Go ManU!

Unless Cech can temporarily fill that role, no.

You can't, apart from the couple of games a week that are on Sky.

my prediction was Akpom callback in January and a Coq-like transformation

fans demand their clubs to spend as much as possible on players etc so can't really moan when they look to maximise revenue.

only part of it I agree with is not being allowed to fleece away fans the same.

don't think that flag is arsenal fans btw, think it is Everton and or Liverpool fans who made it (could be wrong tho)

Arsenal have been maximising revenue for years and spending chuff all on players. If I were a match attending Arsenal fan I'd be pretty annoyed about paying top dollar for not a top dollar product. I'd also be annoyed because I'd be an Arsenal fan.

lol'd at the last part and yeh.. I pretty much agree. My prediction is top3, maybe runners up with plus10pts in goal+domestic cup run+round of 16 in the UCL(1st leg bossing it in the ManUre way, 2nd leg we destroy and get out by aggregate)...way to go out on a limb I know...

not so sure about that - plus they apparently have 3rd highest wage bill in the league

They pay more than anyone else in the country and had, up until recently, gone nine years without a trophy of any kind. When was the last time they went close to winning the league?

This summer they spent £10m on a keeper. It hardly shows burning ambition to win the league, when Chelsea sign Pedro and City sign Sterling/the Belgian bloke.

They've been promised jam tomorrow for a long, long time.

because they can't compete financially with city / chelsea / utd - not sure reducing ticket prices is going to solve this

Not sure how much the fast Gabonian from Dortmund would have improved us, but would have enjoyed some gamble on the market. I find it hard to believe they would have said no to 50mill...or just lock up the next Messi from Lyon before he moves to Barca next season..just send them a blank cheque

If Arsenal aren't a top product...what is? You can only charge a lot for tickets if you win the league? If Pool would have won it three seasons ago should they have went back and charged fans double?

English fans are so much more entitled than any other major sport, especially when you compare their ticket prices to say an average MLB/NFL/NBA/NHL ticket. They're still so much cheaper and you never hear anyone in NA say a team should slash prices short of a team tanking like the 76ers last year.

Arsenal are a big team in a major city. Look at the average price for a Yankees/Lakers/Cowboys/Leafs game. Basing ticket price off of performance or revenue is just really, really dumb. The Leafs haven't won a title for over 40 years. Haven't really come close in my lifetime. Average ticket? Over $300.

The point here is that every major market team in every major NA sport has an average ticket price around as high as the most expensive ticket in the Emirates. But, if you go to the NFL/NHL/MLB/NBA threads, how often do you see people complaining about their costs? Their are fans of teams with much, much, much less championship equity/success than Arsenal who pay way more and don't bitch about it, because it's a dumb thing to complain about.

My NHL season tickets came in this week. I'm paying as much as the best seat in the Emirates to go to a much worse building and a much worse on field/ice product. But, the games are a blast to go too and the fans are great. Probably because we are still in the honeymoon phase with our team and don't complain over dollars and cents before points in the standings.

It won't help them win the league but it will help them not pay top dollar to not win it.

Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United (until recently) in England. A top product would compete to win the title. I'll ask again - when did that last happen exactly?

I really, really couldn't GAF how a bunch of fans of a series of sports that aren't even played in this country are treated and I don't think it's relevant. I never see them complaining about their costs because I have zero interest in their sports so I wouldn't know if they were complaining or not. All I know is that since I have been a supporter it is a lot less fun than it used to be.

You can't say being able to see CL football for nearly 20 years isn't a top product. It's so arbitrary that Pool/Arsenal aren't "top products" but City are. Imagine if when City were bought, they started charging triple because a billionaire was rolling their team and the "product" was now the very best? That would be absurd. It's a terrible way to judge ticket prices.

Hoopie, your point about fun doesn't really hold any water to me though. If the prices for Arsenal or West Ham were cut 20% tomorrow, would it be more fun? I really don't think so. Fans would save a couple hundred bucks. Good for them, but who cares really? That's an extra drink or snack per game. What point of savings do the games become more fun? If fans in England paid 50% less for games would everyone be having a better time by 50%? Of course not, it doesn't work this way. Fans want success. They'd prefer not to be gouged and pay a ton, but that is so far down the list of issues for so many people.

Whats your solution Hoopie? Charge fans more when the team "should" be better? When we win trophies? Give fans discounts on the years when Cesc had half a hamstring and RVP had groins made of jelly? Should Arsenal have charged full price the last time we seriously challenged for the first 2/3 the season, then when our lead slipped away after Eduardo broke his leg gave huge refunds? Fans dictating these business decisions is just a terrible idea. If it's too expensive and there isn't a demand for it, people won't go. There is a waiting list what, 30,000 people deep of people willing to pay these prices. Why would prices ever go down and why should they?

only joking - agree really - accepted ages ago that professional football has pretty much zero in common with what it did previous. teams would rather finish 4th / avoid relegation > winning a cup competition . it's a money making business rather than a sport.

You just gave a fabulous argument of why fans of terrible NA teams shouldn't put up with it, not why Euros should complain less.

Just out of interest, if it's not too personal, how much was your NHL ST?

Lol never thought I'd se anyone going to bat for high ticket prices itt.

Would imagine one main benefit of slashing ticket prices by 50% would be much rowdier crowds leading to more enjoyable environment to watch the games. Quite a lot of the population are already priced out of football and it's a ****ing joke that some think this is not only acceptable but isn't quite exclusive enough.

It was for the Jets, not Leafs. Those are fighting words.

Joe, there are many terrible things teams do to sports now that money is so entrenched in every single game. There are at least half a dozen teams in the past two years that have threatened to move. There are I believe three that in the past year that have signed off on stadiums for $250 million - $900 million to be funded mostly, or completely by the tax payers of those cities. The point isn't that NA does it better. It's that the money was here in these games first, now the money is in England and across Europe. Its finding it's way to teams and now these teams have to be run as a business as they're all worth hundreds of millions or more now.

Fans shouldn't put up with owners threatening to move their teams away, bilking their cities for hundreds of millions in tax payer dollars or tanking. But my point is, what's the difference for 98% of people if their season ticket is $1200 or $1500? I see on some people on I follow with on twitter for Arsenal get furious over the 1 or 2% increases. Getting furious over £15 seems so weird.

Marty, I'm not "going to bat" for high ticket prices. I'm saying that they're here for people in England, like they've been here in North America for two decades. As the money has started to flow into the EPL like it has for NA sports, you're going to have to get used to it. The atmosphere might be worse, it depends on the teams individual fans. Money has won in sports. It's here to stay. It hurts the average fan. I'm not contesting any of these points. I'm simply saying that ticket prices are going to continue to rise, not fall, despite the dump trucks of money the EPL is now bringing in.

If somehow teams or the league in general goes against every other sport that is rolling in dollars, fair play to them. I just don't see it happening. Every single team in the NFL makes a profit off their TV deal alone, before charging their fans a dime. That unfortunately doesn't stop them from their prices and you will likely soon see the same in England.

Joe, I think it was about $2500 CDN per ticket fwiw. 41 games tho.

It might not make it more fun, it will make it better value. I find it pretty astounding that you can talk about value and ignore it because it is a long way down the list of issues for so many people - all I know is that price (more than value) is an issue for many.

The ship sailed long ago for my solution, but then my motivations are different from many people. In no particular order, I would:
1) Reintroduce terraces.
2) Return football so that Saturday 3 o'clock kick offs are the vast majority - maybe 1/2 games per weekend can be moved to Sunday.
3) Change the ridiculous structure so that those that qualify for the Big Cup are winners and everyone else is a loser.
4) Distribute money more evenly throughout the pyramid.
5) Either abolish the Europa League or make it relevant.
6) Changing ticket pricing to prevent games being full of middle-aged blokes, who are pretty much the only people that can afford it.

There's probably a ton of other stuff as well, but since US sport fans aren't complaining I won't go any further.

Hoopie, that's a smart list. I agree, teams and the FA should look at making the experience better for fans since it is unlikely that costs will go down any time soon.

Priced out of the very top tier perhaps but that's true in all areas of life. There are lots of games available at all admission prices. Expecting to be able to walk into a top premiership game for the price of a round of pints is pretty crazy.

I'm not gonna walk into a 5 star restaurant and complain that it's 10x the price of wetherspoons and that they should slash their prices so I can afford to eat there.

*votes hoopie* (altho personally don't get why people want to stand at games)

sadly the exact opposite of your 6 points will be the future. with the added bonus of matches being played abroad.

Brining back terracing has to be #1 priority.

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+1 to vote Hoopie and Nic

I'm with frantic, people like to think that their individual and community identity are intertwined with the club they support so they forget that it's a luxury entertainment event that is in high demand and they don't have some inalienable right to see it at artificially low costs every week. TV experience better anyway for the most part.

Not opposed to some reforms though.