Post by QPR Report on Nov 11, 2008 7:54:20 GMT
Ex-Arsenal's David Dein
The Guardian
London tickets too pricey
David Dein yesterday hit out at London football clubs' ticket prices, saying they excluded the next generation of fans. As the man who enabled the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov to take a 25% stake in Arsenal, there are no prizes for guessing which club Dein might have been talking about at the International Football Arena, a conference in Zurich. But at least the Dein family is trying to do something about too-dear tickets. His son, Gavin, has set up a loyalty-club company where points earned count towards season-ticket fees.
Bloomberg /Tariq Panja
Premier League Clubs Risk Pricing Fans Out of Soccer, Dein Says
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein said Premier League soccer teams risk forcing fans out of the sport by pushing up ticket prices.
Matchday prices at Arsenal, the 13-time English champion based in north London, are the highest in the league, with the most expensive coming in at 90 pounds ($141).
``I think they've reached a level now where you can't put prices up because you can't alienate the traditional fan.'' Dein told delegates at the International Football Arena conference in Zurich yesterday. ``You have to make football affordable.''
Arsenal's matchday revenue, totaling around 3 million pounds a game, represents 42 percent of the club's annual revenue. Its new Emirates Stadium holds 60,000 supporters, 9,000 of whom are corporate seat-holders that account for 1.2 million pounds each game day.
Increasing wage levels, and the effects of the credit crunch, are increasing financial pressures in the world's richest soccer league. It had revenue exceeding 1.5 billion pounds in 2006-07, accountant Deloitte & Touche LLP said in May. However, clubs spent 969 million pounds on wages, a 13 percent increase on the previous year, and are likely to have topped 1 billion for the first time in 2007-08.
Dein said that while the higher-paying supporters subsidize tickets for the rest, the competition among teams in the Premier League means most of the revenue is spent on improving squads.
``There's a huge danger you are cutting off the pipeline which is necessary for the next generation,'' said Dein, who left Arsenal in 2007. ``I think frankly we've reached the top level now with prices and clubs really have to have a look under the microscope and say, `We really can't charge anymore.'''
`Bald and Wear Glasses'
The Premier League says occupancy rates at its stadiums are running at 93 percent. Critics point out that most supporters are older, with an average age of 42.
``The league's own figures, and a simple look around the grounds, show that the crowds at the top clubs have aged dramatically,'' said David Conn, author of ``The Beautiful Game?'' ``The grounds used to be teeming with kids, but now fans are bald and wear glasses.''
Dein also spoke about the club's current progress, and urged fans not to lose faith in coach Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman's future has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as the team's form stuttered.
``I call him a miracle worker,'' said Dein, who helped bring the coach to the Gunners in 1996. ``Never, ever lose faith in Arsene Wenger's judgment. He's the most focused, dedicated, intelligent football man I've ever come across.''
`Bad Patch'
Wenger overhauled the team's style of play and went on to win three league titles and four F.A. Cups.
U.K. media speculated his 12-year tenure could be in doubt after the team blew a 4-2 lead in the final minutes to draw with Tottenham last month and lost 2-1 at newly promoted Stoke City. The club bounced back with a 2-1 home victory over Premier League champion Manchester United three days ago.
``The team has a bad patch, a wobble -- everybody starts criticizing him and that's grossly unfair,'' Dein told reporters. ``See what happens at the end of the season and see if the team are good enough.''
Arsenal is third in the 20-team Premier League, six points behind leader Chelsea, and tops its four-team group in Europe's Champions League.
The Guardian
London tickets too pricey
David Dein yesterday hit out at London football clubs' ticket prices, saying they excluded the next generation of fans. As the man who enabled the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov to take a 25% stake in Arsenal, there are no prizes for guessing which club Dein might have been talking about at the International Football Arena, a conference in Zurich. But at least the Dein family is trying to do something about too-dear tickets. His son, Gavin, has set up a loyalty-club company where points earned count towards season-ticket fees.
Bloomberg /Tariq Panja
Premier League Clubs Risk Pricing Fans Out of Soccer, Dein Says
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein said Premier League soccer teams risk forcing fans out of the sport by pushing up ticket prices.
Matchday prices at Arsenal, the 13-time English champion based in north London, are the highest in the league, with the most expensive coming in at 90 pounds ($141).
``I think they've reached a level now where you can't put prices up because you can't alienate the traditional fan.'' Dein told delegates at the International Football Arena conference in Zurich yesterday. ``You have to make football affordable.''
Arsenal's matchday revenue, totaling around 3 million pounds a game, represents 42 percent of the club's annual revenue. Its new Emirates Stadium holds 60,000 supporters, 9,000 of whom are corporate seat-holders that account for 1.2 million pounds each game day.
Increasing wage levels, and the effects of the credit crunch, are increasing financial pressures in the world's richest soccer league. It had revenue exceeding 1.5 billion pounds in 2006-07, accountant Deloitte & Touche LLP said in May. However, clubs spent 969 million pounds on wages, a 13 percent increase on the previous year, and are likely to have topped 1 billion for the first time in 2007-08.
Dein said that while the higher-paying supporters subsidize tickets for the rest, the competition among teams in the Premier League means most of the revenue is spent on improving squads.
``There's a huge danger you are cutting off the pipeline which is necessary for the next generation,'' said Dein, who left Arsenal in 2007. ``I think frankly we've reached the top level now with prices and clubs really have to have a look under the microscope and say, `We really can't charge anymore.'''
`Bald and Wear Glasses'
The Premier League says occupancy rates at its stadiums are running at 93 percent. Critics point out that most supporters are older, with an average age of 42.
``The league's own figures, and a simple look around the grounds, show that the crowds at the top clubs have aged dramatically,'' said David Conn, author of ``The Beautiful Game?'' ``The grounds used to be teeming with kids, but now fans are bald and wear glasses.''
Dein also spoke about the club's current progress, and urged fans not to lose faith in coach Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman's future has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as the team's form stuttered.
``I call him a miracle worker,'' said Dein, who helped bring the coach to the Gunners in 1996. ``Never, ever lose faith in Arsene Wenger's judgment. He's the most focused, dedicated, intelligent football man I've ever come across.''
`Bad Patch'
Wenger overhauled the team's style of play and went on to win three league titles and four F.A. Cups.
U.K. media speculated his 12-year tenure could be in doubt after the team blew a 4-2 lead in the final minutes to draw with Tottenham last month and lost 2-1 at newly promoted Stoke City. The club bounced back with a 2-1 home victory over Premier League champion Manchester United three days ago.
``The team has a bad patch, a wobble -- everybody starts criticizing him and that's grossly unfair,'' Dein told reporters. ``See what happens at the end of the season and see if the team are good enough.''
Arsenal is third in the 20-team Premier League, six points behind leader Chelsea, and tops its four-team group in Europe's Champions League.