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Fans, Football and Finance: a lasting relationship?

The BBC has released its latest evaluation of prices in football and it is interesting to note that football clubs across Britain are taking note of the current economic climate and have on average reduced their prices by 2.4%. However, with the increased revenue that clubs are earning through lucrative sponsorship deals and television rights. I feel compelled to ask is this a token gesture from clubs seeking to appear compassionate to the needs of their punters whilst lining their pockets from lucrative deals. To put it simply football clubs at the top level in England do not need their fans to maintain their revenue streams.

The Sports Minister Hugh Robertson is quoted as saying that the fall of ticket prices is good news for football fans. He is correct to an extent. However, he does allude to the fact that prices had been rising incrementally in previous years. Many sources suggest this fall in ticket prices is a result of a decline in the economy and growing levels of unemployment. Although, when you consider that the Barclays Premier League clubs secured a television deal worth £600 million for teams across the division it would be foolish for clubs to increase prices when so many people are aware of the television deal.

Interestingly enough, the average price of match day tickets may have fallen but the average price for a season ticket has increased during the same period. This shows a lack of loyalty to the existing regular fan base and shows that the clubs are placing greater impetus on attracting new fans to their games rather than maintaining and rewarding their loyal season ticket holders. Surely, one would argue that during a time of economic difficulty clubs should be ensuring that they maintain their current fan base before striving to seek new fans with lower ticket prices, as this may potentially alienate their regular fans who have paid higher prices to see the same game.

However, for clubs in the lower reaches of English football the reduction in ticket prices is a prudent fiscal move as their revenue is increasingly dependent on ticket sales. It is clear to see that further down the English football system the importance of ticket revenue increased dramatically. Clubs in the lower leagues need to place higher emphasis on maintaining their current fan base to ensure financial stability and viability during difficult economic times.

An interesting comparison can be made between English and German football finances. In Germany, a higher importance is placed on revenue derived from the fans as the clubs do not receive similar vast sums from television revenue. Therefore the ticket prices are cheaper on average. Subsequently, the attendances in German football are on average, among the highest in all sporting fixtures, only the NFL in America had a larger average attendance. Uli Hoeness the President of Bayern Munich puts it simply by saying that football fans are not cows to be milked and football should be accessible to everybody. He is correct with his assertion, and this comes from a President in league which is not heavily financed by television revenue.

With the onset of the Financial Fair Play rules limiting the amount of debt clubs can get into, clubs would be wise to seek alternative revenue streams to balance their books rather than milking their fans for all they are worth. And it would seem on reflection that they are doing so in order to ensure their financial longevity and viability.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Macdonald .