How much is football worth paying?

[Bob Box Fish]

Take away the fact we are gash ( I know it's hard).

Given attendences in general are on the drop through various factors. How much for example would you say is the right amount to attend football?Given you could:

Given you can see a 2hr film for around 7 quid.

Play in your local poker tourney for around £20 - can be a good 8 hour session.

Get sky sports for about 20 a month - loads of matches across the world.

Have a good few jars in the boozer.

Go out gor dinner ( if splitting bill).

Loads of things that have better value for money. I know players earn x amount blah blah blah but I would say watching Scottish premier league is worth about £10 - 12 max.

Even conference rubbish down here (York) costs £14 min to get in!

Plan- make football players wages performance related with a wage cap that will sort them out!

[Scouse Hibee]

2% of your annual salary. :greengrin

[s.a.m]

I think you're right - the cost of football has risen way above its value. I'm not sure what the right amount would be, but I think you're probably about right. The challenge, obviously, is finding a way of lowering costs, so that prices can be returned to sensible levels. Obviously, universal stadium redevelopment has contributed to clubs' expenses, but the problem of players' wages needs to be tackled somehow. It's a difficult one, and it's hard to see a way round all the various obstacles.

[Antifa Hibs]

I'd say £15 and £7 would be fair for the SPL. As it stands charging £22-28 for adults and £10-£18 for kids is daylight robbery. But then again we are the mugs for paying it....

People are slowly getting fed up with the ****** standard we are watching, but top dollar we are paying. There's a few in our group who have hit a few games on the hied this season, the same few that have missed about 3 games in 10 years between them.

Crowds in the SPL are dipping and thats a good thing, it'll benefit us all in the long run. Scotland is trying to hard to compete with England. But unlike England we don't have a massive population, £1 billion TV deals, sponsorship deals coming in left right and center, thus don't have world class players in almost every team, thus don't have sellout crowds.

When there are only 8 games maximum in the whole SPL season that are sellouts (Rangers/Celtic & Hibs/Hearts) it speaks volumes, especially seeing as grounds are tiny these days. St Mirren v Celtic the other week, 5k was the attendence, with about 2500 Celtic, surely the SPL have to be asking why only 2500 St Mirren fans could be ersed turning up and supporting their team in a massive matched when they are toying with relegation? Especially seeing as about a week before they had about 13000 fans at Hampden.

Scottish football is dying on its erse . . . . .

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

£45 was too much to pay for West Ham v Stoke last Saturday, it was grim! :boo hoo:

[scotcha]

great minds must think alike, as i was talking to my mate about this the other day.

I looked at the IRISH league as i feel this is more suited to Scotland rather than England, and the prices for a top flight game was 15 euro, which is about 12/13 quid.

This is the perfect price to pay in scotland for Football as anything over that is only pandering to Rangers and Celtic. We are a small nation and we're losing fans all over the place.

£20 would be fair for dad and lad, and £5 there after. We should learn to operate using this budget and if it means that we don't get the over paid underperforming players in the game, then that's fine by me.

[HH81]

Take away the fact we are gash ( I know it's hard).

Given attendences in general are on the drop through various factors. How much for example would you say is the right amount to attend football?Given you could:

Given you can see a 2hr film for around 7 quid.

Play in your local poker tourney for around £20 - can be a good 8 hour session.

Get sky sports for about 20 a month - loads of matches across the world.

Have a good few jars in the boozer.

Go out gor dinner ( if splitting bill).

Loads of things that have better value for money. I know players earn x amount blah blah blah but I would say watching Scottish premier league is worth about £10 - 12 max.

Even conference rubbish down here (York) costs £14 min to get in!

Plan- make football players wages performance related with a wage cap that will sort them out!

FC Halifax charge £10 in the unibond North 1 :grr: Although im going today for the new opening of the East Stand.

So in effect this is the 8th league in England.

I dont mind paying the £20 odd for hibs as I only get up to a few a season but to be fair I would say £15 would be about right. Football all over the uk is expensive now though.

[ballengeich]

The OP's comparison of football to cinema is a good point (cf R Williamson). 30 years ago the prices were fairly similar, but the cost of football has soared since.

Clubs' attitude to fans is that if they were not meant to be fleeced they would not have been created as sheep.

[hibiedude]

FC Halifax charge £10 in the unibond North 1 :grr: Although im going today for the new opening of the East Stand.

So in effect this is the 8th league in England.

I dont mind paying the £20 odd for hibs as I only get up to a few a season but to be fair I would say £15 would be about right. Football all over the uk is expensive now though.

I agree about £15 max is about right anything more then it becomes a rip off.

We keep hearing the SPL is a fish and chips league and at times its hard to disagree with these perceptions.

[killie-hibby]

For SPL, maximum of £15.00, reducing to £7.50p for OAP's and £5.00 for infants, schoolchildren,students and people on benefits including the unemployed.
Well into the 1960's Easter Road prices were no more than a cinema ticket.
To facilitate lower prices, players salaries in all leagues throughout Europ should be reduced to an amount payable from gate receipts and sponsorship money. This would help in getting rid of rich megalomaniac sugar daddies such as Romanov and various other characters with dubious intentions and no previous local or social or connections with a club. It would also create genuine competition for trophies as real managerial talent would achieve success as opposed to now where normally one or other of the weedgie's win the league/cups mainly because they have spent or still able to spend millions on players and their manager is automatically voted by the psychophantic media as manager of the year.
Simultaneously our league must be revamped to play each other twice as opposed to the current three or four,therefore at worst you would only loose 12 points maximum against the weedgies. Admittedly they would still be allowed to pay players more than any other SPL club by virtue of 40,000 plus gates.

[Steve-O]

15 quid like others have said is about fair I think.

The prices that are getting close to 30 are ludicrous for the SPL IMO :agree:

[Woody1985]

£10-15 max.

I tend to pick and choose my games and was considering getting a season ticket due to the new incentive plan but when I think of the games that I may miss and/or that are on TV I can't justify spending at least £400 (+£1/200 for my grandads ST) for the quality of football on show.

I have the utmost respect for those who do and could never miss a game but I think that I could put that money to better use elsewhere and continue to pick and choose my games.

[lucky]

We have had this debate loads of times. The SPL is over priced. More and more fans are finding reasons not attend. The argument that it is only when we are playing badly that we moan about prices may have some merit but next year its £405 to renew my ST.

Many Scottish supporters now miss their own games to attend the EPL or save for a Scotland trip. Fans want entertainment and value for money. The game is dying here but the SFA and SPL are not aware of the problems

[the_ginger_hibee]

Thankfully, across the board, SPL attendances are down. Big changes or new radical ideas will be needed or we'll be a boil on the arse of football quicker than you can say 'Unibond'.

Unfortunately changes and ideas aren't very common place in the worn down blazer badge and boys town that is the SPL and SFA.

[TheEastTerrace]

The only day I think the powers that be are ever going to wake up and smell the coffee is when an OF game doesn't sell out. Unlikely to happen I know, but football is dying on it's erse in this country and we don't have the right people in charge to do anything about it.

[Hibby_Paul]

Be interesting to see what would happen if more cross-club organised boycots of footy took place. Fan Power in action.
To me thats about only way those at top would be forced change things....but then if you've paid upfront for a season ticket it doesnt really work. Esp so with say Old firm, with celtics dwindling crowds where I think most folk are season tickets who have already paid in advance, just choosing to not show up.

Im not saying that's the right though as then you are not supporting your club, which we should all do - but how does message get through that the prices are daylight robbery if we keep paying?

The other factor to add in the mix is the Mothwerwell example , where they did reduce prices before but no significant increase in attendance. Hibs cant suddenly drop walk up proces to say £15 a time because the core of season ticket fans will shortly be shelling out approx £400 which would equate to approx £20 per game. They would rightly be hacked off.

Problem exists too in the Premiership, where Wigan's etc have very poor crowds but care less due to TV money. Germany seems to be best example where top games are an affordable price and the quality of players is still favourable to England, Spain, Italy (still behind but on their day could hold their own).

I have a real fear that we could soon be seeing average gates of 8-10 K at Easter Rd in a few years (half the capacity) but then that will be the norm all through SPL....even if we were 3rd the prices currently would only lead to a small increase in attendance and season ticket sales I would imagine.

the world has change, money is as tight as before and Scottish Football offers very poor value for money. Football fans must be one of the few groups in society who would seem to just keep paying to see a decling product!

I include myself in that as I will shortly be buying a new season for East!

[HH81]

I was at the cinema with the Mrs the other week and we had that Orange deal that allowed us to get one in for free.

The cost was around £7 if I remember correctly :grr: but then I thought about this..... Football costs over 3 times this, what a rip off that is!!!!

Then again I could just be a tight git!