With the recent media coverage about the declining atmospheres in premier league football it got me thinking, how long before attendances start dwindling and people are priced out of the game entirely? Are people becoming apathetic? For me, I love going to the Bridge, but there's no denying its an expensive venture for me and every time I go I am a little more dismayed at the atmosphere, and naturally you begin to wonder if its still worth the money.

According to a recent Premier League study, the average attending fan is 45 years old. Without sounding ageist, most guys that age and older probably won't have the same energy / motivation as a bunch of 20 year olds when it comes to shouting and sing for 90 minutes. An article I read said if the atmospheres continue to decline it will turn investors off, who may look to other leagues like the Bundesliga, who certainly seem to create a lot more noise than premier league crowds. The ticket prices in the Bundesliga are so cheap, this allows for a much wider mix of people and passions flow.

Arsenal are trying to get more kids in the stadium by offering "Teenagers for a tenner", for 1000 fans. A good way to get the younger generation in every week and a bit of noise generated. But with the wages of players these days, of course they can only afford to let a small number in at this rate.

The fact that the average attending fan is 45, to me is a little bit worrying. Of course those stats may be skewed by a few thousand OAPs, but with the ticket prices being so expensive these days, its mostly only people who are well settled in their careers and mortgages who can afford to go every week.

Then there's the TV. The governing bodies are taking more and more football off free to air TV and pushing people into subscriptions. People who can't afford Sky can still enjoy some champions league clashes on ITV are on borrowed time, as BT have snapped it up from 2015. They wont be able to see the champions league without subscribing... less exposure to something ultimately leads to a faded interest.

A sky package will cost you £60+ a month. BT Sport currently is free if you are a BT broadband customer. But it wont be free in a couple of years time. They paid £900M+ for the champions league, so they have to make that money up somewhere, and its the consumer who'll pay.

Football it seems, is becoming an expensive sport to follow even if you don't go to the games.

My question is how long do you think this can go on for until people get sick to the back teeth with it all and decide to watch something a little more morally comforting instead?

I agree with you Zola. I'd add only that these days there are other things competing with football for youngster's attention. I.e. things like gaming that didn't exist when I was a boy. The point is that people have to make choices about what to do with their disposable income and attending a premiership game would take a large proportion of the average person's disposable income.

I had to cancel my Sky subscription because I couldn't justify/afford it anymore, especially as we weren't being shown on TV that much last season.

 

Personally I think they need to introduce pay per view on the games, one off payment of a few quid and you can stream/watch whatever game you like.

 

Sky have moved towards this with the Now TV idea but it's £10 for a 24 hour pass to Sky Sports, seeing as generally people want to watch a 2 game it's still too much especially if your team happens to play a few times in the same month.

 

In an ideal world I would love to see something like a TV Season Ticket introduced where you pay a one of fee at the start of the season and can watch all of your teams games live.

 

With cameras at every game I don't see why they couldn't do this rather than picking and choosing the games they show. 

 

It's getting to a stage where fans are being priced out of supporting their clubs, even if it's just watching on TV.

 

They make out that streaming is this modern day evil but many are finding themselves without an alternative if they want to see their team play. 

I remember you used to be able to do that. We used to pay the £5 or whatever it was to watch when a Chelsea game was on the pay per view channel, but that doesn't bring in as much money as forcing people to sign up for a long contract, so not surprisingly it doesn't really happen any more.

I like the opportunity of watching other teams as well though.

 

But to the main point, I totally agree and the sooner the bubble bursts the better in my book.  Like Zola I only go a few times a year these days and when I do I'm always disappointed and sadly I always think that I made the right decision in jacking in my season ticket.  The worst thing though is that I take my boy and feel disappointed for him, he hears the stories of my and my dad back in our days and talking about our early experiences and I can't imagine him recalling his early games with as much fondness.  That said he loves it and always wants to know when I can take him again, so maybe he will.  I would certainly sacrifice some of the top players we have in this country for reduced prices, fans that actually care and maybe a bit of that old magic coming back.

Certainly a ticking time bomb. You know there is a problem when Championship and League 1 games are £30 plus.

Zola you also seem sure that a big story about drug in football is about to be whitle blown, and I have to say I certainly agree.

That could serve as the tipping point for the current apathy to blow up. Without the fans, at any level of the game, this sport is nothing. I'm sure we've all played for 11 a side teams where the fans (normally relatives) give some fuel to the passion of the club. The game has forgotten this, but has been kept alive by our loyalty.

That is waining and the cost is too high even to watch on TV as many have pointed out.

Detractors from the view that this time is coming often point to international markets that will keep the PL alive. But these people across the global are perceptive and they like the passion of our product. They will be gone too once this element has gone.

I think everything will come to head around Euro 2020 and Qatar 2022. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

I agree with you guys, not by the fact I go to games, (the 4000 mile one way trip is a bit problematic) but reading posts and news articles.  I guess we should look at the root cause, agents and wages.  Agents and wages has now got so ridiculous mediocre players are costing 20 mill + and somehow clubs have to claw that money back and just like a 'taxpayer' when government overspend and so it is the 'fan' in sport.  I can only speak about local sports here in TO.  Of course Ice Hockey (NHL) is the be all and end all, try and get a ticket for a Leaf game, best of luck, years waiting and every year they bump up prices, but there again they have no geographical competition no matter how badly they play, and they have geographical rights in Ontario, which is about as big as the UK, which means no new NHL team can start up unless they say so, quite the monopoly!  The last game I went cost $226, for a front row seat, I bought them from a friend who got them corporately.  With a couple of drinks before hand etc, entire night was around $400 for 60 minutes of entertainment.  Football fans in England are somewhat different, as there are hundreds of clubs to go and watch and of course the big teams will charge more, but what is the breaking point for the average fan who is a blue collar worker for the EPL?  50 - 75 pounds a game? Only when the fans decide to stay at home and watch TV or grab games on the internet will they start to worry, or will they?  Corporate sponsorship and TV deals is where the real money is, the fans are secondary, maybe not to the players but to the suits IMO. If CFC want to bring expand the ground or relocate someone has to pay for the move…you guessed it, the fans.  So I guess the average fan goer will have to sit at home and watch the box, no atmosphere perhaps, but at least your dry and warm and you can grab a beer from the fridge without being another fiver lighter….just a thought.

Became a game that the rich can afford,and it is only becoming more and more expensive.I will spend a lot on my trip to Basel with the travel and ticket costs,plus i will probably need to sleep over there for a night or two.

This is a major problem and i cant see how it can be solved. Clubs cant really afford to flog cheap tickets as they have massive wage bills to pay for. Also it seems if you do stand up and start a sing song you are just told to sit down. Things have changed at Chelsea for the worse. It has become more business like. The days are gone when you could walk up to the ticket office on match day and get yourself a seat. Even if you could the price of your ticket counts a lot of people out. You dont get into Chelsea with your pocket money anymore.

As for TV i cant seem any of the clubs agreeing to let their games be streamed. How many people would turn up in winter time when its snowing or peeing down with rain when you could just watch it live on tv or in a pub with your mates? You would still get people going of course but the numbers would go down even more than they currently are.

Football as a whole is changing, clubs are selling their soul to rich business men, business men who dont understand whats its like to be a fan. Business men who are only interested in putting bums on seats and not caring if the place is rocking like a heavy metal concert or if its quiet like a church. The days of having people like Colin Hutchinson (god rest his soul) buying into clubs are gone because big clubs like Chelsea and Man City etc cost far too much.

Take the sacking of Robbie, a hero in our eyes, he won us the cup that seemed would never be won by our club. Then he was cast away as soon as Roman could try and justify it. Then to make matters worse the board bring in a man who is hated by Chelsea fans. Do the board care? No, not one bit. If that doesnt show that the heart and soul have been ripped from our club then i dont know what does.

This is a major problem and i cant see how it can be solved. Clubs cant really afford to flog cheap tickets as they have massive wage bills to pay for. Also it seems if you do stand up and start a sing song you are just told to sit down. Things have changed at Chelsea for the worse. It has become more business like. The days are gone when you could walk up to the ticket office on match day and get yourself a seat. Even if you could the price of your ticket counts a lot of people out. You dont get into Chelsea with your pocket money anymore.

As for TV i cant seem any of the clubs agreeing to let their games be streamed. How many people would turn up in winter time when its snowing or peeing down with rain when you could just watch it live on tv or in a pub with your mates? You would still get people going of course but the numbers would go down even more than they currently are.

Football as a whole is changing, clubs are selling their soul to rich business men, business men who dont understand whats its like to be a fan. Business men who are only interested in putting bums on seats and not caring if the place is rocking like a heavy metal concert or if its quiet like a church. The days of having people like Colin Hutchinson (god rest his soul) buying into clubs are gone because big clubs like Chelsea and Man City etc cost far too much.

Take the sacking of Robbie, a hero in our eyes, he won us the cup that seemed would never be won by our club. Then he was cast away as soon as Roman could try and justify it. Then to make matters worse the board bring in a man who is hated by Chelsea fans. Do the board care? No, not one bit. If that doesnt show that the heart and soul have been ripped from our club then i dont know what does.

Yeah uno good post. Modern football is in a bad place.

Zola I would say that the issue you brought up has always been an issue. Just ask any Wimbledon F.C. fan what they think. I am sure they would tell you something about this situation. Especially in London, I don't know how clubs can exist in so close proximity of each other. I hate to say it, but I would say Football is headed towards a future that we are seeing in North America w/ the MLS. Investors come to a board to show the potential of a franchise. Then the Board will vote to include the potential franchise. I hate to tell you this, but those good days of footie are gone. It's all about the Big Clubs now.

Edited November 20, 201312 yr by robdog

Zola I would say that the issue you brought up has always been an issue. Just ask any Wimbledon F.C. fan what they think. I am sure they would tell you something about this situation. Especially in London, I don't know how clubs can exist is so close proximity of each other. I hate to say it, but I would say Football is headed towards a future that we are seeing in North America w/ the MLS. Investors come to a board to show the potential of a franchise. Then the Board will vote to include the potential franchise. I hate to tell you this, but those good days of footie are gone. It's all about the Big Clubs now.

 

The European Super League is just around the corner….big rich clubs only need apply!!

The odd thing is, football clubs are being swamped with cash from TV deals, yet hardly any are in the black. The biggest drain is players wages. They need to be capped, let's face it, even at 10k a week say, is a footballer going to jack it in and become a postman or whatever ?

Since giving up my season ticket, I can still get to most games thru family and friends tickets, and still love going to the bridge, but the pub down the road shows our games, a lot cheaper, 5 mins away instead of 2 hours, and a better atmosphere !

The Germans have got it right, no foreign owners and fan friendly, we have lost our football soul in this country

Arsenal are trying to get more kids in the stadium by offering "Teenagers for a tenner", 

Theres the makings of a Wenger based song in that quote.

Salary caps are illegal and very easily circumvented anyway.

There are still ways that the FA could stop wages going up. They could put a rule in to the clubs that they can only spend X amount on wages a season then its up to the clubs to decide who gets the big wages and who doesnt.

There are still ways that the FA could stop wages going up. They could put a rule in to the clubs that they can only spend X amount on wages a season then its up to the clubs to decide who gets the big wages and who doesnt.

Yeah that would be a good solution, albeit it would have negative effects for us.

 

You'd also get to see what players are mercenaries and what ones want to actually win things as all players could agree for worse financial deals at better teams. Much like what happens in the NBA, where the Miami Heat had/have 3 stars and the best team as they are on lower contracts were they to be the 'franchise' player elsewhere.

There's one thing we're all missing in this, football isn't the game it was 20-30 years ago, it's now more theatre than sport, the clubs don't want big groups of rowdy young men going to games because the cause trouble, cost more to police and turn away other fan groups that are now going to games but wouldn't have in the past.  To me this is short sighted, as some have said the overseas market is largely based on the passion our football has had, with that gone from the grounds those overseas markets will start looking elsewhere.  Will it be enough to cause the bubble to burs?  I have no idea.