Golden chance missed in the rush for gold
Columnist By Tony Tannous, 9 Jul 2009 Tony Tannous is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- A-League, Australian Football, football, Fulham, Gold Coast United
Gold Coast United FC player Tahj Minniecon during the United A-league team's first training session at Southport on the Gold Coast, Tuesday April 7, 2009. AAP Image/Tony Phillips
Gold Coast United got a rousing result last night with a come from behind win over EPL club Fulham, thanks to a wonderful bit of composure in the box by Shane Smeltz. But did they miss an opportunity off the pitch with their pricing for the game?
Officially last night’s attendance was 10,336, a handy crowd by any measure. But did Clive Palmer and his crew miss an opportunity to fill Skilled Park and build a bit of local goodwill by offering locals a more affordable price to see their new team?
The four categories of adult tickets ranged from $35 to $65, and went up in $10 increments. There was even a plush platinum $95 ticket with private bar and complimentary snacks.
For a pre-season game, which essentially amounted to a training hit-out for both sides, as both Jason Culina and Roy Hodgson were quick to point out afterwards, it was far too steep, even considering Fulham’s EPL status.
It gets worse with Perth selling its two Premier League friendlies against Wolves and Fulham at $50 and $65 respectively for a standing general admission ticket at Members Equity Stadium.
The next level up, a silver ticket, will set Glory faithful back $60 and $75, respectively, while the gold category tickets are $70 and $85.
Even the Melbourne match against Fulham starts at $52 and climbs to $62, $72 and $92. And, of course, that doesn’t include the $7.50 booking fee.
I’ve heard from a couple of Melbourne regulars, club members since the early days, who have barely missed a Victory home game but who will be giving this one a miss due to the prices.
Given the undoubted cost of bringing out such opposition, perhaps there’s an argument the promoters are simply trying to re-coup their investment.
But there are some worrying signs.
The spike in ticket prices is a trend that been creeping into the game of late. The FFA learnt the hard way when it had only 40,000 fans at a dead-rubber World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in Sydney last month, where the cheapest price was $52.
Even the lower A-League crowds last season might be considered a sign that fans wish not to be burnt, especially at a time when the league is still building the quality of its on-field product.
At any time, but especially while the economy is still recovering, administrators must remain respectful of the fans and look for opportunities to bring them in, rather than keep them away.
Recommend this story.
Follow Tony on Twitter @TonyTannousTRBA
- Explore:
- A-League, Australian Football, football, Fulham, Gold Coast United
July 9th 2009 @ 5:49am
colin said | July 9th 2009 @ 5:49am | Report comment
strongly agree, ill still goto melbourne v fulham but the prices are a bit steep and its only fulham. what is perth doing wolves arent anything special at all who cares if their english
July 9th 2009 @ 7:56am
MVDave said | July 9th 2009 @ 7:56am | Report comment
Great result for GCU on the pitch anyway. Agree the prices are a bit steep for a pre season practice match…but 10,400 on a rainy day, in Winter and midweek is not too bad. They will need to do better once the HAL starts in a months time.
MVs game vs Fulham is expensive and l wont be going but already have my membership for the coming season. l am aware that many fans consider it too expensive for a pre season game in these difficult times but hopefully arrangements can be made in future for some TV coverage and therefore sponsors might get on board allowing ticket prices to be lowered.
Back to the result and its great to see a HAL team competing with an EPL team and coming out as winners…good for the game here even if Fulham have only just started pre season and were playing some fringe players. Lets hope the Roar, Glory and MV get equally pleasing results.
July 9th 2009 @ 9:25am
Brian Munich said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:25am | Report comment
I’m not sure what the final attendance was last night, but for those of us who have endured a lifetime of underwhelming friendlies against touring sides, the formula doesn’t seem to change. The promoters seem to think that an “EPL” tag will draw us all Pied Piper-like to these fixtures. For both the A-league hosts and the visitors, these games will never be more than low-key warm-ups and the paying public shouldn’t expect more. I haven’t checked, but hopefully there’s not been some breathless sponsor turning this into the “Cheaper Carpets Trophy Challenge” or similar, complete with glittering presentations…
July 9th 2009 @ 9:34am
GeneralAshnak said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:34am | Report comment
The pricing is ridiculous, a full house would be much better – and more profitable! Still well done to GCU, but it is still pre season – wont stop some people from getting carried away though!
July 9th 2009 @ 9:36am
Rellum said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:36am | Report comment
I would rather put the $52 that I would spend on the Victory/Fulham game on two A-League regular season games. That’s when the crowd figures really count, and so do the games
July 9th 2009 @ 9:49am
Pippinu said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:49am | Report comment
Still – pretty good result.
July 9th 2009 @ 10:30am
Finno said | July 9th 2009 @ 10:30am | Report comment
Yeah the roar v celtic game is $90 for good tix $45 behind the goal. I managed to get behind the goal at the away end and I will be wearing my Rangers jersey for a laugh. Normally tickets are $30 behind the goal. Still think they will get 20,000+ to the game Sunday 3pm. Good weather. Should be good. But it the 8th August we are all looking forward to.
July 9th 2009 @ 10:35am
MVDave said | July 9th 2009 @ 10:35am | Report comment
Finno
Are Roar HAL tickets to sit behind the goal $30?? That seems very expensive. MV general admission tickets for HAL are $20. MV GA membership this season for 14 home games is $195 up from $176 last season for 11 games.
July 9th 2009 @ 11:19am
NUFCMVFC said | July 9th 2009 @ 11:19am | Report comment
Agree, they are a tad on the steep side
has to be balanced out I guess because unlike Asia we don’t have billions of people to push shirts onto, so have to make it lucrative in terms of liquid cash to be gained by ticket prices
As a Melbourne fan, I can agree to a degree with Juve, as they are football aristocracy and it wasn’t until later that the big names pulled out, but there is an issue with ticket prices sky-rocketing in England, there is simply a perception now that matches high ticket prices with EPL teams. Wolves shouldn’t really be that high, they are a team that has only just come out of the Championship and will probably go back down again like last time
There are other benefits, in that the matches bring people they normally wouldn’t and they can be a handy revenue raiser, but perhaps need to lower them slightly
July 9th 2009 @ 11:40am
Aaron said | July 9th 2009 @ 11:40am | Report comment
We are still very much learning about football in this country therefore we should be trying to promote that game a bit more.in england for a epl game you are paying ridiculous amounts of money to go and watch were talking $500 a ticket for a average game in a average location.But were to use to rugby league with prices this is football i think the prices were very reasonable considering its a epl side but were not use to the different stadards which is fair enough.