Last week, when Celtic released the details of their pricing policy for the Champions League, I did not hide my anger that they had refused to consider the cost of living crisis when they did. I thought that £40 plus per ticket was ridiculous in the circumstances.
The other day, the energy price cap leaped 80%.
It is a disaster for families all over the country. The consequences are so big that they are hard to comprehend. But millions of people are about to have their lives upended, and be plunged into a dire set of choices.
Today, in the wake of that, Ibrox has announced its own Champions League ticket prices. Jesus but they are diabolical. The cheapest non concession package is £50 a ticket.
The average ticket price for the package is £180 … that’s astounding.
At a time when fans can afford it least, £60 a ticket is an outrage. It is, to be frank, a disgrace. Their club is sitting on more money than it has been in years. They have sold two players for good money and reached the Champions League Groups. They could have done their fans a turn here and kept it real, but instead they’ve shown their utter contempt for their supporters.
I criticised Celtic because we are a club founded on a charitable basis.
But Hell, I’m buying the three match package, and I’m lucky enough to be in a position where I can afford to. I slated Celtic for this single decision, because I thought it was shocking.
Our club has nothing on the one at Ibrox for the shameless exploitation of its own fans and the way it constantly has a hand in their pockets.
No club in this country puts the squeeze on its own followers to the extent that theirs does … from the shabby, shady MyGers scheme to all sorts of other nonsense like The Wall of Champions (check that one out, it’s a mind-blowing money grub that many thousands have already sunk their cash into), they are always looking for ways to get more.
But the idea of “more” is becoming a redundant term when incomes are squeezed like never before. How can you pay “more” when there is no more? Nobody has a magic money tree, after all, and at some point you have to draw a line.
Ibrox will be full for those games. I do not doubt that at all.
That’s why it’s exploitative.
They know that their fans are so desperate to see Champions League football games again that they can charge what they like. If people have to beg, borrow or steal the cash to make that happen then that’s a “matter of personal choice” and the club washes its hands.
Football is an immoral business. Players are on disgusting salaries and the cost of that is still, to some extent, borne by the fans, most of whom are on average wages and many below that.
The gap between those in the boardroom and on the pitch and those in the stands grows more and more pronounced every single day … and it is awful.
This was a chance for a club that constantly bangs on about the loyalty of its fans – and let’s not piss about here, they have stuck by their NewCo through thick and thin and were filling grounds even in the bottom tier. This is what they chose to do instead.
And they chose to do so at a time when people are facing horrendous financial circumstances.
It is a loathsome example of greed and a clear indication of how little those at the top of that club understand or care about those who buy the tickets.
Not gonna disagree with you James on the morality of it. But from a strictly business decision standpoint, Rangers are doing the ‘right’ thing here. Even at the prices they’re charging, they’re going to be turning away fans. Many of them will be tripping over each other for the right to buy those tickets. In a strictly business sense, their only fault is not charging even higher prices. I also suspect that Celtic see the same demand but decided on lower prices for the reasons you mentioned, even though it’s not as low as some would like – they clearly could have charged £50-60 and people would have paid it.
This is neither here nor there, but it’s also worth noting that Rangers could very well eclipse Celtic in matchday income this year for possibly the 2nd year in a row. Last year they had many more matches due to their Europa exploits. This year they’ve already had 2 more matches due to qualifiers. And on top of that, they stand to make around £1.5m more on group stage tickets because of the pricing differential even though they have 10,000 fewer to sell. Having that built-in financial advantage of a bigger stadium doesn’t count for much of the club’s pricing policy means selling tickets at a significant discount to market rate (and £43 Champions League is NOT market rate, nor is the season ticket price for youths).
The question is, why are they still desperate for more money (stupid question) but how big that black hole is in the accounts is my qiestion
If the Rangers had half a heart, then any profit from the C L ticket rip off, should go directly to the small creditors who were Royally shafted and stiffed when mark 1 went nipples up in 2012 !That would be a welcome gesture . Err, what’s that pink thing heading south ?
I agree wholeheartedly-what a beautiful gesture it would be if they gave-even a percentage towards those who were shafted by the original dodgy wangers..!!
Maybe they’ll shock us all and let the support in for fwee and that most popular support could put some funny money towards the astronomical dept the new klub accumulated since it’s conception..!!??
Surely they have a conscience..surely)))))
Perhaps the wangers footy klub are attempting to attract a more socially acceptable support that others find attractive in some shape or form but…..that’ll never happen-they know it and we most certainly know they are THE most despised klub on the planet!
I said it on the article from last week and I’ll say it again here. Supply and demand.
“Rangers…sitting on more money than they have for years”??
They’re in a £100 million hole which the Champs’ League income will barely touch. They desperately need cash to stay solvent and compete so naturally they’re going to soak their fans for as much as they can.
I’m not defending the huns, perish the thought, but as regards timing, they couldn’t very well announce ticket prices before they actually qualified, could they?