Swans to use Ticketmaster system next season
Now this is very interesting. Off the back of the announcement explaining that the ticket office would be closed for expansion this summer, we've now had an announcement (link) that the Swans are doing away with the current system and from next season will be utilising Ticketmaster to organise ticket sales - a system already employed by Arsenal & Spurs, amongst others.
The statement notes that "we've listened to fans concerns" - given the ferocity of the criticism the club have received surrounding ticketing it's perhaps unsurprising that they've opted to team up with a global name, but it's still very, very pleasing they've opted to go about it in this manner. I'm sure there were numerous other options to explore, but I'm very glad that for once we haven't done things "The Swansea Way" and have seemingly stumped up some cash in order to get a top-notch system in place. About time too!
When I went to the fans' forum organised by the trust back toward the beginning of last season (god that seems a long time ago) it seemed many had gone purely to berate the board about ticketing problems, but I still feel the manner in which frustrations have been vented has been very harsh. Yes there have been numerous issues but the people running the club are still very much learning on the job. This is now the longest we've spent in one division (four seasons) since 1995/96 when we brought an end to an eight year spell in the Old Old Division Three, which then became the Old Division Two (which is now League One - are you still with me?), and given there's been such constant evolution at the club it's very easy to believe a lot of work simply goes into meeting any new requirements the club faces as a result of it's incessant growth.
Treading water must be hard enough, but after three solid seasons in the PL it seems we're now seeing the results of all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. We've got two new training bases, stadium expansion is rumoured to be commencing in January, we've now got a new ticketing system coming and there have been numerous other improvements - such as expanding the club shop - of which I'm sure there are more, however my memory fails me at this moment. And that's not even including any on-field stuff; signing Bony is looking like an absolutely genius bit of business and it seems Huw had a large hand in that. Well played Huwbert.
This is why I believe the manner of the criticism the club have received has been unduly harsh. Yes there have been numerous problems but I've always said that as long as the club are obviously addressing the issue at hand then why keep whinging? If they bring a new system in which subsequently fails then ok, have a moan, but it was pretty negative seeing our own fans taking it in turns to berate the board. I know it's really, really frustrating when tickets get messed up, but hopefully this will now be an issue of the past.
The club have posted a list of the benefits fans can look forward to thanks to the new Ticketmaster system, which are as follows:
- Season cards for season ticket holders - with the aim of improving access control and doing away with the old style ticket stubs
- Enable better offers for our supporters by keeping a close eye on your individual ticketing profiles
- The ability for supporters to print their tickets off online to save time and queues at the ticket office on a matchday
- The opportunity for ticket exchange between supporters and for season ticket holders to sell their seats for individual game
It doesn't appear that was proofread as I'm pretty sure we already had plastic "credit card style" season tickets, but the rest seem good ideas! At the end of the day if it's a system good enough for Arsenal, who sell out their massive stadium on a regular basis, then it'll be more than sufficient for us.
Has anyone used the Tottenham or Arsenal ticketing systems for away games? Are you an Arsenal or Spurs fan? Get in touch if you have first-hand experience of the ticketing system!