Attendances

peterattheboro · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:43

So with teams like Wigan, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Leeds etc having **** poor attendances over the last few seasons, what I can't get my head around is why clubs still charge circa £30 for a ticket. £30 imo is far too much to watch teams play crap football for 90 minutes.

Also when you go to these games, with half empty stadiums there is just zero atmosphere. So why can't clubs reduce the ticket prices on a permanent basis to say £15-£20 and try and raise attendances which may also improve the atmosphere and more fans getting behind their team which can give them a confidence boost.

I can understand paying £30-£60 to watch the likes of Man Utd, Liverpool etc as they fill the stadiums and it's just a case of supply and demand.

When Middlesbrough were relegated I was shocked that ticket prices remained the same to watch worse football in a lower division. Honestly I'd rather pay £35 and get a full weekend in at the BTCC.

That is what I call value for money.

Tummy · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:45

Football in this country is too expensive.

Clubs don't care about the fans, they're just a source of income.

peterattheboro · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:49

Yes but if they reduce the prices, there is every possibilty that they can turn a larger profit due to a larger audience?

d_brennen · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:55

peterattheboro said:
Yes but if they reduce the prices, there is every possibilty that they can turn a larger profit due to a larger audience?

I'd make you right. As said football teams could not give a toss about fans, they are just poorly run businesses

edscdk · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:56

Tummy said:
Football in this country is too expensive.

Clubs don't care about the fans, they're just a source of income.

there are no football clubs, there are only business' that put on football matches for profit...

BaZ87 · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:57

peterattheboro said:
Yes but if they reduce the prices, there is every possibilty that they can turn a larger profit due to a larger audience?

Clubs have obviously done their calculations and don't believe that a x% price cut will bring in enough extra people to make them as much money as things are.

Also, anything more than a one off special is risky to do midseason. Imagine what Blackburn's season ticket holders will be thinking if half way through the season the club cut prices by 50% for the rest of the season.

peterattheboro · 22 Feb 2012 at 11:59

BaZ87 said:
Clubs have obviously done their calculations and don't believe that a x% price cut will bring in enough extra people to make them as much money as things are.

Also, anything more than a one off special is risky to do midseason. Imagine what Blackburn's season ticket holders will be thinking if half way through the season the club cut prices by 50% for the rest of the season.

True. So why not just offer 30% off season tickets when they go on sale and just get bums on seats. That would be a lot better than having no one at the games.

BaZ87 · 22 Feb 2012 at 12:04

peterattheboro said:
True. So why not just offer 30% off season tickets when they go on sale and just get bums on seats. That would be a lot better than having no one at the games.

If clubs thought they'd sell enough extra tickets to make up for the 30% discount, they'd do it. Clearly they don't feel that a 30% (or whatever percentage) cut would lead to them selling enough extra tickets.

If you're not willing to pay £30 to watch Blackburn, would £10 off change many peoples minds? I can't see it.

drunkenmaster · 22 Feb 2012 at 12:05

peterattheboro said:
True. So why not just offer 30% off season tickets when they go on sale and just get bums on seats. That would be a lot better than having no one at the games.

Because it can work really two other ways also, firstly you could end up charging 30-40% less to get bums on seats, and half way through the season they are in a promotion fight, having no trouble filling seats and any increase in prices would see the whole fan base angry as hell, so you'd cut your profits.

The other possibility is, simply, that cutting seat prices doesn't increase attendance, ie 5000 people in Brentford would go to the game if the tickets were £10 a game, and 5000 people would go if the tickets were £20, so cutting prices would only half matchday income.

mmj_uk · 22 Feb 2012 at 12:16

It's £18 to watch my local League Two club, 90mins of hoofball. That's not much cheaper than a Premiership game.

The average attendance is circa 4000 my dad was telling me the stadium used to be packed out (20,000+) when he was younger, that was before mandatory seating mind... but that still leaves 8000 odd empty seats.

The trouble is over the years they've seen dipping numbers but instead of trying to attract more casuals through the gates they've took the easy option and increased prices to the point where only the hardcore fans are left, casuals aren't going to say "let's have a day out at the footy" because it's just too damn expensive.

No1newts · 22 Feb 2012 at 12:30

Tickets are daft expensive but clubs need to charge it to afford the stupid wages they pay.

Can't see it ever changing until there is a wage cap introduced so they don't need all the extra income (not that it will ever happen) some clubs will continue to almost fill out their stadiums week in week out but they are a minority.

Martytoon · 22 Feb 2012 at 12:38

When I started going to matches regularly in the late 70's (!) it was the only way to see a live game. Nowadays you can sit at home or in a bar and virtually take your pick of live games, so I don't think a price reduction automatically will see increased attendances. I think a few clubs have recognised the need to get the kids back into the grounds (afterall that's how I started because my Dad took me) and offer some good family prices either for season tickets or one off buys. I know a few clubs also offer reduced prices for cup games.

The Running Man · 22 Feb 2012 at 12:48

tell me about it, £25 to go watch Oldham at boundry park? they should be paying me to fill the seat and make some atmosphere...

given that they only get 3-4k for the average match this is obviously an issue...

Hell even wrexham better that and they are conference national!

Tunney · 22 Feb 2012 at 21:58

edscdk said:
there are no football clubs, there are only business' that put on football matches for profit...

That's utter nonsense. Only a fool gets into running a football club to make money. Most clubs are lucky to break even. A large supermarket has a higher turnover than most Premiership football clubs.

Monkeymatt · 22 Feb 2012 at 22:21

I don't think the reason many grounds are half empty is purely because of price. You have to make the fans feel like they are a key part of the club. As Football has changed into a much more commercial game, clubs have forgotten the key aspect of all clubs..the fans.

Ofcourse price plays its part aswell, a good example of a club who got the right price and made the fans really involved in the club is Norwich.
We had a dreadful season in the Championship and then got relegated to league 1, first game of the season we almost filled the stadium(~25,000 fans). Ofcourse many here may know we got slaughtered, had our biggest ever defeat(7-1) and yet the fans still came out in their droves for the next game(23,000).

It shows that if you handle the fans correctly, you can still have them coming in week in week out even when the team is playing dreadfully and getting hammered repeatedly..

mrbios · 22 Feb 2012 at 22:59

peterattheboro said:
Leeds etc having **** poor attendances over the last few seasons

That's news to me, our last season in league 1 we had a higher average attendance than every club in the championship bar Newcastle, even beating the bottom bunch of prem teams, and apart from the idiot leeds fans that think boycotting matches in the past few weeks in a bid to get rid of bates will ever work our attendance hasn't dropped?

EDIT: looking at the stats, we had a much higher attendance last season than this season and the previous season, this season is a bit of a let down by about 3000 fans on average, but i think that's mostly fueled by the anti bates idiots. This is quite handy: http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/DivisionalAttendance/0,,10794~20107,00.html to be honest though you only have to look at other teams highest attendance record, and so many of them are vs leeds, shows our away support is still in full force. We've been 7 other teams highest attendance opponent, that's pretty impressive.

cheets64 · 22 Feb 2012 at 23:14

Wigan, Blackburn, Bolton suffer from Man Utd/Liverpool fans, back in the day people supported the best, many still do, when I was at high school about 5% supported Wigan, rest was Man Utd/Liverpool few of Chelsea/Spurs/Arsenal, Wigan where in Div 3 (Div 2 now) they would only get 2-3k at Springfield park, they are doing well to get 17k just 15 years on

I mean couple of people from Wigan here and most of them support Man Utd, I would rather watch a team live than a team on tv and call myself a supporter.

Lowering the price will do nothing for teams in towns, you might get a few more 100 people but £260 to go watch 19 EPL is pretty good value

Tummy · 22 Feb 2012 at 23:32

We do 'alright' attendance wise at H'borough considering it's a big stadia.

J-FRO · 22 Feb 2012 at 23:55

I've toyed with the idea in my head as to could it work if they sold tickets for the spare seats from 5 minutes before kick off? Say a ticket costs £30 for one of these clubs who are struggling to fill the stadium, those who can afford it and care will generally pay the £30 and still go anyway. Those who are disillusioned or less well off may be inclined to go along if they can get a ticket on the door for £15 although they may miss the first 10 minutes of the game. The main issues would be figuring out how to sell them quickly enough in case there are large queues. I think the principle benefits of this would be some revenue from otherwise empty seats and also the revenue from food/drink etc as well.

Those who are buying season tickets wouldn't care I don't think unless of course they're a top 10 team and are come february struggling with relegation and suddenly tickets are dirt cheap yet you've still had to pay a few thousand for your season ticket. That'd just be taking the pee. But if you're only expecting to finish somewhere from 10th - 17th is could be a viable option to fill those empty seats. And if youre a top side anyway and there happens to be a thousand seats empty that saturday because you're only playing wolves and the ruggers is on later, then cheaper tickets on the door could also be beneficial in at least putting bums on seats.

peterattheboro · 22 Feb 2012 at 23:58

mrbios said:
That's news to me, our last season in league 1 we had a higher average attendance than every club in the championship bar Newcastle, even beating the bottom bunch of prem teams, and apart from the idiot leeds fans that think boycotting matches in the past few weeks in a bid to get rid of bates will ever work our attendance hasn't dropped?

EDIT: looking at the stats, we had a much higher attendance last season than this season and the previous season, this season is a bit of a let down by about 3000 fans on average, but i think that's mostly fueled by the anti bates idiots. This is quite handy: http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/DivisionalAttendance/0,,10794~20107,00.html to be honest though you only have to look at other teams highest attendance record, and so many of them are vs leeds, shows our away support is still in full force. We've been 7 other teams highest attendance opponent, that's pretty impressive.

The average attendance this season for Leeds United is around 23,000. The stadium holds near 38,000 hence why I included them. I wasn't picked on them specifically, just using an example.

J-FRO said:
I've toyed with the idea in my head as to could it work if they sold tickets for the spare seats from 5 minutes before kick off? Say a ticket costs £30 for one of these clubs who are struggling to fill the stadium, those who can afford it and care will generally pay the £30 and still go anyway. Those who are disillusioned or less well off may be inclined to go along if they can get a ticket on the door for £15 although they may miss the first 10 minutes of the game. The main issues would be figuring out how to sell them quickly enough in case there are large queues. I think the principle benefits of this would be some revenue from otherwise empty seats and also the revenue from food/drink etc as well.

Most clubs will sell tickets before kick off apart from those that sell out every week.