So West Ham sell out 54000 seats

[jimmycase]

First game in their new 'home' in a Europa league qualifier against some European minnows. 54000 sell out. A sign of things to come?

 

Will we sell out to 54000 or thereabouts depending on actual capacity with the new main Stand?

[Wezza]

West Ham are pitching their prices at selling out each game, a kids season ticket is £99 for example - and they can then be upgraded to adult tickets so many times a year and so on. I'm sure they will give quite a few community tickets away over the season as well.

[Nightcat]

First game in their new 'home' in a Europa league qualifier against some European minnows. 54000 sell out. A sign of things to come?

 

Will we sell out to 54000 or thereabouts depending on actual capacity with the new main Stand?

 

No we won sell out because obviously we are a small football franchise. We are not like West Ham UTD, PSG, Boston Red Socks or Vancouver Grizzlies.

 

Only FSG can grow our franchise and make it competitive.

[dirk grout]

As Wezza has said, West Ham have been gifted a free stadium so can charge what they like. They have some of the cheapest tickets in the premier league. Season tickets were going for £289.

[Kevin D]

West Ham are pitching their prices at selling out each game, a kids season ticket is £99 for example - and they can then be upgraded to adult tickets so many times a year and so on. I'm sure they will give quite a few community tickets away over the season as well.

Is that not a good thing?

[dirk grout]

Is that not a good thing?

 

Who said it wasn't?

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Is that not a good thing?

It's a very good thing.  

 

I'm somewhat envious.

[Wezza]

It's a very good thing.

 

I'm somewhat envious.

Absolutely - they are my nearest Premiership team and a lot of my mates have now got season tickets for them and their kids and haven't bankrupt themselves at the same time. Ignoring all the arguments about the free stadium etc the prices are what people should be paying for football.

[FanchesterCity]

West Ham's prices are a great thing, and any PL club looking to fill a stadium should follow suit.

The percentage of income from gate receipts (compared with other incomes) is diminishing, and if there was some FFP dispensation for ticket discounting too - there would be very little reason for PL clubs to charge such high prices.

 

The only slight downside is that right now, attended matches regularly is becoming more and more middle class - due to the costs, and the atmosphere is suffering. In the same vein, if discounts are being given to children and families, the atmosphere suffers further.

 

Regardless, I'd rather have less atmosphere, but more opportunity for people to see a match than be priced out altogether.

 

I'm not entirely convinced West Ham's motivation is entirely altruistic though - they need to demonstrate that the move was a success, and it's hard to fill 54K seats for a club with a predominantly working class fan base in fairly deprived area. Whatever the motive, it's a darn sight better than the appalling prices most clubs are charging.

[Tony Moanero]

As Wezza has said, West Ham have been gifted a free stadium so can charge what they like. They have some of the cheapest tickets in the premier league. Season tickets were going for £289.

 

Makes a change, West Ham have been ripping their fans off for years.

[Cardie]

Absolutely - they are my nearest Premiership team and a lot of my mates have now got season tickets for them and their kids and haven't bankrupt themselves at the same time. Ignoring all the arguments about the free stadium etc the prices are what people should be paying for football.

 

I'm sure if stadium costs were passed on to the tax payer at every club you'd be able to lower prices across the board overnight.

 

The lower prices is a publicity stunt designed to, as fanchester has said, show the move as a success and deflect some of the heat from the move. Great for the supporters, but set's an unrealistic expectation.

[G Richards]

The new stadium is a great opportunity for them. They were a small to middling club and now, with clever leadership, they can grow their fan base and win a lot of goodwill with the lower prices. It's sensible leadership and should stand them in good stead years down the line.

 

Unfortunately it's a desperately unfair deal, at the expense of the taxpayer.

[Mil-ing Around]

It's a classic business bate trick this.

 

Lets not forget Karen Brady is part of that club. She is a business woman.

 

They will attract the punters, sell them an entertainment package which will be "the football". The cheapness of the seats will drive up the demand and then eventually they will just increase the prices. But by then they will have enough tabloid reading cockneys hooked on the chance to watch teams like us, arsenal, city, chavs, united and big name players every week.

 

They won't even care about the score or if West Ham win, i doubt Karen Brady will either, it's just another entertaining thing to do for Londoners. After the match they will fuck off to shoreditch and get a side parting shaved into their heads and drink Rose wine while wearing no socks and turned up jeans.

 

Fair play to them, they struck an amazing deal because of the shrewd business sense and connections Karen Brady has and the fact they are based in the capital will make them flourish. 

 

That's why England is so fucked up, one city controls and dominates the country. Hopefully the high speed railway redresses some of the balance and forces investment in the north of the country, which is the only way i think the balance will be restored. I doubt many of us will see it in our lifetime though but i fucking hate the monopoly that London has over the rest of the country. 

[FanchesterCity]

I'm sure if stadium costs were passed on to the tax payer at every club you'd be able to lower prices across the board overnight.

 

The lower prices is a publicity stunt designed to, as fanchester has said, show the move as a success and deflect some of the heat from the move. Great for the supporters, but set's an unrealistic expectation.

 

Is it so unrealistic though?

The money PL clubs are currently getting, they really could lower ticket prices if they wanted to - they just chose not to, because there's still enough demand at the current prices.

 

I don't think any PL is scraping the barrel and needs the additional income, and if there was some FFP dispensation - or widespread PL agreement to lower the prices, then there wouldn't even be an argument that FFP is a cause.

 

It's unrealistic in the sense that our clubs are greedy and won't reduce prices, but I don't think it's unrealistic in the sense that clubs could easily afford it.

[FanchesterCity]

It's a classic business bate trick this.

 

Lets not forget Karen Brady is part of that club. She is a business woman.

 

They will attract the punters, sell them an entertainment package which will be "the football". The cheapness of the seats will drive up the demand and then eventually they will just increase the prices. But by then they will have enough tabloid reading cockneys hooked on the chance to watch teams like us, arsenal, city, chavs, united and big name players every week.

 

They won't even care about the score or if West Ham win, i doubt Karen Brady will either, it's just another entertaining thing to do for Londoners. After the match they will fuck off to shoreditch and get a side parting shaved into their heads and drink Rose wine while wearing no socks and turned up jeans.

 

Fair play to them, they struck an amazing deal because of the shrewd business sense and connections Karen Brady has and the fact they are based in the capital will make them flourish. 

 

That's why England is so fucked up, one city controls and dominates the country. Hopefully the high speed railway redresses some of the balance and forces investment in the north of the country, which is the only way i think the balance will be restored. I doubt many of us will see it in our lifetime though but i fucking hate the monopoly that London has over the rest of the country. 

 

That's normal business as you say.

Get them hooked on the football experience, then increase the prices to the highest they can sustain.

 

However, I'm coming across more and more fans who are missing games and started to get hooked on the extra money they are saving by not going to the game. I think plenty of the empty seats we are seeing at many grounds up and down the country are an indication of that. There is a limit to what fans will pay and I think we're approaching that.

[Cardie]

Is it so unrealistic though?

The money PL clubs are currently getting, they really could lower ticket prices if they wanted to - they just chose not to, because there's still enough demand at the current prices.

 

I don't think any PL is scraping the barrel and needs the additional income, and if there was some FFP dispensation - or widespread PL agreement to lower the prices, then there wouldn't even be an argument that FFP is a cause.

 

It's unrealistic in the sense that our clubs are greedy and won't reduce prices, but I don't think it's unrealistic in the sense that clubs could easily afford it.

How many clubs turn a significant profit in the premier league, a consistent profit that isn't dictated by one off player sales. Because that's what you need for it to happen and I'm not sure there are many clubs willing to remove an entire stream of revenue withought it.

 

It's also easy to fall back to the new TV deal as if it now enables cheaper prices but supporters tend to have memories like goldfish when it suits so while they'll point to the amount of money we get from TV on one hand they've already spent it demanding signings and new contracts in the other.

 

 

 

[Bobby Hundreds]

I hope a meteor destroys there stadium and it isn't insured for meteors. Cunts.

[Bobby Hundreds]

I hope a meteor destroys there stadium and it isn't insured for meteors. Cunts.

[FanchesterCity]

I hope a meteor destroys there stadium and it isn't insured for meteors. Cunts.

 

The chances of it happening twice are astronomical.

[xerxes]

The new stadium is a great opportunity for them. They were a small to middling club and now, with clever leadership, they can grow their fan base and win a lot of goodwill with the lower prices. It's sensible leadership and should stand them in good stead years down the line.

 

Unfortunately it's a desperately unfair deal, at the expense of the taxpayer.

I agree it was, and is, a shrewd move.

 

The deal is very favourable, driven by the lunacy of not anchoring a football club to the stadium when it was built. Seb Coe must have handed out the E's when that decision was made, athletics always will be a minority sport.

[TheHowieLama]

Just makes me hate them more.

[RobbieOR]

Hope they get relegated again.

 

'Moore than a club'. Wankers.

[Harry Squatter]

Hope they get relegated again.

 

'Moore than a club'. Wankers.

That type of quote is something the bitters would come up with

[RobbieOR]

Meh, I don't like them. Never won anything in their history bar an FA cup yet everyone goes on like they were a genuine force because Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup. 

[Harry Squatter]

Their fans are bad pricks as well. They love all the sign on shite but Upton Park looked like a third world shithole. Most of them live in Dagenham and Gillingham anyway.