Not all people will find that amount of money easily, or for a £ 1 000 iPhone, for that matter.
There are people out there having more than one job, having trouble making ends meet, and who don’t spend above their limits. Then, there are of course those who do that, spend above their limits, too.
Germany have been a good, and somewhat isolated example, of a high class league where tickets are affordable for ordinary people. So, praise to them.
On a side note, the ”punk and anarchist left wing club” FC St Pauli from Hamburg were promoted to 1.Bundesliga (they won 2.Bundesliga) - they always give the middle finger to the establishment, which is quite amusing and refreshing.
I was making the point Thomas, football was taken away from the traditional “working class” in the U.K. soon after the Premier League was created.
If you look at the cost of the average ticket nowadays compared to ticket prices in the 50’s through to the late 80’s the price is now many multiples of what it used to be in relation to average pay.
In terms of affordability, we’ve been going through a cost of living crisis here in the U.K. for the past two years, despite this hideous hardship people still seem to find the money to get to matches.
I’m not saying all of the above is right by the way.
You’ll be aware of ticket pricing in Germany, I think you can watch Bayern Munich for £10 and the same at many other clubs, that model is excellent and preferred but easier to do if you’re in a top division and in Champions League.
Once you’re below that level you become much more dependent on gate money as a % of your total income.
Would our fans be happy with lower ticket prices of £10 for an adult and £5 for concessions and then finding ourselves in League Two or worse because we can’t afford decent players?
In truth I’ve been playing Devils Advocate here.
My view on ticket pricing is this,
Season ticket holders deserve a major financial advantage over non holders, especially if we either get promoted or are in the Prem for a stretch.
So, I think it’s fair to accept that a higher ticket price has to be paid to support Championship football but if we are in the top level those loyal season ticket owners should get a massive discount off their ticket, maybe 50% off or more as the riches of the league kick in.
The much lower ticket price should continue whilst in the Prem and only go up in stages in line with parachute payments if we go down again.
That seems fair to me and a reward to the loyal ticket holders which obviously doesn’t include me anymore.
For what it’s worth, I think our present pricing is fair and I don’t think it’ll go up by much this summer if at all.
I agree Swedish as many can’t find the money without sacrificing another debt. Many are working in two jobs and I personally know a couple of NHS nurses who go to food banks to scrape by.
Why can’t the players take a pay cut or our useless CEO Mark Miles? I hope Starmer taxes the very high earners more and absolutely hammers online businesses to revive the high street who are at a very unfair disadvantage.
I am glad I am not the younger generation now as it was so much easier in years gone by to get a mortgage or one partner who could stay at home. Those who say it was much tougher for the older generation are deluded as I found everything so much easier. A 50 grand salary in some areas now would get you a shed but if certainly was the opposite in the 80’s!
Had a look on the E&S website and would seem some tickets have risen quite dramatically. It says they benchmarked their prices against other similar clubs to come up with the new prices. Hopefully ours just go up a modest amount and the matchday price is held below £30.
If other clubs are tuncs to their supporters Wolverhampton Wanderers are not legally, morally or fiscally obliged to be tuncs to their supporters.
Ticket returns are a comparatively small proportion of a club's income when looking at TV and commercial streams.
Remember post Covid when the clubs were going on about how supporters are the heart and soul of the game? So do I. They were full of s hit. No surprises there.