Interesting article on Beebs:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45158878

It seems some clubs are over reporting attendances even though fans now the stadiums aren’t full. You may have noticed many empty seats at Arsenal, Man City and West Ham recently, so what are these figures? Those figures are actually tickets sold and can include members who don’t go to the game (who don’t sell, or pass on their ticket) and it currently doesn’t break the law in U.K. Also finances of ticket prices play a big part and the police who attend games issue a seperate attendance figure to the official figure dished out by clubs. For example, notice Manchester City have actually been getting 7,500 less fans than reported over the club microphone 14% less than capacity. Pretty shocking clubs would do this but the fans are no fools.

Thats interesting indeed and kind of sad. There no really better way though for them to check attendance than tickets sales so I can't blame them. Whats really tragic is the fact that there so many people who has ticket and just don't go watch the game. Its bad and could certainly lead to less ticket sales in the future. Whats the point of buying if you not going after all. Thanks for the share Ledley.

Pretty shocking clubs would do this but the fans are no fools.

well, they count sold tickets so..

well, they count sold tickets so.

Yeah but that’s weeks, if not months in advance. It’s not adressing why people don’t go to see a game. and is more aimed here. Hi mr Sponsor, we had a full stadium this year therefore please continue to cover our bills so we don’t have to lower our ticket prices.

Whats really tragic is the fact that there so many people who has ticket and just don't go watch the game.

Yea Emo. Even scalpers try to re-sell these for a few hundred pounds on top of the season ticket they bought. If no one buys, they don’t sell it as they are plastic cards (same size as credit card) with their name on it.

@Emo @Quikzyyy Keep an eye out for the empty seats on Footyroom highlights this year and tell me if you reckon it’s good.

Keep an eye out for the empty seats on Footyroom highlights this year and tell me if you reckon it’s good.

Will do.

What a shame they can't "over-report" good atmosphere in the arenas (sarcasm).

Yeah but that’s weeks, if not months in advance

how? you can basically get the tickets even in the day of the match. If you sold 60k tickets, why would you say we had an attendance of 55k?

Wait, why do so many people buy tickets but don't go to the games?

@Ledley

You didn't get a single thing right.

quikzyyy is commenting on statement that "fans are not fools" - well seems like they are - they are buying tickets and not using them, money well spent!

"Hi mr Sponsor, we had a full stadium this year therefore please continue to cover our bills so we don’t have to lower our ticket prices." - this perfectly fine - you sold all tickets, you get money from it. So there is high interest from the fan in seeing your game, it's then right to say to sponsor that we sold out and you should continue "paying bills". Why would you lower prices if every single ticket is being sold?

Sigh.

The when you hear over the loudspeaker that it was say 53,200 fans at the Etihad, that is not the officlal attendance. The police if you read the article are reporting figures of about 14% lower (Man City) 45,000. They do this so they know how many people are in the stadium emergencys etc etc.

The bigger picture is if you look at the highlights there are plenty of blue seats.

this perfectly fine

No. From a business perspective fans, including yourself will pay higher prices to attend. Ultimately, EPL teams can go to SKY and BT and ask for higher TV rights deal on the premise that their stadiums were full all season.

Why would you lower prices if every single ticket is being sold?

Go to a Premier League game and see what the average price for a decent seat is. Im not talking say Arsenal vs Man United. Arsenal vs Watford, Burnley or your team vs Cardiff city etc.

Why would you lower prices if every single ticket is being sold?

Because were not a football club JFC.

You didn't get a single thing right.

You're Arguing for the sake of arguing.

quikzyyy is commenting on statement that "fans are not fools" - well seems like they are - they are buying tickets and not using them, money well spent!

well lot of things can happen, delayed flight, travelling problems, illness, you can't attend because of something special and so on. a lot of people are buying the tickets so they can re-sale it with the profit.

if you knew how long is waiting list for a season ticket to arsenal for example, you would understand. why would they say look we sold 55k tickets but 5k didn't arrive? makes no sense, they care about profit, it's simple...

I think tickets sold and attendance should be two different figures.

I agree that it's kind bad because of Police and Emergency not knowing how many people they need.

But there is no way to change it. Club sold all tickets, and that is pretty much the end of transaction for them. As long as people will keep buying all of the tickets, clubs won't do anything. They can even higher the prices, just to check if they can sell for even more.

I admit that I have never attended PL match live or any really. The price to value balance is not enough. I can spent a lot of money and still have no clue if it's gonna be intersting show - no thanks. But rich people and die hard fans are buying tickets, and they are willing to pay more and more every year it seems.

Talking from economic point of view, if you sell out every ticket for every match in one season, you will higher the prices next season.

I don't see anything unfair or bad in it - it's buisness after all.

@Dynastian I agree. Beside, they should have some to register the number of person who actually come at games when they show up with their ticket.

@Emobot

They do this already, right? I sometimes hear commentators say what the official attendance is during the match. It seems clubs just use the larger tickets sold numbers for their own gain.

this is why I never understand why move to a new stadium if it's never beyond 100% attendance. highbury, white hart lane, Stadio delle Alpi, Vicente Calderón Stadium should have stayed on. stupid to demolish and rebuild, renovation is smarter approach. imagine how many pogba you can buy from this demolition and rebuilding.

New stadium is not only about attendences... As for Juve Delle Alpi was never really their home ground and their new stadium actually takes less people. And as for renovation... sometimes when a building gets too old the costs for renovation becomes just too high and are continuous. When you build new the initial cost is higher but the renovation costs decrease dramatically which makes the expenses over time much less. This is a longterm investment... ultimately it is a question for the economists, engineers etc and for the managing board to make decisions about.

imagine how many pogba you can buy from this demolition and rebuilding.

I'd rather buy Kante's, but I guess the engineers knows better than us. Highbury was traditional stadium but too small for Arsenal. I think Emiraes is build that it can be expanded.

Quikzy: Highbury was traditional stadium but too small for Arsenal. I think Emiraes is build that it can be expanded.

This is one of the reasons why ...

Serans: I don't see anything unfair or bad in it - it's buisness after all

Not looking at it from a business point of view.

Wait, why do so many people buy tickets but don't go to the games?

It’s become a privilege to hold and own a season ticket. No one goes to every game a year. But there are waiting lists around the bigger clubs especially in London and Manchester.