'll be going to the local juniors if they increase the prices - out of principle purely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted November 16, 2010 Author Members Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 The Club isn't responsible for VAT rising? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 I've done some pretty crude calculations on an Excel spreadsheet, and they suggest that: Of £17 the Club currently gets £14.47 after VAT deductions. Of £17 the Club would stand to get £14.17 after VAT deductions when the new rate comes in. Working off a crude assumption of gate receipts amounting to roughly 1000 paying adult punters a game... What if we leave the prices as they are? The VAT rise if the prices stay unchanged is the equivalent of a shade over £300 lost every game (the equivalent of about 21 paying punters). There are 9 home games between New Year and the end of the season so that works out at £2700 lost. What if we increase prices by £0.50? If they increase prices by 50p to countermand the VAT rise, £14.58 would go to the Club coffers after VAT. That would be a 11p gain per punter versus where we are now. Extrapolated, and assuming such a rise has no effect on attendances, that would actually make the Club £115 better off per game, or about £1035 better off by May than it would have been but for the change in tax and prices. On the same attendance assumption, however, if a 50p increase put off 8 punters from all games after New Year, we would be back to where we started before the VAT rise. If it put off more than 29 punters, it would be worth nothing to the Club against leaving prices as they are and sucking up the VAT hit. If 100 punters were to chuck it in response to a price hike, it would cost the Club £1040 per game or just over £9.3k to the end of the season versus leaving prices as they are. What if we increase prices by £1? If they increase prices by £1 to countermand the VAT rise, £15 would go to the Club coffers after VAT. That would be a 53p gain per punter on where we are now. Extrapolated, and assuming such a rise has no effect on attendances, that would actually make the Club £330 better off per game, or about £2970 better off by May versus where we are now. On the same attendance assumption, however, if £1 increase put off 36 punters from all games after New Year, we would be back to where we started before the VAT rise. If it puts off more than 56 punters, it would be worth nothing to the Club against leaving prices as they are and sucking up the VAT hit. If 100 punters were to chuck it in response to a price hike, it would cost the Club £660 per game or just over £5.9k to the end of the season versus leaving prices as they are. What conclusions to draw? 1. Fiddling about with gate prices will probably do very little to mitigate the VAT. The risk of alienating even a handful of fans renders any tinkering more risky than it would be beneficial. The sums saved by any scheme even if it did work are not substantial, and it would be more beneficial to focus on recouping the money lost there by increasing other match-day revenue streams. 2. I am a sad act, need to put my Excel sheet away and go to bed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted November 16, 2010 Author Members Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 The best thing the Club could do is really push half season tickets on the lead up to Christmas as a VAT beating solution for fans that intend coming to Firhill for most, if not all of the remaining games of the season following Christmas. "Help the Club and your pocket by buying your tickets in advance for the remainder of the Season." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 The best thing the Club could do is really push half season tickets on the lead up to Christmas as a VAT beating solution for fans that intend coming to Firhill for most, if not all of the remaining games of the season following Christmas. "Help the Club and your pocket by buying your tickets in advance for the remainder of the Season." My thinking was more to do with away fans, Willjag. There was a handful of Morton fans who, when they saw the prices to get in on Saturday, violently recoiled in anger and stormed off, refusing to pay it. If you raise the prices, you could end up with a bit of a mutiny on your hands from 20-30 away fans and that adds up as much as you'd gain from raising the prices for your own support. They should absolutely be pushing half-season tickets as Christmas gifts though. That would mean they could be sold with the following sales points: 1. Help the Club beat the VAT increase by saving £2.90 if you buy before New Year 2. Buy before Christmas Eve and get the Boxing Day fixture against Raith Rovers added in for free (an effective combined saving of £40 on PATG or more than 2 games for free) 3. If you buy between Christmas and New Year, make a saving of £23 on PATG The principle being, of course, that for every half-season-ticket they sell, a sizeable number will miss at least one game, and the Club gets a helpful cash injection at Christmas (remember there's likely to be a cash-call of sorts once the exact state of the finances become clearer). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 There was a handful of Morton fans who, when they saw the prices to get in on Saturday, violently recoiled in anger and stormed off, refusing to pay it. To digress a bit but I'm sure it's £15 for us to get into Cappielow. On a like for like basis they should be charging under a tenner . Put another way the £19 Dundee charge is in relative terms value for money. When Morton can supply us with a covered stand, adequate seating (re leg room), an unrestricted view, toilets and catering facilities within the feckin' stand then maybe their fans can be morally outraged at paying £17, which incidently is the same price they get charged for their end of their shitty main stand. Sorry for the rant. Feel free to continue discussion on the law of diminishing returns or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 The best thing the Club could do is really push half season tickets on the lead up to Christmas as a VAT beating solution for fans that intend coming to Firhill for most, if not all of the remaining games of the season following Christmas. "Help the Club and your pocket by buying your tickets in advance for the remainder of the Season." The Club is notoriously inert when it comes to enticing punters around Christmas time. They could offer a no-frills 1/2 price hospitality deal to include a glass of champagne, a slice of turkey and a mince pie in the run-up, (something like this could even be done in the Aitken Suite, to keep the plebs from the suits) for example. They could also have organized a bumper seasonal hamper draw with decent prizes (hospitality for 4, a free season-ticket, some goodies from local stores). Simple ideas, but they could probably bring in several extra grand at a time of year when crowds are lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 To digress a bit but I'm sure it's £15 for us to get into Cappielow. On a like for like basis they should be charging under a tenner . Put another way the £19 Dundee charge is in relative terms value for money. When Morton can supply us with a covered stand, adequate seating (re leg room), an unrestricted view, toilets and catering facilities within the feckin' stand then maybe their fans can be morally outraged at paying £17, which incidently is the same price they get charged for their end of their shitty main stand. Sorry for the rant. Feel free to continue discussion on the law of diminishing returns or whatever. No apologies required ... you saved me the bother of a rant, so thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Thistle Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 From the Morton website MAIN STAND: Adults £17, Concessions £11, Parent & Child £20 TERRACE: Adults £15, Concessions £10, Child (Age 12 - 16) £5 , Parent & Child £18. Please note that children under 12 years old will be admitted FREE OF CHARGE to League games at Cappielow this season. £17.00 is what we have to pay when they go there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.C.G. JAG Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Graeme, that essay won't write itself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 (edited) Graeme, that essay won't write itself! Actually, are there any tax law experts among the Thistle support, and are they willing to *ahem* assist with a 3000 word Tax Law assignment for say *ahem* Monday? A friend of a friend could do with the assistance. Edited November 17, 2010 by Woodstock Jag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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