Are you a season ticket holder for your favorite soccer team?

Discussion in 'BigSoccer Polls' started by sarabella, Feb 18, 2007.

  1. TinDC69

    TinDC69 New Member

    Sep 19, 2006
    DC
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Venezuela
    season tickets since 2005
     
  2. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    From what I've heard, tickets are around £70-100. The $600 was arrived at four tickets at an estimated £75. Apparently they make more from tickets on a matchday than any other team in the world.
     
  3. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Sun had a wonderful article earlier in the month regarding ticket prices and fan attendance. For the past couple years Prem teams (even the "big four") are facing decreasing attendance to their games while prices are going higher and higher. In the January FA Cup replays, there were 157,000 unsold tickets. That is more than the number of tickets sold.

    FC Barcelona fans can buy a season ticket for as low as 69 GBP for the SEASON!

    I can tell you personally that excellent seats for single VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich games can be had for about 8 GBP.

    The cheapest season ticket available to an Arsenal fan is 885 GBP. The cheapest single game ticket is 23 GBP.

    It is estimated that Premiere league teams make 10% of their revenue from ticket sales. (Television and merchandising make up most of the other 90%)

    Why would English fans put up with this? It's insane. Though judging from the number of empty seats I see at Emirates and other clubs on television, maybe they aren't putting up with it.
     
  4. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes, Hleb played. That was the year we beat Man U in a Champions League match.....long before you rich bastards bought him away from us! :D
     
  5. Tony Dellbird

    Tony Dellbird English and Proud

    Mar 26, 2004
    Jolly Ol' England
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    They're not that expensive, the cheapest you can get a ticket for is £40 I believe they rise up to a £100 though. The one thing I hate about The Emirates is the fact they don't have names for their stands, they just call them colours it's silly. How are the fans supposed to use that to chant :eek:

    Also beer is about £3-£4
     
  6. peteo

    peteo Member

    Jun 19, 2002
    Daly Citay, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nope, only team I'd buy season tix for moved. :(
     
  7. PZ

    PZ Member

    Apr 11, 1999
    Michiana
    Club:
    Ipswich Town FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was until I moved away.
     
  8. jadger

    jadger Member

    Apr 12, 2006
    Kanada
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    well, my fav team is Bayern Munich, but they are an ocean away. But I bought season tix to Toronto FC cuz they are my fav this side of the pond team
     
  9. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    Arsenal and United have bigger crowds, so will Liverpool when they get a new stadium.

    That's cheap, but they have a massive stadium and a massive TV deal so they can afford it.

    No it's much higher than that. You can't cut ticket prices and rely entirely on TV revenue either because then if you're relegated you'll have zero income.
     
  10. sidis

    sidis Member

    Jun 2, 2006
    Itaguaí-RJ - Brazil
    No but i will be this year.

    in brazil season ticket is called "supporter's partnership" you pay some amount per month and can enter in any game of your team.

    my team is something aroung U$90 dollars per year.
     
  11. sprovi

    sprovi New Member

    Jul 3, 2004
    Where I breathe
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Live three hours away from the team and am in grad school. Too far and no time. God bless the TV deals.
     
  12. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    :::::::::::So, when the newness of the stadium wears off in say 4-5 years...(I know all about this. The Detroit Tigers and Detroit Lions both built new stadiums. Attendence skyrocketed....then dropped again (though the Tigers jumped again because of good play.) ..new stadium effect doesn't last forever...do they all build new ones again?::::::::::::::::::::



    :::::::::Are you F**KING kidding me? Are you aware that the Premiere league now has a multi-BILLION, with a "B" pound TV deal starting next season? Not much more massive than BILLIONS of pounds....:::::::::::::::::::::::::


    :::::::::::::::You are right. The teams don't rely on TV revenue and ticket sales alone.....look at the teams shirts....Arsenal's shirt doesn't say "Fly Emeriates" for free.....and you can't look more than 5 feet in any direction without seeing an ad. Those aren't free either. And the Championship and League one and two have television deals as well....Don't believe me? Read this. Or this. The Prem is determined to screw their fans out of as much money as possible. Now don't get me wrong, they are businesses, and exist solely to make money....so they can charge what they like...but one wonders how much longer prices will remain such that attendance will decline before it will be to late.::::::::::::::
     
  13. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    I don't see United's crowds dropping anywhere.

    [quote[:::::::::Are you F**KING kidding me? Are you aware that the Premiere league now has a multi-BILLION, with a "B" pound TV deal starting next season? Not much more massive than BILLIONS of pounds....:::::::::::::::::::::::::[/quote]

    Multi-billion, over several seasons, split between 20 teams. The most any team will get next season is fifty million. Real Madrid get about double that. Barca, Juve, Inter and AC Milan aren't far behind. Spain and Italy don't have collective deals.

    For most teams, sponsorship and ads make up a small fraction of revenue. Ticket revenue is the most important to any team which isn't safe from relegation (i.e. all but four).

    Pitiful television deals. Linking to the Sun just destroys your credibility I'm afraid. How can clubs be 'robbing fans blind' when they're barely making any profit?
     
  14. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    I would love to see the numbers that you are basing your argument on.

    As far as barely making any profit, I direct you to the situation faced about 2-3 years ago by the National Hockey League.....owners claimed they were making no money while continuously shattering player salary records with their signings. Surely the actions of men who were making no money on the sport...

    Of course now that the NHL owners strong-armed the players association based on the claim of "oh poor us", the entire financial structure of the league is now changed and we will never know just how true their claim was. The owners have forced the fans and the players to save themselves from themselves.

    But soccer owners can be trusted more than hockey owners. Just ask the Italians.
     
  15. USAin2006

    USAin2006 Member

    Sep 7, 2004
    NYC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Giants Stadium is like a mausloeum and since I live in Manhattan, getting there via the PABT is a nightmare....so no season tix for me. However, I WILL get season tix once Red Bulk Park opens, since I can take the PATH train and the place is sure to have tons of atmospphere.
     
  16. jadger

    jadger Member

    Apr 12, 2006
    Kanada
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    sounds like a sore hockey fan to me. I cant believe you're siding with the hockey players "Oh, I'm only making 10 million a year, poor me" the truth is, only a few teams were making profit, hence why "profit sharing" was a major issue in the lockout. teams like Toronto were makin lots of money becuase of crazy fan base and not spending money on any good players. whereas teams in Florida or other areas of the states where not making any money becasue no one was coming to games, but buying good players to fill the roster, and winning cups. especially the expansion teams, they make basically nill! The reason players were making more is simple, competition, you need championships to get fans, u need fans to make money. u need good players to win championships. those teams that are making money can pay more for players without going in the red, so their competition was driving up prices, basic economics here stonesean.
     
  17. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, I am not sure I agrre there...look at your quote
     
  18. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I hit that damn "send" button by accident.

    Anyway, look at your quote....

    If expansion teams make no money, is that the players fault? Perhaps an expansion team that can't make money does not deserve to be a team? This is a business after all.

    Imagine you play for the Detroit Red Wings. You sign a 5 year 50 million dollar contract. Well, in year two of your deal, you are told your contract is going to be voided. YOU have to take a pay cut because the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes can't make a profit? That's hardly your fault.

    Enough about hockey. This is about soccer. Look at your quote about Germany. I lived in Stuttgart for 4 years. I went to many many VfB games. I figure I paid on the average about 15 Euros for almost every game. I also got to see a Germany/Argentina friendly. That was a bit more. A little over 40 Euros I think...

    The cheapest ticket to the cheapest (least preferred opponent) game at Watford is almost 30 euros (20 GBP). Are the Watford fans getting a better product for their money than the Stuttgart fans are? Is it at least equal value? Doubt it.

    http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,1014,sid%253D%2526cid%253D85962,00.html

    A season couple seasons ago, ticket prices accounted for 20% of all premier league revenue. 395 million pounds of a 2 billion dollar total. Broadcast rights accounted for 45% of all revenue. This was BEFORE the new multi-billion dollar Premiership TV deal. Ticket sales are less and less important to a teams bottom line, but ticket prices are going nowhere but up. This is suicide if you ask me.

    The wonderful thing that is about to happen to English soccer unless owners take action is that ticket sales will continue to dwindle. Fans will eventually lose interest, and then the prem will see itself lose merchandise and televison numbers...all of this compounding unless they can put butts in the seats. Don't believe me? Chelsea just announced a ticket price freeze. They didn't do it because they are a nice team, they did it because they realize that it's in the teams best interest. Now, will the rest of the Prem follow, or just play ignorant?
     
  19. jadger

    jadger Member

    Apr 12, 2006
    Kanada
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    they are not making money in the short run, but in the long term it should eventually make profit (they hope). it is just like any other business. Businesses continue to run even though they are losing money, because they are still generating an income when they run (or play games) but they have permanent costs (eg rent) even if they don't play. companies run at losses in order to lessen the amount of money they are actually losing. have u ever taken a basic economics course?

    ticket sales are amounting to less of a percentage because of exactly what you are saying. only so many people can fit into a soccer stadium, whereas you can reach millions at home, so of course they are going to demand more money from TV broadcasting than tickets. of course prices for tickets are going up, inflation is increasing, and if there are more ppl watching it on TV than going to games, you have to increase the price of a ticket in order to make the same amount of profit. let's put it in an equation: you can sell 20 tickets for $10 each, or you can sell 10 tickets for $20 each, to the owners it doesn't make a difference. When it becomes out of proportion and no one wants to go to games, then it becomes a problem. It is called the invisible hand of the marketplace, when people are unwilling to pay a price for something, then the price will correspondingly drop. don't get mad at a company for trying to make more profit, that is like getting mad at a dog for wagging its tail, that is what it is supposed to do.

    see my comment above.
     
  20. jadger

    jadger Member

    Apr 12, 2006
    Kanada
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    my first paragraph is about expansion teams FYI
     
  21. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    Believe me, non-Premiership clubs are not making much, if anything from TV deals. The most they can hope for is a lucrative cup tie against a big four team.

    Perhaps you should think about the difference between profit and revenue. How can a business with limited revenue spending record amounts on wages be possibly making any profit?

    Many football clubs are publicly traded, if they're lying about their earnings then they're in deep shit.
     
  22. leg_breaker

    leg_breaker Member

    Dec 23, 2005
    It's call economics. Watford charge higher prices because people in England are willing to spend more money to watch football matches. Stuttgart can get 55k fans a week, Watford's crowds are around 19k at most. This means Watford's tickets would have to be almost three times higher in order to be financially level.

    Watford are also competing against 19 rich clubs, Stuttgart are competing mainly against poorer German clubs, they don't need as much money to buy and pay the wages of players.

    Believe me if German clubs could charge English prices and get away with it, they would.

    So what happens if a club slashes revenue, but then is relegated. They have no ticket revenue, and now no TV money. In order to stay in business they would have to jack up ticket prices. But if fans are used to paying next to nothing to watch the Premiership, why would they pay three times as much to watch the Championship? Cutting ticket prices significantly is a very dangerous game.

    For some clubs, yes, for other clubs, no. The top clubs are not seeing ticket sales dwindle. The smaller clubs may be, but they're generally have always had small crowds. Bolton's crowds now are the same as in the late 70s when it was a pound to get in.

    Did high ticket prices do this to the NFL?
     
  23. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I think CCC clubs get somewhere in the region of £400,000 a year each.

    They charge high ticket prices because the money sloshing around in the premiership has had a massive inflationary impact on wages. Clbs outside the premiership are certainly not making fortunes.

    When Reading were in the CCC we weren't one of the better paying clubs, and our break even figure was quoted as being 16,000 a week.
     
  24. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    oh, and yes, since about 1988.
     
  25. cloudy3139

    cloudy3139 New Member

    Jul 3, 2007
    Irvine, Scotland
    Club:
    Glasgow Rangers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Scotland
    Yes, Rangers, for about 10 years.
     

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