The Price of Football

[parklane1]

Agree to a point. But there is nothing wrong with clubs doing more to help fans who can't afford to go. Of course no one forces you to pay, but with the crazy tv money that clubs will receive from next season, there is nothing to stop English clubs following German clubs like Bayern for example, they just don't want to. If supporting your team is going to bankrupt you then stop going, but why people constantly defends greedy football clubs in this respect also baffles me.

I am not defending anyone, but those who bitch about paying money usually have no problem with spending on eurodance records, the latest phone, nights out on the tinkle etc, etc. You pays your money or takes your choice.

Maybe if players and agents did not get paid stupid money for kicking a ball about then some of that could go on lowering ticket prices.

 

[Baleforce]

how about Skoda for a car/english football comparison

formerly a crappy yet functional product of its environmemt before foreign investment brought a massive increase in quality and respect

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

The problem is that the EPL isn't an improvement. It's different, but not better.

 

[parklane1]

Do you say the same thing about penthouses in Mayfair? What about holidays in St Barts or dinner at Marcus?

If you want something premium expect to pay a lot for it. There are all kinds of things I want to buy but can't, same for everyone else.

Exactly.

It's a game of football I want to attend, not getting a Rolls Royce ffs!

And its your choice to pay for a ticket or spend you money elsewhere, new phones, TV's, Booze, Meals, drugs etc etc.

 

[Jordinho]

how about Skoda for a car/english football comparison

formerly a crappy yet functional product of its environmemt before foreign investment brought a massive increase in quality and respect

I was just thinking this. What if Volkswagen suddenly decided to make Skoda their top brand? All those who drive one now would be priced out.

 

[parklane1]

Sport can quickly become marginalised. This may well happen to football too, if only the independently wealthy can afford a ticket. If that happens it will deserve to die.

I do accept some of that, however I have never classed myself as independently wealthy but what I have done is balanced my spending and at the top of it is my season ticket for the season. Others I know would rather spend their money going out for expensive meals, new eurodance records ( I could go on but you get my drift).

 

[Kandi1977]

I know it's all about priority, but you say PL is a "premium product". What's premium about it? I paid way more for a ticket at WHL, where i got a cheap, cramped and uncomfortable plastic seat, with limited catering possibilities, than I paid for a premium seat at a U2 concert, with soft, comfortable seats and a lot better catering options, and lots of entertainment before U2 came on. I'm just saying.

 

[Baleforce]

I know it's all about priority, but you say PL is a "premium product". What's premium about it? I paid way more for a ticket at WHL, where i got a cheap, cramped and uncomfortable plastic seat, with limited catering possibilities, than I paid for a premium seat at a U2 concert, with soft, comfortable seats and a lot better catering options, and lots of entertainment before U2 came on. I'm just saying.

it's all in the eye of the beholder, if you don't think it's worth it don't go

if it wasn't premium we wouldn't have such a large waiting list of people wanting a season ticket at these prices

 

[scaramanga]

Lack of logic again. The Maserati was affordable when we had the old 1st division, but now it (EPL) isn't. It is the same product. Yeah stadiums have improved, but that had to happen anyway, as most of them were falling down. Greavsie was a premium product, I can tell you that!

I wasn't talking about the stadia or the teams, more than anything it's the people you have to share them with.

 

[Baleforce]

one of them makes a good point amazingly, if you reduce PL ticket prices, lower league prices will have to reduce proportionately

 

[Neymar]

i think the issue is a simple one tbh.

there used to be a bunch of customers (fans) who got a product (watching football) for a very cheap price because it was mispriced/under priced by the sellers (clubs). now that the sellers have realised this, and are pricing it closer to what it should always have been, the customers are upset. and are grasping at straws, trying to make moral arguments, when the debate has nothing to do with morals or what is right or wrong. its simple economics - if you want to consume the product at its current price, go ahead. if not, don't give business advice to business owners who are worth billions.

having said all this, i think yesterday's walkout might be more significant than people realise atm. in terms of how it was mobilised, it has similarities to the arab spring imo. social media has given fans an opportunity to effectively mobilise, and i really wouldnt be surprised if over the next few years similar walkouts took place at national scale. and this really would lead to lower ticket prices.

 

[Baleforce]

@Pollo Frito agree with your first paragraph

the only things that will reduce ticket prices are empty stands and vastly reduced tv viewing figures across the world

there is a new target demographic, and it's absolutely massive

 

[the dza]

i think the issue is a simple one tbh.

there used to be a bunch of customers (fans) who got a product (watching football) for a very cheap price because it was mispriced/under priced by the sellers (clubs). now that the sellers have realised this, and are pricing it closer to what it should always have been, the customers are upset. and are grasping at straws, trying to make moral arguments, when the debate has nothing to do with morals or what is right or wrong. its simple economics - if you want to consume the product at its current price, go ahead. if not, don't give business advice to business owners who are worth billions.

having said all this, i think yesterday's walkout might be more significant than people realise atm. in terms of how it was mobilised, it has similarities to the arab spring imo. social media has given fans an opportunity to effectively mobilise, and i really wouldnt be surprised if over the next few years similar walkouts took place at national scale. and this really would lead to lower ticket prices.

This is all just my opinion, but here you go:

There used to be a game that was supported by people who paid to watch it when others didn't care about it. Clubs were built and survived by this. The brand that is sold today only exists because of these people. Why is the Premier League the most popular league in the world? We don't have the best players, though we have some of them. It's the history created by supporters that has been packaged up and sold on by Sky TV. It's that level of 'giving a sh1t' that makes it all worth watching, or posting on internet forums (!)

Live football is too pricey for me, I might go to games here or there, but not much anymore. To complete the perverse circle of 'the product' that Sky re-packaged, I use the internet to watch all of the games (that they broadcast and sell rights to around the world) for free. Good luck to those who pay the money and go, but also, good luck to those fans who are connected to the pre-Sky era, love their club, but have had enough of being milked for all the money they can spend.

 

[Neymar]

@the dza
i totally get your sentiments and agree with all of it, however we live in a modern capitalistic world, and premier league football symbolises this more than many other industries.
i think today everyone is just in it for themselves. not just the club, owners, players, but the fans too. i think this is modern society. thats why is feel no one owes anyone anything.

you mentioned that "It's that level of 'giving a sh1t' that makes it all worth watching", and thats true. but i think "the inability to not give a brick" is more apt. and this is why ticket prices and sky subscriptions have gotten so expensive. once the fans realise that all they have to do to drive down the ticket prices to germany levels, is to arrange a few more walkouks, they will have the power to set ticket prices. its not going to be easy to organise this. but the lpool fan groups have got the ball rolling. if they can organise a couple more walkouts, i really think fans of other clubs will follow suit. the lpool fan groups have started something here, and if they can build on it, the face of football could potentially change forever imo.

epl club owners are probably paying more attenion to this than fans realise and they probably wanna kill ian ayre/ fsg for allowing something like this to have happened.

if football fans want change, heres the opportunity...

 

[parklane1]

i think the issue is a simple one tbh.

there used to be a bunch of customers (fans) who got a product (watching football) for a very cheap price because it was mispriced/under priced by the sellers (clubs). now that the sellers have realised this, and are pricing it closer to what it should always have been, the customers are upset. and are grasping at straws, trying to make moral arguments, when the debate has nothing to do with morals or what is right or wrong. its simple economics - if you want to consume the product at its current price, go ahead. if not, don't give business advice to business owners who are worth billions.

having said all this, i think yesterday's walkout might be more significant than people realise atm. in terms of how it was mobilised, it has similarities to the arab spring imo. social media has given fans an opportunity to effectively mobilise, and i really wouldnt be surprised if over the next few years similar walkouts took place at national scale. and this really would lead to lower ticket prices.

I agree with your first point in bold not so much with your second point.

 

[glasgowspur]

Really the season ticket holder is paying twice as I would be willing to bet that majority as have sky.
What annoys me about sky is they charge a lot of money to get subscribers to then charge advertisers. So you are effectively paying to be sold stuff.

 

[Roy1983]

With the money coming in from next season the clubs don't even need supporters money!

 

[Jurgen the German]

I am not defending anyone, but those who bitch about paying money usually have no problem with spending on eurodance records, the latest phone, nights out on the tinkle etc, etc. You pays your money or takes your choice.

Maybe if players and agents did not get paid stupid money for kicking a ball about then some of that could go on lowering ticket prices.

I've got a season ticket so I too have to prioritise to a certain extent. The only thing that would stop me going is time and circumstances, I live only 25 miles from WHL so getting to the ground isn't too difficult. But I feel sympathy for people who are priced out of going. BT and Sky are paying a combined £5bn to show Premier League football! That's an incredible amount of money. The clubs could quite easily decide they want freeze prices for a few years (a couple at the very least) but of course they don't want to. If anything, it will keep going the other way and players wages will sky rocket further but rather than use the tv money they will just keep putting ticket prices up.

 

[Jurgen the German]

And for people comparing Premier League football to buying a car or going to a concert, they are not the same thing in the slightest.

 

[braineclipse]

With the money coming in from next season the clubs don't even need supporters money!

How much money do you suggest the clubs leave on the table then?

The money coming in from TV deals goes to all clubs no? The biggest clubs get more, but only really because they are successful. To compete with other clubs also getting huge money in from TV deals any additional funding is obviously going to help.