September Saint offer

[Skinny]

My wife and I live in the country 600ks from Melbourne and we each buy an eleven game membership every year,we also purchase eleven game memberships for our son and daughter.

As much as we would like to be social club members as well, it is hard to justify the extra expense as we only get to see two or three games a year ...and even those games can be away games which still cost.

Last year we took up the September Saint offer and we went into the Grand Final ballot as a group which meant that if we were drawn out in the ballot we would all receive the offer of a ticket.

Miraculously we were drawn out and received the offer of four standing room tickets which we gratefully accepted.

We got the ground when the gates opened and found our allocated area,which was quite a reasonable position.It got fairly squashy as the day went on but we always had a good view of the game...in fact I believe we were probably better off than some of the seated patrons who would have been getting drenched during the first and second quarters.

Loved the experience but like all Saints tragics was shattered by the end result. We will take up the September Saint offer again this year but I would imagine that the chances of being drawn out in a ballot two years in a row would be remote.
Hopefully our Saints can make it through and give us all the opportunity.

[saintbrat]

thanks skinny good to hear how it actually went

[snoopygirl]

I know people who became Sept Saints last year and got GF tickets (seats). Definately worth it. I get the feeling less Sainters would go this year from the feed back I am getting. It costs alot for Interstaters and not everyone can do it every year.

I know people who have been social club members for years who got standing room. That's where it falls down imo.

[saintbrat]

I'm guessing we mainly heard about those who got standing becauce they got standing.

most who got seats would not have even realised that some got standing- the majority got seats.

it's when you hear of people with fingers in every pie who got seats and then took better options or stood

[matrix]

it also seems better for the single peeps going to the GF to get a seat.
if youve selected ALL (prime, premium and standing) and if you are drawn out in the last few numbers of the 12000 odd allocated there is always singles dotted around the place in the premium/prime areas.

so for the singles they seem to have a better chance of scroing a seat if they are at the end of the ballot draw than say a family of 3.

[Solar]

I know people who became Sept Saints last year and got GF tickets (seats). Definately worth it. I get the feeling less Sainters would go this year from the feed back I am getting. It costs alot for Interstaters and not everyone can do it every year.

I know people who have been social club members for years who got standing room. That's where it falls down imo.

agree.... would be pissed if this was true

[saintbrat]

I know people who became Sept Saints last year and got GF tickets (seats). Definately worth it. I get the feeling less Sainters would go this year from the feed back I am getting. It costs alot for Interstaters and not everyone can do it every year.

I know people who have been social club members for years who got standing room. That's where it falls down imo.

agree.... would be pissed if this was true

it's automated - the machine can't tell how long you've been a member

unless they could do it by years of ten- fed the machine the earliest- BUT it's done randomly to endeavour to ensure fairness- and some will always feel it's not.

[ausfatcat]

as already stated above this is basicly a late social club fee to cover those now no longer able to attend the Grand final.. or who wish not to.

social clun was allocated priority 1 september saints priority 2.


No sept september saint would have gained a ticket over a social club member in otherwords.

So not really a "late social club" member as they get no other benefits except a chance for a granny ticket where as the social club are guareenteed a ticket

[Solar]

as already stated above this is basicly a late social club fee to cover those now no longer able to attend the Grand final.. or who wish not to.

social clun was allocated priority 1 september saints priority 2.


No sept september saint would have gained a ticket over a social club member in otherwords.

So not really a "late social club" member as they get no other benefits except a chance for a granny ticket where as the social club are guareenteed a ticket

do priority 2 gets seats whilst priotity one get standing room?

[saintbrat]

do priority 2 gets seats whilst priotity one get standing room?

you would hope not and I would have thought still random selections.

But all would be solved if the AFL gave the clubs 11,500 SEATS each.. and not random 'tickets'

[ausfatcat]

Thats not supposed to happen solar, technically speaking that should not have happened last year, but with the stuff up with tickets and payments due to the ticketing system, I guess a few bugs happened.


The Afl only allows two priority ticketing for the Grandfinal, priority one gets first go and then priority 2 gets second go, so therefore all seats should be gone by priority two or in the very least everyone in priority 1 gets seats before anyone in priority 2.

[Enrico_Misso]

Correct me if I am wrong,
but as I understood it, the September Saints went into a ballot after the SC members had gone in a ballot.
So the Sept Saints only got standing room.

The issue last year was SC members missing out on seats.
The problem was twofold.
Firstly the proportion of our 11,500 tickets which the AFL gave us had a slightly lower proportion of seats than we expected (the AFL moved the goalposts).
Secondly the uptake of SC members was 93% whereas the club (based on precedent with other clubs over the last decade) was anticipating a take up of around 85%.
The club had modelled it's SC limit on those two factors which both turned out to be wrong, hence a number of SC members missed out on a seat.

I'm not sure what they are doing differently this year.
I suspect they are letting the number of SC members drop (by attrition) till they get it down to a level where they can guarantee every (or 93%) of SC members a seat (if they want it).
The balance of the allocation (standing rooms) will go to Sept Saints via a ballot.

[ausfatcat]

Emrico the club has never guareenteed a seat only a ticket, and there only guareenteed a certyain amount each year and that is what the social club membership is capped at, to guareentee all social club members TICKETS which they did and if the normal 80% takeup was used they would have all been seated. If memory serves me right we were actually allocated more tickets last year then actually accepted.

This year the social club numbers have been capped again at the number of tickets guareenteed by the AFL (again the AFL only guareentees clubs tickets not seats). The afl could actually turn around and allocate no seats to the Saint's if it wanted to as long as it allocated the 11,500 tickets.

Lowering the social club membership would hurt the saints bottom line with no way knowing for sure how many of their tickets would be seating or not until well into the finals. As far as guareenteed granny tickets go the saints are well and truely one of the best value for money clubs a lot of the Melbourne based clubs it costs upwards of $700 a year for that guareentee.

[Enrico_Misso]

Ausfatcat,
agree that the club doesn't and never would "guarantee" a seat to SC members.
But they thought they would have enough seats last year to satisfy all SC members, and they would have had enough if their assumptions had been right.

[ausfatcat]

but the club has no idea what portion of their tickets are seats or standing room until like 2 weeks before the grandfinal. last year it was something like 8 thousand this year it could be 1 thousand (I know a extreme case) for all they know as it seems to drop every year as the AFL sells more and more corprate seats.

Even dropping the social club cap from 11500 to 8000 would mean 400 thousand out of the saints coffers with no guarentee of receiving that again.

[saintbrat]

As far as guarenteed granny tickets go the saints are well and truely one of the best value for money clubs a lot of the Melbourne based clubs it costs upwards of $700 a year for that guareentee.

I was absolutely gobsmacked to hear the Pies had only sold something like 6,000- 7.500 of their memberships that guarenteed G/F Tickets
and still were allowing 5,000 for a free for all -

BTB continually hear from friends who have friends with country Pies memberships who get no where near the amount of ' goodies and benefits" that the saints get

and Good On Saints FANS for getting behind the team and putting their faith in with $$ and promise.

[Enrico_Misso]

The ratio of Seats/Standing in the GF allocations is normally pretty constant, but last year the AFL dropped it at two weeks notice).
No doubt that was due to their thirst for corporate $$$ and the chance to sell them off to "suits" as part of over-priced packages for chardonnay fans.
That upset our calculations.
I believe the club (and other clubs) have complained about it.
One would hope the ratio would not drop further.
But I guess we are at the mercy of the AFL, and we know all about their scruples.

[saint3d]

But I wouldn't bother this doing it this year for standing room, didn't hear anything of the crowd except for the people around me and a blocked view for 90% of the game, would have got more out of the experience from watching it in a supporters pub....

You can't high five the players from the pub as they do their lap of honour.

[ausfatcat]

where I was I wouldn't have been able to anyway

[saint3d]

Tip: if your team wins the Grand Final, opposition supporters will leave, allowing you room to stand at the fence for the victory lap.

[Solar]

Tip: if your team wins the Grand Final, opposition supporters will leave, allowing you room to stand at the fence for the victory lap.

yep, we were in the standing room behind the cheer squad and trust me, if the siren had went and we were in front there would have been a mass of saints running forward to celebrate.

I guess my problem would be if it's random there is no promise that all seats will be given to social club members. Not complaigning about standing room.

[Elvis]

This is a terrific offer. We drove down as a family from Brisbane last year and even with the loss and the standing room tickets it was still very much worth it... and let's hope we're able to do it all again!

Part of the fun was passing other Sainters motoring down the Newell... not an enjoyable trip home though

[ausfatcat]

I guess my problem would be if it's random there is no promise that all seats will be given to social club members. Not complaigning about standing room.

If it works smoothly this year unlike last year all seats will goto priority one first (social club) that is if we make the granny. There actually is a promise that seats goto the social club first but that doesn't mean there will be a seat for every social club member.

[Tom_Aus]

Had standing room last year and it was an awesome view, would have no problem in getting it again. Ive signed up as a september saint, do people know the chance of getting a ticket (ie. 1 in 3), or is it unknown at this stage (obviously depends on how many take up offer)
Cheers

[Solar]

I guess my problem would be if it's random there is no promise that all seats will be given to social club members. Not complaigning about standing room.

If it works smoothly this year unlike last year all seats will goto priority one first (social club) that is if we make the granny. There actually is a promise that seats goto the social club first but that doesn't mean there will be a seat for every social club member.

If thats the case then it's a FANTASTIC offer from the club. In some ways they must hope that a few more social club members don't take it up and they can sell more to september saints members