re: OFFICIAL Liverpool FC 2015-2016 Season Long Thread: Basel Bound!

Could see the equalizer coming a mile away.

Yep... Definitely coming, I left my house right after it went 1-0 to go to a parade, got the 2-2 notification on my phone as I parked.

Typical of the last two season, just hoping we can take home some silverware this year to make me feel a bit better

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New Main Stand - check
Higher Matchday revenue - check
World Class Manager - check
Overhaul roster - coming summer 2016

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This kind of shite is what is known in the Euro fan world as "free".

I get it, in that the club isn't viewed in the same sense as a pro sports franchise from the US. At the same time, you can't expect FSG to renovate Anfield and pump £ into the transfer market on their own dime.. They are first and foremost business owners, but I do believe they want to build a winner (yes, because of ego and financial rewards). But unless there is a local, lifelong, Liverpudlian who wants to just pour his own money into the club, just to win... Then get use to it... It can't be both ways.

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Seating Area/ Season Price/ Savings vs Gate /Per Ticket Avg
Henry Aaron*... $5,912..............17.30%.......... $72.99

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So $73 a seat for a stadium that never even sells out, right?

And has nowhere near the history or prestig in its league as Anfield does in the EPL?

By the way, here's the price per seat for the Yankees (all different levels).

https://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/ticketing/sth_pricing_full.jsp

Here's the prices for the full year for the Boston Red Sox.

https://secure.mlb.com/bos/ticketing/season_waiting_form.jsp#aplan

Liverpool fans need to have a discussion with those guys when it comes to "extortion".

(And if you're not familiar with NBA premium pricing, I haven't even went there yet, but you'd be shocked.)

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I think those prices are ridiculous as well.

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I guess my point was a lower number of games doesn't necessarily equate to higher ticket prices (or even vice versa). Especially in the U.S. Premium tickets in the U.S. are *all* high, whether its a low number of tickets in the season ticket (football) or a high number (NBA, MLB).

Which makes me want to tell the Anfield whiners "cry me a fricking river". That's all I'm saying.

All great points. You seem to understand the situation.

In general, though, I think its ethnocentric and absolutely ridiculous for any of us to have a real opinion about the situation. Just because we all speak English doesn't mean we can really understand what's going on or identify with English sports culture. If the majority of indigenous fans think this is the right measure to take then I agree. None of our opinions on the situation mean anything because we're American, not English. Also, any claim that the players lost this game because of lack of support is just silly. I mean, don't get me wrong, it'll definitely be a hot media headline: "Football without fans means nothing." But in reality, the boys knew what was going on. They knew the walkout was because of prices, not support. Anything claiming otherwise is ignorant. They lost (drew) because they suck, nothing more. Same storyline all year. If they get a shot on goal, they score.

It's a tough line to tow for sure. But in English sports culture it isn't a zero sum game. They expect even the most "bottom line" obsessed ownership to at least have some sense of community identity. That's a natural understanding for them, unlike in the US where profit is king no matter what. Starting with that base, I don't think it's far fetched to expect that, along with absolutely ludicrous TV contract increases every year, that a club will not jack up what is a very large part of the average Joe's wages simply to make an extra 2 mil per year. To the fans such a minuscule profit (let's be real - what can you really do with 2 mil in the European market) resulting in such a massively negative impact on the average local fan simply just isn't worth it. We all love to make fun of Arsenal, Chelsea, and City's home atmospheres but it's all headed that direction if local supporters are continuously priced out of their own stadiums.

It is really difficult concerning ticket prices, especially when you're competing against a few clubs in league (and across Europe) that either have much greater revenue from sponsorship or owners that aren't afraid of losing a lot of money, or both.

However, it's also quite a gamble to think that you can depend long-term on wealthy people and tourists to fill the stadiums (and have any kind of atmosphere).


What happened in Serie A should serve as a strong reminder about passing too much of the price tag on to the fans with the least money:

Serie A was king. Demand for tickets and TV exposure skyrocketed and with them the prices of tickets and TV cable bills. Clubs were raking in cash off corporations/foreign tourists gobbling up over priced tickets and not worrying about many empty seats elsewhere with the TV money that was pouring in.


However, a culture change began to occur.

The type working class fans on very tight budgets that had typically been out in thousands for every single match (home and away) started attending less matches and watching on TV (which ate up increasingly large portions of their expendable income).



It only took a few things to go wrong (a scandal and economic downturn) to see EPL and also La Liga to catch up and pass Serie A in terms of international TV demand.

At that point, a lot of brilliant capitalist owners realized too late they had severely diminished the #1 "asset" that had made the league to attractive to players and TV viewers in the first place: the atmosphere of the matches.