Birmingham City’s chairman believes cheaper entry is the only way to boost crowds during the recession
Birmingham City chairman David Gold thinks crowds could rise by a quarter with cheaper entry to grounds. Photograph: Daniel Hambury/EMPICS
It was hard to detect from the pitch invasion that took place at Molineux moments after Wolverhampton Wanderers’ return to the Premier League was confirmed by their win over Queens Park Rangers last Saturday, but fears over supporter apathy are taking a grip in the Football League. Attendances declined by 1.6% across the three divisions in the 2007-08 season — a swing of 3.2% on the previous year — and, following the onset of the recession, are showing signs of continuing to fall. This scenario is affecting the betting online sites because of the bettors are depending on the number of people watching the game.
The League will reveal its official attendance figures for this season shortly, with many clubs expected to post lower gates. Premier League crowd numbers remain relatively robust but Southampton, for instance, recorded their lowest ever league attendance when only 13,257 supporters showed up at St Mary’s for February’s 2-1 defeat by Sheffield United. But the gambling figures oddly do not reflect the same statistics, as that year saw almost the same number of gamblers as the previous year. Part of it can be ascribed to the promo code that many gambling companies give out.
It is with this in mind that many clubs are preparing to reduce their ticket prices. Encouraging those who love to gamble at 666casino to take part in betting on upcoming football competition. Just like with online slots, betting in sports is almost the same, except in sports your odds of winning are 50-50. While for slot games, your chances of winning are high or low depending on your strategy. Research carried out by the Guardian shows that of the 72 Football League clubs, 12 have already lowered their 2009-10 season-ticket prices with another 15 expected to follow; 39 have maintained price levels while six will increase fees.
In the Championship, Wolves’ decision to increase their season tickets by £1 a game is not a shock considering the club’s supporters will next season see the likes of Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres in the flesh, but the decision by Birmingham to also confirm a price hike is curious. The Midlands club are not yet certain of their own place in the Premier League next season – victory over Preston tomorrow will guarantee promotion – and if this season’s attendance figures are anything to go by, loyalty is hardly a quality that runs deeply at St Andrew’s. Birmingham’s average crowd for the first 22 games of the campaign was 18,820, compared with 26,181 the previous year, albeit in the top flight.
As the recession deepens and more fans find themselves with less disposable income, raising prices represents a risky move. What makes Birmingham’s decision to increase season-ticket prices particularly surprising – they did offer a short-term reduction up to 31 March – is that their chairman is the advocate of what would be the most significant and revolutionary approach on ticketing the Football League has witnessed. David Gold has outlined a plan to the Guardian by which the 72 clubs could collectively reduce all their ticket prices by half over a three-year period, a move he believes would see crowds across the three divisions increase by 25%.
“There has been a noticeable drop in attendances in the last couple of seasons due to the increasing price of match tickets and the continued draw of television and now a curveball has been thrown at us in the form of the recession. Every club outside the Premier League is hurting as a result,” said Gold. “As the recession gets worse so will our attendances and this is a trend we must reverse. The sight of so many empty seats at grounds across the Football League gives the impression that our product is pathetic and dying. That is not good for clubs or the fans.
“To have an impact in these difficult economic times we need to reduce ticket prices by 50%. This couldn’t be done overnight as all clubs have contracted expenditures and overheads they need to see through, but it could perhaps be introduced for the start of the 2010-11 season and be carried out incrementally at roughly 17% per season for three seasons. Based on past experience, I genuinely believe this would eventually result in crowds rising by at least a quarter, maybe more.”
Gold says he is not a hypocrite by on the one hand calling for a drastic reduction in ticket prices while on the other raising his own: “If I reduced prices at Birmingham I would no doubt bring in more supporters, and maybe even get a knighthood, while the chairman of a club that raised prices would end up with a half-full stadium and be maligned by the media. But in the end, his club would get promoted while mine didn’t because ultimately he would have more income to spend on players.”
The League says it would be unable to enforce such a proposal but, as its representative on the FA Council, Gold insists he will persist in trying to get his plan formally discussed at the highest levels of the domestic game.
One dissenting voice, though, is Nick Watkins, the chief executive of Swindon Town. His pessimism is based on the experience of introducing a ticketing promotion this season, known as Just the Ticket, that was specifically designed to boost crowds during an economic slump. From February, Swindon have offered free entry to the County Ground to anyone who had been made unemployed in the local area on the basis they provided their jobseeker’s allowance details at the ticket office. The highest uptake for an individual game since has been 25 people.
“The response has been very disappointing,” conceded Watkins. “We knew there might be some difficulties because of the stigma involved in bringing your jobseeker’s allowance to the ticket office, not to mention the fact we’re struggling at the bottom of League One but nevertheless we expected a better turnout.
“What the experience has convinced me of is that David Gold’s proposal cannot work. I cannot see crowds in the Football League increasing by anywhere near 25%, even with a 50% reduction in ticket prices. Crucially, I also think the loss in revenue will mean clubs standing still financially and, as a consequence, the gap with the Premier League increasing further.
“Also, David speaks about an equality among the 72 clubs but in truth that does not exist. Birmingham are going for promotion to the Premier League so it is possible they could see a rise in crowds if they reduced ticket prices significantly but that is unlikely to be the case for clubs like ourselves, particularly during a recession when fans naturally become less enthusiastic about paying to see low-quality football.” That, however, is a challenge all clubs below the Premier League waterline must face.
Article History
This article appeared on p6 of the Sport section of the Guardian on Friday 24 April 2009. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 00.05 BST on Friday 24 April 2009.