Challenge Cup Final Ticket Details
- Thread starter Jonesy83
- Start date
But what happens to the two other team fans who want to go as a neutral?
There is no scenario for this as it says:
"WHAT HAPPENS IF MY TEAM DOES NOT MAKE THE FINAL? If you make a pre-booking and your team does not make the final, you do not get the £2 booking fee back, but you will receive £2 off the webcast of the Cup Final. "
"There are 1,450 tickets available for each team making the final. That totals 2,900 tickets between the two teams playing in the final"
"The tickets will be split evenly between the two teams qualifying for the final. All seats are £20.00 regardless of the area in the arena or ticket type. "
There is no scenario for this as it says:
"WHAT HAPPENS IF MY TEAM DOES NOT MAKE THE FINAL? If you make a pre-booking and your team does not make the final, you do not get the £2 booking fee back, but you will receive £2 off the webcast of the Cup Final. "
"There are 1,450 tickets available for each team making the final. That totals 2,900 tickets between the two teams playing in the final"
"The tickets will be split evenly between the two teams qualifying for the final. All seats are £20.00 regardless of the area in the arena or ticket type. "
No No No, nothing for STHs here.
It is open season for all fans.
Basically from the 23rd you contact IAW and pre-book your tickets (max 6) and pay £2 booking fee for each ticket.
Therefore at moment Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham and Sheffield fans can contact IAW on 23rd and pay their £2 per ticket to pre book them.
Each club is allocated 1,450 tickets, therefore IAW collecting nearly £11,600 in booking fees (5,800 tickets)
When the teams that win their semi-finals are known, those fans of the qualifying two teams will then be able to buy their tickets for the final.
Those fans of the two losing semi-final teams will be not have their booking fee returned but are being offered a £2 discount off the payment for the web cast that they do not want to watch, I can see those disappointed fans queueing up to view a game in which their team is not playing.
I cannot see the problem of IAW waiting until both finalists are known and then the fans from those two teams can buy their tickets, but I suppose a gain of £5800 for nothing shows how the organisers 'value' the fans.
It is open season for all fans.
Basically from the 23rd you contact IAW and pre-book your tickets (max 6) and pay £2 booking fee for each ticket.
Therefore at moment Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham and Sheffield fans can contact IAW on 23rd and pay their £2 per ticket to pre book them.
Each club is allocated 1,450 tickets, therefore IAW collecting nearly £11,600 in booking fees (5,800 tickets)
When the teams that win their semi-finals are known, those fans of the qualifying two teams will then be able to buy their tickets for the final.
Those fans of the two losing semi-final teams will be not have their booking fee returned but are being offered a £2 discount off the payment for the web cast that they do not want to watch, I can see those disappointed fans queueing up to view a game in which their team is not playing.
I cannot see the problem of IAW waiting until both finalists are known and then the fans from those two teams can buy their tickets, but I suppose a gain of £5800 for nothing shows how the organisers 'value' the fans.
The way I interpret it is that ST holders tickets are already pre-booked
"if you are a season ticket holder or a corporate sponsor, we are assuming you will want to buy a ticket ..... so we are holding 1,250 tickets ......... to pre-book for Devils fans to ensure our season ticket holders and sponsors can get a seat."
It is the use of the words "to pre-book" that causes confusion so I may be wrong
It could mean that to pre-book one of the 1250 - STs need to be shown as opposed to my interpretation. Thus only 200 can be pre-booked without a ST
The upshot is we need clarity
"if you are a season ticket holder or a corporate sponsor, we are assuming you will want to buy a ticket ..... so we are holding 1,250 tickets ......... to pre-book for Devils fans to ensure our season ticket holders and sponsors can get a seat."
It is the use of the words "to pre-book" that causes confusion so I may be wrong
It could mean that to pre-book one of the 1250 - STs need to be shown as opposed to my interpretation. Thus only 200 can be pre-booked without a ST
The upshot is we need clarity
For clarification from the Devils' Todd Kelman:
Although we are hosting the Cup Final in Cardiff, it is meant to be a neutral venue, so tickets are meant to be split 50/50 between the fanbases of the 2 finalists. In the 2 previous seasons in Sheffield, capacity was not an issue, neither game was close to a sell-out, but we know that at less than half the size, IAW will sell out.
Season Ticket Holders - The Devils assume you will all want to go if we progress to the final. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING ON MONDAY JAN 23rd. We have 1,250 season ticket holders (including about 100 corporate season ticket holders or sponsors as we might call them). We have held back 1,250 to give our season ticket holders the right to purchase first.
Non-Season Ticket Holders - You will need to book on Monday or "pre-book" as the story says. It means the same thing for this, you are booking your right to guarantee yourself a ticket for the Cup Final if the Devils progress. I know you will not be happy with there being only 200 spots for non-season ticket holders, but I felt that our season ticket holders and sponsors should get a seat guaranteed if they want it if the Devils progress. I know this is unpopular with non-season ticket holders, but this is an added benefit for being a season ticket holder or sponsor. They are paying the same price as everyone else if we advance, the additional £2 booking fee will be added at the time of purchase.
Elite League's Input - This was 100% my decision and my format for trying to make this as fair as possible for the 2 teams and their fanbases making the final and also for Devils season ticket holders/sponsors. Don't be angry at the EIHL Board, they had no input to this whatsoever. The Devils bid for the right to host the Challenge Cup and we are paying the EIHL for the right to do so. Part of the agreement to host it was to make it a 50/50 split for tickets between the two fanbases. The £2 booking fee would have been added to the ticket at checkout and instead, we opted to use it to allow fans to book a seat in advance.
Why didn't I put all of the tickets on sale at once and let everyone have an equal chance? Because I want to ensure the arena is full and that the two finalists' fanbases get tickets before neutral fans wanting to attend. This is not a scam to make £2 extra from 3 sets of fans, this is not a way to piss off our non-season ticket holders if we do advance to the final. Trust me, this was analysed and thought out to ensure it was as fair as possible for all 4 teams. I can admit, the only unfair part of this is to Devils non-season ticket holders, but I decided myself that I wanted to give my season ticket holders first refusal of tickets if we advance knowing full well how non-season ticket holders would feel about it.
This is not the easy way out, trust me, the office staff will have a ton of more work to do it this way. Instead of having all the bookings done by the fans themselves, we will be calling 3,000 people to manually process their bookings. The easy way would have been to put tickets on sale at the same time for everyone and let the fans sit wherever, but that wasn't what I wanted. I want to put on a great show and a great final regardless of who is in the final and whether it is the Devils or the Giants playing the Panthers or Steelers, I want the fanbases of the two finalists to get the opportunity to be in attendance first. Devils fans have won a Challenge Cup with us two seasons ago and if you were there, you will remember how special it was. I want the two finalists and their fanbases to have that same opportunity. Obviously I hope we get there, but if we don't, then we will still put on the best Challenge Cup Final we can.
If you are still mad, if you still think I am a fool for doing it this way, let me know. My email is tk@cardiffdevils.com - I might not be able to respond to everyone and I might not agree with you, but I am always willing to listen to feedback (good or bad). But this is how it is going to be and I am not changing the process. This is as fair as possible for the 4 fanbases and hopefully if the Challenge Cup is in somewhere like Braehead or Belfast in the future, they will consider our fanbase as well as their own and follow a similar model.
- Todd Kelman
Although we are hosting the Cup Final in Cardiff, it is meant to be a neutral venue, so tickets are meant to be split 50/50 between the fanbases of the 2 finalists. In the 2 previous seasons in Sheffield, capacity was not an issue, neither game was close to a sell-out, but we know that at less than half the size, IAW will sell out.
Season Ticket Holders - The Devils assume you will all want to go if we progress to the final. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING ON MONDAY JAN 23rd. We have 1,250 season ticket holders (including about 100 corporate season ticket holders or sponsors as we might call them). We have held back 1,250 to give our season ticket holders the right to purchase first.
Non-Season Ticket Holders - You will need to book on Monday or "pre-book" as the story says. It means the same thing for this, you are booking your right to guarantee yourself a ticket for the Cup Final if the Devils progress. I know you will not be happy with there being only 200 spots for non-season ticket holders, but I felt that our season ticket holders and sponsors should get a seat guaranteed if they want it if the Devils progress. I know this is unpopular with non-season ticket holders, but this is an added benefit for being a season ticket holder or sponsor. They are paying the same price as everyone else if we advance, the additional £2 booking fee will be added at the time of purchase.
Elite League's Input - This was 100% my decision and my format for trying to make this as fair as possible for the 2 teams and their fanbases making the final and also for Devils season ticket holders/sponsors. Don't be angry at the EIHL Board, they had no input to this whatsoever. The Devils bid for the right to host the Challenge Cup and we are paying the EIHL for the right to do so. Part of the agreement to host it was to make it a 50/50 split for tickets between the two fanbases. The £2 booking fee would have been added to the ticket at checkout and instead, we opted to use it to allow fans to book a seat in advance.
Why didn't I put all of the tickets on sale at once and let everyone have an equal chance? Because I want to ensure the arena is full and that the two finalists' fanbases get tickets before neutral fans wanting to attend. This is not a scam to make £2 extra from 3 sets of fans, this is not a way to piss off our non-season ticket holders if we do advance to the final. Trust me, this was analysed and thought out to ensure it was as fair as possible for all 4 teams. I can admit, the only unfair part of this is to Devils non-season ticket holders, but I decided myself that I wanted to give my season ticket holders first refusal of tickets if we advance knowing full well how non-season ticket holders would feel about it.
This is not the easy way out, trust me, the office staff will have a ton of more work to do it this way. Instead of having all the bookings done by the fans themselves, we will be calling 3,000 people to manually process their bookings. The easy way would have been to put tickets on sale at the same time for everyone and let the fans sit wherever, but that wasn't what I wanted. I want to put on a great show and a great final regardless of who is in the final and whether it is the Devils or the Giants playing the Panthers or Steelers, I want the fanbases of the two finalists to get the opportunity to be in attendance first. Devils fans have won a Challenge Cup with us two seasons ago and if you were there, you will remember how special it was. I want the two finalists and their fanbases to have that same opportunity. Obviously I hope we get there, but if we don't, then we will still put on the best Challenge Cup Final we can.
If you are still mad, if you still think I am a fool for doing it this way, let me know. My email is tk@cardiffdevils.com - I might not be able to respond to everyone and I might not agree with you, but I am always willing to listen to feedback (good or bad). But this is how it is going to be and I am not changing the process. This is as fair as possible for the 4 fanbases and hopefully if the Challenge Cup is in somewhere like Braehead or Belfast in the future, they will consider our fanbase as well as their own and follow a similar model.
- Todd Kelman
That fully explains the Devils organisation and its position.
Something to note for future CC final venues before the regular season starts, although many Cardiff fans, many of who are season ticket holders who do not rate the CC as a competition worthy of bothering with l bet won't be willing to sacrifice their seats for non season ticket holders who do rate the competition and have gone to CC finals.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Something to note for future CC final venues before the regular season starts, although many Cardiff fans, many of who are season ticket holders who do not rate the CC as a competition worthy of bothering with l bet won't be willing to sacrifice their seats for non season ticket holders who do rate the competition and have gone to CC finals.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Overall this is a pretty good system. The £2 booking fee ensures people aren't just reserving tickets in case they want to go. If there was no fee then Im sure hundreds of people would actually change their mind after booking for free.
Allowing fans of all four teams to book at the same time also gives the final the best chance of being filled by fans of the competing teams.
And people can't complain about our season ticket holders getting priority. Season ticket holders should always get priority.
Allowing fans of all four teams to book at the same time also gives the final the best chance of being filled by fans of the competing teams.
And people can't complain about our season ticket holders getting priority. Season ticket holders should always get priority.
Todd must get sick to death of having to explain/clarify stuff and I don't blame him one bit.
It's common sense that a proper, organised ticket ordering system would have to be introduced for a potential sell-out event in an arena where the demand for seating actually outstrips the number of physical places available. What was the Club supposed to do? This is the fairest way of ensuring fans of any of the potential final teams get the same opportunity to purchase tickets.
There will always be people who lose out in a limited situation - it's a fact of life that you can't please all the people all of the time.
It's common sense that a proper, organised ticket ordering system would have to be introduced for a potential sell-out event in an arena where the demand for seating actually outstrips the number of physical places available. What was the Club supposed to do? This is the fairest way of ensuring fans of any of the potential final teams get the same opportunity to purchase tickets.
There will always be people who lose out in a limited situation - it's a fact of life that you can't please all the people all of the time.
Whatever the decision is, it's always going to result in some people not being happy.
People used to moan that Elite League competition finals were always held in Nottingham.
Then, when the CC Final was moved to Sheffield, people moaned that it wasn't a sell-out, the atmosphere was flat, it was organised in an amateurish way.
Now the UK is hosting the World Group Championships in Belfast, people are moaning it's too far away!
It is awesome that other UK locations are being considered to promote our sport. If the CC Final was held in Braehead, Coventry, Manchester next year, the same issues of capacity would exist.
People used to moan that Elite League competition finals were always held in Nottingham.
Then, when the CC Final was moved to Sheffield, people moaned that it wasn't a sell-out, the atmosphere was flat, it was organised in an amateurish way.
Now the UK is hosting the World Group Championships in Belfast, people are moaning it's too far away!
It is awesome that other UK locations are being considered to promote our sport. If the CC Final was held in Braehead, Coventry, Manchester next year, the same issues of capacity would exist.
This is a VERY fair system and will hopefully mean there are good numbers from both sets of fans who make the final and as such a great atmosphere and spectacle. I hope Devils make it but if they don't I'll probably try and get tickets to go and watch the teams that do.
I actually think having it a smaller venue like IAW which is virtually guaranteed to sell out will make the atmosphere amazing. I can't wait for and will definitely be taking up my option for tickets as ST holder.
I actually think having it a smaller venue like IAW which is virtually guaranteed to sell out will make the atmosphere amazing. I can't wait for and will definitely be taking up my option for tickets as ST holder.