There were some delicious ties in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup this weekend; no fewer than five all-Premiership clashes, plus Hearts v Celtic and Rangers v Kilmarnock. As is the way with football, some of these lived up to the hype - the match between Dundee and Aberdeen was pulsating, whereas Sunday's games were a let-down thanks to Morgaro Gomis' early misdemeanour and an effort from Killie at Ibrox that only amounted to slightly more than lying down to their opponents.
Regardless of the quality of the action on display though, there was a worrying trend on show this weekend - crap attendances.
Tynecastle, sold out for league games against the likes of Cowdenbeath, had plenty of empty seats for the visit of the champions. There were less than 2,000 hardy souls at St. Mirren Park for a game against ICT, and only a few hundred more at St. Johnstone and Partick Thistle. Even Dundee's home gate was vastly inflated by a travelling support which actually made up more than half the crowd. (I'll not mention Ibrox because there are a gazillion other reasons why three men and a dog turned up there)
Caley Thistle and St. Mirren will replay their tie in the Highlands as soon as tomorrow - apparently because John Hughes "wants it out of the way". So, with a couple of days notice, on a cold Tuesday night in December, the entrance fee for adults will be £18. If this paragraph were a tweet, I'd finish it with #ripoff.
It's unclear who is to blame for this craziness - after all, ticket prices for cup ties have to be agreed between the two teams. St. Mirren, whose travelling support will be virtually nil, would presumably prefer that everything be done to milk as much money out of the home supporters as possible.
But the attendance figures will be embarrassing. Supporters are already paying through the nose to watch their side play in the flesh. My season ticket at Inverness costs £340 a year. I took my father-in-law to the recent home match with Hamilton. His ticket? £26. Heck, my income puts me in the top tax bracket, and I still vomited a little into my mouth at that. God knows how the majority of supporters feel.
As this weekend proved, there is only so much that clubs can squeeze supporters before their wallets say "no more". But it's simply a prominent symptom of a wide problem. Football is too expensive to watch in Scotland, and it's turning people off. But instead of trying to attract fans back, which will surely help in the long-term, the clubs are focussed on simply fleecing the die-hards who still wouldn't dream of missing a game. There's no future in this strategy that simply drains the goodwill from the mugs who go along every fortnight.
Well, folks, even mugs like me have to draw the line somewhere. £18 for a cup replay against St. Mirren on a cold Tuesday night in December seems like a good place.
L.
Cost is definitely part of the problem. I'm not sure that football games are more expensive than they were 60-70 years ago when you look at purchasing power comparisons, but there is a lot more competition now for supporters money. Tickets ideally should not be more than the cost of going to the pictures or a mid-range concert, which is likely the real alternative.
ReplyDeleteI live in the US, and I can say without hesitation that the marketing of sports teams here puts British football to shame. When I go to a baseball game, there are a wide range of potential seat prices, an opulent array of food options, good beer, and entertainment before and after games. At Thistle games, there was one ticket price, a snack bar with pies, tea and Mars bars, and half-time entertainment only marginally more interesting than the game itself.
Free tickets for under-16s would be an obvious place to start, which some clubs have done already. By and large they have to bring adults with them, who have to pay. Even cheap tickets for adults can work for you if they spend money on food and drink and on merchandise. To that end, clubs should revamp their food concessions. Subway, McDonalds and so on would be far more popular than the garbage they sell right now. If you wanted better quality options, something like an Ashoka (popular Glasgow Indian chain, for the non-Weegies) would be a hit. The merchandise options should be far greater, should be open longer (including during games), and should have locations inside and outside the stadium.
Clubs should also seriously highlight the history they have to offer. Museums should be standard in every stadium - even the smallest clubs have lots of museum-worthy items and local museum staff would mostly be delighted to help out. Clubs could offer college internships in museum curation if they want it done on the cheap. The trophy room would be an inevitable part of the museum set-up. Bigger deal at the bigger clubs but even third division teams will have local trophies (Clackmannanshire Cups and stuff like that) to put on display, not to mention individual medals. Personally, I'd not begrudge a slightly higher ticket price if it meant I got a museum entry for free with it.
Clubs should also get more serious about advertising - they're in a dogfight for customers, not just waiting for the same old victims to turn up week after week. When you get on the Subway, you should see 'Firhill for thrills' posters all along the top of the carriage, alongside Glasgow Museums and UGC stuff.
Other ideas. Make stadiums more family friendly - I have a five year old and I wouldn't dream of taking him to Firhill, for fear of him learning a whole range of interesting new words. Family areas where swearing is not tolerated would be a good start. More of a range of offers - buy tickets for five games and get one free, buy a season ticket and get a home shirt for free, buy a home shirt and get a match ticket for free, sign up for the club mailing list and get a free ticket on your birthday (just one - bring your family and they have to buy tickets, not to mention food and merchandise).
The question is not why should clubs have to do all these things and more, but why in the name of all that's holy haven't they done these things already? Clubs are losing the battle for customers and they just complain that 'the people of aren't supporting their team'....
And for what it's worth, Killie always seem to collapse at the sight of a Rangers badge....