Usually I come on BigSoccer to debate on Arsenal, Red Bulls, and Asian football but I also go on a separate forum for Indian football (soccer) news and discussion and recently it was found out that one of the teams (well actually 4 of the teams) in the 14 team I-League (the top league) lets most of their fans in the stadium for free. No costs for tickets at all. Out of around 7,000 fans only 700 payed. Now I have never seen this before in a professional competition where fans don't have to pay for tickets to see a match. To me it describes soccer in India as it is a very below par standard. But on that forum I argued how this needs to change yet I was challenged about how ticket revenue means nothing and how most clubs and leagues only care for sponsors and money they put in. Now I dont want to go into that here myself. I just want the opinion of people on BigSoccer... Does ticket revenue mean anything to you and how does it matter in the world of sports? Is it major or minor? Cheers.
It matters an awful lot to 'most' of the worlds top clubs! I wish it didnt, £ 50.00 for me to see my 'team' now!!!!!!!
According to the 2010-2011 Bundesliga financial reports, they break down their revenue as follows: Advertising: 28.92% Media Receipts (TV): 28.55% Matchday Takings (Tickets and Concessions): 21.43% Other Income: 10.93% Transfers: 6.01% Merchandising: 4.17% This is a league wide overview, I'm sure this is an average figure, but I'm sure per club, the percentages break down more or less this way. However, with that being said, it seems like ticket revenue is 3rd in importance of income, but still substantial. In order to be profitable, whether it's the Bundesliga or MLS, it seems like the big 3 as far as making money are concerned (for a league and a club): 1 - Advertising and Sponsorships 2 - Media Revenue (TV, Radio, Internet, etc.) 3 - Tickets and Matchday income (concessions, parking) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the above being presented, it seems like the way that certain Indian clubs let their fans in for free, seems like a way to cater to their local fans, and would be an exception as opposed to the rule. I know in Brazil that outgoing transfers are a huge part of their revenue, and the clubs there are much more dependent on it than clubs anywhere else. I remember reading an article a few years ago that stated that Sao Paulo FC (IIRC) broke even and selling their players was their only source of profit.
Some people act as if they would still get that massive TV money if there were no demonstrated interest in the product via ticket sales. A very large chunk of the NFL's massive ($9B/year) revenue is national TV revenue. But they wouldn't get that huge amount of money if people weren't interested enough to actually still pony up to go see the product live. (And while more and more folks are finding that their big-screen TV and their own refrigerator > the in-stadium experience, there is still - in most markets, anyway - no lack of people willing to plunk down money and spend time to attend NFL games.) You can look at the line items and say ticket revenue doesn't matter because it's smaller than some other line items. But TV revenue doesn't come where there is no demonstrated interest in the product by actual live consumers, and sponsors don't pay you lots of money to not reach people.
Obviously it does. If people won't show up at the stadium, they likely have something better to do in general. Game day reciepts are huge although not nearly as huge as the percentage in television. As you know that's the problem that's deviling MLS, the TV side. From a US perspective, I'm like "yea it's great, but we REALLY need to focus on tv". Other leagues really don't need as much help as we do (India exception).
Ticket revenue is becoming less important but full stadia is still vital for selling a compelling "product" to broadcasters. It will never happen but clubs (like Monaco perhaps) should be paying people to come to games!
I would assume that in India, the sort of price fans could afford to pay would be very small, so it'd make little difference overall. It could also be a long term thing, in that you get the fan base to grow, and then maybe allow ticket prices to creep up