Indeed. It's the realisation of how insignificant the sums are that we pay over for entering the ground. Once upon a time we were such a crucial part of a clubs survival because the money at the turnstiles was everything. But now we are pretty insignificant. Clubs survive and thrive (or not) based on the oil price, and how rich that makes their owners, and how profligate they are prepared to be with their money.
That hit me when we announced £15m in losses a few years ago, which equated to 25,000 of us paying an extra £25 for each of 25 games. We contribute, yeah we contribute, but the money fans pay on the gate is mere chicken feed. As such they are not our clubs anymore, they are truly owned by the guys who pump the insane money in to keep up with these transfers.
THAT, for me, is why the spiraling cost of players transfers and wages spells the end of football as we once knew it. Football as the peoples game, where they were our clubs, and owners we nothing more than short-term custodians.
Gate money is chicken feed in the PL, but the majority of income for the rest. The imbalance is crazy (and growing)