Next Season Could Be The One For A Reality Check

[Guest ashtonyate]

Now we are in a full blown recession I think next season will be the one where the bird's will come home to roost. Football Clubs are owing so much money to the Banks, and the owner's of club's in business in this Country must also start to feel the pinch.

With fan's job's at risk they are unlikely to fork out on season tickets so readily as in past season's so I think revenue will fall next season with a bump,that coupled with sponsorship being hit " A I G are pulling out of Man U " also I would think SKY will be hit with loss revenue plus I T V are finding advertising Revenue falling as well.

So in the next few years a lot of Club's could and will go to the wall and some big one's at that, I think the City are fairly safe as our debt seems to be Manageable with the grace of Steve Lansdown.

I can't Work out if it would be a good thing or not, It will not be for the Fan's of the Teams that do go under but Football has been in a world where money has been spent like its going out of fashion.

This may be the wake up call the Game has needed to bring it back down to earth. Perhaps it might even give the game back to its root's the Working Class fan's?.

[dezgimed]

Sky are barely affected by the recession from what I've researched.

Record high subscribers and churn rates down.

[Guest ashtonyate]

Sky are barely affected by the recession from what I've researched.

Record high subscribers and churn rates down.

A lot of there customers are in contracts as I am myself but when the contract comes to an end you could see some movement then where people will not renew, after all its 40 plus pounds a month so people looking to reduce there out goings its one of the first thing's to cut

[Red Ferret]

Setanta are not doing too well from what I heard a while back

[Bristolface]

Now we are in a full blown recession I think next season will be the one where the bird's will come home to roost. Football Clubs are owing so much money to the Banks, and the owner's of club's in business in this Country must also start to feel the pinch.

With fan's job's at risk they are unlikely to fork out on season tickets so readily as in past season's so I think revenue will fall next season with a bump,that coupled with sponsorship being hit " A I G are pulling out of Man U " also I would think SKY will be hit with loss revenue plus I T V are finding advertising Revenue falling as well.

So in the next few years a lot of Club's could and will go to the wall and some big one's at that, I think the City are fairly safe as our debt seems to be Manageable with the grace of Steve Lansdown.

I can't Work out if it would be a good thing or not, It will not be for the Fan's of the Teams that do go under but Football has been in a world where money has been spent like its going out of fashion.

This may be the wake up call the Game has needed to bring it back down to earth. Perhaps it might even give the game back to its root's the Working Class fan's?.

I read today that Norwich have frozen the price of their season tickets for nest season, hope a few other clubs follow there lead, ie OURS

Like you said could be the nail in a few clubs, or cause them to fall from grace, bet those two on the south coast are worried big debts and no way out

[Seend Red]

A lot of there customers are in contracts as I am myself but when the contract comes to an end you could see some movement then where people will not renew, after all its 40 plus pounds a month so people looking to reduce there out goings its one of the first thing's to cut

I think people are staying in more so will possibly keep Sky as there one luxury. I think going out to the Cinema or pub to eat and drink etc are the things that give first.

I know Sky did great business over the Xmas period with some fanastic offers. They were doing free install and Sky+ box for the month of December!

Setanta are not doing too well from what I heard a while back

Because the production is crap. I had it briefly on freeview but got rid within 6 months.

[Guest ashtonyate]

I think people are staying in more so will possibly keep Sky as there one luxury. I think going out to the Cinema or pub to eat and drink etc are the things that give first.

I know Sky did great business over the Xmas period with some fanastic offers. They were doing free install and Sky+ box for the month of December!

Because the production is crap. I had it briefly on freeview but got rid within 6 months.

I must say Sky is not all its cracked up to be, the sport is great but half the time I can't find much to watch most of its programmes are repeated over & over.

Its better than Virgin they are a load on con men I was paying extra for HD and they only broadcast one HD channel that's BBC HD which is a experimental Channel or they did when I was a subscriber

[Guest]

I can not afford to go to games now and I have a season ticket :noexpression: I`m also working 7 days a week and cutting prices to a minimum just to stand still.

[bh red]

I think people are staying in more so will possibly keep Sky as there one luxury. I think going out to the Cinema or pub to eat and drink etc are the things that give first.

I know Sky did great business over the Xmas period with some fanastic offers. They were doing free install and Sky+ box for the month of December!

I'd agree with that, for many having sky is actually a way saving money, you don't feel so bad about staying in when you have tons of TV lined up on the sky+ box, a night in town costs around £50-£60 quid on average......if you doing it 2/3 times enough, cutting back to once a month, saves money and pays the tv bill.

works for me

[Thornbury Red]

I can not afford to go to games now and I have a season ticket :noexpression: I`m also working 7 days a week and cutting prices to a minimum just to stand still.

The problem is - ideally you would want to have money left over each month once all bills and expenses are paid, however for a lot of people this would mean that they would literally do nothing apart from work, sit at home and sleep. The choice between having a dull life and coping financially and a more interesting existance but struggling financially is a difficult one.

Football and its working class roots have long been seperated and I suspect there are a lot of season ticket holders who bought this year on the hope of seeing premier league football who wont renew next year. The 'glory hunters' if you will. They havent got City in their blood and to them its not such a tough choice.

For my own situation i bought a season ticket this year for the first time since 1990 - simply because i was worried if they got to the Prem i wouldnt be able to get in. The amount of people I spoke to who said if City went up they would get a season ticket, having never seen them play, frightened me.

Personally i would prefer to stick to pay on the day but ease of access to tickets via the internet etc meant that last season we were having to plan which matches we were going to 6 to 8 weeks in advance. Thats the price of success (and too small a ground for the big matches) I suppose.

Will i renew next year? Probably but i would hope that the club doesnt just whack another 10% on ticket prices - in the current mood of gloom - that would be a PR disaster!

[BigTone]

Now we are in a full blown recession I think next season will be the one where the bird's will come home to roost. Football Clubs are owing so much money to the Banks, and the owner's of club's in business in this Country must also start to feel the pinch.

With fan's job's at risk they are unlikely to fork out on season tickets so readily as in past season's so I think revenue will fall next season with a bump,that coupled with sponsorship being hit " A I G are pulling out of Man U " also I would think SKY will be hit with loss revenue plus I T V are finding advertising Revenue falling as well.

So in the next few years a lot of Club's could and will go to the wall and some big one's at that, I think the City are fairly safe as our debt seems to be Manageable with the grace of Steve Lansdown.

I can't Work out if it would be a good thing or not, It will not be for the Fan's of the Teams that do go under but Football has been in a world where money has been spent like its going out of fashion.

This may be the wake up call the Game has needed to bring it back down to earth. Perhaps it might even give the game back to its root's the Working Class fan's?.

For once in my life Ashtonyate, I actually agree with you

Please don't get too sensible on us as it takes the fun out of things !!

[Percy Parrot]

I still think the biggest threat to football clubs is the business side rather than the support side. Football is such an emotive "business" that fans will still find the money to go to games where possible. I don't doubt that attendances may drop a bit as people lose jobs but generally speaking I think they will do ok.

On the commercial side I imagine that hospitality etc. will drop as companies cut budgets, lose customers or go bust themselves.

But the major two for me are that as mentioned above, club owners will make far less from their own companies and maybe worse than all the above are loans suddenly being recalled.

I believe someone mentioned in a previous thread that at the AGM SteveL said that the club owed somewhere in the region of £2m and only to people inside the room. If that is the case then, without taking SteveL, Keith Dawe etc. for granted, we can be very pleased with our situation compared to other clubs.

[Mr Popodopolous]

In America in the Gert Depression of the 1930s although the economy shrunk by a terrifying 30% or more depending on who you believe, and there were literally tens of thousands of people roaming the country looking for work, spending on entertainment INCREASED. There's an economic term for entertainment like football but I've forgotten it - something like 'sticky good' or something ... spending on it basically defies rationality. People always find the money for alcohol and doing the things they feel emotionally attached to.

Alcohol was banned in America then, prohibition. I do find it hard to believe though that modern football in Britain what with the ridiculous prices like £40 per month for Sky, the tickets in the PL would be anything like the same effect....in fact in Britain, despite being less affected than America all things being relative, football attendances fell definitely. And that was before ticket prices took off as they did.

http://www.albionroad.com/articles/880-fin...imate-hits-home

[Rob k]

Sky for me would be the last luxury that went, I'm currently watching money and what I'm spending due to uncertainty that i will be in a job in 6 months time and watching City on Sky has saved me £50 this month alone (not inc beer, food etc). I go to as many games as i can afford but I think City will be down to 12k S/T next season, However if they do the same deal in the east end again i shall purchase one as it represents excellant value.

[red man dan]

I live in cheltenham so getting to games wasnt the easiest but having bought a car recently i had grand plans of getting to many more games this year. However i was made redundant on the 23rd of Dec without any notice, so for now those plans are out the window and in fact the car is a comodity i cant really afford. I think there may be more and more people being forced to cut down spending somewhere and inevitably things like spending 40 odd quid (total aprx for me) on an hour and a halfs entertainment will be amongst them.

I think for family's especially, they may well look for something a little cheaper to do together on the weekends, football is not cheap, its a shame.

[Mr Popodopolous]

[Spike]

Setanta are not doing too well from what I heard a while back

Well that doesnt surprise me, I phoned up Virgin and asked how much ontop of my bill it would be for setanta and they said it would be £25 just for setanta! I was completely shocked as I've already forked out £20 extra a month forthe sky sports package. It would be cheaper to buy a full package at that price and I'm not willing to do that.... I kind of hope setanta go out of business so sky sports can pinch more matches and then i can watch them

[Guest ashtonyate]

I think football pricing is far to dear £28 to pay on the day to watch City is a lot of money especially if you take a family a long to my way of thinking ten pounds could come off the price and it would still be expensive compared with other forms of entertainment.

You could have a night at the cinema a meal at weatherspoons and a couple of beers for under £ 18 per person, as for the money Chelsea and a few more of the big clubs charge I think they are in for a hard time or the owners are going to dig deep fan's will not pay 40/50 pounds to watch when money is tight.

[Barrs Court Red]

You only need look at the gates in the 80's (Yes I know there were other factors). It could also be argued that there were less alternatives in the 80's too.

[Percy Parrot]

There's an economic term for entertainment like football but I've forgotten it - something like 'sticky good' or something ... spending on it basically defies rationality. People always find the money for alcohol and doing the things they feel emotionally attached to.

I think you are referring to the lipstick effect, which I have probably mentioned on here before. Basically in downturns certain goods, such as lipstick, can sell well.

In the example of lipstick - as many people can not afford to buy new cars, lawnmowers, washing machines etc. they instead spend small amounts to make themselves feel better on goods such as lipstick.

[Mr Popodopolous]

You only need look at the gates in the 80's (Yes I know there were other factors). It could also be argued that there were less alternatives in the 80's too.

Yes very true. At the height of the social upheaval and hooliganism, there were apparently gates of 16-18,000 in huge stadia according to Talksport last night, probably around the mid 1980's, because people were too scared to go.

[DavidNoble]

I must say Sky is not all its cracked up to be, the sport is great but half the time I can't find much to watch most of its programmes are repeated over & over.

Its better than Virgin they are a load on con men I was paying extra for HD and they only broadcast one HD channel that's BBC HD which is a experimental Channel or they did when I was a subscriber

You need to get back to V+ !

We had some sky people coming to our house the other week trying to sell us a sky+ box for half the price of the telewest one so we told telewest (virgin) so they offered us a V+ box for the same price as the sky+ box!

And on virgin you get setanta for free and atm you are right you only get BBC HD but by march they are expecting to get all the other HD channels with no added money on your bill.

The only thing you miss out on is sky movies and things like that.

I'm still addicted to rewinding TV and recording things i don't even need!!!! :D

[Nibor]

You need to get back to V+ !

We had some sky people coming to our house the other week trying to sell us a sky+ box for half the price of the telewest one so we told telewest (virgin) so they offered us a V+ box for the same price as the sky+ box!

And on virgin you get setanta for free and atm you are right you only get BBC HD but by march they are expecting to get all the other HD channels with no added money on your bill.

The only thing you miss out on is sky movies and things like that.

I'm still addicted to rewinding TV and recording things i don't even need!!!! :D

Virgin sucks because their channel menu is the most ###### irritating thing in the world ever. That's the only reason I stick with sky, it's worth the extra every month not to end up wanting to hurl a remote at my TV every time the menu takes half an hour to catch up.

Sky+ is excellent for all the recording lark as well, and it's nice to finally get all the movie channels in HD. Now if they could just see their way to not showing so much shite on them I'd be happier.

The HD channels are slowly being added but it's probably not worth going for that for another year or two yet to be honest.

[DavidNoble]

Virgin sucks because their channel menu is the most ###### irritating thing in the world ever. That's the only reason I stick with sky, it's worth the extra every month not to end up wanting to hurl a remote at my TV every time the menu takes half an hour to catch up.

Sky+ is excellent for all the recording lark as well, and it's nice to finally get all the movie channels in HD. Now if they could just see their way to not showing so much shite on them I'd be happier.

The HD channels are slowly being added but it's probably not worth going for that for another year or two yet to be honest.

Ah well i havent had sky but tbh we had the choice of V+ and Sky+ and i only chose V+ because you get setanta.

I don't really watch Tv for much else than sport now.

I find it excellent for recording things and the menu is so much better now.

It's just like Sky+ is like what everyone wants.

It's like if you were offered a pair of Lotto boots or a pair of Nike boots even if you prefered the Lotto ones you would probably pick the Nike ones because they are more sort of fashionable.

It's the same with Sky+