Membership and season ticket waiting list info

Hi all,

As this information seems relatively hard to find (I struggled to find definitive numbers), I thought I would post it here. This is all hidden away in the club's annual reports, available here:

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/detail/article/the-memoria-2011-12-available-to-members

Firstly, some information about membership numbers:

2002/03 - 106,135
2003/04 - 120,379
2004/05 - 131,007
2005/06 - 144,882
2006/07 - 156,366
2007/08 - 162,979
2008/09 - 163,763
2009/10 - 173,701
2010/11 - 176,058
2011/12 - 169,318

In 2011/12, the membership was split geographically as follows:

City of Barcelona - 63,923
Rest of Catalunya - 86,524
Outside Catalunya - 18,871

And by gender:

Male - 127,321
Female - 41,997

And by age:

0-5 - 15,371
6-14 - 21,937
15-25 - 14,936
26-35 - 21,162
36-45 - 27,683
46-55 - 22,442
56-65 - 19,936
+65 - 25,851


Very little information on either the number of season tickets or the size of the waiting list seems to be published, but I've found an article at:

http://www.matchdayintelligence.com...season-ticket-exchange-generates-e20-million/

which states that 86% of Camp Nou's capacity (99,354 as stated on the official website) is devoted to season tickets - so that means about 85,444 season ticket holders. I would assume that some (maybe most) of the rest of the seats are devoted to VIPs/corporate hospitality and the small away section, leaving just a few thousand free seats which are the ones that go on sale immediately at the start of each season.

As for the waiting list, all I've managed to find is a paragraph in the 2010/11 annual report (page 100) which says (apologies for google translate):

"Of the more than 14,000 registered in 2003, has gone to the current 9,141. This decline was caused by the update to the database, which has eliminated the socis who have dropped in recent years and duplicate requests and those who are already season-ticket holders. From the initial list, only 60%, 6,070 partners, updated their request. In these months we must add 1,585 new inscriptions. This, then, sets up a relationship of 7,655 partners in an absolutely transparent waiting list, with its number."

This report was published in the summer of 2011, so I'm guessing it's applying to the waiting list when it was updated in February that year - members on the waiting list need to reconfirm each year (between October 15 and January 7), and then available seats are assigned to the highest members in the list and an updated list is then published in Feburary.

That paragraph isn't completely clear to me, but I'm guessing it is saying the following:

February 2003 - 14,000
February 2010 - 9,141
February 2011 - 7,655

If anyone has any more concrete information on the season ticket waiting list, I'm curious to know (I joined the list a couple of weeks ago, so will find my position next February).

Finally, last season's season ticket prices are here:

http://www.fcbarcelona.es/socios/detalle/ficha/abonos-estadio-temporada-2012-13

So between €125 and €1025 depending on location, with a 25% discount if the ticket is converted to a league-only ticket (i.e. no CL or CDR).

Good post! Would LOVE to have a season ticket, but me living in The Netherlands and not being a socio is making it very difficult

The season ticket list is a joke. It's nearly impossible to get one. Most of them just get passed on from father to son or remain in a certain family even if somebody passes away or doesn't want to renew.
Camp Nou is just too small This sounds weird but it's true.

Galning said:

The season ticket list is a joke. It's nearly impossible to get one. Most of them just get passed on from father to son or remain in a certain family even if somebody passes away or doesn't want to renew.
Camp Nou is just too small This sounds weird but it's true.

Click to expand...

Yes, the passing of season tickets amongst family members seems to be ingrained in the Barça culture. But the club do seem to be trying to cut down on season tickets being sold/transferred between unrelated people - the rules are much stricter (to receive someone else's season ticket, you now need to have been a member for 5 years, and on the waiting list for 2, plus pay the cost of 6 season tickets at the time of transfer).

And I agree Camp Nou needs expanding back to something close to its older 120,000 capacity. I'm just hoping that when the refurbishment/rebuild takes place they will significantly increase the size of the stadium _and_ give a large proportion of those seats to the people waiting for season tickets.

Wow, awesome thread, thx a lot for the info! I had no idea season-tickets were so cheap tbh.

Once you're a member (I'm still an commitment member atm, hopefully will become a full member in 2015), you can immediately start enrolling in that waiting-list I suppose? I previously read that the waiting-time is about 20 years!? Is that still the case nowadays?

Tomchin said:

Once you're a member (I'm still an commitment member atm, hopefully will become a full member in 2015), you can immediately start enrolling in that waiting-list I suppose? I previously read that the waiting-time is about 20 years!? Is that still the case nowadays?

Click to expand...

The current rule is that you need to be a member for two years before joining the waiting list. The club statutes are being changed and from September you'll need to have been a member for five years in order to obtain a season ticket - I'm not sure if this will change the waiting list rules, but it wouldn't surprise me if you will then need to have been a member for five years to join the waiting list as well.

I just hope that they don't apply that retroactively, and remove anyone with less than 5 years membership from the existing list - that would seem harsh (especially as the chances of those people reaching the top of the list in the next 3 years is zero).

As for its length, I've absolutely no idea. The current economic situation in Spain, plus the stricter requirements on the waiting list (needing to re-register each year in person at the club) means it has reduced in size (see the figures in my first post), but I don't think anyone can predict what will happen in the future. I'll find out my own position in February, so at least then will have an idea of the size, if not the time...

Camp Nou being too small is ridiculous. It is not filled except for some high-profile matches, so there seems to be no need for additional places. The fact that a lot of season tickets get 'rented' by expats etc from locals who have it for years tells me there is something very wrong with how things are run. In my opinion there should be a rule that you at least have to attend a % of games yourself in order to keep the rights to a season ticket. If you just have it to make money off of it, GTFO. Passing it along to family members should be legal, although under very strict rules. Direct ancestry etc, no far away cousins.

Yes, I totally agree that the club needs to stop people using season tickets as a way to earn money. The statutes and the FAQs on the website explicitly prohibit "onerous" transfer of season tickets, but a quick google search for terms like " abonos temporada camp nou" show many people either renting (selling for a season) or selling outright their seats. It seems clear from the number of these adverts, and how easy they are to find, that the club isn't enforcing that rule very strictly.

It's a bit of a catch-22 - season tickets are hard to get because people hold onto them, and people hold onto them because they are hard to get. Increasing the stadium size would perhaps take some of the exclusivity away, so people would be more willing to give them back to the club, knowing they could get another without a lifetime on the waiting list. However, I'm not sure if the stadium could ever be that big...

The club is starting to take small measures promoting the Seient Lluire scheme though - and more and more seats are being returned to the club for sale each season. This is working to increase the average gate, but still doesn't help those who want season tickets to actually go and watch the games.

Just to update this thread, the club issued 319 season tickets to members on the waiting list last month:

http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/club/det...s-del-camp-nou-als-socis-de-la-llista-despera

Last year, 161 tickets were issued, and the year before, 199.

If I'm understanding correctly, there were 8709 members on the list at the end of the annual ratification period (7th Jan 2014). I joined the list at the start of July 2013, and have just found out that I'm number 7006 - so over 1700 people added themselves to the list in the second half of last year.

An annual update:

In January, the club announced that they had issued 1038 new season tickets to people on the waiting list:

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/det...ts-at-camp-nou-to-members-on-the-waiting-list

Personally, I've moved from position 7006 last year to position 5076 this year. So about a 1000 other people have been removed for the list for whatever reason.

Part of the problem; Socio's ticket touting

4candles, I take it you're in London? If so are you a Penya member by any chance?

Bucky said:

Part of the problem; Socio's ticket touting

4candles, I take it you're in London? If so are you a Penya member by any chance?

Click to expand...

Seen that yesterday, any links in English?

Bucky,

Thanks for the link. The club generally seem to be cutting down on various kinds of fraud related to tickets and season-tickets.

Yes, I'm currently in London but am fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of time in Barcelona. I'm aware of the London Penya, but haven't managed to go and visit.

The season-ticket waiting list doesn't seem quite as insane as it did a few years ago, when the quoted waiting time was 40 years! The club have said that "a large number" of the 5,500 new seats being built as part of the Camp Nou renovation will be assigned to people on the waiting list, so I'm hoping I may actually get a season ticket before I'm too old to enjoy it...

The club has just confirmed that (as at the end of the ratification period on 7 January 2015), there were 8318 members on the waiting list:

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/detail/article/new-camp-nou-waiting-list-numbering-system

This compares to 8709 in January 2014.

A couple more numbers whilst I wait for the details of this year's new season ticket allocations to be published and the waiting list update.

On 30 June 2015, there were 142,816 socis, and 8,806 on the season ticket waiting list (compared with 8,318 on 7 January 2015).