11/21/24
September 19, 2005
The great Premiership rip-off: Crowds are down in the Premiership this year. One of the possible factors is the price of attending games. As the Observer points out, it costs more to watch lowly Crawley Town than it does Roma, Juventus or Bayern Munich.
Are you suggesting that the Observer may have got it's facts wrong? Surely not!
posted by salmacis at 02:54 PM on September 19, 2005
If you and your nipper want to want to watch Blues V Liverpool this weekend, you can, there are plenty of (crap) seats left at 45 quid for the adult and 18 for the nipper. Bargain!
posted by Fat Buddha at 03:26 PM on September 19, 2005
I think they're on about the £40 Premier Leauge tickets, plus whatever the stadium and the ticket cartels tack on. Which is true, and a good observation, and a rip-off. I would be hard pressed to part with such a bundle to enjoy any live sport, if I lived over there. I would, however, spend that much to see a couple of (top) EPL teams play here in the US, or to see Maryland win another NCAA championship. The powers that be must feel that EPL teams' success in Europe justifies the rate jack. I wonder if MLS ticket prices would skyrocket if teams other than DC United started whipping teams from the EPL. On preview, they let dogs into the stadium? Hawwwwwww!
posted by Hugh Janus at 03:34 PM on September 19, 2005
Can some one convert those figures for a yank? I'm wondering how the Premiership compares to major league US sports.
posted by scottypup at 04:26 PM on September 19, 2005
Never mind..had a friend tell me. 40 pounds ($75-80) isn't outrageous really. It will cost about the same or more to go to an NFL game in the states. Especially when you add in parking which is seperate here. Very easy for a person to drop $500 (270 pounds) to take a family of four to an NFL game.
posted by scottypup at 04:48 PM on September 19, 2005
The crowds might be down this year because they ran out of lawn chairs and orange slices.
posted by Turbo at 04:48 PM on September 19, 2005
It's not really fair to compare the English Premiership to the NFL. After all, West Ham v Middlesbrough is hardly NFL class. Would you pay that sort of money for AAA baseball?
posted by salmacis at 06:24 PM on September 19, 2005
Uh... I'm not sure what you're saying salmacis... But for me its like this... West Ham vs Middlesbrough is the fucking World Cup Final compared to any NFL game... And please stop using NFL and "class" in the same sentence. I realize i just did, but i was just making a statement.
posted by StarFucker at 08:56 AM on September 20, 2005
You can't compare the NFL to much when home fans only have 8 games a year to attend so each game becomes a big "event". Scarcity drives up demand, I would think.
posted by gspm at 09:37 AM on September 20, 2005
A better comparison for West Ham v Middlesborough would be baseball, say Tampa Bay v. Kansas City. While baseball does have cheap nosebleed seats, it will still cost you well about $200 to take a family of four to a game with good seats (including parking, snacks, field level seats--not dugout even). Baseball is still probably a little less since there are 81 home games per season versus approximately 20 in the EPL.
posted by trox at 09:49 AM on September 20, 2005
You get what you pay for... I can buy a ticket to a Cubs game for 20 bucks somewhere up in the mountains, but i'll be bored off my freakin' ass watching as the batter calls timeout, adjusts his crotch, spits, calls timeout again...puts his hands down the front of his pants while he drools...only for the opposing manager to decide that he wants to change pitchers again for the 8th time and he has to warm up for 15 minutes before the game starts again...
posted by StarFucker at 11:18 AM on September 20, 2005
I still don't see that it is that outrageous a price for a mid level team or especially a top level team. Yea there are lower teams that might not be worth it but it is that way in any sport world wide.
posted by scottypup at 12:16 PM on September 20, 2005
It costs less than £13 to see Roma, Juventus, or Bayern?