- Aug 31, 2012
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The trouble is, like all the ticket pricing debates, it all comes down to the age-old argument of fans still turning up anyway. He knows that even though Wembley attendances might be down, there'll still be enough people who do turn up anyway so there's very little incentive for him to offer cut price tickets. I obviously don't have exact figures but for it to be worth Levy's while the number of people who would buy a ticket for a cut price who wouldn't have turned up otherwise would have to be high enough for it to make more money than the stadium being half full of people paying full price. Obviously they've done the maths and decided enough people will still buy tickets at full price for that to be the best option financially. So asking him to offer discounted tickets is a bit of a turkey voting for Christmas scenario.
The only way it makes sense for Levy/the club to do that would be if the amount of "good will" they received as a result would outweigh the cost. However, even with cheap tickets at Wembley I think we all know everyone would still be complaining about the stadium not being ready, so any good will would be fairly short lived anyway. At the end of the day while it would be a nice gesture, it wouldn't really solve any of the problems so just isn't worth it for the club.
I know this is a cynical way to look at it, but that's just how football is nowadays.
as I said, it's obvious what conclusion Levy has drawn. I rarely agree with his fan policy, including on this occasion. He's mugged us off for years and it is a shame many real fans of my generation have had enough- and in many cases replaced by fckwits. With gate receipts a diminishing proportion of revenue, he'll struggle to fill that ground after the first season there unless he displays more foresight on pricing. I can hear the bubble readying to burst, you? The fans creating the atmosphere and the occasion for the prawn sandwich brigade cannot be taken for granted. I'm not sure if you're advocating for Levy here, or just agreeing with me what he is, but either way let's just adjourn this for a couple of seasons then see what's developed...