Post by QPR Report on Oct 15, 2009 6:19:21 GMT
Guardian -
Cutting ticket prices will bring relegation, Gold warns Birmingham• Blues 'will get relegated' if Carson Yeung reduces prices
• Fans will love it but model only works if all clubs follow suit
David Gold, Birmingham City's outgoing chairman, has warned the club's new owner, Carson Yeung, that reducing ticket prices could result in relegation. Yeung, whose new board of directors will be unveiled at a press conference today, has cut the cost of admission for the Premier League visit of Manchester City on 1 November.
It is one of Yeung's first gestures to fans who may regard him with suspicion after a protracted takeover. But Gold, who is stepping down after 16 years at St Andrew's, does not believe the move can prove a long-term success.
"Sadly, the model for reducing prices doesn't work," Gold said. "In the event that you cut your prices in half you do not double your attendance. Often fans say if you cut your prices you will fill the stadium – it is not true.
"What I have been lobbying for through the FA, and particularly when I was in the Football League, was for prices to be cut universally, across the board, every club reducing their prices.
"You can't do it individually, and Carson will find, if he keeps doing it individually, he will get relegated. Fans will love him but he will get relegated because the model doesn't work. If all your competitors cut their prices it's fine, it does work. But what will happen is the other clubs won't cut their prices and they will get promoted or not relegated, so the model doesn't work."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/14/david-gold-birmingham-city
Cutting ticket prices will bring relegation, Gold warns Birmingham• Blues 'will get relegated' if Carson Yeung reduces prices
• Fans will love it but model only works if all clubs follow suit
David Gold, Birmingham City's outgoing chairman, has warned the club's new owner, Carson Yeung, that reducing ticket prices could result in relegation. Yeung, whose new board of directors will be unveiled at a press conference today, has cut the cost of admission for the Premier League visit of Manchester City on 1 November.
It is one of Yeung's first gestures to fans who may regard him with suspicion after a protracted takeover. But Gold, who is stepping down after 16 years at St Andrew's, does not believe the move can prove a long-term success.
"Sadly, the model for reducing prices doesn't work," Gold said. "In the event that you cut your prices in half you do not double your attendance. Often fans say if you cut your prices you will fill the stadium – it is not true.
"What I have been lobbying for through the FA, and particularly when I was in the Football League, was for prices to be cut universally, across the board, every club reducing their prices.
"You can't do it individually, and Carson will find, if he keeps doing it individually, he will get relegated. Fans will love him but he will get relegated because the model doesn't work. If all your competitors cut their prices it's fine, it does work. But what will happen is the other clubs won't cut their prices and they will get promoted or not relegated, so the model doesn't work."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/14/david-gold-birmingham-city
