General Season tickets/state of football once this is over.

[Steve Gilbert]

Premier League clubs are now starting to announce that a lot of them will freeze prices for next season. Renewals have been extended and announced that if games for this season are cancelled or played behind closed doors then a pro rata refund will be given or a pro rata credit against next seasons ST will be applied.

I'd imagine we would go down the same route so I thought I would work out how much this would cost the club if the majority of season ticket holders wanted the cash refund...

I think we have slightly more than 5000 season ticket holders so lets call it 5000. If we take the cheapest season ticket of an adult which is £330 for the East stand and divide it by 23 (that's if the club are being kind and still excluding the fact the season didn't end up having 24 teams) it works out at £14.35 a game. We still have/had 5 home games to play so each ST holder would get £71.74. If 5000 fans wanted the cash rather than a credit against next years ST then it would the cost £358695.65. That is a scary amount of money for a club which has no income currently and still has large out goings such as wages and stadium rent.

We are lucky in the fact that Tiger has already said he will be funding this period and doing what ever needs to be done. However it makes you think of all the clubs which don't have owners who can/wont do the same.

Once this is all over I can see a lot of clubs going bust and an even greater gap between the lower leagues and the money leagues. The divide just from the money in league 1 and the championship could be so great that if you do go up then you are relying on having preform miracles to just stay in the league.

 

[Marked Ox]

Premier League clubs are now starting to announce that a lot of them will freeze prices for next season. Renewals have been extended and announced that if games for this season are cancelled or played behind closed doors then a pro rata refund will be given or a pro rata credit against next seasons ST will be applied.

I'd imagine we would go down the same route so I thought I would work out how much this would cost the club if the majority of season ticket holders wanted the cash refund...

I think we have slightly more than 5000 season ticket holders so lets call it 5000. If we take the cheapest season ticket of an adult which is £330 for the East stand and divide it by 23 (that's if the club are being kind and still excluding the fact the season didn't end up having 24 teams) it works out at £14.35 a game. We still have/had 5 home games to play so each ST holder would get £71.74. If 5000 fans wanted the cash rather than a credit against next years ST then it would the cost £358695.65. That is a scary amount of money for a club which has no income currently and still has large out goings such as wages and stadium rent.

We are lucky in the fact that Tiger has already said he will be funding this period and doing what ever needs to be done. However it makes you think of all the clubs which don't have owners who can/wont do the same.

Once this is all over I can see a lot of clubs going bust and an even greater gap between the lower leagues and the money leagues. The divide just from the money in league 1 and the championship could be so great that if you do go up then you are relying on having preform miracles to just stay in the league.

I would suggest considering their wage bills etc then quite a few Championship sides might be in trouble.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I would suggest considering their wage bills etc then quite a few Championship sides might be in trouble.

I did think it could actually affect the bigger teams more than it could the little ones. Teams with large fan bases (higher refund cost) and higher wages to pay out, more staffing costs. Compared to clubs like Shrewsbury who have fairly low number of ST holders, lower wages and also the added bonus they own their stadium (I think). Having said that, Andy Holt the Accy owner has said that if this goes on too long then his club will go bust and that is a club who own their own stadium.

 

[Marked Ox]

I did think it could actually affect the bigger teams more than it could the little ones. Teams with large fan bases (higher refund cost) and higher wages to pay out, more staffing costs. Compared to clubs like Shrewsbury who have fairly low number of ST holders, lower wages and also the added bonus they own their stadium (I think). Having said that, Andy Holt the Accy owner has said that if this goes on too long then his club will go bust and that is a club who own their own stadium.

I think it will be pot luck and I wouldn't discount PL teams getting in serious trouble/going bust if this carries on.

 

[sideshowrob]

By the time it comes to renew I reckon I will have enough money to buy it out of the petrol money I have saved by not driving to work.

 

[LowerSouth]

If 20/21 goes ahead, I think many over 65's will have a real dilemma-do I attend before a vaccine is in place.
Myself and my wife are ST holders and attend most away games via London Road coaches.
We will miss the live action and comradery, but health comes first.

 

[Oxford57]

As I am one of those in the shielded group my health is of paramount importance to me , as a season ticket holder I would not renew until I know it’s safe for me to attend, I am sure that there are others who will be in the same boat

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Do people really believe crowds will attend football matches at any point in the next 12 months or more?

 

[Upthecowboys]

I think football clubs revenue streams from season tickets and match day tickets is likely to decrease significantly once this lockdown is finished. It is a tough one for the clubs because they are dealing with a crisis not caused by them, although the clubs that will suffer most are the ones that have sailed too close to the win with their finances.

* A portion of the fan base will have been hard hit financially by the crisis, and they may not have the finances for season tickets or match day tickets.
* This virus isn't going away, even when the grounds open some may be wary of being part of crowds / the government advice may be for certain groups to take extra precautions etc.
* Fans may not want to invest in a season ticket, if there is a fear of further lockdowns.

This lockdown has also focused my attention on how I choose to spend my free time when we go back to normal. I've definitely been thinking about what I have missed most and have been thinking about what I can live without. I don't think my football viewing habits will change too much once things get back to normal, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people don't prioritise going to live football post lockdown as much as they did pre-lockdown (I'm talking about people whose financial / health situation hasn't changed).

It will be really interesting to see what happens.

 

[Upthecowboys]

Do people really believe crowds will attend football matches at any point in the next 12 months or more?

That is definitely a possibility, mention it to some though and they are amazed you are even thinking it is a possibility.

I actually don't think it will happen. I have a fear that short term economic pressures may lead to some rash decisions being made.

 

[SteMerritt]

Do people really believe crowds will attend football matches at any point in the next 12 months or more?

On a related note about crowds, what do you think the chances of gigs being restarted in the next 6 to 12 months? Anything on the inside line? Getting a lot of reschedules coming through for missed shows (Foals in 12 months), plus gigs later in the year (Suede in October)... You think any chance?

 

[RyanioBirdio]

On a related note about crowds, what do you think the chances of gigs being restarted in the next 6 to 12 months? Anything on the inside line? Getting a lot of reschedules coming through for missed shows (Foals in 12 months), plus gigs later in the year (Suede in October)... You think any chance?

One of the world’s biggest concert promoters have been saying internally for the last two weeks that they’re prepared for NO concerts until a vaccine. I would happily name them but I’m not meant to have been told about the memo, and I’m worried they’ll come here and kill me in my sleep.

Genuinely, if that’s what the live concert / festival industry is braced for, football has no chance.

Just to add, I think it’s going to go the way of sterilised sound stages providing paid live streams from the biggest acts in the world. If there are no events and no ticket sales it only leaves streaming.

 

[SteMerritt]

One of the world’s biggest concert promoters have been saying internally for the last two weeks that they’re prepared for NO concerts until a vaccine. I would happily name them but I’m not meant to have been told about the memo, and I’m worried they’ll come here and kill me in my sleep.

Genuinely, if that’s what the live concert / festival industry is braced for, football has no chance.

Just to add, I think it’s going to go the way of sterilised sound stages providing paid live streams from the biggest acts in the world. If there are no events and no ticket sales it only leaves streaming.

Thanks for that, hopefully not confidential enough to have you silenced ? It has seemed massively over optimistic the amount of reschedules I've seen for later in the year, and of course a gig crowd is much tighter packed than a football crowd.

4 things I love: Football, Cricket, Live Music, Running races. No idea when any of them will happen again. ?

 

[RyanioBirdio]

It has seemed massively over optimistic the amount of reschedules I've seen for later in the year, and of course a gig crowd is much tighter packed than a football crowd.

Everyone knows that the presently rescheduled dates won’t happen, but it’s largely been done to buy promoters time before having to process all of those refunds, or hopefully avoiding many of them completely - they’re working like travel agents in that regard - but also because despite what some people have maintained it was true that insurance wasn’t paying out while the government refused to outlaw events. I nearly had a stroke going over all that before, but it’s true! The hope is that the promoters can keep rescheduling and pushing back until a date arrives that starts to stick, and that most people will keep their tickets rather than ask for refunds. They’re basically trying to manage the demand for refunds by pushing it back repeatedly rather than cancelling, so that any refund requests that are valid don’t all happen at once. Flattening the curve, as some might say!

 

[Wallop]

So I shouldn’t be booking a hotel for the Guns and Roses concert on May 30 that I’ve got tickets for then? Not cancelled yet ?

 

[RyanioBirdio]

So I shouldn’t be booking a hotel for the Guns and Roses concert on May 30 that I’ve got tickets for then? Not cancelled yet ?

Haha. Considering Download Festival has been cancelled in mid-June, has over 80,000 people per day in a massive outdoor field and GNR is less people inside a football stadium about two weeks sooner... it’s certainly a 50/50, Jeff.

 

[MalaysiaYellow]

I think it will be pot luck and I wouldn't discount PL teams getting in serious trouble/going bust if this carries on.

Yes that's very true. I wouldn't be surprised if Sky tried to renegotiate their contract.

Even watching at home, a game with no crowd would feel like a training match.

 

[MalaysiaYellow]

Thanks for that, hopefully not confidential enough to have you silenced [emoji23] It has seemed massively over optimistic the amount of reschedules I've seen for later in the year, and of course a gig crowd is much tighter packed than a football crowd.

4 things I love: Football, Cricket, Live Music, Running races. No idea when any of them will happen again. [emoji17]

Anything with large crowds globally. Around the world, majority have come from large gatherings and cause clusters and spikes.

16,000 religious event. Dormitories in Singapore. You run the risk of exposure then taking it back to Oxford, wherever you live, work, etc.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

4 things I love: Football, Cricket, Live Music, Running races. No idea when any of them will happen again. ?

The first three for me, and the 'live music' one is especially hard. I enjoy going to gigs and playing them (and even rehearsing!), plus I attend and help to lead a pub music event once every week. That's a huge chunk of my social life. I can't say that an easing of the lockdown restrictions so that Primark, phone shops and the local department store re-open will make any positive difference to my life or state of mind. It is exactly those sport/music live events that I am waiting for, and I suspect they will be the last to return.

 

[OUFCwaffle]

Just putting it out there, I could never ask for a refund on my ST. Would much rather the £350k odd was put into a stadium fund. Or better, donated to the NHS.