Two-thirds of teams in the Football League who responded to a BBC survey are worried about the financial health of teams in the competition. They are more positive about their own financial health, only four describing it as worrying and getting on for half (18 out of 41) describing it as more than adequate.
Two-thirds of teams in the Football League who responded to a BBC survey are worried about the financial health of teams in the competition. They are more positive about their own financial health, only four describing it as worrying and getting on for half (18 out of 41) describing it as more than adequate.
This is of itself concerning as it suggests that many clubs think that it is their rivals who have the serious problem and are perhaps over optimistic about their own situation. However, the really interesting part of the survey related to attendances.
The main culprit cited for financial worries is dwindling match-day revenues, with 34 clubs saying they were either concerned or extremely concerned about a drop in attendances.
One chief executive told the survey that 75 per cent of clubs were experiencing a decline in attendances compared with last year. The managing director of a League One club said gates in his division were down 15 per cent, with an average fall across the leagues of 4-5 per cent.
‘It’s important to keep a long-term perspective on crowd figures as they can fluctuate significantly from season to season,’ a Football League spokesman said. ‘Nevertheless, gate income remains the biggest single revenue stream for clubs so we are monitoring the situation – attracting and retaining fans remains a priority.’
Until this season, Football League crowds had appeared relatively recession-proof, with eight consecutive seasons in which total attendance topped 16 million, and an average attendance per game double that of 25 years ago. However, the response to this survey supports research carried out in January by Radio 4 that revealed gates had fallen by an aggregate of 430,000 among clubs that had been in the same division for five or more seasons. That may suggest that fans get fed up when there is a lack of evident progress which leads hope to fade.
The reasons for this, according to the survey, are a combination of less money in fans’ pockets and the amount of Premier League and European football on television. It is not, the clubs claim, for want of trying to reduce prices with early-bird specials, deals for children and other discounts.
However, these explanations lack plausibility as the amount of higher level football on television has not changed that much. Incomes have been squeezed for some years, so it is difficult to see why it should have such an effect now, unless the impact is a cumulative one.
Special offers aside, it may be that price resistance has set in. However, clubs need to maximise revenue given that wages of players are ‘sticky downwards’ (which Keynes thought was generally the case) and getting prices right is a fine art. If the reported drop in League 1 attendances is correct, clubs there may be over charging.