It could be a watershed moment, where the Premier League says, sod it, we really don't need the loyal supporter. We just need enough bums on seats. At the present time everyone, from owner, to ex-player and pundit, to supporter, says that football clubs should not lose touch with their working roots. They say that football is a working class game. And then they charge middle class prices. It's paying lip service only. Roy Keane was right. He just made his pronouncement before it was fashionable. Much as I hate its owner, Sky TV [or BSB or whatever] and latterly BT Sport, have liberated the Premier League clubs and brought benefits in several ways. They started this evolution, and clubs don't need the loyal supporter from now on, whatever they say. And the most committed supporters pay the price both ways. So if you don't like it, blame the clubs and Sky for starting the money merry-go-round. Of course it's your own bloody fault [that's bound to hurt] for having Sky [i.e. aimed subscription TV] in the first place, but I won't go there again as I have views on it which rock the boat, as you probably know by now. The inevitable consequence of the TV journey that elite football is taking means that football clubs will eventually lose touch with their loyal supporters unless it suits them not to. Yes, I'm sure there are many PL club owners at present who consider the loyal supporter to be a core importance, but they are becoming fewer, despite what they say, and the importance for the remaining clubs becomes less with each deal. Their actions inevitably betray their words. From the Championship down, with little affordable changes and builds, here and there, professional football in the UK remains pretty much as it has been for as far back as one cares to remember, but even they are affected by the PL shadow, in terms of revenue and costs. Which type of football do you want?
Wenger never leaves me cold. He always either makes me laugh or leaves me surprised at his ignorance. He advises Leicester and Arsenal supporters not to protest during the game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35560475 So when should they protest Arsene? Before the match when it won't bother you or anyone else? HT, when the cameras are elsewhere? Or FT when nobody will notice anyway because they'll be talking about the result? If Leicester win you may need the distraction as an excuse. Thought of that one?
Can't agree with this idea that football is diminished if not supported by men in cloth caps and clogs. This division in society no longer exists as many jobs traditionally considered working class can bring in good wages. And such people would probably call themselves lower middle class or middle class (depending on income/aspirations). Having a family taking up your money will be the main thing stopping you regularly attending games....not social class. I had a season ticket for many years when I was on near minimum wage working in a shop....because I only had one child. Things change....they certainly have in my lifetime. The clubs want full attendance, but they can hardly check working class credentials before selling you a ticket. Don't get me wrong...I think tickets should be kept reasonable and the Sky money gives clubs the opportunity to do so. They have little excuse for raising prices. The most important area is cheap tickets for children....the fans of tomorrow. Important to encourage them to come in person, because they add to the atmosphere and they will realise it is so much better than distance viewing.
As an economic libertarian, I think that ticket prices should be set such that there is exactly as much demand for them as there are seats available. In game theory terms, it's a Nash equilibrium. No-one prepared to pay the price is left without a seat, the club gains as much revenue as possible. I suspect that on that basis, seats at Liverpool, Arsenal et al are underpriced. Vin
The problem with this view I that as soon as it becomes unfashionable to go and watch a certain club, those who can afford to pay will disappear and the fan base required for an unfashionable club will no longer exist. The club therefore becomes unsustainable. Some things are more important than simple economics; community and shared interest are important in balanced and modern society. If these go we are left with nothing.
The big clubs have enough seats (especially if they expand) to allow for flexibility in pricing....sadly the smaller the stadium, the harder that becomes.
How much loyalty did Saints fans show the club in League One? 17,800 turned up to Onionman Jr's first ever match. Fans often don't show loyalty when times are hard; why should they expect the same from the club when times are good? Vin
Fine if you are happy to live in a culture where money is the only arbiter of value. Sounds a bit cold to me.
Because if it ever happened again (God forbid) there would be nothing like 17800 if loyal fans were priced out of going to matches. Just out of interest I still preferred the atmosphere and whole matchday experience from those days - not that I would want them to return. There will always be a certain fan base which will follow through thick and thin, but this will diminish if it is not looked after when the times are good.
To some extent I'm playing devil's advocate above. However, there's a ten year waiting list for season tickets at Arsenal. Probably similar at Liverpool, Chelsea, Man C and Man U. That is economically utter madness (they could maximise income as above), so the clubs are showing loyalty by keeping the prices much lower than the market could bear. Vin
The problem is that this is Liverpool FC, the Beebs favourite. You know that football club that is Liverpool through and through. The club where all of its 100 million global fanbase actually live in Liverpool. In reality as a business model of course these clubs do have many years waiting lists. Man U could sell OT many times over with no problems and they could probably quadrouple ticket prices overnight and still sell out. The other reality however as alluded to above is that this is like an Operating System. While updates, patches and fixes are continually available then people will keep buying whereas if the updates cease, the patches and fixes don't patch and fix properly OR if the new update means the original product isn't very appealing anymore then sales will go through the floor. Football being tribal with a loyal fanbase means that it can avoid this problem as attested to by Liverpool and ManYOU fans still turning up to watch that durge week in week out. Ignore the loyal fanbase and you could end up with nothing eventually.
A few years ago Newcastle United had a waiting list of 15,000 people for season tickets. This season they had a third unsold. This illustrates your point rather well I think Imps: a couple of years of winning nothing and finishing mid table or lower and the same could happen to Liverpool.
It was also a few years ago that Newcastle Fans were the ones complaining about season ticket price rises!!!
