i know as a team we have been working hard to get our house ready this, but what are the long term implications? we have seen that the has been holding back on contracts until we get towards the end of the season rather than offering deals long term could this hamper championship clubs who get promoted and give an advantage to those who get relegated, although i notice at present relegation can and often does equal free fall. is it going to end up with clubs having to cash in on talent earlier than they may want
If we are currently running at FFP and we go up, then we will have an extra £60m pounds(ish) to spend next year, i guess some of that would be lost on wage increases, which is why its probably best to hold off on new contracts until we know what league we are in the end of the season. My guess would be that the older players get a contract extension of 1 or 2 years, while we tie down the younger ones for around 4 years. Maybe they have been told that contract talks will happen as soon as we are certain of promotion, so in their best interest to win another 8 as soon as possible
Should we get promoted (and that is still a big 'if' at this point) I would not be at all suprised to see plans emerge to increase stadium capacity ... now that may seem madness at this point in time, given that our gates are currently howvering around two thirds of capacity - but our history in the Prem previously has been virtual sell-outs - and our catchment area, population wise, is huge ... the original stadium build design structurally was done with expansion factored in - my recollection is that more rows can be fairly easily added to the top to bring the capacity to 45,000 In order to be competitive commercially in the Prem over a sustainable period, I believe you need 40k plus crowds ... particularly if FFP is adopted ... now I believe that we could easily attract that if we don't overprice and if we can flex away fans capacity from say 3k to 5k - which most Prem clubs should be capable of filling... We are also lucky that our owners have incredibly good business relationships in terms of being able to attract commercial sponsors / partners etc ...
If we stay in the Premier League for a couple of seasons I can see that happening but not next season.
This for me too. Norwich have about 30k capacity and they don't seem effected by FFP, if we did go up obviously they would gauge how fast ticket sales go next year and increase capacity if we are still there the year after. Increasing capacity is a huge risk though, because by the time you are done, you could be relegated the next season, leading to a half empty stadium every week.
Not necessarily - just take a different commercial view and drop your pricing ... Brighton and Bradford - both very good (and current) examples of how to fill a stadium ...
Commercially you're better off having a higher footfall through the doors from lower ticket prices and then increasing revenue from up-selling merchandise/food etc. There is a vast difference in approach from clubs, Arsenal are charging £62 - £132 for their game against Bayern Munich, BM are charging their fans £37 and paying the difference. You can get a Bayern Munich season ticket for £104. BM President Uli Hoeness on looking after the fans: 'We could charge more than £104. Let's say we charged £300. We'd get £2m more in income but what's £2m to us? 'In a transfer discussion you argue about that sum for five minutes. But the difference between £104 and £300 is huge for the fan. 'We do not think the fans are like cows, who you milk. Football has got to be for everybody. 'That's the biggest difference between us and England.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tting-Premier-League-shame.html#ixzz2tfqsU5fv
Is one of the things that always annoyed me about games here - if the game is one TV people wont come so put the prices down and increase footfall. Also make the seats opposite the cameras the cheapest so your stadium doesn't look empty.
With you 100% on these ... some smoke and mirrors there but all adds to the 'brand' ... footfall is key ... more hot dogs, more drinks, more pies ("Not you Gary Taylor-Fletcher get back to those sit-ups!") more programme sales, more people in the club shop ...
Having had no interest in the Premiership for the last 10 years, I was surprised when someone on TV said that Premiership clubs are limited in increasing their annual wage bill by a certain percentage each year. I take it, that does not apply to newly promoted teams. As far as contracts go, there is absolutely nothing stopping the club offering contracts to players allowing one wage for Premiership football, and a different wage for Championship football (or lower). The fact that contracts have not been offered to certain players, suggests that :- a) They would be rejected by a player at this point in time (eg Shmike), or b) The club would think twice about offering a contract if we make the Premiership (eg Nuge?). Cant think of any other reason for contracts not to be offered. I don't believe that not offering a player a contract will keep them 'on their toes' and make them perform.
Under the new PL financial rules "clubs whose total wage bill is more than £52m will only be allowed to increase their salaries by an accumulative £4m per season for each of the next three years (2013-14: £4m, 2014-15: £8m, 2015-16: £12m)". http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21374699 No exemption for newly promoted teams mentioned. Would you expect a promoted team to have a wage bill exceeding £52m?
Hmmm if that is true the how are Man united g oing to get away with wayne Rooney's increased deal ... £300k a week?
Presumably because its the increase that's counted, i.e. the £50k a week extra not the £250k already paid. That's how I read it anyway.
I say NO to stadium expansion. Keep it at 32.000 & fill it every week (if we make it). Use the cash to build a wall of a DEF, a goal scoring MID & a 20+ man up front, something like MO´N did would be nice.
Thanks for the clarity Foxy. Wouldnt expect us to get anywhere close to that figure. Unless of course we appoint 'Arry as financial negotiator once QPR sack him.
... and that's how the dream died ... ... you can't afford to stay static - I suspect that if we get promoted and are not getting tonked week in week out we will more or less sell out most games ... but if we get to that point where we are actually competitive in the Prem, then demand will undoubtedly surpass supply (I've been in the old Filbo when there was a crowd of 39,000 against Arsenal for an FA Cup quarter final in the 70s) in a 32,000 seater stadium ... if you don't address that, then we'll start leaking fan base, particularly on our borders ... Football should be for the masses not just those with the most disposable income - increase the capacity and drop the prices ... fill the stadium and ramp up the atmosphere and the experience at the same time ... POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Just been watching prem years 2001/2. The dream died when we paid 3 million for Callum Davidson quality, had a strike force of Trevor Benjamin and Akinbyi and lee Marshall could get into our team.
I agree that you have to look at the future, progress & expansion etc. We don't want to be static but equally we don't want to overstretch. However, we're a bit ahead of ourselves, this all relates to IF we go up so lets concentrate on actually getting promoted first.
I think we will fall just short of FFP this season To cut your loses from 30M to 6M in 1 year is a very tall order. While we have cut alot i dont think we have saved 24M The signing of Riyad Mahrez though should the owners gambling abit of promotion with us spending a little. Albeit not a lot But hey get promoted and FFP means very little to us and wont for a very long time as even relegated sides get massive parachute payments and are treated more leniently by FFP
