Over the weekend, Liverpool supporters decided to protest high ticket prices in the Anfield expansion for next season. Estimates say around 10,000 fans got up and left their seats in the 77th minute and missed their side’s collapse against lowly Sunderland.
Thanks to this action, other supporters groups are discussing a mass walkout on Premier League matches to bring attention to the high costs of tickets throughout the league. These fan walkouts are far from the most efficient way to deal with the high cost of attending football matches or, for that matter, any sport.
It’s important to remember that most club owners care about one thing and one thing alone. That would be the pieces of paper that constitute legal tender. If a fan walks out of a match in the 77th minute—or any minute for that matter—it accomplishes nothing as far as owners are concerned. The fans have already forked over their hard-earned cash. Not to mention they have had fans at the match for the vast majority of the match, so they know people care about the club and are still willing to spend money on it.
Most owners don’t care about local pride and keeping the local populace attached to the clubs they operate. If anyone thinks American owners such as Stan Kroenke at Arsenal, who just moved his American football team halfway across the country because he felt more money could be had elsewhere, the Glazer family at Manchester United, or the American group that could take over Everton in the coming months actually care about communities on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, they are delusional. The same goes for the oil money from Sheikh Mansour that keeps Manchester City afloat. They only look at the gobs of cash that result from ownership of a Premier League club.
Because of the owners’ allegiance to the pound sterling, fans would more effectively call attention to the price hikes by not showing up at all. If they already have tickets to a match, then they should simply boycott. Do it on YouTube so the world can see you. On matchday, stay at home or watch the match at a local pub with all your friends where the beer is cheaper and you don’t have to deal with the rough weather in the winter months.
The better solution is not to purchase tickets at all. If supporters wanted to send a message to their clubs that they no longer stand for high prices, simply do not pay them. A football club should be treated like any other product somebody would buy. If the price is too much, don’t pay it. Settle for a lower cost (often lower quality) option instead. If the fans stop paying as much as they are to attend a match, logic dictates the price will fall or, at the very least, not rise any more.
The trouble with this approach is the sheer popularity of the Premier League and its giant clubs. For every 10,000 fans that depart a Liverpool match early, or don’t show up at all, there are at least twice more who would happily buy those tickets instead. Clubs can charge as much as they do for tickets because there are people who will pay them. It’s simple economics. Prices reflect what people will pay for them. In the case of the Premier League, there is a large supply of fans who are still willing to pay £77, or more, for a ticket. There was a sign shown during the Liverpool walkout that read “Football without fans is nothing.” This may be true, but there are plenty more fans to replace the outgoing angry one.
Not buying tickets is a tough task for many football supporters. Their extreme dedication to the game, in the end, is their financial downfall. Most of them truly are addicts to the game and their club, and that is exactly what owners are banking on. They know fans “can’t live” without their football, so they can fleece them out of as much as possible. Breaking that addiction and speaking with their wallet will get the point across more than simply leaving after the money is spent.
Supporters need to remember that the clubs they support are, nowadays, businesses. They are not public services which exist to entertain the masses. They are living, breathing, corporate entities that cost money to operate and serve the purpose of making that money back. As long as supporters keep throwing money at their clubs, the clubs owe them nothing in return besides the action on the pitch. So, as long as people are willing to pay, high prices aren’t going anywhere, with or without fans walking out.
