Young adult fans are 'put off' by cost of football

[@owlstalk]

The BBC Price of Football study has found that the majority of ticket prices have frozen or fallen for a third year - yet a poll of young adult football fans suggests the cost is still putting them off.

This year BBC Sport asked more than 200 clubs across the United Kingdom for information on ticket prices and found almost two thirds of price categories have been reduced or remained the same across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In a separate poll, we asked 1,000 18 to 24-year-old fans living in Britain how they engage with football and four in five (82%) said the cost of tickets was an obstacle to them going to more matches.

The annual study found that 134 clubs out of 190 in England, Scotland and Wales offer reduced prices for teenagers and young adults - separate from any student concessions - but 55% of the fans we polled said they had stopped going completely or go to fewer games because it was too expensive.

Young adult fans can save, on average, £147.88 on season tickets in the English Premier League and Football League, while in the top four divisions in Scotland the average saving on a season ticket is £143.66.

The young adult poll: Results in full
According to figures from the Premier League, young adult fans bought 4% of all season tickets this year, while a report in 2015 suggested the average age of an adult supporter in the Premier League was 41.

Rob Wilson, football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, says top clubs need to do more to attract young adults. "These fans are the next generation of season ticket holders but they have been brought up in a sanitised and expensive environment," he told BBC Sport.

"With this in mind, they are reluctant to pay so much to watch their teams play and these findings should act as a warning to the Premier League elite - they ignore this group of fans at their peril."

In a statement, the Premier League said: "Clubs engage with their fans in many ways and hugely appreciate their loyal and passionate support.

"For young fans specifically, all clubs offer concession prices, including discounted junior season tickets."

The online poll, conducted by ComRes, also showed young fans are more likely to engage with football by playing games on a console or PC (61%) than playing in a football team (37%).

More young football fans bet on football (44%) than play in a team (37%), but more fans play in a team than have a fantasy football team (33%).

Only one in four fans (26%) said they go to watch football live more than once a month.

Other findings:

Two thirds (65%) of young football fans said the cost of travel was an obstacle to attending more football matches.

Three quarters (74%) of young fans said they get their football news from social media - 24% from print newspapers.

Three in five fans aged 18-24 go to a sport app or mobile site (59%) for football news while at least half access it via a TV results service (53%). 

70% of supporters agreed that football clubs did value their fans, but more than half of the teenagers and young adults (56%) said professional football was not run with them in mind.

Similar numbers of football fans asked said they go to a football match at least once a week (11%), two to three times a month (15%) or five to 10 times a season (14%).
One in six (16%) male football fans aged 18-24 said they go to a match at least once a week, compared to 7% of women in this group.

The picture across Britain

Of the top four leagues in England, 91% of clubs offer special prices for young adults, separate from any student concessions. The age ranges vary from 16-24 years old, with most targeting the 18-21 bracket.

The biggest discounts come in the Premier League, where an Arsenal member aged 16-19 can purchase a season ticket for £384 compared to the cheapest adult season ticket at £891 - a saving of £507.

Chelsea offer the biggest discount on single matchday tickets for their under 20s, who can pay £15.50 instead of £47 - a saving of £31.50.

But despite these discounts, 81% of the young adult football fans living in England who were polled say they feel the cost of tickets is stopping them from going to more matches.

In Scotland, 27 of the 42 clubs offer young adult discounts.

In the poll, 79% of fans say cost is an obstacle to them attending football matches.

A third of the clubs in the Welsh Premier League offer special discounts for young adults.

Of the young adults asked in Wales, 90% say the cost of tickets puts them off going to watch football.

Analysis and reaction
*Rob Wilson, Football Finance Expert, Sheffield Hallam University:*
E-sports are becoming big business and this is the next key challenge for clubs.

 

How do you convert e-sport players into terrace-goers?

 

Can you link the e-game to the actual one?

 

How can mobile technologies support this at half time, for example?

 

Moreover, the way that young fans consume information is changing - clubs need to engage fans much more effectively when it comes to social media.

We've seen big reductions in subscriptions to the pay TV platforms so it's unsurprising young people think twice about live football.

 

There are also lots of options for young people to spend their leisure pound (the cinema, gym,

 

university, cars etc) so football clubs need to work much harder to engage them.

 

There is no magic bullet but they need to do more and communicate that more effectively.

 

The long-term impact of young fans feeling priced out is yet to be truly felt.

*Kevin Rowles, economics expert:*

 

What we are seeing, especially with young people, is that incomes are being squeezed in real terms and this will lead to a decrease in demand, particularly as there are alternative leisure opportunities.

 

The number of fans attending football will also respond to rise and fall in prices because of the price elasticity of demand for tickets.

Support for a team is often a matter of loyalty and hence lower prices may not attract many new fans. If young people find their finances are stretched, they may make a rational choice to follow a team by other means such as screened matches.

Young people tend to be in work but with the very slow growth in wages in the last 10 years, their income is lagging behind living costs.

 

Real wages are not rising and young people are also saddled with student debt. Rent and utility bills have to be paid and they are rising faster than other prices.

Then, when you have to pay for food on top, it means things like sport and paying to watch football are not a priority.

*Dr Rachel Andrew, clinical psychologist:*

There are a number of different, interacting factors that play a part in young people's decision making.

 

These factors are relevant to decisions made about leisure (and in particular football).

 

These include factors such as: 1) temperament and personality and 2) past history - including childhood memories, parents' interests & values, and past teachers or peer influence.

However, there are some interesting trends around leisure also. Young people are drinking less.

 

Young people are more thoughtful about what they want to do with their time and money. Superficially it looks like they have increased choice about what they may do, but in reality they also have less money and less time.

As a young person gets older, it often becomes more important to make decisions that will not alienate them from a social group of friends when compared to decisions that their parents may not like or may be unhealthy.

I am not surprised young people are engaging with football online through videos/fantasy football and probably through social media & apps too - as this is a trend we are seeing across the board with leisure.

I feel sad and disappointed that young people are playing less football as there are so many physical and mental health benefits to this.

 

It is sad that the big drive to increase football in schools is not having a long-term effect once children leave school.

[Animis]

When you look around the ground one thing that has changed is the lack of 'lads' sat together. It seems more a mix of middle age men and families. 

[tarn owl]

This is the biggest challenge facing football and Wednesday in decades to come. So much choice of what young people can do on a Saturday with their money and time. Club needs to think about how to encourage the next generation into the ground. Reducing prices will help but you need strong advertising to get people there and events at the game to make it worth it. Really interesting and no quick solution, lots of engagement and strategy needed in the years to come. 

[S36 OWL]

The BBC Price of Football study has found that the majority of ticket prices have frozen or fallen for a third year 

 

Obviously didnt include Wednesday`s in their study 

[Lord Snooty]

24 minutes ago, Animis said:

When you look around the ground one thing that has changed is the lack of 'lads' sat together. It seems more a mix of middle age men and families. 

 

Which is what the TV people wanted when they grabbed the mutt of the game, muzzled it, bathed it, and showed it to the world. 

A nice clean family 'product'

[SiJ]

Think it's not just the price (though that's the main factor). 

 

The instant access to highlights/goals (on Sky they now show Championship goals literally seconds after they've gone in) means that you can very much be an armchair fan and keep up to date with everything that's going on. 

 

Could very well end up with a generation of football fans who have little to no interest in actually attending game in the flesh. 

[Hutch's biscuit knee]

It works out at 6p for every sideward and backward pass we make in a game

[S36 OWL]

11 minutes ago, Hutch's biscuit knee said:

It works out at 6p for every sideward and backward pass we make in a game

 

[tarn owl]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41482931

 

full results for comparing ticket prices and other catergories. Unsurprisingly we are dearest in some and near the top in most. 

[nevthelodgemoorowl]

1 hour ago, @owlstalk said:

The BBC Price of Football study has found that the majority of ticket prices have frozen or fallen for a third year - yet a poll of young adult football fans suggests the cost is still putting them off.

This year BBC Sport asked more than 200 clubs across the United Kingdom for information on ticket prices and found almost two thirds of price categories have been reduced or remained the same across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In a separate poll, we asked 1,000 18 to 24-year-old fans living in Britain how they engage with football and four in five (82%) said the cost of tickets was an obstacle to them going to more matches.

The annual study found that 134 clubs out of 190 in England, Scotland and Wales offer reduced prices for teenagers and young adults - separate from any student concessions - but 55% of the fans we polled said they had stopped going completely or go to fewer games because it was too expensive.

Young adult fans can save, on average, £147.88 on season tickets in the English Premier League and Football League, while in the top four divisions in Scotland the average saving on a season ticket is £143.66.

The young adult poll: Results in full
According to figures from the Premier League, young adult fans bought 4% of all season tickets this year, while a report in 2015 suggested the average age of an adult supporter in the Premier League was 41.

Rob Wilson, football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, says top clubs need to do more to attract young adults. "These fans are the next generation of season ticket holders but they have been brought up in a sanitised and expensive environment," he told BBC Sport.

"With this in mind, they are reluctant to pay so much to watch their teams play and these findings should act as a warning to the Premier League elite - they ignore this group of fans at their peril."

In a statement, the Premier League said: "Clubs engage with their fans in many ways and hugely appreciate their loyal and passionate support.

"For young fans specifically, all clubs offer concession prices, including discounted junior season tickets."

The online poll, conducted by ComRes, also showed young fans are more likely to engage with football by playing games on a console or PC (61%) than playing in a football team (37%).

More young football fans bet on football (44%) than play in a team (37%), but more fans play in a team than have a fantasy football team (33%).

Only one in four fans (26%) said they go to watch football live more than once a month.

Other findings:

Two thirds (65%) of young football fans said the cost of travel was an obstacle to attending more football matches.

Three quarters (74%) of young fans said they get their football news from social media - 24% from print newspapers.

Three in five fans aged 18-24 go to a sport app or mobile site (59%) for football news while at least half access it via a TV results service (53%). 

70% of supporters agreed that football clubs did value their fans, but more than half of the teenagers and young adults (56%) said professional football was not run with them in mind.

Similar numbers of football fans asked said they go to a football match at least once a week (11%), two to three times a month (15%) or five to 10 times a season (14%).
One in six (16%) male football fans aged 18-24 said they go to a match at least once a week, compared to 7% of women in this group.

The picture across Britain

Of the top four leagues in England, 91% of clubs offer special prices for young adults, separate from any student concessions. The age ranges vary from 16-24 years old, with most targeting the 18-21 bracket.

The biggest discounts come in the Premier League, where an Arsenal member aged 16-19 can purchase a season ticket for £384 compared to the cheapest adult season ticket at £891 - a saving of £507.

Chelsea offer the biggest discount on single matchday tickets for their under 20s, who can pay £15.50 instead of £47 - a saving of £31.50.

But despite these discounts, 81% of the young adult football fans living in England who were polled say they feel the cost of tickets is stopping them from going to more matches.

In Scotland, 27 of the 42 clubs offer young adult discounts.

In the poll, 79% of fans say cost is an obstacle to them attending football matches.

A third of the clubs in the Welsh Premier League offer special discounts for young adults.

Of the young adults asked in Wales, 90% say the cost of tickets puts them off going to watch football.

Analysis and reaction
*Rob Wilson, Football Finance Expert, Sheffield Hallam University:*
E-sports are becoming big business and this is the next key challenge for clubs.

 

How do you convert e-sport players into terrace-goers?

 

Can you link the e-game to the actual one?

 

How can mobile technologies support this at half time, for example?

 

Moreover, the way that young fans consume information is changing - clubs need to engage fans much more effectively when it comes to social media.

We've seen big reductions in subscriptions to the pay TV platforms so it's unsurprising young people think twice about live football.

 

There are also lots of options for young people to spend their leisure pound (the cinema, gym,

 

university, cars etc) so football clubs need to work much harder to engage them.

 

There is no magic bullet but they need to do more and communicate that more effectively.

 

The long-term impact of young fans feeling priced out is yet to be truly felt.

*Kevin Rowles, economics expert:*

 

What we are seeing, especially with young people, is that incomes are being squeezed in real terms and this will lead to a decrease in demand, particularly as there are alternative leisure opportunities.

 

The number of fans attending football will also respond to rise and fall in prices because of the price elasticity of demand for tickets.

Support for a team is often a matter of loyalty and hence lower prices may not attract many new fans. If young people find their finances are stretched, they may make a rational choice to follow a team by other means such as screened matches.

Young people tend to be in work but with the very slow growth in wages in the last 10 years, their income is lagging behind living costs.

 

Real wages are not rising and young people are also saddled with student debt. Rent and utility bills have to be paid and they are rising faster than other prices.

Then, when you have to pay for food on top, it means things like sport and paying to watch football are not a priority.

*Dr Rachel Andrew, clinical psychologist:*

There are a number of different, interacting factors that play a part in young people's decision making.

 

These factors are relevant to decisions made about leisure (and in particular football).

 

These include factors such as: 1) temperament and personality and 2) past history - including childhood memories, parents' interests & values, and past teachers or peer influence.

However, there are some interesting trends around leisure also. Young people are drinking less.

 

Young people are more thoughtful about what they want to do with their time and money. Superficially it looks like they have increased choice about what they may do, but in reality they also have less money and less time.

As a young person gets older, it often becomes more important to make decisions that will not alienate them from a social group of friends when compared to decisions that their parents may not like or may be unhealthy.

I am not surprised young people are engaging with football online through videos/fantasy football and probably through social media & apps too - as this is a trend we are seeing across the board with leisure.

I feel sad and disappointed that young people are playing less football as there are so many physical and mental health benefits to this.

 

It is sad that the big drive to increase football in schools is not having a long-term effect once children leave school.

TES investigation reveals areas with high obesity levels are shedding huge amounts of land

 

The amount of school playing field land earmarked for sell-off has increased dramatically to a seven-year high, a TES investigation reveals.

Information from 65 local authorities shows that they sought permission to sell or transfer 160 acres of school playing fields last year – more than double the amount set aside the previous year.

This is the most playing field land marked for sell-off in a single year during the seven years for which data is available.

Almost half of the land was in three local authority areas – Knowsley, Kent and Barnsley – all of which have higher than average levels of overweight and obese children of Reception age.

The TES investigation also shows that school playing-field sales since 2010 – including those for which Department for Education approval was not required – have already raised more than £100 million for the 65 councils that responded to TES Freedom of Information requests.

The same authorities asked the DfE for permission to dispose of 684 acres of school playing field land – equal to 456 professional football pitches – the analysis reveals.

Tim Gill, a former director of the Children’s Play Council who advised David Cameron on childhood when he was leader of the opposition, said: “Despite promises from successive governments, hundreds of acres of playing fields are being sold off, leaving children deprived of space for sport and play.

“With rising pupil numbers and growing concerns about ‘generation inactive’, it’s time for ministers to accept that the system protecting these vital assets just isn’t working.”

TES revealed last October that there had been a surge in the number of requests from councils hoping to dispose of land, according to data for the first half of 2016. The DfE stressed that the requests related to a “tiny” proportion of school sites. But the latest TES findings show that they still cover a large amount of land, worth significant sums of money to councils.

The first priority for reinvesting the proceeds from playing-field sales should be sports facilities, according to DfE guidance. However, the latest investigation showed that playing fields are not always replaced with outdoor space, and that money is sometimes used to subsidise other parts of the curriculum. 

Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the land may well be needed in future by areas seeing a growth in pupil numbers. Ideally, schools and councils “wouldn’t be in a position where they needed to raise money from selling off playing fields”, he added.

In 2012, Michael Gove – then education secretary – relaxed government regulations setting out the minimum outdoor space schools had to provide for pupils for team games.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “These figures represent a tiny proportion of the total playing field land across the country, and consent to sell has only been granted where schools have clearly demonstrated there is no impact on their sports curriculum.”

Kent County Council said that all of its sold fields were attached to schools that were already closed and that the money had allowed the council to invest in modern facilities.

Councillor Alan Gardiner, Barnsley Council’s spokesman for corporate services, said the local authority had invested over £1 billion in new school sites, replacing all of itsvsecondary schools. Physical activity continued to be one of the council’s priorities, he added.

Knowsley Council also said that tackling childhood obesity was a priority, and that it had “rationalised” its school estate in line with a reduction in pupil numbers. Any sales since 2010 related to obsolete sites, the council said.

 

Obviously as more and more pitches bite the dust the diminishing supply side sends rental prices sky rocketing ! Subs levels of £10+ per match are now common place.

Edited November 16, 2017 by nevthelodgemoorowl

[ash60s]

By eck tha reyt wi costa goowin to wech wenzdi 

A remember goowin from Dinno tu Illsbru wetchin match bus fare ooam anall for less than aif a crown

that obviously included a programme a kitkat n a cuppa (anall)

[flo]

Maybe when they get a bit older and become fat and ugly they will start going to the games. 

[Jarvy]

I'm 20 so I feel I'm in this demographic. I would LOVE to go to Hillsborough more, but I don't have the savings to buy a season ticket and the match prices are way, way too expensive - I attend 5 or 6 home games per year and perhaps 1 away. I don't go because I feel it's good value entertainment (I could spend that £300 on lots else), but to keep the support going and because I love my team and, being at university now I'm proud of where I come from.

 

It is too expensive, but I'm hoping when we get to the prem, Chansiri will reduce prices and/or I'll be able to afford a season ticket.

 

I know of no one else my age who could afford to attend Hillsborough regularly let alone a "group of lads" as a poster mentioned further up. Why on earth would a group of teenagers spontaneously spend £50 EACH for 90 minutes of entertainment? For reference that would be 6 months' worth of savings when I was a teenager and I was privileged to come from a reasonably financially secure background.

 

At university now my weekly budget after rent is £50 - that's for food, social, groceries, maybe the odd date with my girlfriend. Where's the room for football in that? This is the reality of why young people don't go to football matches. It's just not the same culture of "Hey lads shall we go see wednesday this weekend yeah?" and you turn up at the ticket office on the day and buy your ticket for about the same price as your lunch. It's just not possible.

 

Only friends I've got who attend regularly go because their parents buy them a season ticket every year, but how many parents in Sheffield can afford that? No wonder the crowd at Hillsborough is aging. It's a ticking time bomb for the future as we could see our fanbase drastically reduced, lest we get promoted SOON. Televised fixtures would kindle interest and generate enough demand for tickets to fill the ground.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Jarvy

[torryowl]

away days have certainly changed from when I stared going in the 60s , it was almost exclusively teenagers  who went away nowadays thats very much not the case ...... 

[Mr. Tom]

If you can't afford a season ticket up front, it costs the equivalent of a week's supermarket shop each time you go through the turnstiles. No matter what our ages or how much we all love watching the team, being realistic we have to admit that's waaaay too much for 90min sat freezing in a crap plastic seat with just a handful of incredibly basic facilities on offer. 

 

I get why the prices are so high - or rather, I understand how they came to be so high - but until something major changes in the game or today's economy, it's never gonna be a very regular pastime for most young people any more.

 

Apart from anything else, people born after 1980 are living in a completely different financial world today to those who started careers and got on the housing ladder in the '70s or earlier. Wages are lower in real terms, jobs are typically less reliable, housing costs for renters and first-time buyers are insane. (Fun stat: if food prices had risen at the same rate as housing since the late 1970s, a Tesco chicken would cost £41 today.)

 

Every little helps (OH SNAP), but ultimately there isn't much point in pressuring individual clubs to shave an extra few quid off a ticket for most 20-year-olds. In my experience they can either afford what is now a very 'premium'-priced afternoon out without worrying about it, or they'd be hard-pushed to justify paying half the currrent price.

 

How many are genuinely right in between, and would be there every week if it was just a fiver or so cheaper? I'd guess not very many.

 

Not Wednesday's fault, of course - it's all just a bit knackered. Such a shame.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Mr. Tom

[PeteG_1984]

I see this morning that our cheapest season ticket is £150 more expensive than Huddersfield’s. Already Wednesday fans on twitter falling over themselves to defend this.

 

There’s no debating that this is ridiculous. I can understand why we have to charge so much but it’s still a disgraceful indictment of football. 

 

The blame IMO lies with the unfair system of parachute payments V FFP and it’s us who are paying for that unfairness. But this is why it’s natural that the players have to be more thick skinned with critics from the crowd as a greater proportion of their wages are paid for from the crowd.

[Guest addedtime]

I (43) am getting put off to be honest. I can't sustain a 10% increase year on year. £360>£400>£455. Sadly, I think this current year's season ticket may be my last for a while. It'll be heartbreaking as I live ten minutes walk from the kop and will hate to hear the crowd on a Saturday afternoon.

[torres]

They asked only a 1000 kids who don't go to games, why don't they go?

 

They aren't that bothered is the reason!! Nothing to do with cost. 

 

[Guest addedtime]

25 minutes ago, PeteG_1984 said:

The blame IMO lies with the unfair system of parachute payments V FFP and it’s us who are paying for that unfairness. But this is why it’s natural that the players have to be more thick skinned with critics from the crowd as a greater proportion of their wages are paid for from the crowd.

 

How are Huddersfield fans paying for it? They were in the same situation as us.

[Guest mkowl]

3 minutes ago, torres said:

They asked only a 1000 kids who don't go to games, why don't they go?

 

They aren't that bothered is the reason!! Nothing to do with cost. 

 

Not really understanding the concept of statistical sampling there