Scottish Premiership: Tickets sales comprise 43% of revenue

[AberdeenHibee]

Our fans don't get nearly enough credit in the press for how much we back our clubs.  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51177558

Almost three times the European league average.  Unfortunately it is the gross mismanagement of our game by Doncaster and co which has led to use slipping even further behind other European leagues on the competitiveness front. They have simply prioritised the Old Firm's dying grip on staying remotely relevant over progressing our overall game for everyone's benefit.  

 

 

Edited January 27, 2020 by AberdeenHibee

[Ross.]

Said it on here several times in the past that the fans in Scotland don't realise exactly how much influence they could have on the game. The clubs are lucky that it isn't exercised too often.

[HibsFan]

22 minutes ago, Ross. said:

Said it on here several times in the past that the fans in Scotland don't realise exactly how much influence they could have on the game. The clubs are lucky that it isn't exercised too often.

It's extremely depressing that we don't use it. We could get pretty much anything we wanted.

[Dons_1988]

51 minutes ago, AberdeenHibee said:

Our fans don't get nearly enough credit in the press for how much we back our clubs.  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51177558

Almost three times the European league average.  Unfortunately it is the gross mismanagement of our game by Doncaster and co which has led to use slipping even further behind other European leagues on the competitiveness front. They have simply prioritised the Old Firm's dying grip on staying remotely relevant over progressing our overall game for everyone's benefit.  

 

 

You are right of course. 

But clubs want that % to go down, they see the growth in revenue in TV, sponsorship and other. Growing a fanbase is generally a low priority, sad but true. After that, they focus on doing just enough to keep the loyal mugs turning up week after week.

[Swello]

The main thing that's always pissed me off about the situation is that given the utterly submissive attitude that the SPFL/Clubs (as they are one and the same) show towards broadcast partners  is that you would think it was the other way round where TV money was the major contributor and not punters.

Secondly, this is being spun as some sort of positive where the Scottish leagues are some sort of nostalgic throwback where it's all about the supporters but surely this is just evidence that we have a shite, sub-par TV deal.

[craigkillie]

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation in some respects. A lot of this is down to the fact that we have exceptionally high crowds, relatively higher than almost every country in Europe, but on the flip side we also have slightly lower TV revenue.

However, one of the reasons we have lower TV revenue is that we show fewer games on TV than most countries, and it will be even less again under the new, more valuable, Sky deal which starts next season.

If every game was on TV, as is the case in many countries, that would mean kick-off times being all over the place, and it's not clear to me that we'd be able to rely on the same levels of support.

[AberdeenHibee]

5 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation in some respects. A lot of this is down to the fact that we have exceptionally high crowds, relatively higher than almost every country in Europe, but on the flip side we also have slightly lower TV revenue.

However, one of the reasons we have lower TV revenue is that we show fewer games on TV than most countries, and it will be even less again under the new, more valuable, Sky deal which starts next season.

If every game was on TV, as is the case in many countries, that would mean kick-off times being all over the place, and it's not clear to me that we'd be able to rely on the same levels of support.

I'd argue that if our product was available to a considerably wider audience with particular emphasis on showing the games in Scotland, every club would get a boost in support.  In the USA, TV watchers get the NFL/NBA/MLB teams rammed down their throat at every opportunity.  When you go into any bar or public space, the teams are everywhere 24/7.  I'd be amazed if that doesn't draw considerably higher crowds (as well as all of the merchandise sales), as you simply can't avoid it.  In Scotland, it is almost a hidden shame at times as far as the TV goes.  

Edited January 27, 2020 by AberdeenHibee

[Alert Mongoose]

32 minutes ago, Swello said:

The main thing that's always pissed me off about the situation is that given the utterly submissive attitude that the SPFL/Clubs (as they are one and the same) show towards broadcast partners  is that you would think it was the other way round where TV money was the major contributor and not punters.

Secondly, this is being spun as some sort of positive where the Scottish leagues are some sort of nostalgic throwback where it's all about the supporters but surely this is just evidence that we have a shite, sub-par TV deal.

There is an argument for a positive case in that the clubs should, in theory, have less opportunity to run roughshod over the fans views.  
 

Unfortunately the dynamic of the Old Firm skews this somewhat.

[jamamafegan]

Said it on here several times in the past that the fans in Scotland don't realise exactly how much influence they could have on the game. The clubs are lucky that it isn't exercised too often.

The only time I can think it was exercised was when Rangers were sent to the 3rd Division. And it worked.

I think it should be done again for ticket prices for games. A mass boycott on an organised day in campaign for “twenty’s plenty.”

It’s absolutely ridiculous that you can pay less money to watch a English Premier League or Bundesliga game than a Scottish Premiership game. People need to stop being little bitches towards their clubs and actually take a stand for once. Stop this “I gO to alL tHe GamEs cOz I suPporT mY cLub”

There’s far too many oddball supporters who are either happy to stump up or who aren’t happy but will still stump up anyway out of loyalty to their club. Sorry, but loyalty will get you nowhere on this. Only direct action will solve this.

43% of their revenue is from us, the fans, so get everyone to boycott one weekend and hit the clubs where it hurts.

[Durnford]

40 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

The only time I can think it was exercised was when Rangers were sent to the 3rd Division. And it worked.
 

 

At the risk of being pedantic surely Rangers went out of business. The new club started life in the third division (surely already a concession of not having to start in the Juniors?) despite arguments from some of the money-men that it would destroy Scottish football.

 

 

[Dons_1988]

At the risk of being pedantic surely Rangers went out of business. The new club started life in the third division (surely already a concession of not having to start in the Juniors?) despite arguments from some of the money-men that it would destroy Scottish football.
 
 

They would’ve walked back into the top flight if it hadn’t been for fan power.

[crispy]

This reminds me of a conversation I had about football generally with a Spaniard that I used to work. They 'we (Spain) really like our football but you guys are [mad about it], ...and yet you are shit'.

It's a different line of discussion but it's not like people from other countries are so physically different to us that the difference in outcome can be explained. We need to start using this football culture in the right way.

[thisGRAEME]

1 hour ago, AberdeenHibee said:

I'd argue that if our product was available to a considerably wider audience with particular emphasis on showing the games in Scotland, every club would get a boost in support.  In the USA, TV watchers get the NFL/NBA/MLB teams rammed down their throat at every opportunity.  When you go into any bar or public space, the teams are everywhere 24/7.  I'd be amazed if that doesn't draw considerably higher crowds (as well as all of the merchandise sales), as you simply can't avoid it.  In Scotland, it is almost a hidden shame at times as far as the TV goes.  

There's an argument for that for sure, but similarly, if we were to televise everything in the way the dutch do (as an example), it'd either leave us with wild kick-off times (and given that folk seem to kick off about that whenever they're moved) or an end to the TV Blackout. The former doesn't massively bother me, as like a lot of fans, my weekend centres around going to the football kind of regardless. The latter I worry would be a huge problem for Scottish football. You'll know as I do a whole collection of folk that insist they're Manchester United fans from Paisley, if the Blackout ends and the Barclays can run a kind of 'Red Zone' for games at 3pm on a Saturday, I think that would become a major problem for clubs.

On the US suggestion, which isn't a terrible one at all, it just fits a lot better timing wise, as the sports all build to peaks at particular times of the year, so there's always something coming up that's a big deal. League football doesn't really lend itself to this, and there aren't any other 'major' sports in Scotland that would be able to fit around that either.

[Durnford]

43 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

 

They would’ve walked back into the top flight if it hadn’t been for fan power.

 

FIFY

 

 

 

[GordonS]

Always bugs me when news agencies cover a report without linking to it - do they not know how the internet works? Anyway, here it is, and it's a fascinating read: https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Clublicensing/02/63/79/75/2637975_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Scotland is around 12th for most indicators, so you could argue we're underachieving. Our numbers are so skewed by the OF though, who are what, half of our revenue and fans on their own? We have two very big clubs (Celtic are one of only 15 clubs in Europe with total attendance each season over 1 million), three medium clubs and the rest are small. None of the other countries our size has a Celtic or Rangers - you won't find comparable clubs until you get to countries with 3 times our population.

So I'd love to see a club-by-club breakdown - who are really the peers of Aberdeen in terms of wage bill? What's the benchmark? I fear our clubs are getting gubbed each year by clubs with wage bills a fraction of ours.

We are pretty unusual in other ways - our clubs own their stadiums, and are owned by local owners. Our total income from fans is the highest outside the big 5 countries, which is amazing. You'd think a place like that would have a good TV deal, but no. I wonder if its because we don't have any broadcasters of our own, our broadcasters are the same as cover the big country next door. 

It seems we're better at watching football than playing it - though at least we go to games. 

[GordonS]

Oh, and I'm willing to bet attendances & gate receipts in our second tier are hugely ahead of those in comparable countries.

[TheScarf]

Why would Sevco start in the Juniors? They're not part of the pyramid 

 

[Thistle_do_nicely]

On 27/01/2020 at 11:18, Dons_1988 said:

 

They would’ve walked back into the top flight if it hadn’t been for fan power.

 

Yep.

Even working on the assumption there were only a handful of fans directly contacting clubs, just a cursory glance online from to gauge the mood would make it pretty clear there was a serious risk of permanent, irreparable damage to season ticket numbers for years to come across the board.

Simple point to be made (and I think I emailed the Thistle generic account to the same effect, along with a somewhat bitter mention of us having to sell players such as Mark Twaddle to pay an HMRC bill a few years back to keep out of the shite) was that if it were any other club getting liquidated, barring one that's based in the East End of Glasgow, would there be such a concerted effort to get them in at as high a level as possible? If Rangers* were to be shuffled into the 2nd tier or above then what's the fucking point in supporting anyone else without that sort of institutional safety net?

Edited January 28, 2020 by Thistle_do_nicely