go on then
@basilrobbie3 something you might be interested in. not connected to the o/p but all to do with football finance which i know is of interest to you. Spurs have just announced season ticket prices and there is an increase of over 6% and they also intend to phase out cheaper season ticket prices for over 65's. That seems harsh but it is what it is. (1)
But the main point of addressing and making you aware is the [conspiracy] theory behind it. The theory is that many oap's will not be able to afford to pay the full price of season tickets and i'm not sure even if oap's are confined to certain areas but nevertheless that's not my point. The theory behind it is that it will release several thousand seats and significantly reduce the number of season tickets! Why would they do that when they have a supposed huge waiting list? (2)
The answer is that making many more tickets available on a match by match basis significantly increases the income streams coming into the club when you consider it's likely to be more than just a match day ticket purchased and "fans" are coming in from all over the world. This is at Tottenham but i'm sure that it's something thought about at certainly any of the big London clubs. (3)
Being a resident of London had you heard of this and any thoughts?
Yes, I'd heard of it as it is all over Twitter and colleagues at the THST are being kept very busy by it.
Three points arise, marked on your post :
(1) I'm slightly surprised that you are so sanguine about it. 6% on what are already very expensive tickets seems unnecessarily greedy from a club that is already making vast sums from this. If, as it claims, the club is suffering financial pressures, there are plenty of areas where they could cut cut back on spending, rather than further milking their core support.
(2) Spurs fans don't see this as a conspiracy theory ; they firmly believe that the club is actively trying to reduce the number of senior ST holders.. As you say, like Liverpool, they appear to want to expand the corporate section of their support and make extra space for so-called "football tourists". The theory - as you also say - is that this category of "fan" tends to buy merchandise and spend a lot of money on overpriced catering in a way that older, habitual fans don't.
(3) You are also right that this is not just a Spurs phenomenon, albeit they and Manchester United in particular are doing very well out of it. One of the reasons why City, Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea have been (or are) so keen on stadium expansion is that they want to be able to match what those two clubs already do.
My thoughts about it? Well, two main things really :
a) all things being equal, it is a pretty shabby way to treat people who have supported you for decades
b) there might be a large potential market out there, but are they loyal? Will they keep coming back once the novelty wears off? Bear in mind that, apart from the odd Cup or two this is a club that has won the square root of f*** all in recent times.
There are quite a lot of clubs in the EPL and EFL who appear to know the price of everything. Whether they know the value of anything is more moot. Spurs are just one of the worst examples of the trend.