NUST's home ticketing survey: 5,000+ responses and some very interesting results

The Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST) has released the results of its home ticketing survey, after garnering almost 5,400 responses from fans.

59% of respondents were season ticket holders, 48% of the remaining respondents were members, and 77% of the total respondents had attended either the Aston Villa or Liverpool home game so far this season.

The survey was open to all Newcastle supporters, not just members of the Trust, and asked for views on topics such as digital ticketing, members' ballots, 2023/24 memberships, box office communication, and more.

It brought to light a number of issues with all of the above, though the club's ticketing website came in for the brunt of criticism, with over 47% of respondents being either "very dissatisfied" or "dissatisfied" with it.

You can see a full report of the results on the Trust's official website, but here's a summary if you're short on time:

Newcastle United Supporters' Trust (NUST)

The other major things that stood out to us from the NUST's report were as follows:

• Digital ticketing getting more positive reactions (45%) than negative ones (35%)
• The members' ballot getting panned, with almost 49% of respondents being "very dissatisfied" or "dissatisfied" with it
• Memberships in general being seen as offering poor value for money this season
• Over 41% of respondents not having their issues resolved by the club after contacting them
• Over 70% of respondents failing to get any sort of response at all from the club over email
• Supporters spending on average over two hours on hold when trying to phone the box office (this has been our own experience)
• Supporters going in person to the box office typically being seen within 15 minutes (useful to know for those who can get to St. James' easily)

For all the criticism the Trust gets—and we've been part of that at times in the past—this is a very good effort on their part.

The results have already been presented to the club, who will hopefully take everyone's concerns on board and move swiftly to provide a better customer experience for fans.

The amount of ticketing missteps since the end of last season, and arguably starting with the Carabao Cup Final, has exposed the club as seriously lacking in that department.

It comes as no surprise at all after 14 years of Mike Ashley, of course, but it would be nice to see some improvement, and soon.