DIRECT Bolton have broken ranks with clubs trying to hold the line on pricing and announced they will slash season tickets by an average 10% next year.
A lot of clubs have made one off concessions this term to put bums on seats for those games most affected by the downward drift in crowds. Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton have all cut prices for the visits of less glamorous opposition (yes, that means Boro) while Riverside chiefs sensed which way the wind was blowing and slashing prices for the visit of Charlton, the televised game with Liverpool and have pegged ticket costs for the FA Cup games against Bristol and Mogga.
They are to be commended for that. But now it is time for Boro to bite the bullet, stop tinkering around the edges of the pricing structure and follow Bolton in announcing an across the board reduction in season ticket prices too.
Bolton's 10% cut is welcome, as are the public pronouncements recognising the economic sacrifices that supporters have made in recent years - but the finincial impact on the club
will be minimal. TV income will almost double when the new mega-deal kicks in next year. The truth is clubs could easily afford to cut more off ticket prices and still be quids in.
Clubs have a golden opportunity to use the money to slash prices and regenerate the feelgood factor experienced in the early days of the Premiership. We can have the facilities, the star names and a value for money experience. Clubs can fill the grounds, expand their community base and still make more money than ever before.
The balance is important. No one would want to see their club becoming uncompetitive. But by the same token the punative price rises of the past decade are not sustainable. On average prices have risen 7% a year since the move to the Riverside, a rate that far outsrips both the rate of inflational and the rise in incomes in a low wage economy like Teesside and many diehards have been squeezed out.
The clubs need to take a few steps back to rebuild their fan base and the new TV boom gives them the chance. But we should demand that the changes are not just economic. It is not just about knocking a few quid off the price. The windfall gives clubs the chance to renegotiate their relationship with the loyal supporters and with their communities.
It is an opportunity to regenerate the Red Book ideal: to create a genuine inclusive membership scheme with real benefits. We could easily rattle off a dozen good ideas on here to push the club onto a new level: a partnership with local bus operators to facilitate effective matchday travel, satellite shops and ticket offices in the outlying towns, real consultation and fans representative on the board, a symbolic share issue, kids for a quid for season ticket holders, pre-season Riverside open days, a return to friendlies at local non-league sides, you name it it should be on the agenda for change.
It should not just be about changing in pricing structure but changing the mentality of clubs .
***Jonathan Woodgate agrees too. Boro's loan star told the Gazette that this season's ticket price offers have boosted the atmosphere and opened the door to a new generation of fans.
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