FAO Foxes Trust / Leicester Lass / anyone with a brain for business.

[Finnegan]

I don't remember seeing an answer to this that wasn't pure speculation on here, if a mod thinks I'm missing an obvious thread / post then just delete this and PM me a link.

But my question is (and always has been really) why are prices as high as they are?

We haven't properly sold out in years, realistically we never will sell out while we're in this division. Would making a big show of reducing ticket prices overall not serve to bring more people back whilst keeping the profit level fairly even in ticket sales? X less per ticket but Y more tickets sold?

Would increased attendances mean more policing hence more match day cost making it less viable? Do we simply believe that 25k is about the most we'll get in without lowering our ticket prices so extremely we'll make a loss? Because that's about par for our fanbase and ultimately our ground is just "too big?"

Do the club believe the increased sales in merchandise and refreshments wouldn't make a noticeable difference on match days if prices were lower but more people came?

In my head it sounds obvious but I'm a pleb with no business acumen and our owners are millionaires so I'm not suggesting they're "wrong", I'd just like to better understand the sense.

It's obviously just not us.

Apologies to Chloe if things like this don't come up in the meetings you attend. Don't mean to sound demanding of answers if you don't have a clue.

[Happy Fox]

Weren't the owners contemplating expanding the stadium should we reach the prem?

[Ashley]

Weren't the owners contemplating expanding the stadium should we reach the prem?

Yes.

[Finnegan]

Weren't the owners contemplating expanding the stadium should we reach the prem?

See, stuff like that I don't understand. Are there really 40000 regular Leicester fans in close proximity that can afford to go?

How long would we have to sell it out for for an expansion to be profitable? What would the loss be in maintenance if we were relegated?

Is the priority just having a bigger, flashier club to sell on?

Surely you wait for five or six years of guaranteed prem football and sellouts first?

[Webbo]

Haven't we had this discussion many times before?

[Finnegan]

Haven't we had this discussion many times before?

I remember it cropping up but I only really remember idiots like me speculating either way. I don't really ever remember a definitive answer. I'd like to know the Trust's view.

If DavieG or someone knows a thread it's been answered in before I'd like to read that.

[promised land]

Weren't the owners contemplating expanding the stadium should we reach the prem?

That is surely just a pipe dream, we'd need to be top 10 in the Premier league at least for season after season before the ground got expanded.

What would happen if they expanded then we had another decade in tier 2?

Manchester City are now only looking at expanding the Etihad, they have been getting 47k maximum every game since the season before they won the league, they are top 4 and owned by one of the richest families in the world.

I can't see the KP ever being developed to get more attendance, we just aren't a big enough club or fanbase. Look what happened at Molineux half way through a 3 stand redevelopment. They dropped 2 divisions.

[wattolcfc]

To get 40'000 fans a week, ticket prices would have to be cut by more than half in my view and then I think we'd still struggle.

[davieG]

Haven't we had this discussion many times before?

Yes but no answers, not that we can expect one.

 

i get the feeling that they think non-st holders are not committed fans and are there to be exploited rather than they simple cannot for many reasons commit to attending every game 

[Guest MattP]

Weren't the owners contemplating expanding the stadium should we reach the prem?

Not realistically I doubt

.

Mandaric said similar things, all owners seem to trot out these quotes now to curry favour with the supporters.

Original point it's something that warrants some explanation. Checking the prices for Forest and it's absolutely ridiculous, games like that should sell out but won't when it can be 40 quid a ticket.

[Webbo]

Yesterday we had a winnable cup tie, against premiership opposition, that wasn't on telly, while we're on a good run of form and the tickets were only  £15 a time and yet we still only had 17,000 in the stadium. Money isn't the only reason we don't sell out.

[davieG]

Yesterday we had a winnable cup tie, against premiership opposition, that wasn't on telly, while we're on a good run of form and the tickets were £15 a time and yet we still only had 17,000 in the stadium. Money isn't the only reason we don't sell out.

It's because long established high pricing has removed the habit and desire to come. To make a real impact we need a sustained and committed period of reduced matchday ticket pricing. It will take time to lure people back.

 

As i've said many a time my son used to go with a group of 10 to 15 people, even 3 years ago 4 of them were still going now none of them go. Pricing is a big part of the reason.

[Finnegan]

Yesterday we had a winnable cup tie, against premiership opposition, that wasn't on telly, while we're on a good run of form and the tickets were only £15 a time and yet we still only had 17,000 in the stadium. Money isn't the only reason we don't sell out.

I agree that there must be an upper limit to how many fans we actually have who'll regularly attend games and that it's probably lower than some of our egos would want us to believe.

But I do think a midweek league cup game, against unfashionable opposition, in which both teams were always going to field second strings is a poor barometer.

[Finnegan]

It's because long established high pricing has removed the habit and desire to come. To make a real impact we need a sustained and committed period of reduced matchday ticket pricing. It will take time to lure people back.

As i've said many a time my son used to go with a group of 10 to 15 people, even 3 years ago 4 of them were still going now none of them go. Pricing is a big part of the reason.

This, also. One off price drops and fan fixtures aren't the answer. Sustained availability.may be and I'd love to hear the economic explanation against.

[Corky]

Our average crowds have stayed fairly conistent since our last relegation, between 21 and 23k. It would increase to probably 29k should we get promoted (plenty of crowds will hit 31k but against some of the lower teams and time changes 26-27k will be a more likely figure).

 

We don't have any need to expand the ground, we'll probably always be a club that will have relegation in the mind and I doubt we'd get more than 32-34k regularly for Premier League games to justify a capacity increase.

[The Year Of The Fox]

The thought of us expanding our ground is hilarious!

I've always thought the club refusing to lower matchday ticket prices was down to them not wanting to offer better value tickets than a STH.

[Kitchandro]

Yesterday we had a winnable cup tie, against premiership opposition, that wasn't on telly, while we're on a good run of form and the tickets were only  £15 a time and yet we still only had 17,000 in the stadium. Money isn't the only reason we don't sell out.

 

It's not the only reason we don't sell out.

 

Firstly, let's be fair, it was a league cup tie. League cup ties, even FA Cup ties, aren't popular these days. And Fulham were never going to be a big draw, Premiership or not.

 

I don't expect us to be selling out in this division. What I do expect is to be getting around 30,000 for a match against say, Forest for example. Now I believe that if we had reasonable ticket prices we'd achieve that. 3 years ago and before we would have done. We did so.

 

In our first couple of seasons at our current ground we were averaging between 27-30,000. So I don't believe that we can't attract enough fans.

 

And more importantly, we've averaged significantly more than we're currently doing in previous years.

 

The problem is, all the circumstances are against us these days. People are poorer. The club is no longer viewed as a Premiership one by many, we've been out of it too long. People are fed up. They say we're shit, boring, 'why would I waste my money on those losers', etc.

 

And yes, the prices are getting higher. In fact they're obscenely high. And every year as ticket prices get higher, crowds get lower. Let's not be naive, ticket prices drive fans away, end of story.

 

Now, would we even sell out in the Premiership? Things have changed a lot.

[Kitchandro]

As for ground expansion, it shouldn't really be considered right now, but to completely dismiss it is a bit rash and rather sad. After all, our ground is a shithole and is need of a lot of renovation. It needs to be bigger to do that, really

 

If our ground was 40,000 that doesn't mean we need to be averaging 40,000. I remember when Sheffield Wednesday were in the Prem, their ground was only half full a lot of the time, but I've never heard people saying that's a stupid ground and too big for them, or they're tinpot because they can't fill it.

 

And with a revolution in ticket prices/match atmosphere etc, We're certainly capable of averaging 33K+ when circumstances change, and getting the high 30,000s for big games. Leicester is a City that's grown and we're not the same as we were 15-20 years ago. And we'll continue to grow.

 

It's also a bit presumptuous to say we'll always have relegation on our minds, shitter clubs than us have had long runs in the Premiership, some like Fulham are still there. They been there for what, 12 years? Things can change in football, personally I think we're just great at shooting ourselves in the foot. Some of the managerial choices we've made have been disastrous, on the back of good periods. We really shouldn't have yo-yoed as much as we have in our history. Regardless, history really means nothing. If Cov can spend 30 odd years in the top flight, if Fulham can spend 12, Wigan 8 etc, so can we. A lot of it is down to luck.

 

Again, right now, of course expanding the ground seems ridiculous. But we've been in a rut in so many ways in the last 10 years. 

 

Frankly, I'm not interested in the idea of seeing us play in a bland, dull, ugly and quiet stadium for the rest of time. It's not about 'full houses' as such, it's about respectable crowds in a stadium too be proud of.

[jammie82uk]

Could the ticket prices be so high due to people being disingenuous and not buying the correct priced ticket?

I see it often suggested on here about buying an adult ticket then several youngster tickets and dividing the cost between them

Last night the attendance according to the bbcsport website was 17,932

Wonder how many people did the above scenario and if done on a regular basis surely it would screw the financial figures

[wattolcfc]

As for ground expansion, it shouldn't really be considered right now, but to completely dismiss it is a bit rash and rather sad. After all, our ground is a shithole and is need of a lot of renovation. It needs to be bigger to do that, really

 

If our ground was 40,000 that doesn't mean we need to be averaging 40,000. I remember when Sheffield Wednesday were in the Prem, their ground was only half full a lot of the time, but I've never heard people saying that's a stupid ground and too big for them, or they're tinpot because they can't fill it.

 

We're certainly capable of averaging 33K+ when circumstances change, and getting the high 30,000s for big games. Leicester is a City that's grown and we're not the same as we were 15-20 years ago. And we'll continue to grow.

 

It's also a bit presumptuous to say we'll always have relegation on our minds, shitter clubs than us have had long runs in the Premiership, some like Fulham are still there. They been there for what, 12 years? Things can change in football, personally I think we're just great at shooting ourselves in the foot. Some of the managerial choices we've made have been disastrous, on the back of good periods. We really shouldn't have yo-yoed as much as we have in our history. Regardless, history really means nothing. If Cov can spend 30 odd years in the top flight, if Fulham can spend 12, Wigan 8 etc, so can we. A lot of it is down to luck.

 

Again, right now, of course expanding the ground seems ridiculous. But we've been in a rut in so many ways in the last 10 years. 

 

Frankly, I'm not interested in the idea of seeing us play in a bland, dull, ugly and quiet stadium for the rest of time. It's not about 'full houses' as such, it's about respectable crowds in a stadium too be proud of.

Great post.

[Leicester Lass]

It is discussed in the meetings quite often to be honest, and the stock answer that the club use is that our prices are competitive with other teams in the division. It doesn't help that when the BBC do their price of football survey etc. that fans fixtures are taken into account, excluding those fixtures there's not many clubs who'd be charging anywhere near what we do for games.

The fall in attendances last season was brought up a couple of meetings ago and again the club representatives say it was a pattern across the whole division, with most clubs seeing a couple of thousand shaved off their home attendances. They also had the Sky excuse last season too.

Our ST figures are up on last season, yet our attendances have been nothing short of terrible this season. We have a sub-committee meeting on Monday and I'll be bringing up the issue of cheap student tickets, so I imagine ticket prices in general will be discussed too.

[Hirsty The Blue 94]

10,000 match day tickets x£30 = 300k

15,000 match day tickets x £20 = 300k.
 

So for them to make the same amount knocking a tenner off they would have to sell 5k more which isn't guaranteed.

 

[Trumpet]

Yesterday we had a winnable cup tie, against premiership opposition, that wasn't on telly, while we're on a good run of form and the tickets were only  £15 a time and yet we still only had 17,000 in the stadium. Money isn't the only reason we don't sell out.

I'm probably being tight, but had the tickets been £10 i'd have gone down.

[davieG]

It is discussed in the meetings quite often to be honest, and the stock answer that the club use is that our prices are competitive with other teams in the division. It doesn't help that when the BBC do their price of football survey etc. that fans fixtures are taken into account, excluding those fixtures there's not many clubs who'd be charging anywhere near what we do for games.

The fall in attendances last season was brought up a couple of meetings ago and again the club representatives say it was a pattern across the whole division, with most clubs seeing a couple of thousand shaved off their home attendances. They also had the Sky excuse last season too.

Our ST figures are up on last season, yet our attendances have been nothing short of terrible this season. We have a sub-committee meeting on Monday and I'll be bringing up the issue of cheap student tickets, so I imagine ticket prices in general will be discussed too.

A couple of points - we're not competing with other clubs in this division for fans so it's irrelevant and if by their own admission most clubs have lost a 1000 then doesn't that tell them they're all charging too much

[The Year Of The Fox]

Could the ticket prices be so high due to people being disingenuous and not buying the correct priced ticket?

I see it often suggested on here about buying an adult ticket then several youngster tickets and dividing the cost between them

Last night the attendance according to the bbcsport website was 17,932

Wonder how many people did the above scenario and if done on a regular basis surely it would screw the financial figures

You shouldnt have to skank the club off money in order to make game though. That just confirms the normal prices are too high.

Long term reductions should be made and much more widely publicized