How to fill the Amex

[Bold Seagull]

I don't find increasing income that exciting. I'm amazed how many fans on here do. I appreciate that the players wages need paying.

If they did drop prices it would be a happier club with more fans attending games. I guess I see it as more of a club than a business. As a fan.

Away tickets should be maximum £20 at all clubs in all leagues.

They should be £20, but don't make statements like all these ticket reductions would be offset by concourse sales or even a big increase in attendance.

You're also suggesting attendance will increase with a less able squad. You're talking the equivalent of at least 2 £10k per week players gone from the squad. If we aren't doing as well, do you honestly think crowds will increase above 25k?

Football needs to tackle ticket prices collectively. Brighton tackling the problem on its own doesn't help solve a game wide problem.

We all go to football to hopefully see our side win. I can assure you that even having spent £20 on ticket, it won't be a happy place if we're not doing well.

 

[Peter Grummit]

Fundamentally it is a cost issue for most people isn't it. Season tickets are by far the cheapest option, and represent anyone who is really bothered about the Albion. And even then a lot of them don't turn up for a good % of the games.

The match by match prices are still too high for a lot of people.

I think a big factor though is the high % of season ticket holders we have. We have four seats, three of us go to every game, but the fourth seat rotates between my daughter, my partner, friends. All of these people are therefore getting a bit of the Albion without paying extra and that is reducing the number of people likely to buy the extra match tickets. The floating season ticket is definitely a factor that was a lot less prevalent in the old days when season ticket holders only accounted for a smaller % of the crowd.

The most sensible post of the thread.

Most Albion fans either a) have a season ticket; or, b) have access to family/friends tickets on at least an occasional basis, at 'mates rates'. If you have neither, it is very likely you are a lukewarm fan or have historically followed another team: for these people the matchday ticket prices are likely to be punitive. This is the pricing problem the club faces. They can organise offers like the Cardiff mates for a tenner, which is great, but they can't do it too often or it will undermine the 'marginal' STH, (who may, eg, live out-county and struggle for midweek games) and they may not renew next year.

PG

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Many exiles who I'm sure give midweek games a miss....Just a long long slog sadly.

it's even a bit of a hassle if you're in the worthing/shoreham area which isn't even that far. There will always be a chunk of hardcore fans who will go no matter what but I'm sure this puts of a lot of casual fans

 

[Peter Grummit]

SHOULD we get promoted (huge IF I know) then the vast TV money ought to mean there is no real need to whack up the ticket prices. Whether this will happen, I doubt, but maybe [MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] could shed light on the relative sums involved?

PG

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

If we go up the AMEX will sell out 30K every match.

The longer we stay at the top this season, the bigger the crowds will get.


All the club need to do is get a decent striker, and perhaps another midfielder, which it appears they are in Argentina to do.

 

[chaileyjem]

PS: This is the cost, for Preston/away fans, for sitting in the South Stand on Saturday including travel.
Its also considerably more comfortable (eyeline, seat, range of food, beer, stewarding, staff wearing colours, welcome posters, live tv sport, post match refreshments/access) than many , if not all, away grounds which matters to some fans, but not all.

Adults £30
Over 65s £22
Under 21 £22
Under 18 £15
Under 10 £8

via http://www.pnefc.net/tickets/ticket-prices/

 

[Taybha]

Bring back Gully's Girls , problem solved

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Bring back Gully's Girls , problem solved

Too much temptation for the Dev Squad.

 

[drew]

it's even a bit of a hassle if you're in the worthing/shoreham area which isn't even that far. There will always be a chunk of hardcore fans who will go no matter what but I'm sure this puts of a lot of casual fans

Makes you wonder how we attracted so many to the Goldstone for midweek games! We had to put up with the traffic lights at Pycombe to get on to the A23 and then queue at the traffic lights at Patcham to go up Mill Rd. Don't know why we bothered.

I suspect some people were spoilt with the ease of getting away from Withdean.

 

[El Presidente]

I don't find increasing income that exciting. I'm amazed how many fans on here do. I appreciate that the players wages need paying.

If they did drop prices it would be a happier club with more fans attending games. I guess I see it as more of a club than a business. As a fan.

As a fan, I tend to be happier when we are winning. For that to be the case the club has to pay the going rate for players of a decent quality. If we don't, someone else will.

The club has shown initiatives this season, the 'mate for a tenner' scheme for the Cardiff match was successful, the Flexi four tickets for £100 is pretty good value too. Out of that £100 the club would have to pay for transport (I don't know the actual price, but let's work on the basis of £2.50 a match), and VAT on the remainder. Therefore the club end up with £75 for four matches, with is £18.75 per fan per match.

 

[El Presidente]

SHOULD we get promoted (huge IF I know) then the vast TV money ought to mean there is no real need to whack up the ticket prices. Whether this will happen, I doubt, but maybe [MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] could shed light on the relative sums involved?

PG

The current TV deal in the Championship, along with solidarity payments from the Premier League, will bring in about £7 million next season (I think) per club.

The 2014/15 Premier League deal with Sky/BT was worth £65 million a season for the side that finished bottom (QPR) and £99 million for the Champions.

These figures will increase by about £35 million when the new BT/Sky Deal kicks in next season, and then there are overseas rights that are being renegotiated too, to add on to those figures.

 

[halbpro]

The current TV deal in the Championship, along with solidarity payments from the Premier League, will bring in about £7 million next season (I think) per club.

The 2014/15 Premier League deal with Sky/BT was worth £65 million a season for the side that finished bottom (QPR) and £99 million for the Champions.

These figures will increase by about £35 million when the new BT/Sky Deal kicks in next season, and then there are overseas rights that are being renegotiated too, to add on to those figures.

So the promoted sides from this season will see at least an instant £93m increase in revenue, regardless of all other factors?

 

[Man of Harveys]

The current TV deal in the Championship, along with solidarity payments from the Premier League, will bring in about £7 million next season (I think) per club.

The 2014/15 Premier League deal with Sky/BT was worth £65 million a season for the side that finished bottom (QPR) and £99 million for the Champions.

These figures will increase by about £35 million when the new BT/Sky Deal kicks in next season, and then there are overseas rights that are being renegotiated too, to add on to those figures.

Jesus Christ. On that basis 10mil for that striker seems a good investment...if we go up, of course. Gulp.

 

[El Presidente]

So the promoted sides from this season will see at least an instant £93m increase in revenue, regardless of all other factors?

Yup. The reason why clubs in the Championship are going for broke this season, and gambling on signings, is to get a SLICE of the new deal.

One way to look at it is akin to buying a lottery ticket, but instead of a 1 in 50 million chance of a jackpot, it's 3 in 24. Under those circumstances you would be prepared to buy a few extra tickets, which is what clubs are doing by paying the likes of Downing £70k a week and the Albion rejecting the £5m bid from Fulham for Dunk.

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

It's easy to spend someone else's money, isn't it?

Most fans don't find increasing income that exciting. However most fans can appreciate that Tony Bloom probably doesn't find subsidising loses to the tune of 8-10m a year that exciting either. And that's before FFP limits are even taken into account.

I guess owning a club in the championship and running it at a loss a calculated risk. Spend some money and if the club get promoted to the Prem it becomes an absolute cash cow which the owner can either draw a huge income from or sell to the highest bidder. You have the added bonus of minimal tax liability because on paper at least you aren't making any profit.

I get the picture though- lots of people are happy with the current ticket prices, particularly season ticket holders. I wonder if there would be any complaints if season ticket prices raised to £42 a game? I'm guessing people would be furious, but that's what the club charges for many of the match day tickets and that is a big factor restricting more / new people coming to games.

 

[halbpro]

Yup. The reason why clubs in the Championship are going for broke this season, and gambling on signings, is to get a SLICE of the new deal.

One way to look at it is akin to buying a lottery ticket, but instead of a 1 in 50 million chance of a jackpot, it's 3 in 24. Under those circumstances you would be prepared to buy a few extra tickets, which is what clubs are doing by paying the likes of Downing £70k a week and the Albion rejecting the £5m bid from Fulham for Dunk.

I knew it was a big step up, but a £93m increase is absolutely ludicrous. Obviously outgoings increase too (player wages and transfer fees in particular), but it's still crazy to think that one season could pay off a huge chunk of the stadium and training ground (assuming we don't go crazy on the aforementioned player costs).

 

[El Presidente]

I knew it was a big step up, but a £93m increase is absolutely ludicrous. Obviously outgoings increase too (player wages and transfer fees in particular), but it's still crazy to think that one season could pay off a huge chunk of the stadium and training ground (assuming we don't go crazy on the aforementioned player costs).

The average wage bill in the PL is about £70 million. Expect this to increase next season as agents will be negotiating safe in the knowledge that there are increased TV revenues.

The average wage bill in the Championship for 2013/14 was about £19 million, although I would expect this to rise for the CURRENT season due to the reasons given above plus a loosening of the Financal Fair Play rules.

The Premier League clubs made an operating profit between them of £614 million, compared to a loss of £222 million in the Championship. I would expect this difference of £836 million to increase to over a billion pounds a season from next year onwards (and it might even be reached this season).

 

[Monsieur Le Plonk]

El Pres those figures are making me nervous.

 

[nwgull]

I guess owning a club in the championship and running it at a loss a calculated risk. Spend some money and if the club get promoted to the Prem it becomes an absolute cash cow which the owner can either draw a huge income from or sell to the highest bidder. You have the added bonus of minimal tax liability because on paper at least you aren't making any profit.

I get the picture though- lots of people are happy with the current ticket prices, particularly season ticket holders. I wonder if there would be any complaints if season ticket prices raised to £42 a game? I'm guessing people would be furious, but that's what the club charges for many of the match day tickets and that is a big factor restricting more / new people coming to games.

[MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] can probably give more details on this, but I don't think that any Premier League clubs are cash cows, other than maybe Man Utd, which is why the Glazers took out huge loans to buy it.

As for an ST being the equivalent of £42 a game, I don't think many would pay for 23 games in one go at that price. That's the idea of a season ticket though: you get a large loyalty discount.

 

[El Presidente]

[MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] can probably give more details on this, but I don't think that any Premier League clubs are cash cows, other than maybe Man Utd, which is why the Glazers took out huge loans to buy it.

As for an ST being the equivalent of £42 a game, I don't think many would pay for 23 games in one go at that price. That's the idea of a season ticket though: you get a large loyalty discount.

The clubs that made operating profits (prior to player trading) in the PL in the most recent set of accounts were:

Manchester United £117 million
Arsenal £50 million
Villa £8 million
Cardiff £13 million
Chelsea £41 million
Palace £29 million
Everton £24 million
Hull £24 million
Liverpool £51 million
Man City £59 million
Newcastle £24 million
Norwich £26 million
Southampton £26 million
Stoke £23 million
Sunderland £11 million
Swansea £22 million
Spurs £26 million
West Brom £10 million
West Ham £32 million

The only club that lost money was Fulham, at £1 million.

The clubs had significant outflows in relation to transfer fees, but did have the resources to pay for this.