Before deciding on our course of action, we have been getting input from supporters regarding the situation since the club made its announcement regarding match ticket prices yesterday.
Given the increase in season ticket costs, we anticipated price increases. What caught us off guard was the magnitude of the increases (the club estimates that they will be between 10 and 25%, but actual increases are higher; Cat A tickets have increased by 46.9% from the previous season, for example), the club’s lack of prior communication with any fan base, and the way the announcement was made, which buried the bad news in a story that focused primarily on Fox Membership.
Since the ticket prices were announced, fans have said to the Trust via e-mail, social media and forums:
“The club are being greedy with these increases”
“Those without season tickets are facing two penalties… needing to purchase an expensive ticket after initially paying a membership fee in order to gain entry.
“The supporters are bearing the brunt of the team’s financial mismanagement.”
“The wonderful relationship between fans and the club is rapidly eroding as a result of the club’s recent actions.”
“I was spending £37 a ticket last season to sit in my favourite section of the stadium. I’ll be paying £55 next season, which is about a 50% increase. I would have taken £45. I’ll start picking out the games I attend more carefully now.
My opinion is really straightforward. At these costs, I just won’t attend games.
“You’d have thought the club would have learned from their mistake over the £25 charge for a season ticket charge, and at least talk to fan groups.”
Perhaps though the most telling response was from someone who has supported the club since 1991. She has travelled home and away to games and is a single parent of a 14-year-old daughter who really got the Leicester City bug last season, attending 18 games. Now it will cost them £81 to attend games at the King Power, plus the cost of membership. At those prices she fears their spending limit has been exceeded. She can’t see them buying membership and going to games in the future, the upshot being the loss of next generation of support.
So where to now?
The club’s ability to interact with fans and fan groups is rapidly losing credibility.
The goal of the Football Governance Bill is to provide supporters more influence over how their club is managed. “Supporters have always been the lifeblood of football,” the Premier League stated while introducing the Fan Engagement Standard (FES). The Premier League also spearheaded the creation of Fan Advisory Boards. The club could have handled things better even if it had adhered to its own fans charter in order to interact with supporters.
However, at Leicester City, fan engagement is at an all-time low. Although she has been at the club for a few months, the new Head of Supporter Engagement is not accessible to fan groups.
A increasing number of supporters believe that the club is poorly managed, whether it’s in terms of finances, communications, fan interaction, player recruitment, or retention. Fans’ opinions range from dissatisfaction to rage, but the club hasn’t shown that it recognises this.
What we will do
We are pushing for an urgent meeting with the club. We will urge them to:
- Reconsider ticket prices, stressing there is an acceptance that prices would go up, but not by these levels.
- Provide better ticket deals for members. Not just charging them £35 simply as a gateway to buy a ticket, but giving them something back. Simply introducing a member’s reduction of 10% per ticket would be a start.
- Start proper engagement with the Trust and other fans groups urgently and do so in a manner that is open and honest. We understand that the harsh reality is that the club makes its own economic decisions, but there has been consultation and communication in the past – it now seems there is none.
- Take steps to assess their communications – for example the first mention of a match day ticket increase isn’t until the 12th paragraph of their message on membership.
In addition, we will keep up our current conversations with other LCFC fan clubs regarding potential fan action in the event that the club does not budge on the match day price rises.
Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk
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