Virtual Season Ticket, value for money?

JW1988

JW1988

Well-Known Member
Official Ticketer
This is a topic for debate, not the usual “no one forces you to buy” etc

In June Stewart Robertson gave an update on the start of the new season which included the plans for VST and he also stated he had hoped we’d have fans back by early part of the season, this didn’t happen obviously.
what he said that gives me food for thought is this -
“In terms of the streaming, we will ensure that every season ticket holder has access to Rangers home matches.

"That’s regardless of whether you are a Sky Sports subscriber you’ll get RangersTV and we’re conscious that we need to get value for fans who have got season tickets.”

My question is (taking away the teams performance for a minute) has the VST provided value for money?
In comparison with RTV unlimited which is around 40% of the cost of an adult ST and has access to everything including the matches that VST get.
 
Watching the game on the TV is never going to be as good as going to Ibrox, but it is what it is. And I've enjoyed the build up to most games with McCann, Smith, Souness etc. I think most of us fortunate enough to be able to afford it are happy to give the club the money. The value is on the park and they are about to deliver us the title we've been craving for a decade.
 
No, it's not value for money, if you compare to buying each home game on RTV

However, without that money up front, we would have had to sell players and likely not signed the likes of Roofe/Itten and possibly not on the way to our 55th league title

Would I pay it again if we were in the exact same situation next year? Abso-f**king-lutely
 
If, and a big IF, you remove the performance and position we are currently in then I’d say no, it’s not value for money.

Most people who have a VST are paying upwards of £25 a match. Block buster movies aren’t priced as high as that and neither are the big box office pay per view events.

Am I glad I paid it, yes, is it worth it to see what we’ve seen so far, yes, but all of that is based on the current league position.
 
Is it worth it absolutely not but at moment I'm in a position im lucky enough to be working and regardless if I'm in next season at start of season I will pay again lets not kid ourselves we all knew deep down we probably wouldn't see a game when we signed up for it we knew what we were doing
 
The clamour for Season Tickets next year will be even stronger than it was last year, even with a partial opening of the season.
I know that there will be fans because of a change in circumstances will not be able to justify purchasing a ticket for another full or partial virtual season. Those are the ones I feel sorry for, especially after supporting through the lean years.
 
Without the agreement in place between the SPFL and Sky Sports there would no VST to start with

Has it been value for STH, probably not since PPV can get the same content, I say that as a non STH

The Unlimited package for oversea subscribers is a separate deal and has no bearing
 
The streaming could improve for the VST, 55 means everything too me so I would pay the same next season.
 
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StaunchEnclosure said:
It'll be interesting our strategy for next season in regards to pricing, access and process. It's still unlikely come August that we'll have full capacity and most probably it'll be reduced capacity most of next season
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Will be down to whatever agreement is put in place but reckon it won't be far off the current season agreement
 
Absolutely not value for money. It is more than double what the casual arm chair fan can pay at £9.99 and that is for me in one of the cheaper seats. Can only imagine people in Bar 72 etc who must average about £40 per game.

What also sickens me is the people who stream for free and don't even pay the £9.99.

I already subscribe to Sky only to watch Rangers games so I am paying twice for 4 or 5 games too. Obviously that doesn't matter if I actually attend the games.

We also have 3 ST'S and used to meet up to watch the matches so only 1 virtual ST pass is used. (Not currently due to restrictions)

There must be families/couples that live together who also only use 1 of their passes.

Next season it will be after Christmas before we get a full house again so that will be the 3rd season in a row where we are getting short changed. Yes I know I have the option not to buy but that's hardly rewarding loyalty for people like myself who have had the ST for over 20 years through all the bad times of the last 9 years.

If the team weren't playing so well the feeling would be much different.
 
I have a ST and think I've logged in to watch through it once, just watch it through my IPTV anyway cus it's handier. And no, of course it isn't value for money. Don't think they can expect the same next year.
 
rangeral said:
Without the agreement in place between the SPFL and Sky Sports there would no VST to start with

Has it been value for STH, probably not since PPV can get the same content, I say that as a non STH

The Unlimited package for oversea subscribers is a separate deal and has no bearing
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On the last point, I think we all know that’s not the case, it may be marketed to overseas but its relatively easy to sign up while you’re “on holiday”
 
I bought a season ticket because I've wanted one for years and knew it was my best chance, renewals are probably going to be 100% in the summer so it was absolutely worth it on that front.

The broadcast quality has improved massively, my only complaint is that the club should have got someone a bit closer to the quality of Clive when he's not able to do the games
 
No but I don't see what else they could've done other than given everyone RTV for the season which is only worth another 50 quid.

They have tried their best.

But, from another perspective, when when you take into account the ST money has allowed us to put together the team that we have then yes it is value for money.
 
I've enjoyed the coverage but it isn't worth £700 so I couldn't say it is value for money.
 
No it’s not value for money but it depends how you look at it. I didn’t think I was buying a season ticket this year. I didn’t think it likely we’d have crowds. I saw myself paying to support Rangers through a pandemic. I suspect I’ll look at it the same way come renewals in April.
 
cooprfc said:
No but I don't see what else they could've done other than given everyone RTV for the season which is only worth another 50 quid.

They have tried their best.

But, from another perspective, when when you take into account the ST money has allowed us to put together the team that we have then yes it is value for money.
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Just an idea, they could have given us an exclusive 10/15 training video every week rather than the 3/5 everyone gets now
 
What are the other alternatives for the club to provide us with VFM? I don't really know what other clubs are doing but are there any other examples we could follow?
 
JW1988 said:
On the last point, I think we all know that’s not the case, it may be marketed to overseas but its relatively easy to sign up while you’re “on holiday”
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Of course that correct that it can be 'accessed' easily if you know how but it has no bearing on the VST
 
cooprfc said:
No but I don't see what else they could've done other than given everyone RTV for the season which is only worth another 50 quid.

They have tried their best.

But, from another perspective, when when you take into account the ST money has allowed us to put together the team that we have then yes it is value for money.
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They could’ve given full RTV to us, that would have at least been something.

It was never going to present value for money for what it is, they’ve added some great quality analysts, added Clive for the first part of the season etc
But everyone gets that if I’m not mistaken not just VST.
 
Nowhere near value. Will be worse next year as son is now 18 and we’ll be paying for 2 full price season tickets and using 1 VST and I’m sure there will be families paying more than me. All additional content should have been included at the very least.
 
I think the rangers tv coverage has been very good. Couple of patchy areas but the quality of guest has been very good. I didn’t have high hopes for it at all. Obviously not worth the £600 I paid for it but worth every penny to secure 55!
 
I see the TV access as just one feature of buying a ST this season. I'm also paying for a quality team on the park that will bring success, as well as guaranteeing I'll get back to my old seat next to my mate when normality returns. And when it does return, hopefully the continued ST funding ensures the team will continue to be successful.

Was speaking to a colleague yesterday who was moaning about still having to pay full school fees when the kids aren't able to go. If the school did reduce the fees then they would no doubt have to recover the costs elsewhere, which would likely have an effect on his kids' education when they do return to school.

In some situations I think we just need to accept we won't receive as much value for money as we used to, however if we still want the same product there waiting for us at the other side then it's something we have to do, if personal circumstances allow.
 
TimzRFudz said:
Straight answer - no. £700 for a patchy service and no real attempt to provide any added value. A simple gesture would’ve been offering the full RTV package for free for the season. Net additional cost to the club would’ve been zero.
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whilst I don’t agree about the patchy service, I do agree that they should have offered the full package rather than just the live home games. As you said, zero additional cost, minimal lost revenue and massive goodwill from those of us who’ve paid for season tickets in the knowledge that it was fairly likely we’d barely get to use them, if at all.
 
As other people have said, the service we get is not value for money (otherwise it wouldn't be available to other fans for half the price), however, getting to 55 this year meant the club needed us to pay up and I'm more than happy that we did.

A big question for me is what type of increase will we be looking at for next season. Do the club say they are keeping it the same again as a gesture of thanks for our loyalty or do they get the renewals out the day we seal the league with a 5-10% increase knowing the fans will be on a high and most will be happy to pay. If this is the case i would expect something to add extra value, as I've said before, not looking for 'freebies' just some kind of token gesture that isn't available to buy and won't lose the club a lot of money to provide us. Maybe a commemorative 55 thing.
 
I’m probably in the unusual position of paying for my season ticket every year knowing I’ll get to use it maybe 6-8 times (I also subscribe to RTV Unlimited). Been that way for more than 20 years since I moved south and particularly in the past 10-12 years since life had to revolve around things other than Rangers.

After the spiv boycott I moved to Bar72 simply because it was an easy way to put more money into the club we had come very close to losing. I didn’t get to go more often, but it was my choice and one I continue to make.

So, although this season is vastly different to any other for me, I understand that this is not normal for the vast majority of season ticket holders and I understand there being a slight feeling of being ”short-changed” from those that are used to going every week. I hope 55 eliminates that feeling entirely.
 
There are loads of pros and cons to this.

Pro's
Title winning team on the park due to revenue.
We get to sit on the big chair and roar the team on.
The pundits they have brought in has been top notch.
We actually get to see the games.
Its a way to support our club during this horrible time.
When i am starving and short of time i can make a sandwich rather than eat an Ibrox pie.

Con's
From a purely monetary point of view its not great value given that im paying around £30-40 a game when others can buy them as they please for £9.99
We cant go to the match.
At the beginning we were told that it would be the only way to watch the team (RTV) but they have since given another half dozen of our games to Sky...
The away games... Surely the teams could get together and come up with a system that would let ST holders of each club watch the games for their clubs? I know you cant watch away games with a ST but...
Still dont get full RTV Content.

Feel free to add.
 
When I renewed value for money wasn't something I considered to be fair, it wasn't a consideration then and it won't be next season if a similar situation seems likely.

It was about supporting the club, staff and players in a massive season to stop that mob across the city.

I do however think the club will be aware of the efforts we've all made and I don't doubt it'll be a topic of discussion in terms of how they provide some extra benefits to reward our continued support
 
It’s been a donation, and not much more really.

And I am fine with that.

It would have been nice to have been offered full RTV access, but it is what it is.

I’m sure if everything goes the right way until the end of the season everybody who purchased a ST will be sent an exclusive, commemorative item.
 
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